Just how lazy are coyotes?

varhunter

New member
Has anyone noticed that stands, where the caller is hundreds of feet above where the coyotes most likely are, are far less productive? It seems when I call off a high hill into a large sage brush flat or basin that I never call anything in even if there is an abundance of coyote sign in the area. I've had a theory for a while now that if the coyotes think that the meal is too hard to get to, they just won't come to the call. I've called some really good looking areas with high hills surrounding a large sage brush flat that looks like it should hold a bunch of coyotes, and I always seem to get no response whatsoever. Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon?
 
Don't throw them Hot Dogs when the are already eating Steak!

Almost every Coyote I kill comes up a hill of some type. I am always sitting near the top with the best possible position to see 180 degrees or more around me.
 
I get that you want to set up higher than the surrounding area for better visibility but I just think there is a limit to what a coyote wants to climb for a meal. If I'm set up high on a hill at the top of a big draw, then I think I'm less likely to call in a coyote from the bottom of the draw. Or if the hill is particularly steep I don't think they want to waste the energy. Seems like my success drastically drops once the approach for the coyote gets too difficult.
 
Move to a lower position then!

Meet the Coyote 1/2 way.

Sometimes when I call and nothing shows, and if I feel like it is an area that will hold a Coyote then I will walk another 400-600 yards further in.

Nobody said hunting was easy, put a little more effort into it.

This method usually pays off.Originally Posted By: varhunterI get that you want to set up higher than the surrounding area for better visibility but I just think there is a limit to what a coyote wants to climb for a meal. If I'm set up high on a hill at the top of a big draw, then I think I'm less likely to call in a coyote from the bottom of the draw. Or if the hill is particularly steep I don't think they want to waste the energy. Seems like my success drastically drops once the approach for the coyote gets too difficult.
 
That's my plan. I just wanted to see if this was the case with other hunters or if I may be doing something else wrong that is preventing them from coming in. According to my GPS, I walked 10 miles with 1000ft of elevation change my last day hunting, so I don't think the whole effort thing is the issue. I basically walked a ridge and would pop over every half mile or so to make a stand. Eventually I was pretty high up on the ridge calling into a valley with a thick sage brush bottom. I couldn't call anything out of the bottom so next time I'll be down in the bottom with the coyotes.
 
Just because you do not see them does not mean that you haven't called them in.
Change your set up, you are more than likley getting busted because of your set up.
 
I have called coyotes across a mile or more, with steep hills in between. I have called them up 400 to 600 vertical in steep canyons. Not many places I hunt are flat, in fact when looking for a spot to set up, most times I want to be above them, they are far easier to see in sage when you are looking down on them.
If a coyote is interested in the call, its interested. I would not call them lazy. I have watched them come in from over 1.5 miles in the past, with a valley or two in between.
 
Originally Posted By: varhunter I basically walked a ridge

walking ridges when calling coyotes is never a good thing. coyote eyes see you easily. could be a big part of your problem.

 
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Is the wind in your face when you are calling and the sun at your back?

You are in Montana and calling vast areas with a large amount of Sage brush and not seeing any Coyotes?

Something is up!?!?
 
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It is a lot harder to call a coyote out of cover than to call him in the cover. In areas that are called often I've seen coyotes hide in the brush and search the whole hillside before committing and the e-caller was at the bottom of the hill.
 
Originally Posted By: 6724I have called coyotes across a mile or more, with steep hills in between. I have called them up 400 to 600 vertical in steep canyons. Not many places I hunt are flat, in fact when looking for a spot to set up, most times I want to be above them, they are far easier to see in sage when you are looking down on them.
If a coyote is interested in the call, its interested. I would not call them lazy. I have watched them come in from over 1.5 miles in the past, with a valley or two in between.

Agreed.
 
one of my favorite sets is to place the called slightly up hill and I sit down low.Its alot easier to see a Coyote coming down off of a hill or when its traveling across a hill side then it is to see it on the same level of ground you are on. I always call either from the upper part of a hill or I try to call them partially up the hill that way your going to be able to see movement much easier.
 
Varhunter, watch your Major and Minor feeding periods.

Wind

Barometric Pressue, weather fronts

I have sat up on hill sides and watched coyotes come in from 700 or more yards, I quit calling when I saw them, and they came right to me!

Coyotes establish their own territories, it is possible you could be on a boundary line, but pretty far fetched.

Best guess is that you are hunting during a High pressure front that is stabilized in your area, waste of time to call.
 
Coyotes are lazy in the sense that they'd rather eat a rabbit off the highway than to have to chase one down. They're lazy in the sense that they'd rather walk on a cattle trail than through thick brush to conserve energy.

I've seen a coyote run up steep,rocky terrain to get to the "rabbit" in high winds. Less than ideal calling weather for sure but that coyote had no problem maneuvering around in terrain that you and I would have to take it nice and easy on. In my experience if they're hungry they'll come and get that rabbit. They'll find a way. We play this game we play on their home turf. You can pretty much bet that anywhere you've sat down to call that a coyote has been there too at some point.
 
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