Have I burn out my farm

Bukrub

Bukrub

Member
I haven't coyote hunted in several years other than taking a few during deer season. This year I took 4. After the season ended a couple weeks ago I decided to get another caller and have a go. My first morning out I had 2 coyotes in within 8 minutes. One of them ran strait in to the caller, ( I didn't have a decoy at the time), when it got about 5 feet, it turn tailed and ran. I tried barking to get it to stop, but he was B Lining it. I took 2 shots and missed obviously educating this and possibly another one.
Im on about 350 acres of farmland and the only person that hunts it. I have done several sets in various locations and haven't seen another thing. Im certain my call can be heard over the entire farm. Have I burned the whole farm? Are the Yotes just being finicky? If I have burned this location, how long do I need to let it sit. I have other areas I can hunt, its just tough to go elsewhere when I know they are still here in my back yard. I still hear them at night, and get several videos at any particular time of day.
 
I'm in a similar scenario right now with a few properties. My plan is to let them "rest" a week or two, and then go try calling again.

If you are concerned about them being "burned out/educated" to your call, you can try different sounds. coyote vocals, vs rabbit distress, vs bird distress, vs rodents, vs domestic, etc. You could also try throwing some bait out somewhere (dogfood, catfood, meat scraps, etc).

If they got a good dose of your scent while being educated, you might need to be exceptionally aware of wind direction when hunting these educated coyotes.

Sometimes, in what seems like ideal conditions, coyotes still just won't come to a call. I say keep going after them and eventually you'll get them.
 
Especially during the day, they may not respond. In the winter I'm spotting stalking sleeping coyote. Often I have tried to just get them to stand up, typically prey sounds they won't even lift a head. You see their ears lock on to the sound, but they aren't about to get up.
 
I don't like calling the same spot closer than about 4 weeks unless I killed every coyote that I called in. I think in your scenario you need to let it rest a while. The next time I do call it, even when I wait the 4 weeks, I won't sit in the same spot and I won't use the same sounds as I did the last time. Keep changing things up.
 
Especially during the day, they may not respond. in the winter I'm spotting stalking sleeping coyote. Often I have tried to just get them to stand up, typically prey sounds they won't even lift a head. You see their ears lock on to the sound, but they aren't about to get up.
 
I kind of try to play by the same rules as NDHuntn and stay out for 3 or 4 weeks if I have blown a shot or got busted by the coyotes. Put some distance between where the bad shot or coyote training session happened. Use a different approach if possible and definitely use different calls.

I’ll add that depending on what part of the season it is and how a stand pans out, I may go back quickly in certain scenarios. January, February, March, when they’re paired up if I happen to kill the female and the male survives and I couldn’t suck him back in on that set I will go back sooner and try to pull him in with vocals. It has worked on multiple occasions for me. Good luck no matter how you go about it!
 
Usually for me, I go hunt coyotes just about any opportunity I get. I've called the same place multiple times a day, for a couple days straight when I was staying at a relatives house and was calling around their place. I figure if I coyote has a couple mile terriroty they range around.....my caller can call them in from about 1,000 yds out i think. I've seen a coyote cover 1,000 yards in just a couple minutes. So by this reasoning, if I try a spot and get nothing, if I try again a couple hours later, a coyote may have moved around and may be within range to come to the call.

Also, I think in some ways coyotes are like fish. I've gone fishing before and thrown the same lure in the same area for hours and got nothing. Then the bite turns on and those same fish, who have been ignoring my lure, suddenly start crushing it. Likewise, I think coyotes that may not come to a call at one time of day, if they hear the same sound later when they are in a different mood or more hungry, they will come running.

So back to your original question, no, i don't think you've burned out the farm. If you've educated a couple coyotes, they will be wiser next time and you might have to work a little harder to get them, but if you keep calling to them, eventually you'll get the timing right and they should come in.
 
Often states use a type of flat set for predator population assessment. Rake a 3' diameter area until soft/fine enough to EASILY show tracks. Synthetic fermented egg is often used on a staked in place lure holder, check for tracks to assess number of visits. Or setup a bait with a good game camera.
 
If you think that they are ignoring the calls, or are aware of your presence, get a few cheap game cameras and spread them around to see what is going on when you aren't in the field. Even one camera placed at varying locations would work.

Over the years I have seen dramatic varying behavior with coyotes. Some leave the area after the first time you shoot at them. Others tend to almost ignore it.
 
I’ve trapped 2500ac for the last 6 years and averaged about a dozen coyotes each year.
I had a hip replacement August 1 and given permission to drive Aug 21. Between then and Oct 22 when I had to go back to work I thermal hunted and killed an additional 13 coyotes and 33 hogs.
Haven’t heard a howl at dawn or dusk since then. I know some should’ve moved in since that time, but cameras scattered throughout the place have shown nothing.
I’m gonna give it a go one night this week and see what happens. More than half of the 13 were females, so sorta hoping that helped in wiping them out.
 
Back
Top