PA coyotes, brush, farm land, big woods, small woods?

GameLandManPA

New member
Hey guys, its been a while since ive been on here and im getting back into hunting yotes. I just moved into a new place in Bradford county PA and within the first two weeks here ive seen 2 different coyotes. enough said, I dusted off my camo, callers, .243 and now im motivated. lol.

ok so, my question is, my terrain is mostly big, rolling hills checkerboarded with hay, crp, corn and woods. Most of the woods in my area are more then 15 acres but less then 100 acres. We have high ridges, lows wetland swamps, thick woods, and open hard woods. Id like to know where i should be calling from. Oh yeah, im going to be calling mornings, and evenings. Should I hunt high wooded ridges looking down into brush, or low wooded hills aboe swamps? In general, I'm looking for tips on setups.
 
I like hunting the corners of farm fields. If you can get set up where two aides meet together they almost funnel down to you because it's easy to follow the wood line right to the call. If you can't get a setup like that use the high hill overlooking the woods just play your wind right or they might slip over the ridge before you see them and work behind you
 
Thanks for the tip. I spent a whole winter making 4-8 stands a week during morning and evenings, and 3-6 stands nights for the entire fur takers season and only saw 1 predator, a female coyote... Which I harvested
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Boy was I discouraged, I quit predator hunting for 2 years because I thought it was a huge waste of time. I'd love for someone to take a peek at my area on google maps and tell me what they think.
 
Just got a new farm to hunt, going to scout it sat. They heard the coyotes howling behing their barn 2 nights ago. The farm is hazily horse pasture down by a creek bottom the leads up to woods on a steep hillside.
 
Think outside the box a little. Coyotes are most active early morning and late evening, right? So you get up early and go out in the morning to call. Where are the coyotes? They are out on the hunt and on high alert. So you are attempting to call in a highly skilled hunter in his domain and you really have no idea where he is or where he will come from. Most of the time when you see one it is out in the open. Ask yourself this. If they are not in the open then where are they? If they are not out hunting then where did they go? Pull up a map of the area you are going to hunt. Look at all the open areas and then look at the wooded areas or areas with thick cover nearby. Maybe even the swampy areas. Sleep in and wait until mid-day to go hunting. Now you know more than likely they aren't in the open areas and most likely are laid up, sound asleep on a ridge, in the head of a hollow or in a thicket of some sort. Look at areas where people normally don't go. Sneak in on the down wind side of said area and set up in the woods a hundred or two hundred yards from the really thick stuff if there is any nearby. If there are logging roads or trails set up so as to leave them an easy approach route in and set up where you can see the trail coming in. I like my visability to be around 40 yards. I set up so that when they come in, they are already within shotgun range when I see them. Once you get set up, wake them up. Sometimes I use distress sounds, sometimes I use coyote vocals and sometimes a combo of both. The key is to shock them awake. When you call, let it rip. When using distress I call loud and hard for about 15 seconds then wait 2-3 minutes. I will call again for 15 seconds then wait a few more minutes. If they are not there in 5 minutes then the shock and awe idea is over. I then reduce volume and call on and off for 10 minutes then 10 minutes of silence. If I start off with howls then I howl and wait a minute, howl and wait 2 minutes then just bark a few times and wait. If nothing comes in several minutes I bark again then wait 5 and go to distress sounds. The whole idea is to get in close and try to get a response before they have time to think about it. It works for me. It usually happens fast. I have shot 10 like that since I started trying the thick stuff and all have responded in 5 minutes or less. most less than 3 minutes and a few in under 30 seconds. In my experience they seem to rush the call more rather than circle way out. I still sit 15 to 20yds down wind of the call. No guarantees but you might give it a shot. Hope this helps you some. Just don't forget the basics. There are so many different ways to go about it, I could type all night. I'm sure somebody else can add some more. Good luck.
 
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Dunk, Great idea! I think your style of hunting is a very good way to change it up and kill a few more. Especially here in the east.
 
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