Help w/ Hunting Yotes

[MtnCreek]

I need some pointers on coyote hunting in ‘the woods’. Most of the information I’ve read talks about hunting in open area with longer shots and using a visual decoy along with calling to bring them in. How does this change if hunting yotes close quarters (like 30 to 100 yds) in a densely forested area? In my area, a smart buck will typically approach calling from down wind and stay in thick vegetation until he’s sure about the situation. Do coyotes do the same thing? Compared to a deer, how’s a coyote’s sense of smell and vision? Can a yote pick out images (like me) if I’m still and have a good background behind me?

Let’s say I’m sitting on the side of a ridge overlooking a creek and forested bottoms. I set up a visual decoy in the bottoms at about 50 - 75 yds from my location. I’m using an electronic call, but operating it from location. What kinds of problems could this cause? I’m not going to see the little (insert bad word here) till he’s within 30 - 50 yds of my decoy (at best). So he’s brought in by sound, but the decoy is 75yds from the source of the sound.

Where I’ll sit, I’m about 40 ft elevation above the creek and bottoms. From me, the land slopes down at about a 1:1 with a very narrow flat spot before vertical creek banks. Beyond that is the wooded bottoms where I intend to set up a decoy. My side of the creek, I have pretty good control of the area because of topo and other barriers. In the bottoms, a yote could come from any direction.

Tips / Suggestions ???

Thanks!
MtnCreek

 

[Gunnerboy]

Im not sure what the woods look like for you but when i coyote hunt only the old wise ones notice much. Ive had pups come running in to a call and almost run me over, but thier sense of smell is great thats the main factor you have to remember in hunting those critters if you dont have scent killer dump some green meat under a tree and sit above it in the tree thats what i found works best for hunting in the jungles.

 

[MtnCreek]

Couple of trail cam photos attached (I think) to show how dense it is. Cam is set up near the creek.

Edit: Doesn't that coyote look like the devil!

 

[RustHunter87]

Im REALLY NEW to yote huntin and have been trying to figure out the same thing, its very tight in my area.
according to the videos and stuff ive read yotes like to make and follow trails, makes sense right I dont usually charge right threw the thick **** when Im in the woods do you?

So you gotta find out where and when the coyotes are using the trail and set up a stand Well off the trail but with some good shooting lanes, all with out Stinkin the place up
seems easier said than done as you may imagine, hope this helps some

 

[sugarmaker]

First, it depends on how used to people they are. If they're not used to people, they can be super wary. That much said, I had one follow me around the field mowing at night, 25 feet from the tractor, fully in the lights, looking for mice in my windrow.

Hunt at night / dusk / dawn, i preferred 1/2 to full moon clear skies. If you call them in, first locate with a howler. Give a couple calls, if no answer move a mile or so and try again or go out later because nothing is around. If you get an answer don't blow again. Set up your rabbit call. Go straight in and straight out of your call location, away from the assumed direction of approach. Pay close attention to the wind, like you're deer hunting. Being close to the bait / call is not the best situation, they will circle if anything seems fishy and if they wind or see you ther're gone - you may not even see them. You won't get a second chance at that dog after that unless you change locations and tactics. It's a challenge, i used to do it at night with a .257 Weatherby and a 40mm leupold scope, using a snowmobile in winter. I always tried to put 150 yards of clear space between me and the bait, or make sure I had at least 50 yards of 360 degree view if I was with the call, in which case i would use a 12 gauge shotgun in place of the rifle. They are a challenge to actually hunt. Random encounters are another matter. I hunted in winter.

 

[blackDdefense]

I hunt the little vermin all the time...I mean ALL year. They WILL come in fast if they are hungry. It is a good idea to get something out in front of you to take their eyes off of you. Ghillie suits or similiar camo is recomended. If your shots are less than 50; leave the rifle at home..00 of 4 buck will create dead coyotes. Yotes are seasonal in the way you hunt them. Meaning; find out what the dogs are doing at the particular time you are hunting them i.e. breeding, puping, or have pups on the ground. When the females are teaching their young to hunt is one of my favorite times. PM me if you want some other info.

 

[desidog]

Since their eyes are drawn to movement, I'd either get up in a tree or build a good ground blind; and cut some shooting lanes. For the lanes, you want to leave some twigs and little stuff in the way, so that their eyes focus on the stuff closer to them...which hopefully will cut down on their visual detection.

Once, that's set up; wait a week or two (depending on rain) til your smell is dissipated and they get used to seeing the ground blind. Maybe leave some dirty laundry in the blind, so your smell there becomes a constant.

Then get a coyote call, the cheap one you blow on, not the fancy remote electronic stuff...and call them directly to you. Since it's tight, and there might be some shrubs in the way, I'd be inclined to use a 12ga. for a rapid semi-aimed shot, since you'll see the yote about the same time he sees you and it'll come down to who has the quicker reaction.

 

[MtnCreek]

I hunted in winter.

Winter? What's that? Never heard of such around here.

Sounds like I need to take another look at where I'll be hunting and maybe make some adjustments so I can reach with a shotgun. I had planned on using a bolt .22mag or an AR in .223, but it sounds like I'll have a tough time getting on target quick enough.

Thanks!

 

[rcmodel]

using a bolt .22mag or an AR in .223, but it sounds like I'll have a tough time getting on target quick enough.

Not true.

I have hunted coyotes for about 55+ years.

Any standard varmint rifle will do just fine & dandy if you know how to use it.

The trick is to be set up and camouflaged in the blind, with the rifle already pointed in the general direction. Then use very minimal movement to get the rifle up and aimed.

The coyotes total attention will be focused on the moving decoy.
They are sight hunters, not so much smell hunters.

rc

 

[blackDdefense]

You can use a varmit rifle...however..keep the scattergun at the ready.

 

[Gunnerboy]

yep them woods look kinda similar nasty fast paced action kinda stuff, ive used my 1022 on them for awhile now seems to work the best with high velocity hollow points shoot the coyotes like you would a person 2 in the chest 1 in the head, oh and get a red dot for that dense stuff really helps in low light.

 

[Canazes9]

Most of the yotes I've taken, whether in open areas or thick woods will try to circle downwind of the call to make their approach. In thick woods usually getting the caller and decoy 40 yards out is enough, though it tends to get exciting - often times the coyotes tend to pop out very close. Their eyes will be pointing at the call and the decoy gives them something to focus on. More open areas require more area (at least 75yards) between you and the caller/decoy).

I've tried calling blowing mouth calls w/ a decoy set upwind as mentioned before and it works, but not as well as having an electronic caller set-up by the decoy.

If you've got a partner that you can trust you can try a two man staggered team. The guy operating the caller sets up downwind of the caller as described before where he can keep an eye on the caller/decoy looking for coyotes coming from upwind that are circling (and the occasional dumber one that runs straight in). The partner moves another 50-100 yards downwind and 50-100yards crosswind (this is where the trust part comes in - you both have to know where the other is and not shoot in each others direction). This works best if the partner set-up is watching a road.

I've used this two man set-up numerous times and killed as many as 4 coyotes off 1 stand. It's amazing how many coyotes come to the call, but hang up and don't come all the way. If you aren't using the two man staggered set-up you will never see them in dense cover.

HTH

David

 

[MtnCreek]

Great info! I do have a partner, but he probably needs a tad more experience before we try that approach (smeared photo of my partner attached. He’s the shorter dude sitting on the front seat). I just got back from swapping cards in my trail cam and there were yotes raising all kinds of cain about 200 yds off. With Glock 22 in hand, I was prepared to MISS any that approached! Also attached a photo of my new pet cat, the elusive West GA Cougar. Looks like he got his tail bitten off while fighting eastern brown bears!

 

[castingdonkey]

Mtncreek, that looks like a nice sized bobcat, note the spots on the inside of the legs.

 

[MtnCreek]

Yea, he looks like a pretty good sized bobcat. I've seen a lot of scratching on beach trees, but till now haven't seen a cat big enough to reach the high scratch marks. Guess this could be the dominate cat in the area. The rabbits and squirrels are on their own as far as the cat goes, but hopefully getting rid of a few yotes will make life easier for them and the cats.

 

[MtnCreek]

Hopefully the killing will begin tomorrow morning. I set up a blind and with the expected calm to 5mph N winds, I think the location will work great. I have a fake wobbly rabbit that I treated with some kind of smell killer. I'm going to rub it on my little girls rabbits before heading out in the morning. I picked up a caller called 'turbo dog'. Going to set it near the decoy and use the rabbit distress. Going to spray some ‘earth’ and ‘pine’ stuff on us and hopefully that will be enough to confuse the coyotes. I'm still not decided on firearm. I checked zero yesterday evening on an AR carbine, 22mag bolt and a .243 bolt. I still may go with the shotgun w/ #4 buck, but I figured I would just assume it's zero'ed. If everything works and I can keep my 6yo still, maybe some yotes will die tomorrow!

 

[castingdonkey]

LOL if you have a male rabbit you wont have to rub the decoy on him, just throw it in there, stand back, and crack up. Yoiu may have to fight the rabbit to get the decoy back.

 

[desidog]

After action report?

 

[MtnCreek]

Uneventful. Set up around 6:15. Hit a howl call and had several yotes <100 yds South and several a few hundred yds to the North. When we had enough light to shoot, I started a pre-programed sequence of yote killing rabbit. Didn’t see a thing. We were about 50yds from the caller & decoy and about a 30yd radius of clear shooting around the decoy. I suspect if any yotes reacted to the calling, they probably hung up beyond my sight (would be easy for them to do). My son couldn’t stand sitting there very long; he’s usually more patient than me, but not this time. I put together a 2 man, 15ft ladder and will try to set it up this week (assuming I can find some help).

After this exp, I think I’ll try another spot. A few hundred yds from where we hunted is a ridge that overlooks 3 ridge lines and an open holler. I’m going to give it a couple of weeks and try again there.

 

[MtnCreek]

Struck out again! I have not heard a single coyote since we hunted 2 weeks ago. They seem to move in and out from time to time (at least I don’t hear them for awhile), but I just can’t believe this was a coincidence. I’m pretty sure the yotes busted us, even though we didn’t see any. Would they just up and leave? Do they maintain dens year round or do they travel?

Since we hunted the morning of the 23nd, I've been back there twice, once to put together a stand and check cameras and once to hang the stand. That’s a little more than I would normally go back there, but not much more; I typically walk the property every two to three weeks.

Set out yesterday morning and it was like Noah was calling critters; pretty much everything came in at least by two, except coyotes. My son was a little frustrated that we didn’t shoot anything. At first he was all on board with letting critters walk, hoping to find something better, but by 12:00 he was ready to blast something! The final straw was when I wouldn’t shoot an armadillo. I had a 300wm and didn’t really want to rattle the woods over a stinking dillo! Next time I’ll let him bring his chipmunk w/ some subsonic ammo in case Mr Dillo shows up.

Critters:
2 deer
3 coons
1 bobcat
1 armadillo
Several crows
Several squirrels
2 cranes
Zero Coyotes!

 

[Samari Jack]

I've read this over time with interest. Seems the last few years my area has gotten overrun with coyotes (western NC). Last winter, I found a dog turd within 20 yards of my house full of rabbit fur and small bones. I hear them howling about every night this time of year. Sounds more like 6-8 scattered along the river near our house. I'm more interesting in repealing them (but would fill 'em full of buckshot if had half a chance). My wife has a miniature schnauzer (stays inside) that barks at two AM or whenever they get close to our house. The coyotes seem to have lost any fear around our house as they hunt rabbits.

Any ideas on how to keep them away? I've peed quarts outside and doesn't seem to help.

 

[MtnCreek]

Any ideas on how to keep them away?

Not that I know of. If you have an area that you want to keep them out of, a good fence works. My pastures are fenced with 42” high tinsel wove wire (very small spacing towards bottom) with gaucho barbed wire on top and bottom. During kidding season in mid winter through caving season in the spring, I keep a 12 joule charger hooked to two hot wires on the outside of the fence. Probably not what you’re looking for, but it works.

 

[Samari Jack]

I can see that working but was hoping for maybe a home made, or store bought, repellant.