I Finally Got to Go Coyote Calling Again!--Looooong

Silverfox

New member
I have had a long string of days I wanted to go out after deer season closed on November 24, but the doggone wind would blow 20+ mph every time I planned a hunt. With winds like that, I stay home!

well, I finally got my butt out on the prairie today for a little rest and relaxation calling coyotes. I had a day off from work today so I headed up north of Williston. The wind was out of the WSW for most of the day and this morning it was only blowing about 5 mph! A RARE day! As I approached the prairie trail to the first place I was going to call, I spotted 2 coyotes to the west of the road I was on. They ran west and I figured I'd just let them be until the next time I'm out that way. I drove to my next calling site. The first place I called nothing came in, but I spotted a coyote laying up out of the wind about 3/4 mile away to the WNW. I backed off my hill and walked north. I peeked over the hill to see if he was still there and spotted a second coyote to the west of him. I kept going north until I could crest the hill without those coyotes seeing me. I found a good spot to call and started out with the howler. At the 7 minute mark I saw 3 coyotes on the horizon to the WNW. They were coming from the north. I howled again and the lead dog started coming. At the 16 minute mark one coyote came over the hill to the NW of me, stood, looked, and darted back west over the hill? I had no clue why it disappeared. Just then I spotted two more coyote heads peeking at me from the west. I lip squeaked and they both started coming down the hill. They stopped a couple of times and finally hung up at about 150 yards. I picked out the lightest one of the two and while it was looking right at me touched off a shot right between the front shoulders. It dropped like a ton of rocks! The 30 gr. Starke RPV bullet did its job nicely. I got a hurried shot at the other one just before it topped the hill, but I led it too much! This one was a nice male with a bobbed tail. I figured I had seen 6 coyotes in that one spot. With a partner, this would have been an easy double.

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Next place I called I spotted a coyote about 3/4 of a mile to the west of me. I don't know if it saw me when I walked in or not, I doubt it. After I had called for about 15 minutes it finally got up and started to walk toward me at a very slow pace. When it got to a fence line about 500 yards west of me it stopped. It finally crossed the fence but finally laid down in the stubble and wouldn't come in. It was laying in a spot where there was no way I could sneak up on it for a shot so I left the area. While driving down a prairie trail on my way to Hwy 85, I rousted a coyote out of a hay field. I stopped the pickup, got the gun out, rested on the hood of the pickup and took a 300+ yard shot and led that one too much! I am going to have to learn how to shoot one of these days!

I called in a two more places and didn't get any takers. Finally, I got up into one of my favorite coyote hunting areas on the west side of Hwy 85. Thousands and thousands of acres of CRP, prairie, some crop land, and very few people living up there. I set up and called to the WSW, into the wind, with my Pee Wee Critr' call. Nothing after 7 minutes so I did a female invitation howl on the Austin Howler. About a minute later I had a coyote answering me from the NNW. I imitated him and we chatted for just a bit. Then everything was silent. I kept working between the howler and the Pee Wee Critr' call. Finally, at the 34' mark on the stand I spotted 2 coyotes coming from the NW. One was a real nice light colored one and the other one was a dark brown. The lead coyote was the dark one and when they got to about 100 yards from me he started to circle to the east to try to get around and get my wind and the female stopped at about 100 yards and watched her mate. I put the crosshairs between the shoulders on the light colored one and touched off a round. Down she went in a heap. Again, the 30 gr. Starke RPV bullet did a fine job. I got two running shots on the male, but this time I shot behind him. I just can't get it right!!! This female was really nice. Heavy and light colored. I have a hanging scale ordered from Harbor Freight and it should be here any day. I'll be weighing these coyotes so I won't have to guesstimate their weight anymore. Once again, this was a situation where if I would have had a partner we would have likely had another double!

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The last stand of the day found me on a nice ridge looking into the wind to the WSW. At about the 8 minute mark I howled and got an answer back from the NW. I turned my body around to face the NW and tried to work that coyote a bit. At the 30 minute mark I spotted a coyote coming out from behind the hill I was on headed to the NW. I tried to get it to stop, but it wasn't having any of that. I flung a shot at it but it was about 350 yards away and the shot dropped short. I found its tracks later. It had come in behind me from the SSW when I was concentrating on the coyote howling to the NW. It circled around the hill I was on and walked not 50 yards from my calling position, but I was on the west side of the hill and couldn't see to the east where the coyote walked! A partner on the downwind side would have bagged that coyote.

It was a good day anyway. I saw 13 coyotes today, got the two that I had decent shots at and shot at four others and missed. I have been chomping at the bit to get out and finally did. It was white enough so the white coveralls and white ski mask looked OK.

Once again, I got a bit long winded, sorry about that.
 
Great post Silverfox. Great pictures to. Too bad North Dakota's such a long commute from Utah; otherwise, I'd volunteer to cover the backdoor on those stands.
 
When I worked in Tioga I saw nothing but red fox. You must have these yotes and the territory figured out.

Very nice. Looking forward to more.
 
Yep, Buster, that would be a looong commute, but you'd get some shooting if you came up.

brad h--the coyotes have pretty much thinned out the red fox. You'll find some red fox living real close to occupied farmsteads, but I think the density of red fox is really down. When I first started calling coyotes and fox, the whole country north of Williston was loaded with fox. It was very rare to see a coyote--1970s, and early 1980s. Coyotes moved in and red fox nearly disappeared. Too bad, I really enjoyed sneaking up on those red fox on blustry, cold winter days.
 
This maybe a silly question but quite oftern in peoples posts on this forum i read about people pulling over because they saw a coyote in a farmers feild and shooting it. Is this legal to just shoot accross a farmers land that you dont know in the US or am i missing something??
 
Eddiev--when you are on prairie trails in North Dakota and the land is not posted, you can shoot from off the prairie trail onto the farmer's land. You have to be careful and know where the buildings are around the country and not take shots that could go over the hill. There are lots of cattle still out in the pastures, so you want to be sure you don't hit one of those.

If the land is posted on both sides of a road or section line, you are not supposed to shoot game if it is on the trail or road.
 
Great story and pictures Silverfox. Looks cold in your parts.

The second yote looks pretty good size. I missed a few moving shots this year too!!! Don't feel too bad.

Not having a partner to watch the back door no doubt costs alot of us critters. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Silverfox, dont worry about being long winded! We enjoy reading about your hunts and viewing your pictures. You sure do spot alot of coyotes as your walking or driving to your stands. Is this because of the lay of the land or do you do alot of glassing? Here where I call I very seldom see the coyotes out and about with the exception of during Feb./March when they are looking for a mate. Good going on your hunt!
 
Nice pictures and a good story is usually long winded. I may have time to do some calling this weekend, but I'll be concentrating on filling my archery tag. I'm still working on fine tuning my calling and hope to someday get that kind of success.

Have a good weekend.
 
Looks like you had a good day Ol' Dog!! Is that Chinese restaurant in the old quonset hut still open in Williston? When I worked over in Wolf Point we used to drive the 90 miles for Sunday supper.

Good Hunting,

Bob
 
SILVERFOX: what is that dormant grass in your photos? it doesn't look like wheat stubble because it's not in rows. is it CRP or simply native, natural grasses?

you mention spotting so many coyotes: when you see them are they in this same grass?
 
Silverfox,
Sounds like you did have a great day. That is what is great about coyote hunting there is lots of action of one type or another.
Those coyotes hanging on the pole look nice sized and the hair on the one in front looks great!
I can't believe how many coyotes folks in other areas see just driving around. Out here in the Idaho desert I very seldom see any coyotes while I am driving around. I thought maybe they just ducked down out of sight when they hear a truck coming. There are a lot of badger holes in this country, have any of you folks ever seen evidence of coyotes laying up in badger holes during the day? I just wonder why, other than maybe we don't have as many coyotes, I hardly ever see them out in the desert unless they are called in.
Glad you got to get out and do some hunting, with results like that it must be really tough on a guy not to have more opportunity to get out.
 
Silverfox,

Great story and pics. Thanks for taking the time to post them.

Between ND deer season and now my deer season here in MN, I haven't even been out since the first part of November. I'm itching to go though and will be out there at my first chance.

Later
Randy
 
good job silverfox!!! those are nice looking coyotes...and thanks alot for the instructions!! i think i finally got my picture to post up..thank god i can shoot a little better than i can run this computer....thanks again.
 
I’ll try to answer the many questions some of you have posed and then take care of Mr. Smarty Pants (nd coyote killer) in the last paragraph.

Dogboy—it wasn’t too cold yesterday morning, about 8º to 10º when I left home and it got all the way up to about 24º in the heat of the day.

CatDog—It is not unusual to spot coyotes out hunting or moving around in early morning or early evening. They will also move around if the wind changes and their bedding spot isn’t out of the wind anymore.

I usually do some glassing before I drive into an area, especially if it is land I am not familiar with. Many of the areas I call in have been my hunting grounds for nearly 30 years and I know the lay of the land pretty good. I know how to approach my calling stand without being seen. I usually take a little time to scope out the area before I top the rise to lay down for calling. A coyote, with its head up, looks like a bright light in the dark to a trained observer. They just stick out, even if they are in a brush pile. If you hunt them enough, you’ll get the hang of it and almost instinctively recognize that light colored spot on that hillside or in that brush patch as suspicious and when you look, there’s a coyote looking back at you. I think I get a little careless about not glassing, but I’m just a stubborn Norwegian and it is hard to change my ways. In reality, I think you should glass the area first, then hightail it over the hill to set up and call.

Dakota Yote—Good luck on filling that archery tag. You’ll have lots of time to call coyotes once you get your deer. You might want to leave a few seed coyotes around for when nd coyote killer and others come down for their February calling rendezvous.

Calypso—That old Quonset is no longer a Chinese restaurant. I think someone sells antiques there now. I did eat there too and it was quite good.

Sagebrush—The picture of me kneeling with the coyote & rifle in front of me, that is in an alfalfa field. Right about at my forehead level, behind me, is native prairie with what may be some bluestem and other native grasses. The dormant grass behind the coyote on the post is old CRP. Some of the coyotes I spotted were in CRP, some in stubble fields and others were in native grass pastures or sloughs. They are all over!!!

AHunter—I don’t think coyotes around here go underground during the day. They usually find a spot that is out of the wind and in the sun. If they can’t find a spot that has both no wind and some sun, they opt to lay up out of the wind. If the weather is extremely harsh, I would guess a coyote might hole up in an old den or badger hole. They can withstand some pretty harsh conditions and sleep or lay right out in the open on top of a snow drift.

nd coyote killer—If your name was Randy Watson, I’d be worried about that threat /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif If you’d talk nice to me I might leave a few coyotes and fox for you to try to call when you come out this way—but you’d better start being nice to me. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Silverfox sure like those pic's and stories and purdy ND coyotes. Tell me a little about your 17 rifle - it looks like a Sako with a custom fluted SS 17 Rem. barrel. I shoot two 17's one is the 17M4 and the other a 17 Remington with heavy SS barrel. Thanks.
 
redfeather--my .17 Remington has a Remington 700 BDL action which which has been blueprinted. It has a Lilja 26" fluted SS barrel with a 1 in 9" twist and 4 grooves. The stock is an HS Precision thumbhole stock with alumninum pillar blocks. I had to hack off a little bit here and a little bit there on the stock to make it fit me and the BDL action. I filled in the reworked areas with body putty and did the camo job myself. The scope that sits on the rifle is a 6x-24x Burris Signature model and sits in Signature rings with the plastic inserts. I just love those inserts so far. This rifle digests the Hornady 20 gr. V-Max, Hornady 25 gr. hollowpoints, and Starke 30 gr. Red Prairie Varmint bullets equally well. I use the 20 gr. V-Max for prairie dogs and will probably stop shooting the 25 gr. Hornadys. The 30 gr. Starke bullets are my coyote medicine. They are only loaded with a MV of about 3,631 fps, but really put the coyotes down with authority.
 
Silverfox, excellent story and pics! Thanks a lot for sharing. Boy if that isn't proof that it pays to stay on stand longer than 10 or 15 minutes, I don't know what is.

Those are some real nice coyotes. Way to talk them in. Looking forward to the next time you get out to "relax". /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Take care, Curt
 
HEY Silverfox....nice pics and stories....tell ya what, im out that way a couple times a year. If im nice will ya leave some for me? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif GOOD JOB!!!!! Wish i could relax like that..

SHOOT STRAIGHT!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
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