Lots of theories on Eastern coyotes and why they are hard to kill or not hard to kill. Why some folks think there are alot of dogs, some never see one.

Let me try to explain what I know to be fact.

OK ...... lets pick another sport. Baseball. We start off as kids in tee ball. Then we learn and advance to little league, babe Ruth, high school, college, minors, AAA, and maybe Pro.

Pro has no problem hitting a 97 mile per hour fastball. Little leager can't see the pitch. Even worse he has no idea how anyone can. Seems impossible ........

Such is the difference in calling coyotes. Some callers are novice, some ametuer, some experts, and a few Pros. The difference between what an Expert and a novice can kill a year in a given area is huge .

So just 'cause you "hunt hard" means absolutely nothing. Hunt as hard as you want, but until you get your ducks in a row, it is gonna frustrate you !! Until you put the years in coyote hunting in the East, make all the mistakes, learn what is a huntable stand and whats not, sort out all the things that matter and don't, you WILL struggle.

I started hunting coyotes in eranest in the 70's, and didn't get good results and command of the dogs until the mid 80's. It takes a long time to learn in an area that has a lower coyote density.

So to say a fella in Pa, NY, or Massachusetts will only kill a few coyotes a year if he is lucky is a statement made by the Tee ball player.

Experience dictates the results, nothing more.

Wow sleddog, that was some post.

I thought we talked about this already.

You obviously have a lot of experience calling coyotes. I agree that experience is a key factor in coyote hunting success, and that there are callers out there with varying degrees of skill...varsity, JV, or however you choose to describe it.

But you can't discount differences in states, areas within states, northern/southern coyote habits, etc. I have spent many a cold winter stand calling in NJ and PA with limited success. This is compared to my one and only coyote hunting trip out west, which was in Texas. Within the first 30 to 40 minutes of the hunt, I called and killed this one:



This was not a guided hunt. It was just two dumb guys from NJ trying out coyote calling in a southwestern state. My calling experience at the time was what I would consider "adequate." My buddy had no calling experience whatsoever. But in my mind, there is a huge difference in coyote population density and calling response in the southwest as compared to the northeast. I believe the same factors exist in the various parts of the northeast.

You are a big proponent of calling experience as THE factor in predator hunting success. Again, I agree it is a factor, but it is not the ONLY factor.

Just my .02.

I hunted Colorado in the early 80's, and killed 5 coyotes by 11 A.M. my first day (guided)..... Not much to know, blow a call, kill a coyote standing in the open 150 yards out. Easy.

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You are a big proponent of calling experience as THE factor in predator hunting success. Again, I agree it is a factor, but it is not the ONLY factor.

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In the EAST (not West), it is THE factor.

I was hunting outside of Denver in the areas around Estes park. My guide was a Lakota Indian. Very knowledable.

He took me around until it got too hot to be fun for me. Early September I believe. Doggin - I understand the coyotes I shot were YOY (very small), and also understand we had a great morning. But ......... it really was like fish in a barrel. Very open gunning.

What struck me as odd was coyote respond in the open well into the morning. Lots of harvested wide open fields, with the round irrigation booms still in place. I really couldn't believe it at first.

That rarely happens in New England.

Folks long to hunt out West, but I would rather the East for my own reasons.

Really depends on ones definition of "good hunting". Great steaks in Denver though .....

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But at least you aren't saying lack of northeastern success is due to laziness and stubborness any more.

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I still say that. In many cases.

I will agree with 4949. I consider myself a decent caller. Probably better than most in this area. But, calling experience is nowhere near THE ONLY factor in success in the east. I called in 11 coyotes and a fox this past season and I shot 2 of the coyotes and another guy shot the fox. The rest were either missed(not by me) or never presented the shot for my weapon of choice. Around here, thats a pretty good year. And I spend quite a bit of time in the field. More important factors are quality of property to hunt, coyote population, other calling pressure,ect.. The list goes on. So to say your statements are FACT is kinda a stretch. I think alot of guys with way more scientific data than you would have to agree.
Just my opinion. I'm not trying to start anything

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But, calling experience is nowhere near THE ONLY factor in success in the east

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Nope not the only factor, just the most important.

You don't call lots of coyote here, so .........I try to maximum my call in to kill ratio by hunting elevated stands ALOT. Rarely winded (my stands are high), and usually they hunt right in.

Guess thats not coyote hunting to most.

Ohio .... callin 11 coyotes in the East is a great start !!But, it would really bum me to call 11 and only kill 2. Treestand or downwind tailgunner will help boost your kills next year.

Thats about what happened to me my first 2 years of hunting coyotes here ........... wasn't happy with that, so I changed techniques.

Its all what a fella is happy with. These days, just happy to get a day in the field

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You make sense, knockem. And I don't doubt sleddog's experience or ability one bit. I just have a problem with his assertion on the other thread that the lack of eastern calling success is due to the eastern hunter's laziness and stubborness. Then he starts this thread and basically says we don't have success because we don't know what we are doing.

So which is it?

It's all in the delivery sleddog. You may have more calling experience than the rest of us here, but if you want us to listen to your advice you should humble yourself.

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Yea I saw the other post that he wrote and I think it offended people...Lazy!!!He needs to come down here and go coon hunting with me about 6 nights straight in a row!!!I will guarantee he wont last the first night chasing these dogs around these mountains....

Chad, I didn't think you guys had any coons out there. Back a couple years ago when I was trying to get some changes made to our VA calling regulations, Mike Fies the Wildlife Biologist and Furbearer Program Manager for the VDGIF, would not support calling coon with e-callers cause the population was so low west of the Blue Ridge. I did however get it changed to where it was legal to call bobcats with e-callers and the season got extended at the same time till the end of Feb.

By the way, I ain't gonna try and follow you nowhere behind no pack of hounds at night. I can hardly keep up with my Beagles on a slow rabbit. LOL

I think he meant "some" callers lack motivation and dedication. Me, I am just old, still motivated though .

I doubt sleddog meant to offend anyone. I don't think I can ever remember any post of his in which he did so on purpose. Looking at it from another point of view, maybe the "lazy" statement only applies if it fits. Like many of you I work for every coyote I kill. There aren't any farms and fields around here. Nothing but hundreds of thousands of acres of rough, steep sided timbered ridges and brushy creek bottoms in the hollers. Often I walk anywhere from 3-6 miles cross country and sometimes in some pretty good snows. I average about one coyote to six stands early in the year and that tapers to one to a dozen later in the season. I understand what sleddog is trying to say and made a swat at saying the same thing in another thread. It is aggravating to read a post from an impatient new caller that wants instant success and expects that because he has seen a couple video's, read a magazine article or two, and bought the greatest new caller in the land. This guy ignores what I call "woodsmanship" and doesn't scout, hunts close to his truck, makes noise setting up, sets up in poor places, forgets the wind, moves around on the stand, and generally bungles and fumbles his way along - then doesn't understand why he can't call a coyote. Then he gets on the Internet and ask for a magic answer to be posted that will get him out of the red and into the black stacking up the body count. Keep the post short though as he doesn't want to bother reading through a bunch of useless stuff. It happens all the time and for old hands that have been around awhile it does get tiresome and takes a lot of patience to keep trying to direct them to good information (that they could find on their own if they bothered to look). I can't speak for sleddog, maybe he is just venting, maybe he is trying to provoke some careful thought in some readers, perhaps he wasn't perfectly clear in the wording. And maybe if it doesn't apply we shouldn't take it personal. If an honest inner look reveals something in his statement, then a good hunter is going to reflect on that and do better with his next stands.