sleddogg
New member
East coast guys! - O.K., You can handcall like the Pros, you learned to Howl like Randy, you have a nice AR like Byron, maybe you have purchased a new E-caller. Yet you still have trouble calling any predators. What gives???
First off the obvious, our Predator population is small here in the East as compared to many Western states. You just won't get as many opportunities callers enjoy out West, so you have to learn to maximize the potential your given state has. If your potential for called 'yotes is 25 a year (thats mine), try to kill as many as posible by limiting your mistakes calling, and by exploring not only the way you call, but also stand site, and stand location. One of my biggest problems is I miss a lot of shots a year, so this year I have practiced to try to minimize that problem.
Probably the most overlooked aspect of predator hunting is where you hunt. You can find Predator sign almost anywhere, but most sign near civilization was made at night, and its hard to pull yotes out into the open in the daytime unless its remote here in the East.
Night hunting around more active farms, and areas of human interaction is the way to fly. Calling there in the daytime will only frustrate you. Been there done that!
Search out areas that are remote, where there is little or no Human scent or activity. Many guys struggle needlessly in the East simply because they don't realize they need to hit the Predators very remote and by surprise.
If you hunt a remote spot at first light you will have a good chance for success. It doesn't have to be miles from nowhere, just an area the Predators are not on Red alert, and feel confident coming to call.
Here is a perfect example: I live next to a nice gasline that has yielded up shots at many Predators for a lot of years. This gasline has a huge amount of human activity on the weekends, from hikers, Dirt bikes and quads, etc. Activity usually starts on Friday, and goes through Sunday afternoon. To go call there Saturday night a dark would be a joke as no Predators will show up with all the activity that has gone on all day. What do you do? Give it some time to calm down, and hunt it Thursday A.M. at first light. Predators will respond in a normal fashion now. Go before work, work late Weds. Night, whatever it takes, just be there Thurs. A.M.
I have hunted that same power line by getting dropped off in one town, and walking and calling every 1/2 mile or so until I reach the pick up point 8 miles away. Many times I'm pullin a 'yote when its over.
Example two – I have access to hunt a nice lumber yard/woodchip facility in a nearby town. The lumber yard is active until around Thanksgiving, and you can call your ass off every moning and maybe get a few responces, usually from Bobcats. Wait until the yard shuts down in November, and I will kill 4 or 5 'yotes in the exact same spot by the time our season ends in March.
Calling ability is not as high on the list as stand location for me, as a uneducated remote 'yote will answer most any call. In the East, hunt out spots where there are no people, as much as possible, hunt smart, and watch that wind!!
Think of remote spots for our Easterns, and you will get a few more shots every year!
Have fun, and good hunting, Sleddogg
First off the obvious, our Predator population is small here in the East as compared to many Western states. You just won't get as many opportunities callers enjoy out West, so you have to learn to maximize the potential your given state has. If your potential for called 'yotes is 25 a year (thats mine), try to kill as many as posible by limiting your mistakes calling, and by exploring not only the way you call, but also stand site, and stand location. One of my biggest problems is I miss a lot of shots a year, so this year I have practiced to try to minimize that problem.
Probably the most overlooked aspect of predator hunting is where you hunt. You can find Predator sign almost anywhere, but most sign near civilization was made at night, and its hard to pull yotes out into the open in the daytime unless its remote here in the East.
Night hunting around more active farms, and areas of human interaction is the way to fly. Calling there in the daytime will only frustrate you. Been there done that!
Search out areas that are remote, where there is little or no Human scent or activity. Many guys struggle needlessly in the East simply because they don't realize they need to hit the Predators very remote and by surprise.
If you hunt a remote spot at first light you will have a good chance for success. It doesn't have to be miles from nowhere, just an area the Predators are not on Red alert, and feel confident coming to call.
Here is a perfect example: I live next to a nice gasline that has yielded up shots at many Predators for a lot of years. This gasline has a huge amount of human activity on the weekends, from hikers, Dirt bikes and quads, etc. Activity usually starts on Friday, and goes through Sunday afternoon. To go call there Saturday night a dark would be a joke as no Predators will show up with all the activity that has gone on all day. What do you do? Give it some time to calm down, and hunt it Thursday A.M. at first light. Predators will respond in a normal fashion now. Go before work, work late Weds. Night, whatever it takes, just be there Thurs. A.M.
I have hunted that same power line by getting dropped off in one town, and walking and calling every 1/2 mile or so until I reach the pick up point 8 miles away. Many times I'm pullin a 'yote when its over.
Example two – I have access to hunt a nice lumber yard/woodchip facility in a nearby town. The lumber yard is active until around Thanksgiving, and you can call your ass off every moning and maybe get a few responces, usually from Bobcats. Wait until the yard shuts down in November, and I will kill 4 or 5 'yotes in the exact same spot by the time our season ends in March.
Calling ability is not as high on the list as stand location for me, as a uneducated remote 'yote will answer most any call. In the East, hunt out spots where there are no people, as much as possible, hunt smart, and watch that wind!!
Think of remote spots for our Easterns, and you will get a few more shots every year!
Have fun, and good hunting, Sleddogg
