Yotes at Pawnee National Grassland

D

DanimaltheAnimal

New member
Going out to Pawnee over Easter with a buddy. We'll be armed with a detailed map of the public property available. I've been out before to hike but never to hunt. Probably going to hunt the Western section out near Nunn. Anyone have any advice on this at all in terms of places to start, time to go, etc? Bringing a Remi R-15 and a .243 plus a pair of shotguns. Been practicing hand calls, wasn't sure if I should bring an electronic set up. Any ideas about camo this time of year? Was going to go with some Cabela's Open Country. Should we bring a quiver critter or yote decoys as well? Advice much appreciated.
 
I grew up just outside the PNG and back in the day it was a great place to hunt coyotes and antelope. These days there are far too many "target shooters" to make daytime hunting a viable option. I would highly consider going to the grasslands main office on the north side of Greeley and getting a permit to hunt at night. Bring the electronic, hunt very early am and evening pm.

Please consider one other point. I have friends who live just outside Briggsdale. They almost lost the place due to grassland fire last weekend. The fire danger out in that area right now is extremely high so please be aware.
 
Last edited:
I hunt there once in awhile, with decent success. Try hunting along the edges of the private/public boundary and call to the private. If you can locate smaller parcels of public, those may not get hunted as often as the larger pieces.

Neat area.
 
Not sure about the PNG by Briggsdale but the grasslands by the Weld/Logan county line is hunted hard! I haven't even seen a coyote around there since Dec. so I would advise you not to hunt there. You may get lucky but don't count on it plenty of antelope just no coyotes.

Good luck and lets us know how you do.
 
I go there a lot in summer to shoot PD's. We see coyotes from time to time and find sign, but never been able to call one in. Always just a moment of opportunity.

Especially on the western edge it gets a lot of traffic and recreation shooters. Probably educated most of the coyotes around because they run on sight of a person or vehicle.
 
Appears everyone has stated the same thing and I will echo the above. Lots of traffic, target shooting, and "yahoos" blasting away out there. I have called it in the past with little success. Above it was stated to find the public/private borders--I agree with this. I would also knock on some doors and visit the farmers....they don't want them there and in my experience had great luck. Heck, I was leaving the grasslands once, spotted 2 feeding on a dead cow, drove up the driveway, got permission, and in 30 minutes had one dog down. Calling at night would be an option, just get with DOW and get your permit of course.
Good luck!
 
Thanks for all the advice, guys. Sort of figured the public pressure was pretty heavy. Looks like it's going to be a combination of all your advice. Still going out to PNG near Nunn so we can shoot some trap before at Great Guns. The buddy I'm going with emailed to say he was going to get a permit, so we can get out at night. And a woman that works in my dad's office has a place out near Severance with a whole lot of yotes - they've had problems with their dogs so she's apparently more than happy to have us come out and kill a few. Will let y'all know how it goes. I live in NYC - it's not the best. Very excited to get back to the Front Range.
 
Your buddy won't be able to get you a night permit. You have to take your license in person to the office or game warden or only your buddy will have a permit for him.
 
IMHO, PNG coyotes are some of the best educated in the country. Don't bother with rabbit distress calls. Right now they're pairing up and making pups. Start with howls to bring out their territorial side. If you do use distress calls, use the oddballs, piglet, chicken, small dog/puppy, etc. This is where electronic calls come in handy.

If you're coming all the way from NY, you might consider going a couple of hours further west into the mountains. I think they get less pressure there. Plus, it's easier to get off the beaten path. I've had better luck there.
 
Used to work at the big feed lot in Severance back when it was Monfort. Coyotes and coon all around. Pretty flat country, don't forget your scatter gun.
 
May be able to get up into the mountains a bit as we're going to do some fly fishing up the Poudre later in the weekend. Much appreciated on the calling advice - I'm new to predator hunting so I'm writing all this down. On the electronic call front, I've been trying to figure out the best value for $200 or less. Any suggestions there?
 
Originally Posted By: DanimaltheAnimalMay be able to get up into the mountains a bit as we're going to do some fly fishing up the Poudre later in the weekend. Much appreciated on the calling advice - I'm new to predator hunting so I'm writing all this down. On the electronic call front, I've been trying to figure out the best value for $200 or less. Any suggestions there?

I've got a Johnny Stewart Preymaster Digital caller. It's not the wireless one. You can pick one up for about $100, but I've seen them on sale for $80. It comes with 60 feet of wire but I only use about 10 of it. It also comes with 3 sound cards that each have 4 sounds each. This option would leave you with money left over to buy some additional cards. You can get a wireless preymaster for about $200, but some of the reviews I read have me concerned about range and volume control. I'm saving my money for a good Foxpro. If you want to go even cheaper, you can build an mp3 caller, download some sounds and create your own call sequences. Go to varmintal.com details and some free sounds.
 
wait two months...foxpro wildfire twice as loud 35 sounds and another 100 bucks.

or pm me........you can use my foxpro xr6


have to come to Denver to get it though.
 
Last edited:
I hunted the PNG a few times with some success, didn't hunt any of the flat country, me and a buddy would drive around the area quite a bit when we would shoot target out there, you would swear there were absolutely no coyotes there but if you would go out on a calm night and turn on our ecaller you would think you were in a different place, seems the yotes would just be howling all around and when we would try and hunt it we got nothing most times but I had some luck when I went by myself a few times, I do know of a couple good places that have yotes and a nice prairie dog town which is fairly decent size. I have since been transferred from the Greeley area but would love to go back that way.
 
Originally Posted By: skb2706wait two months...foxpro wildfire twice as loud 35 sounds and another 100 bucks.



I don't think that's quite right on the volume. I saw a video comparing the 2 callers somewhere. They said the new Wildfire won't be any louder than the Spitfire. Same top end volume. Wildfire just gets there in smaller jumps.
 
Back
Top