Are different times of night better?

V

varminter .223

Well-known member
The other night we went out and did about seven stands and never heard a coyote or saw a coyote until about midnight when we were getting ready to go home. I've heard people say that no time is better than another but I don't buy that. We went to this same spot a week ago and I think we saw coyotes on four of five or six stands and heard them all over. I think three of those stands there were coyotes standing in the field when we pulled up. Just curious what your thoughts are.
 
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I think the times are constantly changing over a period of nights, but unless you hunt all night it is hard to tell. We mostly hunt early and never hunt late, so some of those nights we just simply draw a blank.
 
Originally Posted By: DoubleUpI think the times are constantly changing over a period of nights, but unless you hunt all night it is hard to tell. We mostly hunt early and never hunt late, so some of those nights we just simply draw a blank.
That is 100% consistent with my experiences and my thinking.
 
I agree that best times very at night just as much as they do during the daytime if not more. And it can vary greatly within a week or two of going and also the moon has a lot to do with it.

One trick I use is about a dozen trail cameras that I keep going all year long and I check them weekly and see what time of night I'm seeing the most movement from animals in general
 
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I've been logging as much information as possible the last few years trying to establish patterns. However, one thing is for sure. You won't get any coyotes home in bed.

Your first couple stands of the night are consistently the best. This is when they begin moving for the night. However, when conditions stay good, I have had nights that produce the entire night.

The more moon, the tougher the hunting. On numerous occasions, with near a full moon, hunting was poor, and when the moon got low on the horizon or set, the action picked up.

When temps get around -20 actual temps, coyote quit moving. I know the old adage is colder is better, but ask trappers and they will tell you the same thing. There is a point where coyotes will stop moving to conserve energy to survive.

I started tracking humidity this year, and it really seems to play a role. In ND, it seems like when the humidity gets close or above 90%, hunting action slows. The coyotes seem very vocal during this time, but it seems like they just hang around in their pack and don't want to hunt or protect their territory as much as when the humidity is low. I know it sounds odd, but the pattern has been fairly consistent. The best news is high humidity is hard on thermals.

By the sounds of this, a person should never go hunting. Add wind which plays a factor as well. In summary a very dark night, with low humidity, and cold but not too cold, is awesome.
 
I use a best hunting times app on my phone. I have noticed that it is a lot more accurate at night on coyotes than it is during the day on deer. Its right more times than its wrong but its still not 100%. We hunt a lot of contests all night. There is definitely better times throughout the night than others. I have found its almost always good the first few sets after dark. Most generally there will be a period just after midnight thats its good again. The last few stands before daylight is the confusing one. Some nights it’s awesome and some nights its dead. We have never had a night that didn’t produce somewhere in there. Even nights with 30mph winds and your questioning what the heck your doing out there. We killed 7 one night with 30mph winds and could barely hear the call.
 
Some nights animals are moving, some nights not so much. Sometimes just after dark, sometimes nothing moves until after midnight. Sometimes we see animals on just about every stand, sometimes we don't see anything at all.
If anyone can figure out what triggers them, write it down. I'll buy the book.
 
Its funny how we look at things. I remember a night a couple years ago, one of my best nights ever on fox, deer were everywhere, the fields were alive. My buddy was hunting with some other people about 5-10 miles away that same night and when I asked him how his night went he said it was very poor and that nothing was moving, never saw a fox, no deer, nothing. It must have been the moon or pressure or something. We don't have many coyote here on the shore but I think most predators like the same conditions. It sure would be nice if we knew what those conditions were.
 
When I was a young fellow (40 years ago) I started writing a journal on the movements of deer,some days one would only see does, sometimes does and bucks, sometimes only bucks. I kept track of every thing I could think of,wind direction,humidity,barometric pressure,temperature,moon phase, moon rise and set,breeding season cycle etc. I figured if I could find out when the bucks were out moving around I could sleep in and just go out and whack a buck when it was time! Now after 50 years of hunting i have the answer, They (the animals) hold conference most every day and decide what's on the schedule for the day and pretty much do as they please.
 
One of the best nights this year so far happened on the worst night. It was snowing and the wind was 15 mph+ and it was hard to even see. On virtually every stand, I would say if I don't get one on this stand, I'm going home. I had driven 2+ hours to get to my hunting location, but it was miserable out. Each stand kept producing coyote after coyote and I ended up hunting almost the entire night. You just never know.
 
At night coyotes follow their nose and ears to the point they can see. Brighter nights let’s them see farther of course and allows them to uncover us easier. Or to detect and view our arrival on stand. Have noticed often times coyotes in view on thermal as we arrive. Those are hard to get to respond if much ambient light exists. In total dark often get coyotes to respond that are very close when we set up. If we don’t see rabbits,possums,skunks,coons, and deer moving we generally consider going home.
 
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