Coyotes in the 'hood

[ExpatGator]

The wife , kids and I went on a snowshoe hike today. We were out for fun and looking for moose and deer sheds. We did not find any sheds, but we found something of greater interest. Seems that we stumbled upon a coyote kill zone. We found a big disturbed area in the snow with what appeared to be deer hair in tufts, some attached to small bits of hide. I told the kids that it looked like a deer got taken down. We followed the trail of prints, many prints, and found the remains of a spike. Not much left at this point but a backbone, and 3/4's of skull with some long spikes (about 7 inches).

I have been saying that I wanted to learn to do some predator hunting and it appears that I now have a good reason (they are eating off of my table, well at least out of my neighborhood). I have read up on tactics and equipment, but I would welcome any input relating to coyotes specifically. Any suggestions on preferred calls, scents, tactics, etc.? I'm in Maine, so any cold weather tactics would be appreciated.

We also saw a bald eagle today. He was a big, old, full grown bird and was awesome to see.

 

[Art Eatman]

Saving up a bunch of food scraps and bones and such can be used as a bait pile. Don't keep re-using the same location.

Daylight opportunities come more often when the moon is nearing Full. My totally unsubstantiated theory is that prey animals can see better, then, and lions and coyotes gotta go to work earlier and stay later. So, mornings from first light through sunup and evenings from just before sundown are good.

I like a wounded-rabbit mouth-blown call, although I've used a tape deck with good success. 50' of speaker wire to a remote is helpful, as is having a dead rabbit to put by it.

Coyotes will come in intially directly toward a call, and then circle so they can make the final approach into the wind.

As with deer, color doesn't matter nearly as much as wind direction and movement.

There's a lot of this in the archives at The Firing Line. And, you might run across some Maine varminters at http://www.varminter.com

Art

 

[Marshall]

I am with Art, mouth blown wounded rabbit calls are my favorite. Just be aware of your surroundings when predator calling, the call does not say "for coyotes only, no scary predators allowed!"

 

[ExpatGator]

Thanks

Hey folks, I appreciate the input and will keep your advice in mind.

I am not terribly afraid of other predators getting out of hand. The bears around here are extremely shy, more so than anywhere I have been previously. Not a lot of garbage can raids or such nonsense. I think that this very natural bear-like behavior is a result of continuous and well managed bear hunting. It is claimed that there are no mountain lions here (panthers where I come from). I have heard from reliable sources that their demise in these parts is greatly exagerrated, to paraphrase Samuel Langhorn Clemons (I think). If they do still exist here, as some say, there are very few of them and it is highly unlikely that I would run into one. If I ever do run into a hungry one, I hope for my sake that I am faster (shooting not running) than he is hungry.

I am really psyched about going and giving this a try. I just spent the 10 hours at work, whilst building furniture, thinking about how I can rig a radio controlled decoy. I think I have it figured out, and can do it on the cheap.

 

[ExpatGator]

Here is a quick update on the coyote pack. We just found the leftovers (not much left) of our neighbors huge black dog. He was a big, bad fella and now he is a few bones, and a skull with broken and loosened teeth. I guess he put up a fight? Dang I wish I was ready to hunt them this weekend. Do you folks have a preferred call?

 

[H&Hhunter]

I perfer the Circe closed reed calls. They are easiest to use and have the sweetest tone. But they will freeze up in cold temps due to frozen spit on the reed.

Open reed calls work better in the winter but they take a bit of know how to use.

 

[.45FMJoe]

We just found the leftovers (not much left) of our neighbors huge black dog. He was a big, bad fella and now he is a few bones, and a skull with broken and loosened teeth

BASTARDS! If it was my dog I'd be on a coyote killing spree. But that's just me