Locating coyotes in the east.

GameLandManPA

New member
Hey guys, Im going to try and help my odds here this season by trying harder to locate some dogs before making cold stands and wasting time. So, reason tells me that if I can locate a coyote in the am(sunrise) he will most likely be in that same general vicinity when darkness falls?right? When scouting for stand locations, what sign is crucial to determining that coyotes frequent the area? What areas should I target? I read somehwere that coyotes can travel anywhere from 10-40 miles in a night. I realize that this traveling distance is not necessarily in one direction.(eg. I walk several miles in a day yet I never leave the jobsite.) Where do coyotes sleep? same spots frequently, different spots?
 
I think your best bet is where the tracks,droppings,etc range from fresh through old.That indicates they're in that area on a regular basis.
 
i do the opposite.. i locate at night and then go in the next morning and make my stands. it has proven very productive for me in the past few years. if i get them to locate especially in the breeding season you can bet they will be close the following day. early morning stands when its cold out!!!!
 
I have a heck of a time getting them to answer me when trying to locate them. I've tried it numerous times and only had answers 4 times in 3 yrs. most of my luck comes from hitting spots where people are seeing them frequently.
 
The only two coyotes I called in and killed we're called within 500 yards of where I actually saw coyotes. I just met a guy who saw a coyote in a crp field this past Saturday while hunting. I'm going to ask permission to hunt there and see if I can scout it for a good calling location.
 
I have pretty good sucess using a group howl or pair yip howls to locate. But i usually try n move in on em at night a little while after they answer me. Never tried the locate and call later thing. During breeding season if you have a group answer a challenge is usualy get u a dead dog.
 
Originally Posted By: GameLandManPAThe only two coyotes I called in and killed we're called within 500 yards of where I actually saw coyotes. I just met a guy who saw a coyote in a crp field this past Saturday while hunting. I'm going to ask permission to hunt there and see if I can scout it for a good calling location.
If your success has come when seeing them that close, maybe your calling isnt reaching out very far. Call then move just a short distance and call again, and repeat the same process. What kind of areas are you calling? open, wide open, small tracts? Iv said it over and over, those that dont have sucess are probly trying to call EASTERN coyotes out into the open. Find a small patch of woods and get in the middle of it and call. Coyotes move and are much more comfortable moving in a wooded area, than in the open. Ditch the rifle and take the shotgun.
 
Originally Posted By: barrelslimeOriginally Posted By: GameLandManPAThe only two coyotes I called in and killed we're called within 500 yards of where I actually saw coyotes. I just met a guy who saw a coyote in a crp field this past Saturday while hunting. I'm going to ask permission to hunt there and see if I can scout it for a good calling location.
If your success has come when seeing them that close, maybe your calling isnt reaching out very far. Call then move just a short distance and call again, and repeat the same process. What kind of areas are you calling? open, wide open, small tracts? Iv said it over and over, those that dont have sucess are probly trying to call EASTERN coyotes out into the open. Find a small patch of woods and get in the middle of it and call. Coyotes move and are much more comfortable moving in a wooded area, than in the open. Ditch the rifle and take the shotgun.

This was a game changer to me. Coyotes are like fish, where ten percent of the lake holds ninety percent of the fish. Once you know where the coyotes like to be. Locacting them is as simple as knowing where they're not. The ability for coyotes to cover ground quickly, means that the tracks you see on the field edge, could of been made by a coyote thats miles away in a thick secure bedding area. Eliminate all the open areas in your area and the coyotes will be most likely hanging out in the rest. Once you know where these areas are. you don't need to find them, you know where they're there..Sometimes it may take a long drive or hike to get to these areas, but can't call them if they're not there, which can often be the case.
 
Hey, what about howling at dusk, moving to the property you have permission on closest to the howling, howling again, waiting a few hours while mouse squeeking?
 
Coyote bedding areas.
This is what I think I know about coyote bedding areas, the areas I key in on to hunt coyotes morning, evening and the first few hours just after dark. IMO there are 5 main variables which I assign different values to when it comes to locating coyotes. Please add your thoughts and if there are any variables I may be over looking add them. I welcome the comments on this subject.

Low foot traffic.
Value assigned: 6
This variable I see as holds the most value. From what I know of coyotes they seem to avoid human as much as possible and it's logical to think that they will let there guard down and sleep only in areas where they are fairly sure they won't be disturbed.

Shelter.
Value assigned: 3-5
Facing the elements by any wild animal that spend its 24/7/365 outdoors always plays a role in how and where that particular animal decides to take its rest.

Cover.
Value assigned: 4-5
Coyotes in PA seem to stick to cover during daytime hours (that is the time that coyotes most likely bed down). They are not IMO an animal that feels comfortable sleeping just anywhere. I'm not saying coyotes in heavily wooded areas won't bed in open hardwoods but if there is cover readily available, I believe they would chose to sleep in the cover.


Seclusion.
Value assigned: 3
Seclusion also may be an aspect of low foot traffic but I decided to include it as its own variable because I believe if a coyote has a choice to bed in a low foot traffic area with cover, vs a low foot traffic area that's more secluded, (farther away from roads, houses, ect) they will chose the more secluded area.

Easy access to food sources.
Value assigned: 3-4
No animal beds very far from its main food sources. Coyotes can travel 10-40 miles in night but that may be a 10 miles zig zag/ loop around its main area of residence. Coyotes use calories just like people use money IMO. We work to pay our bills and survive, and coyotes work to get calories to survive. So I'd bet that a coyote won't be far from a meal while he beds down.

With this system I can scout an area and roughly judge what the probability a particular piece of property has to hold coyotes. If there are areas that have low foot traffic, are secluded, have shelter from wind, rain and snow, are brushy, near a food source such as a swamp, or CRP field and I see coyote sign such as tracks scat and coyote hair on barbed wire fences, then I would assume that this is a very good area that could hold one or more coyotes with frequency.


What are your thoughts? Please comment.
 
Originally Posted By: Widow maker 223I have pretty good sucess using a group howl or pair yip howls to locate. But i usually try n move in on em at night a little while after they answer me. Never tried the locate and call later thing. During breeding season if you have a group answer a challenge is usualy get u a dead dog.

I agree with widowmaker223 above. groups howls seem to really get them going around here. I used Foxpro locate howl a few nights ago and they answered right away. I followed up with individual howls invitation and challenge from a mouth call and the foxpro and got no responses.

Yet when I went to pup distress one popped right out of cover. They had to be within 50 yds when I was following up with individual howls.

I have had luck now and then with an invitation howls with mouth calls too. I'm practicing on how to do some group howls with a couple different mouth calls.
 
Sounds like good advice.
Thinking back during the day everytime I called one in it was in the woods.
Night calling is a different ball game. I think you can call them in the open near a wooded area.
 
GameLandManPA you are on the right track. It took me a while to figure out were to target my daytime calling. Once i started calljng in the woods near swamps etc. and places were no one walks my kill rates went up. I like calling from tree stands too.

Cman962 i wouldnt use a challenge till breeding starts. When i hear a old male in a group that answer during breeding season thats when the challenge has worked the best for me. I did the same scenario as you a few times in the past 2 weeks now and i think the challenge spooked them. Non aggressive sounds after a invitation howl is what im trying till next month.
 
I would tend to agree....But.....I will hunt the woods yes with my .357 ...but I still feel first thing in the morning during winter/Breeding season and again right after the pups are born there are yotes to be takin with the rifle along wood edge's....as far as howling goes...I dont do it expecting a answer..but rather to set up a situation....like ...use a interagation howl 2-3 times just to let them know I'm there then sit quite for a few mins...then start in with some deer bawls....as if mryote is attacking a deer....I'm sure a hungry yote will be curious ...and with the rifle thats all you need is for him to be curious enought to take a look....I'm not convinced there is a eastern yote and a western yote ...eastern hunting is just a bit tuffer....Think about it...out on the plans food is harder to get becsue its all open...so any time a western yote hears a call hes gonna check it out ....here back east ..with our woods and crop fields there is more prey and easyer to get so we as eastern hunters have to hunt alittle harder and smarter to fool the dog......rifle mornings yes....later slip into the woods with a pistol or a shotgun and call with a natural volume....many video's on you tube of yotes being takin during the day with a rifle....here in Ohio ...It can be done....I know a guy that all he hunts is mornings..he kills 40-50 a yr....during the day with a rifle in Ohio.
 
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