Do coyotes have a smell ??

M

msinc

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that a human can detect if you are near them in the woods or near where they just came through??? Kind of like the way you can smell a red fox??? Or do they not produce enough odor for the average person to be able to smell them??? Thanks in advance for any info.
 
They are one of the smelliest creatures you'll ever find. We have located wounded coyotes by their smell, especially if the grass and weeds are wet and you are downwind of where they are.
 
killed coyotes that didnt hardly smell at all. killed coyotes that smelled real bad. killed coyotes that a blind man would think was a big skunk if he smelled it. same with humans.
 
It obviously has a lot to do with what they have been doing for the days leading up to you shooting them. I have never encountered one that didn't have a lot of odor, but some must have been rolling in crap for days. I see guys throw them over the shoulder to carry them out. You'll never see me to that.
 
Originally Posted By: possumal I see guys throw them over the shoulder to carry them out. You'll never see me to that.

i wont do that either. not even to the ones that dont smell bad. i dont like fleas.
 
Their urine smells sumthin fierce... I have called using vocals and had them come in just out of sight, piss to mark their territory then slip out undetected... I have seen it a number of times walking out on a trail and see the fresh piss and tracks in the sand... You can smell it very well.. The most I have ever attempted to carry/drag back to the truck in one trip is 3... Drag 2 and one over the shoulder... The pressure on its stomach being arched over your shoulder forces the urine to leak out... Leave me jacket in the cab of my truck and get in the next day and the ohh so familiar smell of a successful coyote hunt!

In warmer weather they decay faster than any animal I have ever shot... The temps get into the mid 60s and above they start to bloat in just a few hours... Start moving and flexing them once in that condition the gas escapes out of bullet holes it is pretty vile...

In warmer weather when they have ticks, shortly after death they detach... Ticks all over the bed of the truck and neck and ears if you carry them over the shoulder...

Sorry most of my info has to deal with after they are dead... Other than fresh urine I have never detected live ones by smell...
 
I highly doubt you could "detect" a coyote before you shoot it .... if that was the question. Unless it's tame and wants to be petted.
 
Thanks for all the replies so far. Maybe another way of asking the question would be; you know how you can walk in the woods and pick up the skunk like odor of a red fox, or the musk of a buck in rut??? Can you detect an odor that way from a coyote?? Like where one has recently crossed through minutes before you got there. If so is there anything you could liken the smell to or is it all its own thing???
 
Their smell is not comparable to a skunk as to volume. In every case where I have smelled them, it was wet and the wind was coming from the coyote to me. You are not apt to just walk into the woods and smell a coyote before you see him.
 
Originally Posted By: msincThanks for all the replies so far. Maybe another way of asking the question would be; you know how you can walk in the woods and pick up the skunk like odor of a red fox, or the musk of a buck in rut??? Can you detect an odor that way from a coyote?? Like where one has recently crossed through minutes before you got there. If so is there anything you could liken the smell to or is it all its own thing???

i dont think any human nose could do that.
 
"doubt you could "detect" a coyote before you shoot it .."

"not apt to just walk into the woods and smell a coyote before you see him."

Thanks for the replies, but that is not what I am asking...I must be asking this improperly because several posters are getting that I want to go in the woods and smell or detect by odor a coyote before he shows up on the scene to be killed. As if I want to know ahead of time a coyote is on the way.

"i dont think any human nose could do that."

No, what I am talking about is when you are out walking in the woods and you cross the path of a big buck in rut. He's not in sight and you have probably already sent him sneaking away but his musky odor is there and at least this human nose as well as many of my hunting buddies certainly can "do that."
Ever been out in the woods and pick up a kind of like skunk smell but not exactly and wonder what that was...it was a red fox that passed that way very recently...even a copperhead snake has a funny odor that the human nose can detect, often described as "like cucumbers." Not every human nose can do it, especially the ones that have 4 packs of cigs a day under them or the ones that huffed lines of "snow" off the banana boat.
I am not trying to kill one, I am not trying to detect one "on the way." I just am asking if coyotes' can be smelled if you happen to be where a live wild one recently was??? What I am getting from several posters is that yes, you will more than likely smell him. Thanks again for the replies.

 
I have tried to answer your question as clearly as possible. In my opinion, if the breeze is coming from where the coyote is to you, and he is wet and smelly, he can be smelled. The ability to do that might vary from one person to another, but we have done it several times. In every case, it was a smelly rascal for sure. It is a smell all its own, but not as dominant as a skunk who has sprayed all over the place.
 
I don't think so.. I haven't smelled any before i shot them.

I do know that after i have shot them.. I try really hard to metally mark that spot, and go right to them.. But there have been times that i have circled the area a few times, and picked up the scent of it and found it under some grass that way.

this is why i wanted a dog with me.. Something that would maybe alert me when they heard one comeing, and more importantly to me was help me not waste time looking for the dead ones.
 
Thanks fellas, you did a perfect job of explaining it. We don't have many coyotes here. They are spotty and just moving in. I have yet to kill one. I have seen two but at distance...one while I was in a truck. We had a dog chase the other night and thought it was just a deer but there was a different smell, one I have never experienced. It was almost like deer without the pee musk {if that makes any sense.} I have lived in this area most of my 52 years. The critter ran kind of funny too, that's why I thought it might have been a coyote. But, if experienced coyote guys had all said "nope, no smell" I could have ruled out a coyote. We didn't see any tracks and had it surrounded by woods roads and a field. That is why I didn't think it was a deer. Didn't pick up the red fox smell and a gray leaves no smell. Had to be one of those 4. Just trying to narrow it down. Thanks again.
 
I really think that a dog can smell a coyote if you have one hunting with you. But I doubt that the average human nose could smell a coyote while hunting.
As Possumal says maybe after the shot? But before I kind of doubt it. Unless the Coyotes were really rank.
 
I don't think this fellow was asking about smelling a coyote before you ever see one. The ones I have smelled when I was downwind were funky rascals. After they are shot, especially when still alive, I am convinced they are even smellier.
 
Why yes when they are wet and up wind I start to get a runny nose and my eyes water because I'm allergic to dogs of all kinds. I also at times get this same itchy nose feeling when a buck or a stinky old tom turkey comes around. Just like I can tell you there is a rat or mouse around if the air is moving just right. Found my elk last year smelled him before I saw him laying there. It can be a curse if I have to sneeze most of the time my allergy meds work just enough to keep this from happening. So maybe I wouldn't call it smelling them but my nose can sense them.
 
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No doubt that you could smell them. They would have to be close and wind conditions right, but we have experienced that several times.

I have caught the scent of javelina that have crossed my path or passed beside me. Bushman and I were out hunting a canyon right after it had stopped raining. We were just watching this deer go back up the canyon after it came down to take a look and we caught the scent of a musty wet dog then BOOM! Bushman dropped the fox within 30 feet of us. There was no wind that day and the fox came from above and behind us. I have also picked up the scent of quail that have recently been in an area, they smell musty and dusty.

So the short answer is, yes, you can smell them if they have recently been there or are there.

Some people may not have the olfactory acuity to pick up on the subtle and sometimes not so subtle scents. I personally have problems going into malls and walking through the perfume department. It's like getting hit with a 2X4 in the face. But my sense of smell wasn't always this good. When I first started I probably wouldn't have noticed the scents. But with time I have learned to start picking them out. Certainly not as well as a dog by ANY stretch of the imagination.
 
I have coyotes come through my yard pretty often. Where I park my car seems to be a path they take from the pasture behind my house to the woods across the street. They like to poop beside my car and pee on the tires. Occasionally I have walked outside at night and smelled a skunky/musty smell by my car and sure enough there will be a fresh pile of poop or urine on my tire.
 
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