Time to take a stand

SnowmanMo

Administrator
Staff member
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.

pcDm4VVl.jpg


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:

DIxgGKBb.jpg


And there is a berm:

RCO5ngGb.jpg


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
 
Almost to the end of the berm at the furthest point from the road as I could get without setting up on the fence line. One guy would face North and one guy would face West. I like sitting on the edge of berms or any hill or low spot in the land. In my experience coyotes don't like to cross roads and I have had a coyote get away on account of hearing a truck coming down the road. So I set up as far from them as possible. I'd plan on a coyote coming from the West or North. I'd set up so that the road wouldn't be a factor and there weren't any low spots or things that could obstruct my shooting lane if a coyote were to sneak downwind.

I don't think I'd call that particular spot if the wind was blowing from the opposite direction.

 
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Originally Posted By: OKRattlerAlmost to the end of the berm at the furthest point from the road as I could get without setting up on the fence line. One guy would face North and one guy would face West. I like sitting on the edge of berms or any hill or low spot in the land. In my experience coyotes don't like to cross roads and I have had a coyote get away on account of hearing a truck coming down the road. So I set up as far from them as possible. I'd plan on a coyote coming from the West or North. I'd set up so that the road wouldn't be a factor and there weren't any low spots or things that could obstruct my shooting lane if a coyote were to sneak downwind.

I don't think I'd call that particular spot if the wind was blowing from the opposite direction.



That's a great read on the possibilities for the stand. Roads can be a blessing or curse. Learning to read a stand from satellite is a valuable skill. Of course you never really know until you put boots on the ground.

Thanks for the input.
 
Ok guys, here is how we set up. Remember the wind is coming in from the left (west), there is a road to the right(east) and a berm to the west.

The call is the "C", I am the "M" and my partner Bob is the "B"

So how do you think that a coyote or coyotes might approach?

LdFFOYM.jpg


We'll leave this up for a day or two to let you respond.

Mo
 
I also don't like setting up too close to any busy road but do use them to my advantage sometimes. I'll use roads to help block coyotes from circling downwind. I'm guessing this diagonal road doesn't get much traffic or the area you are set up in has enough brush to make coyotes feel hidden when cars drive past. I did call one across a less busy road last week but he held up for a couple minutes before he finally decided to cross. I didn't expect a coyote to come from that direction and cross the road, but it worked out.

Just like any stand, a coyote could come from any direction but I'll take a guess of what happened. Looks like a good set up with the sun to your back, likely sitting in the shade of small trees or brush and a crosswind that has a road helping block your downwind side. I think Bob need to be looking West and Mo needs to be looking North on this stand. The road and wind direction would frustrate coyotes natural instincts of wanting to get downwind but also avoid roads. If the brush alongside the road is thick enough, a coyote would parallel the road if coming from the North. To me it doesn't look like thick enough brush along the road. My guess is a coyote came over the berm to the West of Bob and may have paused at the top of the berm to see if it could get a better look.
 
I've done a lot of calling just off the highway with good results. I figure coyotes cruise the roads at night looking for dead animals and hunters pass up areas due to thinking the road noise will scare off coyotes.
 
Originally Posted By: BrianIDI also don't like setting up too close to any busy road but do use them to my advantage sometimes. I'll use roads to help block coyotes from circling downwind. I'm guessing this diagonal road doesn't get much traffic or the area you are set up in has enough brush to make coyotes feel hidden when cars drive past. I did call one across a less busy road last week but he held up for a couple minutes before he finally decided to cross. I didn't expect a coyote to come from that direction and cross the road, but it worked out.

Just like any stand, a coyote could come from any direction but I'll take a guess of what happened. Looks like a good set up with the sun to your back, likely sitting in the shade of small trees or brush and a crosswind that has a road helping block your downwind side. I think Bob need to be looking West and Mo needs to be looking North on this stand. The road and wind direction would frustrate coyotes natural instincts of wanting to get downwind but also avoid roads. If the brush alongside the road is thick enough, a coyote would parallel the road if coming from the North. To me it doesn't look like thick enough brush along the road. My guess is a coyote came over the berm to the West of Bob and may have paused at the top of the berm to see if it could get a better look.

That’s a pretty good read. Especially the way you factored in the road.
 
Originally Posted By: crapshootI've done a lot of calling just off the highway with good results. I figure coyotes cruise the roads at night looking for dead animals and hunters pass up areas due to thinking the road noise will scare off coyotes.

So true. In my early, more frustrating days we’d pass up those areas too. But I remember a spot that we would frequently see a coyote sitting on a berm by the road. Or we’d see one, maybe the same one, lurking along the edge. We’d also see crows picking at fresh roadkill. So we called that spot one morning and a coyote, maybe the same one, popped out within a minute of starting the call.

Since then i pay attention for road killed coyotes and will call that area. It’s payed off a lot.

Thanks for that insight.
 
Ok folks, here we go...Here's a video of the stand that we have been talking about and going over.

It's only PART of the stand...I want you to watch and then I would like you to chime in with what you think that the coyote is going to do, and what YOU would do on this stand.



We'll let this simmer then I will post up the next part so you can see how it ends...

The video is also posted on our YouTube channel...https://www.youtube.com/@predatormasters1142/featured

Mo
 
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So here's why we set up the stand the way we did.

It has been my experience that many coyotes will try to get a look from the downwind leg of the sound. Whether they come up from the downwind or they try to circle downwind to take a look, first.

But most do not approach from downwind. Most seem to like to approach from either the side of the caller or from the rear.

So on this stand we set up so that the call was out in front of us close to 70-75 yards out. But we knew that the berm is a great way for them to slink up undetected. So Bob is on the lookout over to the berm and I am looking out ahead and downwind of the caller.

What you don't see, is that we actually had 2 come in. One came in from Bob's side and looked like it was going to try and swing around to the downwind side of the caller but it spotted Bob when it emerged from the brush line.

So see if that bit of information changes what you would/would not do on this stand...

LdFFOYM.jpg


Stay tuned to see what happens next...

Mo
 
Originally Posted By: SnowmanMoOk folks, here we go...Here's a video of the stand that we have been talking about and going over.

It's only PART of the stand...I want you to watch and then I would like you to chime in with what you think that the coyote is going to do, and what YOU would do on this stand.


I'm guessing this coyote keeps coming straight in or maybe circles slightly more downwind of the caller.
 
I use OnX before I hunt a place so I know yardages to say the bush closest to you in front of the coyote coming in. When I hunted during the day depending on the coyote I would expect him to hug the brush line left or right, probably to the right to get a wind of the sound. At night I would expect him to come right up the center to the call.
 
Originally Posted By: BrianIDOriginally Posted By: SnowmanMoOk folks, here we go...Here's a video of the stand that we have been talking about and going over.

It's only PART of the stand...I want you to watch and then I would like you to chime in with what you think that the coyote is going to do, and what YOU would do on this stand.


I'm guessing this coyote keeps coming straight in or maybe circles slightly more downwind of the caller.

Thanks for the input...it's always tough to get a perfect read on them...but that also keeps it interesting...it keeps me coming back...
 
Originally Posted By: BrianIDThe trees/brush provide more cover than I thought they would based on the google earth pictures.

It really does. When I tell folks that I hunt in AZ, NM, CA, NV, TX they think that the desert looks like the Sahara.

I use Google Earth and I've learned to get a good read. Of course you never really know until you get boots on the ground.
 
Originally Posted By: Dark moon 63I use OnX before I hunt a place so I know yardages to say the bush closest to you in front of the coyote coming in. When I hunted during the day depending on the coyote I would expect him to hug the brush line left or right, probably to the right to get a wind of the sound. At night I would expect him to come right up the center to the call.

I use OnX as well as Google Earth...especially when I hunt other states. I have also noticed coyotes staying to the brush. We don't get a lot of hard chargers. Most of them stay tight to cover and almost approach like bobcats...trying to get as close as possible before launching their attack.

It can be hard to set up stands that allow for hard chargers and slinkers on the same stand...
 
Ok folks, here is Part 2.

I appreciate all of the input about the stand that you saw in Part 1. So now let's see how Part 2 plays out and see how well you predicted the outcome.



Please feel free to post up what you got right and what you got wrong.

Please share what you can take away from the video so that we can take that in to account for the next Predator 101.

Mo
 
Good shot. Do you ever use a decoy to get them out in the open? I always do a lot of scouting for all hunting but know where I can usually be close to coyotes. My limited success during the day, a decoy movement has brought them out in the open.
 
I generally use a decoy if I have wider open areas...if they can spot the caller before I can get a shot on them...but I have my caller in a green bag and hide it...in fact I point my speaker towards the sky and it confuses them and I've had a lot of coyotes get right under the caller and they'll circle

A decoy like a FoxPro that you can control can help...but I find a lot of guys using decoys that get lazy and don't set up a good stand to begin with...
 
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