Busted by cattle?

Gsjcky

New member
A few weeks ago, I used a dry water cannel to sneak into the area I wanted to call. In the field across the road was some cattle feeding on corn stalks. They were down wind, never saw me but definitely could smell me. They made quite a racket mooing while I was working my way by them.

After a mile walk in the cannel, I started calling, and made 5 or 6 stands. I thought it would be productive, as there was a lot of sign, and I had heard them at daybreak. I finally called a young female, on the 5th stand, and was able to put her down.

Did the cows bust me as I was sneaking in? I have the feeling they did, and I learned another lesson the hard way.
 
I have had cattle chase coyotes off that I have called in, and I have had coyotes that would not come into the fields with cattle. Simply stay in the woods & bark. I have also killed coyotes in same field as cattle. I have no answer.
 
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Good chance they smelled or heard you if they started up right as you were near. You're just lucky they didn't come surround you when you started calling. I had that happen once. Was playing some fawn distress sound and a herd of 25 or 30 cows that were a few hundreds yards off immediately headed my way and before I knew it they had completely surrounded me and they all seemed a bit worked up. Turned off the sound and they didn't move away. So then I turned on a wolf howl and they finally moved off far enough I could grab the ecaller safely and head out.
 
Years ago, we were out and a heard of cattle came over a ridge while we were calling at a dead run! Thank god I was 20 yrs younger, and could move a little faster than I do now!

This heard was in a different field. We were separated by 2 fences, and a county rd. I thought the yotes would think it was a normal sound, as it seems cattle usually bawl at sunrise. I’m wondering if they didn’t set off the alarm that I was there. Cows always bawl when the hay wagon is pulled into the pasture for feeding, so I was hoping this was a normal sound the coyotes were accustomed to. Were they sending out a general alarm?
 
No, from what you described I don't think the herd mooing when you walked into your first stand ruined what must have been several miles of calling from the canal. Cows are good in that coyotes are usually around them somewhere close by, but they are bad in that they can ruin a good stand pretty fast. I try not to call in the same pasture close by, but have done it several times with good success, and sometimes it's the only way to call a certain property.
 
As others have said, cows do strange things. I have sat almost directly in the middle of a herd (our family land), and they didn't even bother to look at the call with it blasting on high volume. I have been stampeded as others have said as well. I have called coyotes, through, around and about every direction from cows. They like being around cows for lots of reasons. Most of the time, it doesn't seem like cattle pay a lot of attention to coyotes. It is probably a common occurrence unless they are calving then it is a different story.

The one thing I will say is if the cows get all fired up and start stamping everywhere, I have never called a coyote in soon after that event. This is one thing that has stayed constant.
 
A few years ago at the Tucson Convention I had one of my first encounters with range cattle, I was calling near Wickenburg on my way to the convention I was calling with my dog and had two pissed range cows and a coyote coming in at the same time. My dog never got upset by coyotes but he was already to do battle with the cows and it looked like the cows felt the same way. Between my dog barking and growling, the cows bellowing and kicking up dust the coyote thought rabbit dinner was a bad idea and bailed. I thought I was going to have to put a couple rounds in the dirt to extricate myself from the situation. South of Tucson a cow stuck his horn through the side window on my van while I was hunting.

Now I regularly hunt areas with cows, sometimes they ignore the whole thing, sometimes they will all turn and look a direction and sure enough here comes a coyote, sometimes they come to see what all the commotion is about.

Now they are just part of the landscape.

These range cows are about the toughest critter I've ever met, they will come out of the brush covered in Jumping Cholla cactus(fist sized balls of spines) and walk over to a Ocotillo Cactus (looks like a tall rose bush with five times as many spines) and rub on it to get the cholla off.
 
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Originally Posted By: KirschAs others have said, cows do strange things. I have sat almost directly in the middle of a herd (our family land), and they didn't even bother to look at the call with it blasting on high volume. I have been stampeded as others have said as well. I have called coyotes, through, around and about every direction from cows. They like being around cows for lots of reasons. Most of the time, it doesn't seem like cattle pay a lot of attention to coyotes. It is probably a common occurrence unless they are calving then it is a different story.

The one thing I will say is if the cows get all fired up and start stamping everywhere, I have never called a coyote in soon after that event. This is one thing that has stayed constant.


This. It's happened to me like this countless times. Cows do have pretty darn good noses. Almost more of a problem in the west is mule deer does. You generally don't have a clue they are around until they get goofy over your calling and come in. That being said, if the deer or even cows out in your field of view don't come running, they are excellent spotters. Watch where they look.

Hef-A
 
I don’t think you can stereotype a coyotes reaction to cattle except if the cattle are accustomed to being fed, hay, range cubes or whatever, they will come running. If the coyotes are accustomed to seeing the rancher showing up when the see the cattle running, they will head for the next county especially if the ranchers is in the habit of carrying a rifle
 
Originally Posted By: GsjckyA few weeks ago, I used a dry water cannel to sneak into the area I wanted to call. In the field across the road was some cattle feeding on corn stalks. They were down wind, never saw me but definitely could smell me. They made quite a racket mooing while I was working my way by them.

After a mile walk in the cannel, I started calling, and made 5 or 6 stands. I thought it would be productive, as there was a lot of sign, and I had heard them at daybreak. I finally called a young female, on the 5th stand, and was able to put her down.

Did the cows bust me as I was sneaking in? I have the feeling they did, and I learned another lesson the hard way.


Nope. Either they weren't in the area or you weren't playing something they wanted to hear. The animals don't communicate with each other the way we do...lol. It's not like Animal Farm.

We look for cows when we set up. We noticed more success around them. We once went up to a rancher to offer our coyote culling services. When we started the "protect the calves" pitch he informed us that he doesn't lose a lot of calves to coyote predation. He didn't like coyotes because they spooked the herd and spread them out. He said he sees coyotes eating the fresh cow pies. We had never heard or thought about that before.

I have seen coyotes come right through a herd. In fact cows can be a good early warning indicator of a coyote in the area. Check out our video on the Predator Technology YouTube channel. In our video Calving Season coyote, the coyote we shot was just out of frame from 6 or 8 cows.
 
My brother and I set up among some cattle where we had good luck before. One of the “cows” became very agitated, bellowing, mooing and finally huffing frequently. Turns out he was the bull in the heard and kept getting closer and when I saw him start pawing the dirt with his front hooves I could imagine myself not wanting to be a torriodor without a cape or but 800 pounds of beef. So, we hightailed it carefully back to the rig before I got “busted” up.
 
I generally stick to public ground to hunt because I don't like taking the time to track down permissions on the private. But I can say this: that the ranches that also are growing alfalfa will usually refuse permission because they love having coyotes on their lands since they help control rodent populations.
 
Originally Posted By: beaverquackI generally stick to public ground to hunt because I don't like taking the time to track down permissions on the private. But I can say this: that the ranches that also are growing alfalfa will usually refuse permission because they love having coyotes on their lands since they help control rodent populations.

True. But I have gained access on those properties by chootin all the rabbits and rodents I see. Quid pro quo. Don't impeach me...
 
I hunt/call/shoot near cattle often and have learned and seen all the quirks or problems known.
They often circle around me or a caller, or they will take turns stomping a freshly shot coyote.
Getting in a bull pasture is not a good idea for someone on wheels, even trying to open a gate can be trouble.
Not sure if bear spray would deter a bull as I know of owners that shoot bulls in problem situations.
 
No experience calling on private land with cows, but man, free range cattle is another story. I hate range cattle. Lot of areas around here the cows are in the mountains for close to 5 months out of the year. They wander for miles all over the mountains full of wolves, lions and bear. LOTS of bear. Theyre pretty much wild animals, and they know theyre big. A lot of them are scared of people, but some arent and can be flat out aggressive. Theyre the only thing in the woods that unnerves me. One mountain in particular that has a ton of range cattle also has a ton of berries and is infested with bears. The cows are as pain in the [beeep] when im out calling bears. Ive had to fire warning shots and make hasty retreats from the [beeep] cows on several occasions. Early august this year i drank the last of my water right before i called in a big bear and shot him, and it was about 95 degrees out. After hustling to get him skinned snd boned out and getting the first load of meat into my pack, very heavy load, i was [beeep] thirsty, and pretty much reeked of blood and bear. Tried to get to a spring to get more water and cows were there and they were not having it. Started coming at me, had to keep backing up while yelling at them and firin ggv off several shots at their feet. Not fun. I ended up having to pack that first load out over a mile in the heat before i got to the next water source , and i was one sweaty thirsty mess by thst time. [beeep] cows. Im kind of glad the wolves kill em.
 
Originally Posted By: SlagiattNo experience calling on private land with cows, but man, free range cattle is another story. I hate range cattle. Lot of areas around here the cows are in the mountains for close to 5 months out of the year. They wander for miles all over the mountains full of wolves, lions and bear. LOTS of bear. Theyre pretty much wild animals, and they know theyre big. A lot of them are scared of people, but some arent and can be flat out aggressive. Theyre the only thing in the woods that unnerves me. One mountain in particular that has a ton of range cattle also has a ton of berries and is infested with bears. The cows are as pain in the [beeep] when im out calling bears. Ive had to fire warning shots and make hasty retreats from the [beeep] cows on several occasions. Early august this year i drank the last of my water right before i called in a big bear and shot him, and it was about 95 degrees out. After hustling to get him skinned snd boned out and getting the first load of meat into my pack, very heavy load, i was [beeep] thirsty, and pretty much reeked of blood and bear. Tried to get to a spring to get more water and cows were there and they were not having it. Started coming at me, had to keep backing up while yelling at them and firin ggv off several shots at their feet. Not fun. I ended up having to pack that first load out over a mile in the heat before i got to the next water source , and i was one sweaty thirsty mess by thst time. [beeep] cows. Im kind of glad the wolves kill em.

You are right on. While free range cattle are pretty much a thing of the past where I live, I know from past experience that a 1000 pound cow who has learned to defend its young is nothing to mess with. We don’t have bears and very few lions, so don’t know how cows deal with them but they well know how to handle a small two legged man
 
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