Try this. No guarantees, but it works for me consistently, and I had a pretty slow start to coyote hunting originally, too.
First, sneak in. Wherever you're going, if you can be seen moving for more than 50 yards, you're going to get seen going in. In fact, listen carefully when you're moving into position for any kind of bark. If you hear one, you've likely been busted. If you drove to where you're going, make sure you park a long ways away, and very gently close the doors -- you'd be shocked at how far a car door slamming sound will carry.
Second, if you have a caller with a remote, take advantage of it. Set up the caller such that the coyotes will be coming from downwind of it, and then sit about 100 yards crosswind to the caller. That way, the area the coyotes will be scanning and smelling won't be the area you'll be occupying. Make sure not to leave scent on the caller, and hide it in a clump of vegetation. You want them looking for the critter the whole time, not wondering what that lump is 50 yards away. They can see great, believe it or not.
When you're set up, make sure you're comfortable. You can't afford to move. In fact, if setting up with a buddy, make sure you're facing slightly different directions so the two of you can watch a wider arc of the landscape. You mustn't move, because movement is what gets you caught, not necessarily shape. Also, nothing shiny -- shiny in nature is bad, and they'll never even come close if they see that.
When calling, call for anywhere from 20 seconds to two minutes nonstop, then go silent for about five to eight minutes. Then call again for about 45 seconds or so, and wait about 10 minutes. Keep repeating until you're calling for 90-180 seconds and then waiting 15 minutes or so, then do that every 15 minutes. Sometimes it takes a long time for coyotes to get sufficiently "convinced" before they'll take the risk. Also, turn up the volume. I'm convinced that high volume doesn't faze them, but if it's low enough that they can't hear it from a distance, it'll do you no good.
By the way, if you're using a caller with different animal sounds, don't be afraid to mix them up. My Foxpro plays each sound for about 15 seconds and then repeats it after a pause. I change the sounds while they're playing from wounded jackrabbit to wounded fawn to wounded cottontail and sometimes even to wounded bluejay, and it brings them in. The key seems to be keeping the sound going nonstop for up to a few minutes at a time. That seems to work much better than 10-15 seconds at a time.
The coyotes will come in from downwind of the call probably better than 90% of the time. You have to scan the area absolutely KNOWING that they're there, because they are -- the hardest thing to do (until it works the first time) is to KNOW they're there until you pick one out. It will seem to materialize out of thin air, or be trotting in plain view impossibly closer than you could imagine. They're like ghosts sometimes. Once you see one, though, you'll be convinced and it's easier to spot them from then on.
Have your gun up and ready so all you have to do is slowly adjust position and shoot -- you probably won't get away with picking up a gun to get ready. Their eyesight is too good for that.
When a coyote comes in, you'll probably want to get ready to shoot and then stop him if he doesn't stop on his own. Sometimes I'll hit the caller for a one-second yelp or something -- this kind of noise in nature typically means "I've spotted something or know I've been spotted", and the coyote will freeze. That gives you a two- or three-second window to shoot, usually. When your adrenalin is pumping, three seconds feels like a Sunday afternoon. You should have plenty of time to take a shot then.
Hope this helps -- good luck!
Specialized
