Area Selection

shaneatkinson82

shaneatkinson82

New member
As most of you know I am new and learning all of this. Below is a GE image of the block of land I can Coyote hunt this Saturday. I was hoping some of you all could assist me in selecting my starting location. I am not so sure on how to pick stand locations just yet based only on terrain. I know the wind and sun will play in all of this. However if conditions were perfect where would you start? I can provide blow ups if need be. Just trying to learn.

(Anything in the white lines is in play)

 
Shane,

By the looks of the photo, at least the best that I can tell, I circled what I think are water holes. I know the one is out of your area, but I would call towards that big reservoir.

Get in near the water, at least within a half mile and call towards the thicker, brushier areas near the water or near the washes for the biggest odds for success.



If you can zoom in and find any other water holes, I would hit those as well.

Hope this helped.
 
We can't really tell you... We could all comb over this picture with a magnifying glass and find a place that would be ideal if there were coyotes there. But just because it would be great if coyotes were there doesn't mean they will be there. You need to do some scouting. You can't find a place to have a stand until you find a place that has some coyotes. Once you find that place we can be of further help. But a good general rule is that a coyote is going to try and get down wind of you, so make sure you have good visibility in that direction.
 
Originally Posted By: SnowmanMoShane,

By the looks of the photo, at least the best that I can tell, I circled what I think are water holes. I know the one is out of your area, but I would call towards that big reservoir.

Get in near the water, at least within a half mile and call towards the thicker, brushier areas near the water or near the washes for the biggest odds for success.

If you can zoom in and find any other water holes, I would hit those as well.

Hope this helped.

Helped tremendously. Thank you. Most of those holes are dry minus that reservoir. I'll start there. Not sure why I don't think of water as a key source for Coyotes. I do when I am map scouting big game.
 
Originally Posted By: wildcats137We can't really tell you... We could all comb over this picture with a magnifying glass and find a place that would be ideal if there were coyotes there. But just because it would be great if coyotes were there doesn't mean they will be there. You need to do some scouting. You can't find a place to have a stand until you find a place that has some coyotes. Once you find that place we can be of further help. But a good general rule is that a coyote is going to try and get down wind of you, so make sure you have good visibility in that direction.

So basically Coyote hunting is walking and calling. No terrain analyzation like other game? I get it...there is either coyotes or there is not... but does terrain play any key factors in their patterns?

Understanding water and wind but does the terrain channel coyotes like it does big game?
 
It is hard to tell how much land is in the image without section lines or a scale bar for reference... The size of the block of land will limit you on the number of stands you should make... What ever direction the wind is blowing, start on the down wind side and work your way across the property into the wind... The terrain has a lot of hills... I would use those features for finding set-ups with elevation for better visibility.. As you work your way across the property keep your approach in the lower areas... Coyotes will tend to bed down on the downwind side of hills where they can have a better view of any danger approaching from their downwind...keep this in mind as you make your way across the property.. I see there are a lot of what appears to be roads... I would try and not set-up to close to those roads... I would also not try and call them to where they have to cross any roads to get to your call, I am not saying they won't cross them but some will hang up on them... Especially if they are traveled often.. There is only so much you can learn by analyzing imagery, but once you have been out there a few times and have a feel of the lay of the land from ground level and then combine it with a birds eye view from imagery... I think you will find it a very valuable tool..

Good luck...
 
Originally Posted By: Infidel 762It is hard to tell how much land is in the image without section lines or a scale bar for reference... The size of the block of land will limit you on the number of stands you should make... What ever direction the wind is blowing, start on the down wind side and work your way across the property into the wind... The terrain has a lot of hills... I would use those features for finding set-ups with elevation for better visibility.. As you work your way across the property keep your approach in the lower areas... Coyotes will tend to bed down on the downwind side of hills where they can have a better view of any danger approaching from their downwind...keep this in mind as you make your way across the property.. I see there are a lot of what appears to be roads... I would try and not set-up to close to those roads... I would also not try and call them to where they have to cross any roads to get to your call, I am not saying they won't cross them but some will hang up on them... Especially if they are traveled often.. There is only so much you can learn by analyzing imagery, but once you have been out there a few times and have a feel of the lay of the land from ground level and then combine it with a birds eye view from imagery... I think you will find it a very valuable tool..

Good luck...

Thank you. I took the gridlines off to try not to clutter the pic and it is a Military Installation. North to south is about 10km while the east to west is about 5km at the widest point.

Great tip on those roads and I will look into that as I head out. I just pray this is the weekend I get a shot off. I came across one towards the southeast of this area. Problem was he was in the impact area (mostly all the ground to the east of the white line). I wasn't going to waste that shot and not be able to retrieve.

I'll also look into working those draws towards the water source with the wind as you said. Thanks.

-Shane
 
Shane, I'm home stationed at Carson as well but won't be back until next year sometime. Would love to get together and do some on base hunting with ya once I return. I've done quite a bit of coyote hunting/calling in my life but have yet to do any there on Carson.

How does the process go for getting an area? I've read on the website already about hunting requirements: need range class, register weapons on post, buy your Carson permit, etc... but just wondering about when you head out to the available area itself... you just go to range control and reserve an area for a specific time? How long in advance can you do it, and how long do you have it for? Or do they let multiple people hunt areas at the same time?
 
For me to have the conditions perfect I would need to know the wind direction and where I would be hiding my vehicle.

On some properties it can take quite a few trips hunting those properties to hunt them efficiently.

On some ranches I hunt the vehicle hiding place is the most important part of finding a place to make a stand. I still use some vehicle hiding places I used back in 1985 or 1986.

Most of the places I call coyotes the wind or breeze goes downhill in the morning until about 8:00am to 9:00 am and then it switches to going uphill until around 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm.

On big flat areas I always try to enter them from the downwind side so that the noise and sound from my vehicle is blowing back behind me. I want the wind in my face as I travel into the flat area I am going to call.
 
Originally Posted By: Infidel 762 There is only so much you can learn by analyzing imagery, but once you have been out there a few times and have a feel of the lay of the land from ground level and then combine it with a birds eye view from imagery... I think you will find it a very valuable tool..

Good luck...
Although all of this post and other posts were great, this is a key point to me. I find that no matter how much looking at maps or from the road that when I get out their a couple of times it all comes together
 
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If I have the time I have spent as many as 50-60 hours scouting an area before hunting it. As mentioned hiding the vehicle, getting to stand undetected, wind, setup, sun all play a big part of it.

If I do not have the time because I am visiting the area as a one time thing or maybe just calling to check out an area for future hunting possibilities (next year) I usually start at the far southeast corner of the area I am hunting and hunt north/northwest and call every mile or two. Terrain and concerns hiding my truck are my primary concerns with when I do this as the sun is typically at your back and you are most likely going to have a crosswind hunting this way. if you run out of land go to the south again and start over 2-3 miles to the west of where you originally started.

Tips.

1) DO NOT call overly loud. Coyotes hear further than you could imagine. You will blow out your area for miles if you call too loud.
2) Patience
#)If the wind gets up too much just scout from the vehicle or on your feet and save the call for another day.
 
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