Looking for help, what am I doing wrong?

I don't usually predator hunt until at least October. The very best predator hunting is probably in late October or early November here. By that time we've had some heavy frost and a hard freeze or two to kill the bugs and fruits young coyotes thrive on early in their life and they're now ready for some red meat. The coyote population is high and hasn't been buggered with yet, for the most part that is. Coyotes are hungry and eager to respond to a prey distress call. The weather is tolerable and no ticks, chiggers, snakes, ect. make for a much more fun experience. Ground vegetation has died out and visibility is considerably better and I don’t worry about educating coyotes that come to the call that I couldn’t see a couple months before because of the heavy green ground cover. I also don’t want to kill a nursing female coyote and leave a den full of pups to starve to death. I am not that mad at the coyote and feel they deserve better than that. Instead I can fish, vacation, shoot guns, handload ammo stock ahead, work up new loads, fiddle with my gear, clean guns, catch up on “honey do’s” before hunting season, shoot skeet in the club league, there is a ton of things I can do now to make more time for hunting when it is prime later. Those are the reasons I don’t hunt them now. There are other opinions and they’re welcome to theirs, these are mine.
 
I'm with GC. On the rare occassion I'll go out and make a few stands this time of year, but generally I wait until October / November. I have nothing against the guys that do hunt this time of year. To each their own! In my opinion, now's the time to be fishing, riding my harley, keep'n the grass mowed down, and spending time with the lil' woman. Like he said, "I'm not that mad at the coyote". There's plenty of time to hunt them in the fall and winter. For me it takes some of the enjoyment out of it when it's 98 degrees and 150% humidity, covered in ticks, watching for snakes, and fighting all the thick green foliage.
 
I'll agree, the picking ticks, swattin' skeeters, and watching for snakes is a drag, but I just can't help it. I want to be in the woods. But, like you said, to each their own. And, I'm not that mad at 'em either, that is until I think about one of 'em chompin down on a baby deer. I guess that's the main reason I want to hunt 'em right now.
 
Hey Slab! Welcome aboard! My best advise to you would be to get a Foxpro electronic caller. I have 30 different sounds on mine and when one dont work, I wait a bit and try another. You never know what is going to make them "click". Today I called one in and got it while using a gray fox distress call on my Foxpro and there are no gray foxes here in Middle Tennessee that I'm aware of. Have also had luck with the Jackrabbit call and we have none of them here neither. Those sounds are really good.
Good luck to you and check out the Foxpros. You'll be glad you did.
 
Scouting is very underrated in my opinion,,find good fresh sign,have the patience to give the area a couple weeks ,decide your route in,set up and wear rubber boots while scouting,,touch nothing.

I do not have alot of land myself to hunt,,if you are in that boat also,,occasional baiting helps.

I dont hunt at bait sites,,but call 400-500 yrds away from it,,my thinking on this....give the coyote a reason for visiting one area over another.

hope this helps......................X
 
Slab, I'm kinda like you. Ticks and snakes be damd, I'm headed to the woods! I Hunt when I can and that is based on my work schedule and my kid's sports schedule. The time of year dosen't hold me up a bit. My best advice for you is to look at the sign and how fresh it is. You want to be within a decent hearing distance. I personally like to locate also. One other thing, I do alot of walking. I won't let a 4-wheeler or vehical screw up a potentially good setup. Keep pluggin away brutha! You'll get there! Keep in mind that your not in New Mexico where the coyotes are running out your ears! The coyotes you hunt are gonna be a little tougher to get, so don't get discouraged! Shoot me a PM if you ever want to talk about any kind of hunting stratagy. I'll be glad to help you all I can!

-Dave
 
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Thanks for the tips, guys. The area I'm hunting, well, just started hunting, has alot of sign. All of it was fresh. I didn't hear alot of 'yotes howling, but had seen a one a couple of weeks before, seen alot of tracks and scat, and had the property care taker tell me that he had watched 2 jump his dog a couple of weeks before. Now, one thing I didn't think about, and a mistake that I won't make again, is that I did do quite a bit of riding around in the truck to take a look at diffent areas of the property. Next time I will do alot of walking. One area in particular had more sign than others. Would ya'll recommend hunting in that area, or in an area close to it but not directly in it?
 
Originally Posted By: slabThanks for the tips, guys. The area I'm hunting, well, just started hunting, has alot of sign. All of it was fresh. I didn't hear alot of 'yotes howling, but had seen a one a couple of weeks before, seen alot of tracks and scat, and had the property care taker tell me that he had watched 2 jump his dog a couple of weeks before. Now, one thing I didn't think about, and a mistake that I won't make again, is that I did do quite a bit of riding around in the truck to take a look at diffent areas of the property. Next time I will do alot of walking. One area in particular had more sign than others. Would ya'll recommend hunting in that area, or in an area close to it but not directly in it?

Just give them all a shot man. You never know what might come to you. Just be ready as you never know how close they are when you start calling. Good luck!
 
Thanks Lukeduke, and everyone else for the tips. I'm going to head out next weekend and give 'em another whirl using the tips ya'll have given. Worst case, I spend some quality time in the woods. Best case....you can bet I'll post some pictures of the best case. Thanks guys!
 
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