Mountain Coyotes
- Thread starter CWP/
- Start date
tripod3
New member
Wind and movement are the big ones. It seems to take them longer to show for me.
They also have more to hide behind while scanning.
I almost always face downwind and act like a mummy with a face net.
keep some elevation if possible and watch the other critters. If a rabbit shoots out, guess what.
They also have more to hide behind while scanning.
I almost always face downwind and act like a mummy with a face net.
keep some elevation if possible and watch the other critters. If a rabbit shoots out, guess what.
Bad Dawg
New member
Yep, follow what tripod said and you’ll kill more. I learned this hard fact last night hunting timbers. Refer to my post.......
http://www.predatormastersforums.com/for...941#Post3122941
http://www.predatormastersforums.com/for...941#Post3122941
jcs271
Active member
I would add that arguably the biggest issues are.... #1, there are a LOT less coyotes in the mountains. #2, If you are talking about heavy forest, the sound from our calls just doesn't carry that far. Life is hard for them in heavy timber with less small prey species and more than a few wolves/lions that will kill and eat every coyote that they find! And as Tripod points out, any contact you make is going to be very close and stuff happens fast, if you are not ready (rifle shouldered/safety off) you will never get a shot.
But hey, if it was easy everybody would be doing it!
But hey, if it was easy everybody would be doing it!
derbyacresbob
Well-known member
I agree with jcs271, in the higher mountains with big timber there are a lot less coyotes.
I hunt in mountains that are at 4,000 ft elevation and less but there is no timber just some junipers and some scrub oaks with open grass hills and mountains.
Most of the time the breeze is blowing up the mountains from around 9:00 am to 3:30 pm. Most of these mountains and ridges have a road at the top of them so I call against the breeze down the ridges and mountains.
The few coyotes that do circle to the down wind side of my FoxPro only go about 10 to 30 yards down wind because to go down wind they have to climb more steep terrain to do it. It is real easy to see the coyotes approach my caller and I very seldom see a coyote try to get to the down wind side of my caller when they are climbing up the mountain.
If you are going to call coyotes in smaller mountains or big hills calling from the top of the mountains with the wind in your face will work much better than calling from the bottom of the hills and mountains if the wind is blowing up hill.
Most of the time my truck is parked on the down wind side just over the top of the mountain or ridge
or it is behind some big rocks or junipers.
In early November we did have good results calling uphill but that was on a day when the wind was blowing down hill.
I hunt in mountains that are at 4,000 ft elevation and less but there is no timber just some junipers and some scrub oaks with open grass hills and mountains.
Most of the time the breeze is blowing up the mountains from around 9:00 am to 3:30 pm. Most of these mountains and ridges have a road at the top of them so I call against the breeze down the ridges and mountains.
The few coyotes that do circle to the down wind side of my FoxPro only go about 10 to 30 yards down wind because to go down wind they have to climb more steep terrain to do it. It is real easy to see the coyotes approach my caller and I very seldom see a coyote try to get to the down wind side of my caller when they are climbing up the mountain.
If you are going to call coyotes in smaller mountains or big hills calling from the top of the mountains with the wind in your face will work much better than calling from the bottom of the hills and mountains if the wind is blowing up hill.
Most of the time my truck is parked on the down wind side just over the top of the mountain or ridge
or it is behind some big rocks or junipers.
In early November we did have good results calling uphill but that was on a day when the wind was blowing down hill.
Forest Ghost
New member
Find the clear cuts, meadows, etc. don’t have to be big, 60-80 yard clearing is good. Shotguns come in handy but some of the logging units provide a few hundred yard shot. Most of the time it’s best to be upwind looking downwind. A decoy seems to always be my friend too. The wolves keep the coyotes scared to be first to a call and the squirrels are you’re favorite/worst alarm. But yeah, these guys bagging a few a day wouldn’t do the same up here. Way fewer dogs and lots harder calling.
K-22hornet.
New member
JCS271 is correct, there are a lot less coyotes in the mountains, particularly in the forest. Think about it from the coyotes perspective, the snow is deeper, making walking/finding/chasing food more difficult.
Hunt the valleys and open areas, especially in September/October when bears are up. It's very exciting to be calling coyotes with limited visibility and have a bear show up at 40 yards, and coming to the call.
Hunt the valleys and open areas, especially in September/October when bears are up. It's very exciting to be calling coyotes with limited visibility and have a bear show up at 40 yards, and coming to the call.
tripod3
New member
I think there are several different versions of mountains being hunted here.
We have sage, scrub oak, aspen and pine to fir/tamarack thickets to over 5000 ft. Some of this has a pretty fair coyote population and is among the most hunted in the state. It has flats and draws that run for miles, not to mention how logging changes areas for decades.
I have hunted and killed coyotes into the sub alpine with the same guidelines.
Now we do have heavily forested constantly steep regions that have different characteristics with different levels of wildlife. These areas take more patience and work to hunt where I kill far less coyotes but focus on different species.
We have sage, scrub oak, aspen and pine to fir/tamarack thickets to over 5000 ft. Some of this has a pretty fair coyote population and is among the most hunted in the state. It has flats and draws that run for miles, not to mention how logging changes areas for decades.
I have hunted and killed coyotes into the sub alpine with the same guidelines.
Now we do have heavily forested constantly steep regions that have different characteristics with different levels of wildlife. These areas take more patience and work to hunt where I kill far less coyotes but focus on different species.
Forest Ghost
New member
Yeah. I’m at a low of 1000 feet to Sherman pass is at 5600 feet or something and most my hunting is at 3000 and up. Highest coyote was actually on Sherman at about 5,000. Real yellow male. But yeah, deep snow drives them lower but they come back up once the snow gets a good crust. And fawn distress is a bad idea when there’s bear and wolves. We had a bear come in this year and shooting didn’t even faze it. Lumbered off on its own.
I hunt the mountains, I live at 8500' and hunt from 5000 to 12,500. There are not many coyotes at the higher elevations. Like others have said, less food. But, I have killed about a dozen above treeline which around here is about 12,100'.
I personally believe that there are far more coyotes around hay fields and farm land, especially where there is livestock. Hay fields produce grains, grains produce rodents. Steep country is harder to hunt in that finding a place that you can see some terrain is harder, and your calls do not carry as far. It is a lower odds proposition, but it can produce if you put in a lot of time. Most people do not hunt difficult country, so the odds of finding a coyote that has never been hunted goes up.
Above treeline, I have coyotes cover vast distances and lots of elevation to get to me, they obviously have not played the game before. I do not hunt heavy timber often as the calls do not carry very far and therefore you are not covering as much ground, and if they are 300 yards and closing, you will not know it, until they are there. I always wonder if they were coming but I just could not see them. I try to hunt the really brushy areas late in the season when a few feet of snow takes away their cover.
I personally believe that there are far more coyotes around hay fields and farm land, especially where there is livestock. Hay fields produce grains, grains produce rodents. Steep country is harder to hunt in that finding a place that you can see some terrain is harder, and your calls do not carry as far. It is a lower odds proposition, but it can produce if you put in a lot of time. Most people do not hunt difficult country, so the odds of finding a coyote that has never been hunted goes up.
Above treeline, I have coyotes cover vast distances and lots of elevation to get to me, they obviously have not played the game before. I do not hunt heavy timber often as the calls do not carry very far and therefore you are not covering as much ground, and if they are 300 yards and closing, you will not know it, until they are there. I always wonder if they were coming but I just could not see them. I try to hunt the really brushy areas late in the season when a few feet of snow takes away their cover.
Thanks guys, I do most of my coyote hunting in the desert. I was just trying to kill more of the dogs that eat our fawns where I deer hunt. I have called and killed them, just wondering why the call ins are so far and few between up there. I'm taking like 7000 feet and I don't call super thick country it is steep, with plenty of coyotes just can't get as many in as I feel I should be.