What defines a Hot Spot or Honey Hole and how long has it been one?

[wildoats]

What defines a hot spot?

In the last month or so I have taken 5 coyotes in the 3 times i have called this one stand, 3 males and 2 bitches. I read River Runners comment in another post that, Like lunker bass on a old dead tree stump, remove one and another will soon take it's place. I could relate to that having fished a old dead tree for 10 years and have always been able to pull one out from it, andI have a few bends in a river I can count on to hold a fat cat fish if now one else has drifted by

I'd like to hear some of the numbers from the old guard on coyotes taken from the same spot over the years?

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Keep your hooks sharp and you powder dry.

wildoats

 

[UTcaller]

wildoats,In my opinion your spot would be considered a honey hole IF you continue to get coyotes there over the next few years.I will give you an example.I have one spot that I have probably called 4 or 5 times a year,maybe 8 stands each time over the last few years.I have called about 40 or 50 coyotes there and each time I go back I usually call at least a couple coyotes.I would probably consider this a "Honey Hole".Anymore I usually don't go to one spot more than once or twice in a year.I have hunted long enough to have alot of different areas to call, so I am not focusing all my time on one or two areas...GOOD HUNTING



[This message has been edited by UTcaller (edited 06-13-2001).]

 

[Curt Barrett]

Like UT said, I consider a honey hole a place where I consistently take coyotes every year.

Please don't compare predator calling to fishing though. That's like comparing football to golf. LOL

(joke)

 

[wildoats]

I'm not comparing the two but I can't help but noticing the similarities between some of them now that you bring it up.
In both you are trying to enter the environment of your intended target unnoticed and fool them with the offer of food.

Now I am thinking that a traditional hand caller who hikes in, is in the lines of the fly fisherman who stalks wild steelhead trout presenting hand tied flys on a 8 # fly rod. Your typical night hunting electric caller with night vision, 4WD rig and chair is in line with a 225HP Bass boat with every electric fish finding/mapping gadget money can buy racing across the lakes to crank a buzz bait or chunk a waterdog at as many lilly pads he can in the shortest amount of time. Then you have the ADC guys and they are pretty much like commercial fisherman, they may enjoy there job but they are in it for production! like Gillnetters and long liners.

So how many coyotes have you pulled out from behind that bush over the years?

 

[Curt Barrett]

heh heh. Your absolutely right Wildoats. I was just funning with my fishing friends.

I don't fish much anymore so I like to give my buddies that do fish a poke in the ribs now and then.

Take care, Curt

 

[NASA]

That's a very perceptive similarity you've made, Wildoats. No shallow thinkers on THIS board!

 

[Danny Batastini]

If I told you what I thought a honey hole was you would not believe me, so I won't tell ya hehehe, aww the heck with it,I'll tell ya, to me a honey hole is going to an area and taking 20, 30 or more on a weekend, and there are such places in the southwest, believe it or not, you can go there 3 or 4 times and get that amount, they just keep coming, Good Hunting.

 

[Daryl]

Oh man, you mean that all this time we've been let to believe that Danny Batastini is one of the best callers in the country and now he tells us that it's not really him at all? That it's really just that he has a better place to hunt than the rest of us?

I feel so let down. Who will I look up to? How can I ever believe anything anybody tells me again?

 

[d2admin]

Originally posted by Daryl:
Oh man, you mean that all this time we've been let to believe that Danny Batastini is one of the best callers in the country a

Danny one of the best CALLERS? I bet he uses more electronics than hand calls.

I know your joking around a bit, but you have to assume that a good hunter can kill a lot of animals in a short time. At least that's the yardstick we both use, part of our training. You have to know WHERE you will call animals, (for sure), that's half the battle. The other half is being able to kill them when they show up. In good, to excellent areas, just about any sound will attract animals. When you know they are in the area, and they don't show; that's when you need to have a little talent with the various sound producing devices. Plus a few other tricks. He isn't telling you everything, gotta learn it yourself.

There is a distinct difference between a good caller and a good predator hunter. A good caller might be a poor hunter, and a good hunter can be a poor caller, and get by. The difference is in results. Some people have both, but if I had to just pick one, I'd pick hunting skill over calling skill.

Danny is an old contest hunter, one of many out here. The object is to kill a bunch of predators in a specific period of time. This type of hunting is very difficult, a little like running a marathon. If I'm not mistaken, Danny will limit his hand calling to certain conditions. You absolutely cannot do it all weekend, and survive also. Don't forget, in the CSVCA format, it's continuous, day hunting followed by night hunting, followed by day hunting. Non-stop.

Good hunting. LB

 

[Daryl]

Leonard,

Your right about the skills needed for taking coyotes, and only having one of the skills will not enable a hunter to take coyotes consistently. Reading about how to do it will help a beginner somewhat, but getting out in the field and doing it is the only way to learn it for yourself. Knowing the quary, good shooting skills, good calling skills, and being able to predict how an animal will respond to the call are all skills needed to make a good predator hunter. Most people are better at some of the skills than others, but to make a good predator hunter the skills must balance in the end.

Danny's a great guy, but he likes to toy with everybody kind of like he toys with coyotes. I've toyed with enough coyotes to know when I'm being played for one, so every now and then I see a chance to have some fun with him and I do!

And Danny, your all right no matter what they say about your panty hose!!

 

[JoeF]

I'll put in a vote for my back yard as being a bit of a honey hole - at least by midwestern standards.

I have hunted this place since somewhere around 1982 and have lived here since mid May of 1999. I never kept track of how many coyotes came off of here prior to living here, but I have kept a loose tally since Sept. of 1999.

The bitch sneaking in on the chickens late yesterday makes about 17 (+/- 1 or 2) since 9/28/99. Most of those were killed with me sitting within a couple of hundred yards of the house, certainly all within about 400 yards. All but three were called. All but the marauder last evening were killed between Sept. and Mar. The lions share were taken at night during our season which runs from 11/10 to 1/31 each year.

From a shear numbers perspective that is not a lot, but from a single dot on the map it is better than any other place I hunt. I also try to limit the number of times I hit it each year, I hunt other places at about the same frequency.

The live bait (chicken)is a new addition.

This is also the place were I witnessed the single largest gathering of coyotes that I have ever even heard about. I'll borrow a line from Danny and Leonard - if I told ya how many you wouldn't believe me so I'm not tellin ya, hehe.