Coyote hunting in Iowa......Need some help......

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ScreamingCoyote

New member
Hi guys im new here and am in need of some help for hunting coyotes in iowa this will be my first year trying and im really excited about it but my questions are...

What calls work best for you at what time of year?

What kind of property am i looking to get permission on?

And will there be alot of NO's when asking for permission?

Thanks for your time and God Bless.
 
I'm also in Iowa(Marion- Cedar Rapids area). Using distress calls now as well as pup distress for another month then will swich to coyotes vocalizations with rabbit distress on the side til Feb. then to pretty much coyote vocals. Pretty short and sweet but will explain more if you like. Others here are more experienced then I but will help as much as I can. Still learning myself. My 4th season.
 
where are you in iowa? im about 25 miles north of the quad cities in clinton county. this will be my 3rd season, still learning myself. but from me and my hunting partners expirence distress calls do not work so hot around here. there is just too much food for them in any given area, ie: rabbits, pheasants, turkeys etc. your best bet to call them in is with vocals, pup distress, female mating type calls later in the season. or you can go about it a couple other ways. one way we have found to work is to just set up like a bow hunter and just wait. i know its hard to do, and you may sit for a few hours and not see a thing. but if you know they are in the area you will have a pretty good chance of seeing something early morning or late afternoon, or even at night. when we get a good snowfall and a good moon lit night you would be amazed at what you can see. since we cannot hunt by artificial light in iowa you need the moons reflection off the snow. plus yotes are alot more active and darring at night. they think they own the night and nothing can touch them. night hunting is probably my favorite.

another method you could try if you gain access to lots of land to hunt is the spot and stalk. spot them from a distance and just watch them. see what they do. i love watching them from a far distancve just to learn their routine. i like to be out before light. i watched the same coyote do the same thing for about a week before we made a plan to take him.

good luck and dont give up if it takes a while without bagging any coyotes. but once you do you will bre hooked for life. good luck.
 
I live in Dallas county and at this time I have no access to private land as I have been inactive for some time. I plan on driving the farm to market roads after a fresh snow checking for tracks. We had alot of coyote hunters years ago that would track and us a CB radio to plan a kill, so moniter the radio. There are a lot of coyotes in central Iowa also fox. Good hunting.
Jim
 
I'm 45 miles southeast of Des Moines. There are quite a few coyotes and fox near the river down here. There have been trail cam sightings of bobcat just not in my private hunting area. You could try posting an ad on Craigslist or just try and get into contact with farmers with livestock. Most are willing to have you get rid of the coyotes for them.

GOOD LUCK!

Brad
 
tbomb711, Ive had pretty much the same experience as you. I live on the Illinois side of the quad citys in Illinois City and the distress calls definetly havnt worked for me. I have found it much more productive to just sit. Im thinking of trying to leave and e caller next to sum haybails bout 200 yds from some timber and just watching it all day. Im at my wits end trying to call them for 4 years now and have only gotten a half dozen or so to come in to calls. hopefully this method mite work out
 
Find land that looks like it will be callable, looks like good coyote territory. Go find out who owns or farms it, go to their house and directly ask them. Tell them who you are, where you are from, and what you want to do. Be direct, confident, look them in the eye, and most will say yes, unless they or someone already does it. Don't dress in camo, dress in regular work or home clothes, clean shaven, unless you have a grown beard or facial hair.
Not everyone will say yes, but I would think a good number would. If they say no, thank them for their time and go to the next persons farm. If you develope a good reputation, people will sometimes hear of you and seek you out.
 
Welcome to the website. I like land with surrounding cover for them to follow when they are coming in. If you aren't very experienced in calling, start with rabbit sounds, that's their basic food. Most farmers want coyotes shot, but they have to answer the door for you to find out, that can be frustrating if they aren't home. Utube has several coyote clips for you to listen to and learn. Good hunting.
 
I hunt here in southwest iowa...east of council bluffs and have had the best time this season. Called in 15 coyotes killing 8 of them. Been using coyote vocals and NO prey sounds. I feel that they need a deep cold snow storm to get them to even WANT food.
 
Tactical 20, I know all the farmers around here considering my family still does farm. Lotta stingy peolple around here. They all say they dont want you shooting around livestock or they dont want their deer disturbed. Neither of wich apply to the places I ask about but most of them are just cranky about hunting period.
 
I also live in SW Iowa and I have very little trouble getting permission to call predators. Just start knocking on doors. I also like to talk to the rural mail carriers and county road maintenance people. They often see coyotes crossing the road.

I make it a point to tell the landowner that I will never drive my vehicle in on their land. I also ask them if they have any livestock out in pastures that I need to be aware of. This is real valuable information if it is calving time. Don’t forget to ask the property owner if they have been hearing or seeing any coyotes, fox, etc.

Many landowners know very little about calling predators and some are interested in how it’s done. I blow a call or two for them or let them listen to my E-caller.

If they give me permission to hunt I offer to let the landowner go out with me and do the shooting if he or she wants to. Very few of them take me up on the offer, but that’s ok too.

If I am successful at harvesting a critter on their property I always stop and show them what I shot. One or two dead coyotes in the back of my pick-up truck is usually a sure way to get invited back.

I have even had landowners call other farmers and tell them about me and send me to their homes to talk with them about hunting.

One last point, I never ask a landowner if I can hunt predators at night until I have hunted on his property a number of times and they get to know me fairly well.

Also don’t forget to send out those Christmas cards to property owners you hunt on.
 
I will be coming to Iowa at the end of the week for about 4 days. We are going to hint rabbits in the afternoon and do some calling in the morning. We will be around the corning area.
 
As several mentioned here the best way to ask for permission is to talk with the Land Owner and be courtious and polite and always respect their property by closing gates,parking where You won't block a driveway,walking to and from your hunting area especially if the ground is wet/soft where You would leave ruts,always clean up any trash laying around even if it isn't yours.


As You get more and more land to hunt on Your name will be mentioned to other Land Owners/Neighbors and hopefully You will build up a reputation as a Respectable Hunter and gain plenty of Land to keep You busy thinning out Predators.


Another thing I'd like to mention is when You do get permission to Hunt make sure You don't take a lot of other Hunters along and abuse your rights,when I get permission to Hunt a certain property I tell the Land Owner I have a Calling Partner that hunts with me and is it all right for him to go with me...other wise I Hunt it myself then if the Owner doesn't want another person there,as I gain trust he might let me take my Friend/Calling Partner along?If I get permission to hunt a certain Property because I know the Owner my Calling Partner doesn't hunt it unless I'm with him and I do the same if has permission to Hunt a certain Property I don't hunt it unless I'm with him.....just something we agreed on from the start to keep each other from over hunting certain land and not taking others in there to hunt and over hunt the same piece of Land.

I also Lease a large tract of Land with a few other Hunters for Deer Hunting Season only and after 5 years of earning their trust and respect I can go in and hunt about 3 to 4 different sections of land that I normally don't go on to hunt Coyotes,Bobcats and Foxes.

We also check with the Land Owner to make sure we aren't infringing on someone else Hunting time or Certain Game Seasons in different area's,there are a few places that we stay out of close to Deer Season,Turkey Season and any Youth Seasons where we don't want to scare off other Game by hunting it too close to a certain time.I can also tell You this...I have gained a lot more permission to also Turkey and Deer Hunt certain area's I could never go in to until I started helping Farmers out with thinning out the Coyotes/Predators.
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I will be living in Ames for the next few months. I am from Mississippi, and I usually hunt year around. I would really like to do some coyote hunting in Iowa. I will be working in Nevada, IA. Do you guys think I will have any opportunities within the next 2 months to get any hunting done?

Thanks,

Matt
 
A lot of good public ground between Ames and des Moines and from boone to desmoines . A lot of deer when I was there just north of ankeny and where there is deer there is bound to be coyotes
 
if they dont see you come in, if they are there, then you should do good. here it is so open, its hard to get in without them seeing you. now it would be best to use coyote calls, no food, or mainly coyote calls
 
I have tried calling coyotes here in Iowa with no luck also. I contacted the DNR to see if I could go out at night and use a spotlight with my FoxPro and NO GUN. He said as long is there is no gun I could. I tried 3 different farms and was able to call coyotes and 1 bobcat in. I wish we could convince the DNR after deer season a law for hunting with artificial light. Like Jan. 15 through March 31.
 
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