Originally Posted By: DAAExcited is good. I like it - a lot. It's why I read your posts (I don't read very many here, to be honest...). It's fun seeing a new guy with so much energy and enthusiasm. Keep at it the way you are, and you'll have a LOT of this stuff figured out for yourself in just a couple years. You'll get there.
I'm just trying to say, do realize, that you do have a lot to learn, but that it won't be that long, before you'll look back on this and realize seeing coyotes on half your stands is no big deal. Early season, say seeing five coyotes in a day you make ten stands is just a normal "good" day, nothing unusual.
I don't consider myself above average, I'm just a garden variety recreational caller like everyone else, so I really don't have much to offer in the way of "teaching". I have no secrets or special knowledge. But, one thing I may be able to leave you with here that I guarantee will help you in the long run if you remember it. It's this:
How many you see, is only one half of the score and it is NOT the important half. What is important, the number you want to keep track of, the one you want to improve on, the one you want to be proud of - is how many you KILL out of how many you SEE. Or put another way, keep track of how many get away and strive to lower that number.
Too many variables involved to make a blanket statement about what is a good percentage to strive for. But for the conditions I typically hunt, which I suspect is the same public ground high desert you do, I'm not happy killing less than 80% of the coyotes I see WHILE ON STAND. That's not counting coyotes I see in a pasture I can't shoot in or coyotes that run across the road. Just the ones I see while on stand. If I'm not killing at least 80% of the coyotes that I SEE come in to my calls, I'm not happy.
I fully realize that under different conditions a much lower number would be considered very good. That's just my number, for my normal conditions.
Seeing them is great and all, but it's not the point. Better to see three and kill 'em all than to see ten and kill two.
- DAA
The most I've ever seen in a day is 4 maybe 5(may have been more than one but I was so excited to see the one I just can't say for sure) so I'm looking forward to learning more and figuring out exactly what gets them running in for dinner only to take a dirt nap permanently. I've been hunting almost every weekend for the last 6 months and have learned a ton. The place I found the little pocket of coyotes howling and kiyi'ing was in an area you've previously mentioned in posts long ago and even then before the bounty the pressure issue was being mentioned. I'm going to formulate a plan to sneak into the area and hopefully bag one or two. I long for the day when I call in a double just to have the experience, LOL. If you're ever itching to hunt I'm just up here in Ogden and usually hunt alone and company is always welcome.