Ok folks. We have covered most of the equipment that a beginning predator hunter is going to need in order to be successful while predator hunting.
Now, it's time to try and put the pieces together.
First of all, be OBSERVANT while you are out hunting. One reason that I began to have success, I started to see things that were happening while I was out hunting. I didn't just focus on the fact that I wasn't connecting. I started to notice a pattern emerging.
In fact, I still say that I learned more by missing predators than when I started connecting. I would replay the misses time and time again in my head, and I started to notice patterns.
I think that coyotes tend to be pattern oriented. One pattern that I noticed was that most of the coyotes that I was seeing would come in from downwind to take a look at the source of the sound. BUT, they didn't always approach from that way. I wondered why? As I was seeing more and more coyotes I spotted the pattern. They would come up from downwind to take a look, but then they seemed to approach from the side and even slightly behind the call. So on my next hunt, I carefully paid attention to that, and sure enough, I spot a coyote come up from downwind, but then it disappeared. So I began looking to the side and the rear of the call, and sure enough, the coyote came out right about where I was looking. A pattern emerged.
I also noticed that the direction that the speaker was facing helped or hurt my chances. So I started pointing the caller up in the air. It seemed to confuse the coyotes and gave me some more opportunities Another pattern.
When I would spot tracks and scat, I paid attention. I kicked the scat apart and took note of what I saw in the scat. It's the reason that I include bird calls into every one of my coyote stands, I was finding piles of scat chock full of feathers. I paid attention to the direction and pattern of the tracks. I started noticing more patterns.
Coyotes are like us, why go through a bush when they can go around a bush. The tracks told me so.
Now, as I have said, you now have to go find where to call. So we are going to throw out a calling scenario and see how it goes.
Here is a picture of an area that I scouted with Google Earth.
So what attracted me? First off, fields. Coyotes need food. Food needs food. Rabbits and birds like fields. Water, coyotes and food need water. Territory. Coyotes need areas to roam and places that they can lay up when they are not hunting. This area has all of them.
There is a paved road that borders the area:
And there is a berm:
So with the wind coming from the left of the picture, and a paved road bordering the right of the picture, a fence bordering the Southern edge, and fields to the North, I am going to work this area from South to North along the berm. So we are going to focus on the Southern end of the berm.
stand area 7 by Jason Mosler, on Flickr
So here is the set up: You have 2 shooters, with sticks and stools using a FoxPro ecaller.
So I want you to look at the pic and tell me where you would place your shooters and ecaller and predict how you think the coyote might approach and post your ideas. Let's see how you do predicting where a coyote is going to come from, how it's going to move on the call.
Then we'll come back and show you how the coyote came in and see how you did in predicting the coyote.
Mo
Now, it's time to try and put the pieces together.
First of all, be OBSERVANT while you are out hunting. One reason that I began to have success, I started to see things that were happening while I was out hunting. I didn't just focus on the fact that I wasn't connecting. I started to notice a pattern emerging.
In fact, I still say that I learned more by missing predators than when I started connecting. I would replay the misses time and time again in my head, and I started to notice patterns.
I think that coyotes tend to be pattern oriented. One pattern that I noticed was that most of the coyotes that I was seeing would come in from downwind to take a look at the source of the sound. BUT, they didn't always approach from that way. I wondered why? As I was seeing more and more coyotes I spotted the pattern. They would come up from downwind to take a look, but then they seemed to approach from the side and even slightly behind the call. So on my next hunt, I carefully paid attention to that, and sure enough, I spot a coyote come up from downwind, but then it disappeared. So I began looking to the side and the rear of the call, and sure enough, the coyote came out right about where I was looking. A pattern emerged.
I also noticed that the direction that the speaker was facing helped or hurt my chances. So I started pointing the caller up in the air. It seemed to confuse the coyotes and gave me some more opportunities Another pattern.
When I would spot tracks and scat, I paid attention. I kicked the scat apart and took note of what I saw in the scat. It's the reason that I include bird calls into every one of my coyote stands, I was finding piles of scat chock full of feathers. I paid attention to the direction and pattern of the tracks. I started noticing more patterns.
Coyotes are like us, why go through a bush when they can go around a bush. The tracks told me so.
Now, as I have said, you now have to go find where to call. So we are going to throw out a calling scenario and see how it goes.
Here is a picture of an area that I scouted with Google Earth.
So what attracted me? First off, fields. Coyotes need food. Food needs food. Rabbits and birds like fields. Water, coyotes and food need water. Territory. Coyotes need areas to roam and places that they can lay up when they are not hunting. This area has all of them.
There is a paved road that borders the area:
And there is a berm:
So with the wind coming from the left of the picture, and a paved road bordering the right of the picture, a fence bordering the Southern edge, and fields to the North, I am going to work this area from South to North along the berm. So we are going to focus on the Southern end of the berm.
stand area 7 by Jason Mosler, on Flickr
So here is the set up: You have 2 shooters, with sticks and stools using a FoxPro ecaller.
So I want you to look at the pic and tell me where you would place your shooters and ecaller and predict how you think the coyote might approach and post your ideas. Let's see how you do predicting where a coyote is going to come from, how it's going to move on the call.
Then we'll come back and show you how the coyote came in and see how you did in predicting the coyote.
Mo