New to coyotes - looking for assistance

TheGatherer

New member
So I'm new to coyote hunting. I live in western SD and I'm getting into it because they are becoming a problem. I've heard and seen them for years up here - I back onto Forest Service and a 500-acre cattle ranch. We always have barn cats and a few have gone missing over the years but that's it. This spring they've gotten bold. They've killed all my chickens (which has never happened before), including one group of chicks that were locked in the coop - they dug under the gate and killed them all. And they have been in the front yard several times - also something I've never seen before.

So I picked up a Primos Alpha Dog call. I've been calling for a week now in the evenings. I've been using the Expert Hunt series on there. I can get the coyotes to talk regualrly to the different coyote sounds programmed on the call. Last night I had them responding to the call several times - but they won't come in. I saw one last night at about 600 yds through the trees but thats it. They moved from my east to the south over a period of an hour. This is fairly hilly wooded country and I most often hear them down in a ravine I assume to hold thier dens. I've been focusing on fawn distress and cotton tail distress as we have lots of deer and rabbits about.

Thoughts - Do I need to change the call sounds I'm using? Do I need to add scent to the situation? These coyotes have not been hunted at all so they sholdn't be super hip to the tricks yet. But they are certainly gettting way to bold around here and I'm guessing there are too many.

I'd really appreciate some help.
 
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ive had good luck with pup in distress this time of the year I'd give that a try. I use either my Flextone 500 or my Foxpro Inferno.
 
Never tried interrogation calls yet. Ive been sticking with animals in distress but in the summertime pup in distress has been deadly for me
 
They might have you pegged. Know your wind, get away from the chicken coop, daylight is often best.
Don't overcall a spot.
 
I hate to say this but it sounds like you are over calling them. I'd stop for a few days, then find some good stands that are not near your house. Wait for good wind situations and call with subtle mild prey sounds. Wait a few days and try again with different sounds from a new location. On a small property your going to have to have an idea of where they will be coming from and set up for that.

There is a lot more to successfully calling coyotes than dumping your caller out and expecting coyotes to show up.

If your really serious about doing some coyote control footholds and snares are far more effective than calling but again there is a lot to learn before stringing iron or snares.

Sorry Tripod I was typing as you were.
 
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OK got it. Great info. The piece Im hunting is the neighbors cattle ranch - about 500 acres and then there's the thousands of acres of Forest Service the butts up to both his place and mine...so lots of room and I've been calling at least half a mile from the house. I know where they live and where they generally move. I can't snare or trap on the private land because of the cows and horses there but the forest service may be an option. Mick thanks for the links and search suggestion. You guys have been very helpful I appreciate it. I've got some studying to do. Hopefully I'll post a photo of my first one here soon.
 
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Follow their travel routes and find places like under fences logs culverts and set snares where the livestock can't get into them.
 
I would suggest hunting in the edge of the woods with your back to the field and the wind in your face. If your area has more woods and cover than it has open pasture land I would not waste time trying to call them out in the open during day light hours. My area is like that and I wasted two full seasons trying to call open fields, I started hunting in the woods and I started killing coyotes. I hunt the fields at night. My preference is calling one out in the open during the day because I learn a lot from watching how they react coming to a call ot the thrill of getting a long range kill. And I still do occasionally hunt a good looking field during the day and occasionally kill a coyote but Open woods or old roads through thick’s make great setups.
 
Well - thanks to all your expert advice (Mick the coyote 101 was excellent - thank you) I had my first successful calling session tonight. One of the biggest thrills of my life. But it wasn't a coyote I called in...

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Wow, glad you got a pic of him, wtg! You're spoiled now, some guys try to call a cat for years with no success lol.
 
Thanks man - what a rush. Wish they were in season. It came from almost directly behind me (had my back to a tree) and passed within 15 feet - completely locked in on the call and decoy. Calling Arkansas- I did what you said and set up the edge of the woods facing in. Almost no wind.

I threw a stick at it which it ignored so I stood up and yelled and it ran. I thought it was a coyote when it registered in my peripheral vision and then I realized what it was.
 
Congrats, Gatherer! I've spent years calling predators in areas that held cougars and have not yet had one respond. {That I know of} How long were you on stand before his arrival?
 
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