Hellgate
Member
The day before was windy 15-20mph. Called twice where we have seen dogs 3 of 4 times in years past. Saw no deer either. A bust. Everything (including ground squirrels hunkered down) Next day much calmer.
9:30AM & Sunny. We drove to just below the crest of a stubble field on a gentle ridge. Got out, walked over the hill 100yds, walked down a fence line toward a canyon below. Wheat on top, sage on the slopes and an old homestead with cottonwoods below. Set the caller on a fencepost 50 yards farther down the hill aimed downhill. Canyon goes N>S. Wind N>S (crosswind maybe 5mph). Bottom of canyon is probably 400yds below and 1/2 mile across top to top. I started out with Female Coyote invitation howl. 1/2 mile downstream, upwind and across the canyon about 3 coyotes start a howling frenzy on the side of the canyon. I never saw them but was called all kinds of names. No barking though. I went into jackrabbit distress, woodpecker, fawn distress and ended with pup distress over a course of 25 minutes. Never saw/heard a thing. We had great visibility other than directly above us. We proceeded back to the rig, drove on the backside of the ridge about 1 mile and set up 1/2 mile below where I heard the howling. Used bird distress, cottontail, hare, fawn and pup distress and not a thing. So, did I just educate a bunch of coyotes I've been after for 2 years? What would you suggest? Where'd I go wrong? I'm wondering if they were high enough on the far hillside and spotted us come over the hill on the first call. We kept the rig below the crest so as to not show ourselves.
9:30AM & Sunny. We drove to just below the crest of a stubble field on a gentle ridge. Got out, walked over the hill 100yds, walked down a fence line toward a canyon below. Wheat on top, sage on the slopes and an old homestead with cottonwoods below. Set the caller on a fencepost 50 yards farther down the hill aimed downhill. Canyon goes N>S. Wind N>S (crosswind maybe 5mph). Bottom of canyon is probably 400yds below and 1/2 mile across top to top. I started out with Female Coyote invitation howl. 1/2 mile downstream, upwind and across the canyon about 3 coyotes start a howling frenzy on the side of the canyon. I never saw them but was called all kinds of names. No barking though. I went into jackrabbit distress, woodpecker, fawn distress and ended with pup distress over a course of 25 minutes. Never saw/heard a thing. We had great visibility other than directly above us. We proceeded back to the rig, drove on the backside of the ridge about 1 mile and set up 1/2 mile below where I heard the howling. Used bird distress, cottontail, hare, fawn and pup distress and not a thing. So, did I just educate a bunch of coyotes I've been after for 2 years? What would you suggest? Where'd I go wrong? I'm wondering if they were high enough on the far hillside and spotted us come over the hill on the first call. We kept the rig below the crest so as to not show ourselves.