Coyote Attack

That’s weird. Rabies would explain an otherwise highly unlikely attack. Must have been terrifying. Hope the chap is ok.

Did he get to shoot the coyote?

Holy Cow....That's wild!

I have heard of coyotes coming in to turkey calls and attacking the decoy, but never heard of them attacking the hunter. Hopefully the yote was not rabid.

I've seen both coyote and bobcats stalking me when calling turkey and ducks in the past. Once they recognized me as a hunter they left, but I've had them get pretty close. On one occasion a bobcat was less than 3' from me. And those are just the ones I saw. I have no doubt there were others that left before I saw them.

I've heard of owl's, eagles, and other birds of prey occasionally attacking a hunter dressed in full camo, or wearing a fur cap. They may see a finger, or ear not covered in camo and mistake it for prey.

Oklahoma Hunter Attacked By Owl While In Tree Stand (newson6.com)

Hope he's ok, I would be going back to get that yote. This is why were really need to hunt in teams of 2.

I've had raptors grab up dove decoys
feet from me, and a couple of different
cats at different hunts circling and
hunting for the deer that wasn't there
when they smelled deer attractant scent.
( I guess it was the scent)
Several coyotes, but only got to pop one.
It's legal here, so I'll pop any varmint when
the opportunity presents itself regardless
of the activity at the time

Just one coyote?
I would think rabies then.

When you're calling turkeys with a mouth call you are also calling predators. A friend in West Virginia was attacked from behind by a bobcat while calling turkeys.

While using an electronic predator call i've had two coyotes come in very fast and close.

Turkey Calling = Predator Calling → Watch Your Back! | Cape Cod Wildlife Calling Guide Service

It's very common for coyotes to come in when calling turkeys but I've never heard of one attacking the caller.
Stay alert guys!

I've had several predators grab the animals/birds I was hunting. Gators grabbing wounded/dead ducks, eagles doing the same, and a kestrel that tried to make off with a dove I shot. He couldn't get more than 4 feet off the ground with it and I swatted at him to make him drop it. I also had an indigo snake half swallow a dove that I had on the ground behind me.

Sucks we can't shoot them this time of year in N.Y..

About fifty years ago the part time dog warden in Kirkwood New York was out predator calling in late October with a mouth caller and was attcked by a large owl. It was really dark that night and he was wearing a black beanie hat. The owl grabbed his head with it tallons and cut the hell out of his head.
He never heard or seen it coming in.

There is a TV show called "I Was Prey". You should be able watch it on YouTube. There were people attacked by bears, coyotes, rattle snake, aligators and other stuff.

Having a coyote come in while calling turkeys is so common for me, that I completely quit calling before sunrise. To a 'yote, a turkey on the ground making calls in the dark, is an easy target. I have watched groups of coyotes hunting turkeys in a method that is similar to a human deer drive, with drivers slowly pushing birds towards standers. One reason why Toms in some areas seldom gobble anymore. Coyote pups are born just before or during turkey season, thus, adults are more desperate to make kills. A turkey calling for a extended time from the same place, is like ringing a dinner bell for hungry song dogs.

Owls, read years ago in a book on animal senses that owl wings are evolved to making noise in the higher ultrasonics that the owl's prey animals cannot hear.

Spent a lot of time varmint hunting growing up we always hunted in pares normally with a rifle and a shotgun the street howitzer for the up close work. I have killed coyotes turkey hunting much the same coming in hunting the turkey, (always felt better than if I got a turkey) Its always a rush when its up close and personal and fast.

I was flying an electric RC plane one night and my plane got attacked and damaged pretty good. I couldn't see what it was but pretty sure an owl got it.

I’ve had a few yotes come in to my calling, just took it as affirmation that I’m really talking turkey. Even if gobblers don’t think so

Somebody better start a coyote defense gun thread.

Calling while thoroughly camouflaged, can certainly increase the excitement of the hunt when predators are about! Hopefully the hunter suffers no ill effects from the incident!

Calling in lion or grizzly country will certainly keep you on “high alert”......or it should! Then throw in the potential for a visit from a wolf pack.....you’ve got the perfect trifecta! memtb

If you are going to act like prey, then you should not be surprised if you end up treated like prey.

While the coyote could have been rabid, this is not unexpected behavior for a healthy coyote. If the person on the ground is mouth calling and expecting to fool the turkeys, then there is no reason to believe that he would not fool some predators as well. As with alsaqr's article, no doubt the coyote was hoping to flush a turkey.

Also, it is hard to maintain situational awareness when turkey calling. You don't want to move around too much. That means you can't be scanning for potential threats coming in behind you. That is the risk that you take as a ground hunter in that sort of situation.

From https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/ever-been-attacked-by-something-when-hunting.874390/

Fyrstyk said:

While calling coyotes, I had a bobcat sneak up and pounce on my foot. I can still see the deep scratches in the leather on that boot.

Click to expand...

buck460XVR said:

Sittin' in a brush pile calling turkeys when a lone coyote came all the way across the open field and sat down about 40 yards in front of me. Knowing this was to far for my turkey loads to humanely take him out I waited for him to come closer. What I didn't know was he was waiting for me to come closer. While he sat, easily seen in the wide open, one of his buddies or his mate, jumped into the brush pile from behind in an attempt to "drive" the "turkey" to the "stander". Seemed to be something they had done before. Between the confusion and the swearing, nobody got hurt.

Click to expand...

WestKentucky said:

Attacked by dogs while turkey hunting. 2 dogs attacked. 1 survived with a load of #4 from a 20 ga at close range.

Click to expand...

Fine Figure of a Man said:

Somebody better start a coyote defense gun thread.

Click to expand...

When calling, sit back-to-back with your hunting partner.

Years ago, I was trying out a new coyote (crying rabbit) mouth call.

Sitting in tall dry weeds, I started working the call.

a group of turkeys marched out of the tree line and orbited around me, making more noise than I.

derek45 said:

Sitting in tall dry weeds, I started working the call.

a group of turkeys marched out of the tree line and orbited around me, making more noise than I.

Click to expand...

I don't doubt it. The darned magpies do that around here. Every once in a while a hawk will come to my crying rabbit call too. I just take it that I'm doing things right.
I was only half kidding when I posted that a hunter should sit back to back with a hunting partner when calling. This thread is not the first time I've heard of a very surprised Wily Coyote ending up in a calling hunter's blind with the hunter(s). And a whole lot of snapping and biting took place before Wily got the heck our of there.