SDHowler
New member
From 1977-92 I worked as an Animal Damage Control trapper for the SD Game, Fish, & Parks. In the early 1980’s, some of the trappers got an idea to make some coyote decoys for calling coyotes. My first attempts were a couple of coyote silhouettes that I cut from plywood. I painted these a tan color, close enough to match a coyote. One decoy was a standing version and the other coyote decoy was a sitting version.
I had enough success using these decoys to go one step further and cover these silhouettes with coyote fur. I skinned and fleshed a couple of hides and then split the hides from the lower jaw through the belly. Then I coated and rubbed the flesh side of the hides with Twenty Mule Team Borax to aid in preserving the pelt. I left the skin coated with the borax air dry with several more rubs of the borax for a 24 hour period. I stapled some foam sections to head area and along the back portions of the plywood silhouette to give this coyote decoy a more rounded body appearance. Then I stapled the skin to the plywood and trimmed the outside fur edges.
Some of the other trappers purchased full body style taxidermy mounts of sitting coyotes. They commented that the sitting style coyotes worked the best and most coyotes approached the decoy from its back side.
For use at my calling stands, I generally placed the sitting coyote decoy at a distance of 20-30 yards. With the decoy in place, as other people have mentioned, it’s great to have the approaching coyote looking at the decoy not the caller. This may give you a chance to reposition your rifle and bipod for a better shot. Once I have any coyote approaching my calling stand, I stop calling as long as the coyote keeps coming in. If they stop or hesitate, then tease it with a few short, soft cries with the call or lip squeaks.
The following pics show the latest sitting decoy that I crafted, I even found a couple of glass eyes to use with this coyote.
Please forgive me, but I am not a taxidermist, hence this decoy will have do the job.
Be patient at each calling stand, I normally stay at each calling stand for only 15 minutes. Over the years with my past calling stands, the majority of the coyotes that I have called in were shot within the first 8-10 minutes. Once you have killed a coyote don’t depart your stand right away, try a few series with coyote distress cries and kiyi’s. Try these for another five minutes before you leave your stand.
A few years back, I had a calling situation where we had two separate coyotes approaching our stand. My partner had an oncoming shot at 50 yards and my coyote was at 150 yards. I called for us to shoot, my coyote dropped in it’s tracks, but my partner missed his shot. I sounded a few coyote distress cries, the coyote stopped and this time my partner connected. He stood up and was going to go pick up the two coyotes, I said “just sit down and be patient”. We had fired three shots, but I still tried some more distress cries and after another five minutes of calling we had a third coyote approaching our stand. When it got to 100 yards, I had my partner make another shot and he made the third kill. Three shots had been fired, but we still had this third coyote come into our stand. I recently saw a video clip where one guy called and killed five coyotes at the same calling stand without leaving. Don’t depart your successful calling stands without trying some more calling.
I had enough success using these decoys to go one step further and cover these silhouettes with coyote fur. I skinned and fleshed a couple of hides and then split the hides from the lower jaw through the belly. Then I coated and rubbed the flesh side of the hides with Twenty Mule Team Borax to aid in preserving the pelt. I left the skin coated with the borax air dry with several more rubs of the borax for a 24 hour period. I stapled some foam sections to head area and along the back portions of the plywood silhouette to give this coyote decoy a more rounded body appearance. Then I stapled the skin to the plywood and trimmed the outside fur edges.
Some of the other trappers purchased full body style taxidermy mounts of sitting coyotes. They commented that the sitting style coyotes worked the best and most coyotes approached the decoy from its back side.
For use at my calling stands, I generally placed the sitting coyote decoy at a distance of 20-30 yards. With the decoy in place, as other people have mentioned, it’s great to have the approaching coyote looking at the decoy not the caller. This may give you a chance to reposition your rifle and bipod for a better shot. Once I have any coyote approaching my calling stand, I stop calling as long as the coyote keeps coming in. If they stop or hesitate, then tease it with a few short, soft cries with the call or lip squeaks.
The following pics show the latest sitting decoy that I crafted, I even found a couple of glass eyes to use with this coyote.
Please forgive me, but I am not a taxidermist, hence this decoy will have do the job.
Be patient at each calling stand, I normally stay at each calling stand for only 15 minutes. Over the years with my past calling stands, the majority of the coyotes that I have called in were shot within the first 8-10 minutes. Once you have killed a coyote don’t depart your stand right away, try a few series with coyote distress cries and kiyi’s. Try these for another five minutes before you leave your stand.
A few years back, I had a calling situation where we had two separate coyotes approaching our stand. My partner had an oncoming shot at 50 yards and my coyote was at 150 yards. I called for us to shoot, my coyote dropped in it’s tracks, but my partner missed his shot. I sounded a few coyote distress cries, the coyote stopped and this time my partner connected. He stood up and was going to go pick up the two coyotes, I said “just sit down and be patient”. We had fired three shots, but I still tried some more distress cries and after another five minutes of calling we had a third coyote approaching our stand. When it got to 100 yards, I had my partner make another shot and he made the third kill. Three shots had been fired, but we still had this third coyote come into our stand. I recently saw a video clip where one guy called and killed five coyotes at the same calling stand without leaving. Don’t depart your successful calling stands without trying some more calling.
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