Why do you hunt coyotes?

Jim Byers

Member
Probably been asked before but just for fun, why do you hunt yotes?

For me, it's a 24/7/365 season with no bag limits or rescrictions on methods of take, can be challenging shooting and the country they inhabit is beautiful and I enjoy the peace that comes from being in it. Not to mention it saves a few undulates along the way.

What say you?
 
I was born and raised around coyote hunting, with grey hounds, and my dad had an airplane that we used to help find and keep track of em from the air. When I moved away from home and to Colo., coyote hunting followed me and I started calling coyotes to fill the void.
Now, some 35+ years later, I find myself drivin more so then ever to get out and do some calling, every winter. The challenge, the wide open country, the solitude are all reasons that keep me coming back for more.
 
I enjoy the challenge of calling them in close and I collect furs. I like to travel a lot and there are always coyotes to call, lots of places I just go out and call them just to see them come in(no weapon). Last year I killed coyotes in four different states. I like to experiment with guns and have killed coyotes with many different ones and cartridges. This year at the convention I'll be bringing a Lever-action in 218 Bee, a bolt-action in 22 WMR and a German drilling in 16ga/16ga/6.5x58 Rimmed Sauer to hunt with.
 
Coyote calling around here can be good from October through March.

When I start calling I never know what I am about to see happen.

Getting to look into the eyes of a coyote at 30 yards and less is very exciting.

Taking pictures of coyotes running towards me up close and then killing them with a shotgun is about as good as hunting can get for me.

Killing coyotes has got me permission to hunt on quite a few very large properties.

From my house I only have to travel about 4 to 30 miles to be in some great coyote calling country.
 
I am a self taught hunter. I started hunting in college. I started with small game and eventually graduated to deer/elk and other big game. We used to shoot coyotes when we saw them just to keep them away from our hunting areas for deer/elk. Then the number of hunters started to sky rocket and we had every Tom, Dick and Harry Wal-Mart hunter storming around and things got dicey. It started to lose it's appeal. So I hung up my guns.

I picked up my guns again when my daughter was 7 and wanted to start hunting. So again we started with small game. Then a guy I worked with started talking to me about predator hunting. It sounded like a lot of fun. No hours of freezing in a tree stand. Or weeks of scouting pre-hunting, etc. So I took him up on his invite and went out. We saw a fox on that first hunt and I was hooked.

Today, I hunt predators for the fun, the relaxation and the challenge and yes, you can get all 3 in one stand if you do it right.

I was introduced to PM years ago, and I have met a LOT of really great folks here. So I continue to be a part of it. So predator hunting has also allowed me to make some great friends.

Pretty amazing to think that one sport can do all that.
 
I use to say because no one else does it. Now everyone is a mighty coyote hunter. Still rarely see anyone and thats why I do it.
 
I’m 53 and grew up using shotguns on small game and waterfowl in Illinois. Moved to AZ in 2007 but didn’t get bitten by the predator bug until 2 years ago. I’m a rookie and hungry to learn, but have had a small bit of success. Just got a new Revolt for this season, so once it gets below “hotter than the hinges of [beeep]”, I’ll go out and see how it works.

To the original question, I hunt predators because it’s a challenge to figure them out, the scenery in the desert is awesome, and nothing equals the thrill of watching a coyote come to your call or suddenly appear out of nowhere. Just gets the blood going and it’s addictive, to say the least.
 
Because yotes are a lot smarter than dumb, wild cows (Deer). They are harder to hunt. Tougher to anchor. Smaller target, further away. I always feel like I just shot a 12 point buck after harvesting a song dog.
 
Predator hunting is the ultimate hunting challenge where I live. I enjoy the challenge, both physical and mental. The solitude is a bonus. The kids are grown, so I don't have to schedule
time. IMHO there is nothing more tranquil than being on stand early and watching nature awake or being out late and put her to bed. Add to that a nearby howl and things don't get much better!
 
Surnrise
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Sunsets
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And everything in between!

Regards,
hm
 
I wrote this recently. A little long, but sums it up for me.

I had a long learning curve when I first started hunting coyotes. It took me probably 6 months to get my first, and a lot of that time was spent hunting with an experienced friend. When it finally came together and my Tikka .243 spat out that 85-grain non-lead California approved bullet and I heard that distinctive smack that we all love, I was hooked. When I shot my third coyote, this one with a shotgun, I was even MORE hooked. That’s become my true passion, shotgunning; getting them in close and “in the shoelaces”, as I like to say. It’s just more invigorating that way, to me anyway. I had a bit of a lull after going through a divorce 7 years ago but the last few years I have been after coyotes with a vengeance.

So why do I do it? For one, it clears my head in a way few other things can do. And I just love being out in the outdoors and I almost always see things I would never see if I didn’t go on these adventures. I’ve found state historical markers in the literal middle of nowhere, seen a roadrunner battling it out with a snake, had 300 ravens circling my head, found old boats in the middle of a desert, hawks and owls dive-bombing my Foxpro and on and on. I never know what I’m going to see when I’m out.

Last, but definitely not least, is the hunting itself. Tricking the coyote in their natural habitat is a very surreal feeling. Probably my favorite part is how quickly it happens. I often tell my friends that coyote hunting is “pretty boring, until it isn’t!” And I stand by that. I’ve spent hours and hours of my life staring at dirt and sage. Sometimes, I want to see something so bad I think my eyes play tricks on me. And of course there is always the shadow from a crow or raven passing overhead, or a jack-rabbit suddenly running to make your heart pound. But when the stars align and I get a coyote coming in, I usually go into a weird state of calm after that initial jolt. I do my best to get a good, quick, clean shot and my mind is 110% focused for those precious few seconds.

All in all, I just love the challenge, the experience and the mental and physical toughness that it all takes. Leaving my warm bed before dawn, driving out into the middle of nowhere and freezing half to death sometimes feels crazy to me, but I don’t see myself stopping unless I’m crippled or dead.

I don’t have much experience with other types of hunting but I think this thing we do is probably one of the hardest hunting challenges around. So get out there, shoot straight and stack some fur!
 
Many of the above posts have pretty much summed it up for me. When I first started fishing offshore I didn't know what I was doing and that added to the excitement. We could catch a Tuna, Marlin or whatever. When I started predator hunting I was calling fox and then one time a coyote showed up. One night I killed 4 coyote ( 3 came in at once ). It was the first night that I ever hunted with an AR, Four shots and four coyote down, my heart was pounding. They are smart, tough, fun to hunt and I feel like I am helping farmers and wildlife at the same time.
 
We hunt them when they are prime, We're very fortunate to live where the fur has great potential, so this turns the 24-7-365 off for me, we usually hammer from Dec.- Feb. This year hoping to start in Oct. and double our numbers.
I also do it as part of my job, and aid in other Ranch operations with depredation protection.
 
I hunt them mainly because the leftists in the fascist Washington State took away my favorite ways to harvest them. Snaring and footholds.
 
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