What call to open a stand with?

regards to rabbits are food! I have opened stands with rabbit a lot and I do get results but I get more results with howls first. If they dont reply to the howls you can go to the rabbit sounds and they will still come. I do better with vole squeaks and rodent noises than rabbit sounds but it might be just where i live.
 
Not all coyotes know what a rabbit in distress is, most will come in to it but some will also fear it. As coyote pups are growing up most of the sounds they hear and grow acustom to are bird and rodent sounds, thats why they produce so well. On the down side the sounds don't carry as far as say a rabbit or jack rabbit in distress so more stands would have to be made and also closer together..
I try to start my stands with a rodent sound from time to time or a higher pitched rabbit and towards the end of a stand go with something a little louder or switch to coyote vocals..
Coyote vocals at the beginning of a stand will produce coyotes but will be a older coyote most of the time but not always. I used to start my stands with coyote vocals at the beginning and found i was only bringing in mostly older coyotes and not very many YOY. By not useing vocals at the beginning or middle of a stand i have increased my call in numbers and get coyotes of all ages..
 
I have had a lot of successes with both woodpecker distress calls and rabbit distress calls, but I always try to cue them up with a squeak or howl. Closing stands with pup distress call.
 
"Yep they will re-act all right and head back in the direction they came from.." Spokin' with years of experience to back it up.....
 
I've always live in the southwest, when I hunted a lot I usually stuck with the rabbit sounds unless I know I'm in cat country, then a may go with some bird sounds....Songdog and TA17rem, how many years of coyote calling experience would that be? I'm just wondering if you got me beat.
 
I only got a few days so you got me beat Danny.
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Danny, you got everyone on here whooped, on callin' days I beleive. I've only been doing it for 23 years. I was around chasing with grey hounds in my early years, so I got a late start in the callin' game.
BUT thing is, I call wide open country, and I've seen multiple times a coyote not respond to more than one sound, only to respond to a different sound. That's the beauty of callin' open spaces, you get to see how they react, often from the very first note on a stand, and ya learn alot by observing those reactions. I can't say that I've ever seen a coyote that was responding, maybe very slowly or even sitting and listening, only to change sounds and watch the coyote run off because I "confused" it with another different sound, it ain't happened! I have witnessed times where a coyote will sit way out there, not respond to any sound, so maybe a guy should just stick with the same sound until the coyote finally looses interest and walks off? I don't think so. I've seen too many of them respond to a changed sound to put all my money on one sound.
 
Danny we did'nt have coyotes in my area till the early to mid 80's. So most of my calling has been done in the Dakotas and a few trips to other states like AZ., NM., Co., and Wyoming. I have'nt been at it as long as you but i'm not as old as you either..LOL
 
songdog: My calling area is very much like youre's you can see from a long way off. But i have seen some of my coyotes re-act differently to sounds played to them. Some will do like you mentioned and just sit there and watch for awhile or may start to mouse around or even walk off, either they lost interest or are confused to whats going on. I don't know for sure.. But like you mentioned by switching to another sound a caller can change their mind but not always..
 
"But like you mentioned by switching to another sound a caller can change their mind but not always.." Absolutely agree, there are no absolutes when callin' coyotes, BUT by only using one lure, you're only going to catch a certain number of fish! Keep throwin' the same lure to a fish that won't bite, why keep throwing the same lure to him over and over!
 
I start out with a grown cottontail for about 5-10 min. (low volume) and if nothing, I mix in a distress house cat w/ cotton tail, med./high volume for a longer duration, most of the time that's all it takes!! They are on a death sentence....
 
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