Allen Denton

Last year was the first time our club had ever killed a coyote. We are in South East Virginia. We are seeing them more and more and now that all of teh seasons are over I wanted to get out in the woods and try a get a coyote. I have been reading and watching the forums and have gotten some info., but I still am un sure what I should do.

The land I will be hunting is on a river and has swamp and hardwoods. There is a lot of turkeys and a lot of deer on the land we also have a bunch of rabbits. I have seen on TV people setting up in fields but I do not have a field to set up in. I saw one during deer season out of my treestand, should I hunt out of my treestand? What is an easy yet effective call?

Thanks
Al D

basserman

AD, If you sit in your stand and wait for yotes, you may be there an awful long time. I suggest that you attempt calling them by using a dying rabbit call or my favorite....grey fox distress call(tape). I have used both electronic rabbit and mouth calls and cannot seem to see any response difference. Hearing the tape would help you master the mouth call though. If your hunting with a rifle set up in an area that you can see a ways. I like to put a funnel down wind as they nearly always seem to circle down wind. I use a fence line alot. LOL

"Semper Fi"

bhw

read all about it here...

http://lewand.tripod.com/barkmoon.html

<img src= "http://24.124.38.72/uploads/barkmoonsign.jpg">

Edited by - bhw on 02/04/2003 18:21:25

coyoteseeker

well allen let me say that there realy is no easy,sure fire way to get a coyote within shooting distance.theres a few things you need to relize about the coyote, he is the most in tune aware animal in the woods.i believe that an alfa male(or female)is more in tune,more aware of his surroundings then a mature trophy buck,that statement alone says alot about the coyote.the moment a hunter blows on a distress call he is no longer the hunter but rather the hunted.when a predator(any predator)hears that sound he's looking, smelling and listening real hard while he approches the the area of the sound.when a hunter gets careless of simple details like not blending in with the surroundings,skylining himself,moving to much,etc,etc they will bust you long before you ever knew they were there.you now have an educated predator,this is somthing you want to avoid at all cost.with that said,a river can be a great asset for a hunter.use the river as an impassable barrier to keep them from getting down wind of you.if you have mostly westerly winds and the river runs north and south,set up with the river at your back,wind at your face on the west side of the river.the coyote will not swim the river to get down wind of you but rather he will run along the edge to your location.he may drop over the bank and run the waters edge to get to ya so watch out for this.if its coyote you want then you must let the fox walk,the fox(especially the grays)will most times show up first.if theres no open feilds in the area where a rifle could be used then you need to set up with a shotgun loaded with a mag load of buckshot,2's or 4's.this of course is even more diffacult becouse you need to get them in close.from the sounds of it you have only one spot you will be hunting them,this is not good.you need to have access to lots of land to hunt coyote.a coyotes territory is very large and they can be anywhere at any time within that territory.the day you plan to hunt your spot they may be on the other side of there territory and they will not travel great distances to responed to your calling.now if the population is completely out of hand this may not be as big a factor. also to over hunt one spot will only serve to educate every predator in there and at some point all the predators in that area will be uncallible.its good to rotate stand locations and give each lacation a good week,perferably 2 weeks or more rest before hitting it again.regardless if you have access to lots of land or just one area its a good idea to pick up a good how to video and or cassette tape so you can hear how its supposed to sound(the distress call that is)and when targeting coyotes you need to learn the different vocalazations of the coyote and learn when and when not to use them.a howler will be nessasary part of your arsonal.on both the howler and distress call you need to practice alot before even going out in the woods.you don't just blow a call you need to work a call to be effective.as far as calling from a tree stand,don't.how many dieing rabbits have you seen up a tree.now if you have an elec caller,keep the call box on the ground at the base of the tree and if your not skylined(most times you will be in the winter)and your a vertual statue it just might work.one of the most important things to remember when dealing with eastern coyote is"WIND"always be aware of the wind in relation to your location and always set up your stand so as to be able to see the down wind area and be able to shoot before he gets straight down wind.if you go to a spot and the wind is wrong,don't hunt it.go to a spot where the wind will work for you rather then against you.if your stand allows a coyote to get down wind,he will do it and your most likly will never know it untill you see his tracks in the snow or mud.coyote hunting is a fasinating challanging thing but it also can be a very frustrating thing.relize right from the start that you will not bag one every time out,its just the way it is.

Allen Denton

Thanks to all 3 of you, I read the link and I think I will learn alot in there. I also will get a tape and listin to what things are supposed to sound like. I am really looking for an excuse to get in the woods and since we are seeing more and more I thought it would be fun to try it out. Thanks again.