Wind direction

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Wiscoboy

New member
I have called 3 coyotes so far in about 2000 tries it seems. The 3 part is for sure correct.

All 3 were reacting to to a cross wind situation in some fashion. 2 were fairly close to being down wind but were held by a creek , and the other was circling to down wind when I shot.

I always hear to keep the wind in my face, but that puts the downwind behind me where I can't see. It seems to me a crosswind is a better thought process where I can see downwind and just know I need to shoot before they get there, or I need to keep something like a creek, road, building etc to keep them from wanting to get down wind. Is this a correct thought process?

My only concern with the cross wind is I probably will get winded more, but at least I should be able to see them vs getting winded and not seeing them if they are behind me, or them seeing me first.
 
Crosswinds are my favorite. Wind in my face I like backing(open fields, roads, rivers/ponds) and move my caller out farther. From behind I like to be able to see a coyote before he can access my scent cone , again like backing something to keep them from directly down wind..
 
A solid thought process.Obviously you must be able to cover downwind and near downwind while still providing a 'safe route' for them to travel while getting there.The more pressured the coyotes,the more important the 'safe route' becomes.
 
I will pull setups with wind hitting me in the face, but I prefer a crosswind or some wind direction that gives them some room to try to use the wind but still allow me to shoot. In my way of thinking, you gotta give them something. Give them a little comfort to use their instinct to circle downwind, but not enough to get you busted before you can shoot.
 
From my limited experience the coyotes around here do one of two things:

1) Rush in like a kamikaze pilot with a death wish. STRAIGHT TO THE CALL

2) Try their best to circle the call before coming out into the "open".

#2 is why I try my best to put the call out as far as I can.
 
*** I'll at times set up with the wind going down directly to the call in front of me. This gives the coyote an opportunity to circle downwind of the call/me, giving me more than enough time to spot a coyote!! I'll then stop it before it catches wind of the call/me. I've had great success this way!!

Think about it, coyotes are quite the cagie critter!!

"For humans seeing is believing, for coyotes smelling is believing." -Micheal Huff

*** A coyote will circle back and around to catch scent of the scene first before deciding whether to come in or not! In a case like this - with the wind going behind us, we'd NEVER see it!

Setting up with the wing going down through the call will give an opportunity to spot the critter - 65% of the time!!
 
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SwP said:
*** I'll at times set up with the wind going down directly to the call in front of me. This gives the coyote an opportunity to circle downwind of the call/me, giving me more than enough time to spot a coyote!! I'll then stop it before it catches wind of the call/me. I've had great success this way!!

Think about it, coyotes are quite the cagie critter!!

"For humans seeing is believing, for coyotes smelling is believing." -Micheal Huff

*** A coyote will circle back and around to catch scent of the scene first before deciding whether to come in or not! In a case like this - with the wind going behind us, we'd NEVER see it!

Setting up with the wing going down through the call will give an opportunity to spot the critter - 65% of the time!!
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Sounds good if you are hunting a large field or something similar.
 
When the wind is in your face, put that call out there 100+ yards. That coyote will have to cross in front of you to get downwind of that sound.
 
If a setup has the wind straight in my face(coyote believed to be straight upwind) I run the caller out at a 45 angle. Usually to my left as I'm right handed, easier to move slowly and less movement required. But much prefer a cross wind, with wind blowing into an area easy for me to watch. Really like some sort of edge,cover change just short of downwind of the sound source. I have killed coyote downwind, both called and stalked. Sneaking in downwind on a bedded coyote requires a very steady wind and careful angle approach. One wrong wind shift and the game is over. Calling downwind, really need the parallel cover change that the coyote follows toward the sound just short of the wind/scent cone. Wind thermals also affect coyote scenting ability, just like running hounds/bird dogs.
 
We call coyotes in wide open country and on steep hills and mountains with the breeze blowing up hill. Very seldom do we see coyotes circling to the down wind side of my e-caller. I try to have my vehicle parked straight down wind, back behind me and my e-caller.

We do have coyotes run right by us from behind us from either side of us that don't smell us. The coyotes that climb steep hills and mountains very seldom circle to the down wind side and if they do we can see them. In wide open country that coyotes can clearly see in, most of the time they run straight to my e-caller from where ever they were.

In most of the wide open country we hunt we can start driving into these areas from the down wind side, so the scent and noise from our vehicles is being blown behind us. When there is no cover we an clearly see coyotes if they do angle in from the side behind us.
IMG_0850 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/156463377@N08/, on Flickr
IMG_0542 - Copy by https://www.flickr.com/photos/156463377@N08/, on Flickr
IMG_0180 - Copy by https://www.flickr.com/photos/156463377@N08/, on Flickr
IMG_9191 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/156463377@N08/, on Flickr
IMG_6277 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/156463377@N08/, on Flickr
In the above pictures every one of these coyotes ran straight downwind to my e-caller, some of them climbing steep hills. It looks to me like coyotes that don't live in windy areas where they encounter humans fairly often and can see in the open country, don't circle to the down wind side very often like coyotes at night do or coyotes that see and smell humans fairly often.
 
I called for years struggling with your same issue. Most of the time I had the wind in my face. I probably never saw most of the coyotes that got within range.
After killing hundreds night calling with thermal I learned probably more than 95% will do everything they can to get downwind of the call. Once they are downwind and they don't smell what they think they should they will be headed back to where they came from. I think setting up to shoot between where you think the coyotes are and downwind of the call is the only way to go.
 
varminter .223 said:
I called for years struggling with your same issue. Most of the time I had the wind in my face. I probably never saw most of the coyotes that got within range.
After killing hundreds night calling with thermal I learned probably more than 95% will do everything they can to get downwind of the call. Once they are downwind and they don't smell what they think they should they will be headed back to where they came from. I think setting up to shoot between where you think the coyotes are and downwind of the call is the only way to go.
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Exactly
 
Once more, Bob, thanks for the wonderful pictures and your insight from observation in wide open country. You've shortened the learning curve for lotsa folks there!
 
Great pictures!

I try to keep a wide open area, pond, pasture etc. downwind of me, so I can see the coyotes trying to get downwind. I will set up crosswind and expect them to try to get downwind.

This can give you an idea of their scenting abilities: I saw a coyote coming in dead downwind of me, and I knew he would smell me at some point, so I did not even get set for the shot. Instead, I put my laser on scan, and picked him up at about 800yds. I kept scanning him and at 491yds, he jumped off the trail and disappeared.

At almost a quarter of a mile, he got my scent.

We can fool their eyes and ears, but I don't think we can ever fool "The Nose".
 
I prefer a cross wind and usually hunt large open corn and bean fields where I can see several hundred yards. I'm hunting back east where coyotes will show up in the back yard, with that being said they're used to human scent and not as easily scent spooked as hunting on 1000's of acres of BLM land where they NEVER see a human. Don't get me wrong wind is paramount when choosing a setup.
 
I am by no means an expert coyote hunter, but I've done it a good bit for over 25 years. My first rule of thumb regarding wind is that it's a lot easier to be successful on calm days than windy ones. Wind creates noise with every twig, leaf and brush it pile hits. It also blows scent (human and otherwise) every which way but loose. A coyote may smell you one moment and that ever so tasty rotting deer carcass the next. As a result, the critters are at a heightened state of alert and harder to fool when it's windy.

That said, I've had decent success on windy days. If I suspect the critters will approach from a given direction, of course I try to position myself downwind from it. Problem is, coyotes have a penchant for coming in from the least expected angle and wind has an unfortunate tendency switch directions without bothering to let me know. So if I opt to call on a windy day, I generally just get out there, crank up the volume on my FoxPro so it'll be heard over the gusts and see what happens. Quite often, I'll nail a few wind or no wind.
 
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Klebanoff said:
My first rule of thumb regarding wind is that it's a lot easier to be successful on calm days than windy ones.
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I will always take a consistent light wind (5-10mph) over calm conditions. I feel that calm conditions you start dealing more with thermals dragging your scent uphill/downhill or your scent disperses outward in all directions. I’d rather narrow things down to knowing one direction. This is especially true of smaller, tighter setups.

High winds or variable winds are another story altogether. Windy conditions this past season were probably the worst I’ve ever dealt with here in NY. You just gotta adjust and keep rolling with the punches.
 
hunt0168 said:
I will always take a consistent light wind (5-10mph) over calm conditions. I feel that calm conditions you start dealing more with thermals dragging your scent uphill/downhill or your scent disperses outward in all directions. I’d rather narrow things down to knowing one direction. This is especially true of smaller, tighter setups.

High winds or variable winds are another story altogether. Windy conditions this past season were probably the worst I’ve ever dealt with here in NY. You just gotta adjust and keep rolling with the punches.
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In my mind a 5-10 mph wind is a calm day, though I suppose I should have expressed myself more carefully. Regarding scent, as long as conditions are relatively calm, I usually don't concern myself much with it, other than trying to be downwind from my quarry if possible (often it isn't). When I first started chasing predators I was a fanatic about scent: I washed my clothes in scent free detergent, hung them outside to air for several days before a hunt, used cover scent, etc. But after trying it both ways, I couldn't tell that it made any difference. I know many seasoned varmint hunters are religious about it, though at least in north Arkansas it doesn't seem to matter.
 
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