Very weird stand, read this and tell me what happened!

204 AR

Well-known member
Well, I went out this morning to try again at a place where I got busted setting up last time. Instead of going in where I did last time, I thought I'd set up on the opposite side of the pasture, and call back to the cover where they were last time. I called quite a while, with no luck. I was set up on the side of a hill, facing north, with a wsw wind. The property fence line was about 100 yards behind me to the south. I was keeping a pretty close eye on the downwind side and over my right shoulder, back towards the southeast.

I left that stand, and decided to go back in another mile to the east and try it again. As I neared the fence, I noticed tracks in the fresh dusting of snow we got last nite. It looked like a yote was goofing around there for a little, that's when I noticed the dead mouse, laying on the snow, right by the hole the yote dragged it out of! This was all probably 100 or so yards from my stand. Then the tracks went north a little ways, then I lost them.

So I continued east along the fence, and the coyote tracks came back to the fence and were headed east also. I followed them for a good mile, before they veered off back north. I continued on for a ways, then set up and tried another stand with no luck.

So what do you think? I thought of 3 possibilities,

1) the tracks were made last nite, and they killed the mouse for fun and left it.

2)They caught the mouse as I was walking in to the first set, and they heard me over the hill and bugged out, forgetting their breakfast.

3)They were answering my calling, and caught a mouse on the way in. Then they busted me somehow, saw me or the wind swirled back to them. Forgot the mouse and left.

The tracks I followed were not running, looked like a normal walking pace. And there were two sets of tracks.

After all of this I left down the road scouting and figuring out what to try next time, driving north. Turned around to go home, and I stopped to look out over the pasture I had been watching from the first stand, there is a pdog town there. And there were those two coyotes, running away over the hill about 5-600 yards away. I think they made a big 2 mile loop, and came back to where they were headed in the first place.

Those two have evaded me too much, next time it's personal!

Hopefully I explained this so it makes sense. Tell me what you think.
 
It's very possible that the one that caught the mouse caught a whiff of a female in heat (it is breeding season) and decided passion was more important than the mouse...

The female could have called the male to her and they left, looking for a den.

Since the one left, without running, it may have detected you in the area and just left and then located the female...

Lots of possibilities... all just guessing...
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..I'm just trying to think like a male Coyote...
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I do not believe that a Coyote ever Hunts for fun. A dead mouse is more likely the Coyote was bugging out to avoid you walking in.
 
Yeah, I think maybe option 2 also. The snow was pretty crunchy, they could have been long gone by the time I got around the hill.

I'll tell you what, I've guessed wrong two trips in a row out there, wherever I go to set up, they are already there. It will be my turn sooner or later, and they will pay!
 
....Strange things happen, sometimes, or at least, strange to us.

This time of year, I use howling, mostly. They seem more interested in protecting their turf than in food, IMO. I've had a pair come in, when I had howled, with the wind in my favor, from them to me. WHY? Maybe because there was a coyote already there, so there couldn't be any danger, right? Who knows? I've had them do things that I didn't understand, but I ended up killing them, anyhow.

I think, next time, I would try howling only, to see if it works. What have you got to lose?
 
Originally Posted By: daddyfleaI do not believe that a Coyote ever Hunts for fun. A dead mouse is more likely the Coyote was bugging out to avoid you walking in.

Have seen as many as 9 dead lambs, confirmed coyote kills, and only one of them fed on! Not sure why they would have killed them if it wasn't "for fun"!
 
i watched a yote catch a mouse at the edge of a pond, toss him up in the air, run around like an idiot, toss it in the air.....and so on probably 10 times. he then just left the dead mouse on the ice and walked off. im goin with the fun.
 
Originally Posted By: mtncatOriginally Posted By: daddyfleaI do not believe that a Coyote ever Hunts for fun. A dead mouse is more likely the Coyote was bugging out to avoid you walking in.

Have seen as many as 9 dead lambs, confirmed coyote kills, and only one of them fed on! Not sure why they would have killed them if it wasn't "for fun"!

Never heard of a coyote doing that but dogs will kill like that.
 
I have watched a yote catch a cottontail and not kill it all the way ... he/she then played with it, bouncing and nipping and lunging at it, until he had had enough and just walked away !!!
 
Originally Posted By: 1badboyyep seen yote kill something and leave it many times !
Maybe I read it wrong.
I read it as 9 lambs killed at 1 time.
Coyotes wouldn't do that. Dogs will.
 
Sounds like they're messing with ya. I had one take a leak on my pickup tire once just to let me know they were nearby. Once in a while when I howl they just stand behind brush and howl back wondering how long I'll sit in the cold looking like a fool. Could be any of the three options you listed, but I bet they're just messing with ya.
 
Originally Posted By: RJM AcresOriginally Posted By: 1badboyyep seen yote kill something and leave it many times !
Maybe I read it wrong.
I read it as 9 lambs killed at 1 time.
Coyotes wouldn't do that. Dogs will.

I beg to differ. I have seen yotes that have killed many lambs at one time and only eaten one or two of em. And yes, I do have experience with both dogs and yotes. Sean
 
Originally Posted By: deadhorseSounds like they're messing with ya. I had one take a leak on my pickup tire once just to let me know they were nearby. Once in a while when I howl they just stand behind brush and howl back wondering how long I'll sit in the cold looking like a fool. Could be any of the three options you listed, but I bet they're just messing with ya.


LOL I think you're right, only thing I got to say is payback's a b$#@!. When they win no one gets hurt, when I win it's final!
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