jhalfhill

I'm going coyote hunting this weekend both at night and during the day. I've heard that coyotes can't see red light but if you shine white light on them they will see it. Is this true?? I will be using a rabbit distress call. I will also have an electronic caller available with various tapes. What call and tape would be best for yotes? Thanks for any help, I'm new at predator hunting.

P.S. - I'm using a Savage 22-250 and my buddy is using a mossberg 835 so we should have plenty of fire power

North Texan

A lot of people use red lenses when hunting. I do sometimes, and it seems to work pretty good. The red doesn't seem to bother them. As far as calls, I don't have an electronic caller, so I use mouth calls. I usually start off with a howler, just trying to get a response. After something responds, I hunt that general area. I usually use rabbit distress calls to bring them in. If they hang up just out of range, I try something else, like a coaxer.

Howler

The thing about doing this is when you use your howler, the coyotes could very well not answer BUT yet be on their way. So, if you're driving around and stopping every now and then and howling, waiting for a vocal response and hear none and leave, you very well may be missing out on action! It is well known that coyotes won't always answer a howl, and often times will come to it silently!!
Back to the question, you can use a white light, BUT try to avoid shining it directly at the target. And since you're new at night calling, you really need to know or identify your target. In other words, critters that aren't your intended target may respond to your call, so you need to make absolutely positve ID on a critter before pulling the trigger!

jhalfhill

Thanks guys.

I'm a regular turkey and deer hunter so I know and can identify all the animals in the woods. I'm just new at hunting the predators, usually I see them when i'm hunting something else.

fatsbucknut

I'm not real sure if the red light has a different affect on the coyotes compared to white. But i do know that red lights will allow the hunter to keep their night vision. It usually takes around 30 minutes for you to be able to see as good as you can in dark situations. And when you shine a normal light you'll have to wait another 30 til you can see somewhat again. It has to do with the rods and cones in your eyeballs, i'm not gonna get into it.

Rockfish1

when you're behind a red light, unless there's snow until they're on top of you you'll be hard pressed to identify what your looking at...

Howler

Like Rockfish siad, at night the first thing you see coming is eyes, so it's not the same as identifying a target in day time when you can see shape, color, and size of the animal. And being able to identify what glowing eyes you are looking at takes practice!! So again, don't shoot until you can positively identfy your target!!