Scouting for game- coyotes

[johnnydangerously]

I am curious as to what specifically to look for when scouting areas for coyotes. Predator hunting is new to me, and I think that starting at square one- Scouting- is the most important step for me to be successful. Something that prompted me to post on this topic is the fact that I'm not sure how to tell a domestic dog's tracks from that of a coyote. I ran across some tracks while deer hunting and honestly could not tell if they were that of a dog or a yote. I followed them for a little while and realized if I had more background on to what the animal was thinking or doing, I would have an easier time determining what type of animal it was. So if anyone has tips on what they do and look for when scouting for coyotes, and the behavior and mannerisms of coyotes, especially compared with domestic dogs, It would be a great help. Also fox hunting is new to me to, so teaching me a little about them would help a lot.

JDangerously

 

[oklahoma caveman]

for coyotes the best thing you can do is to go out at night and listen

 

[Sistema1927]

Well, as one who paid for a couple of college semesters (many moons ago) with coyote pelts, let me share the following:

1) A friend of mine would trap them, and baited his trap out of a bucket of chicken parts and guts that he left out in the sun. The smellier the better, but make sure that you know which way the wind is blowing when you open the bucket. Leave something nasty like this around and you will sonn have all the 'yotes you can handle.

2) Not wanting to smell like chicken guts, I would post myself along a power line easement, and wait for the 'yotes to cross. I could then drop them with a .223 without them ever knowing what hit them.

This was in West Texas, YMMV.

 

[ArmedBear]

behavior and mannerisms of coyotes, especially compared with domestic dogs

So far, no coyote has ever returned a tennis ball I threw, nor has one ever walked up and rolled on its back for a belly rub.

AFAIK feral formerly-domestic dog packs can act a lot like coyotes. However, the behavior is not something you'll ever likely see in your well-fed house dog.

They are very wary. If they see you or otherwise sense your presence nearby, they'll be trotting the other way quietly. Most coyotes I've seen have been traveling away from me, or they quickly do so after they saw me. Otherwise, as Sistema says, they're crossing dirt service roads or power line easements that form small clearings between brushy areas.

As oklahoma caveman says, go out at night and listen. Look for furry scat if they're eating rabbits and rodents, berry-filled scat if they're eating berries. These things will tell you they're around. Chances are, they are around. The trick is to get them where you can shoot them.

 

[unreal45]

Try using a howler to locate coyotes. You can also use a siren to locate coyotes. When they howl back move closer and find a good place to set up. Then start blowing the distress call.

 

[Deanimator]

Shoot a deer on a hillside, gut it, but leave the carcass there because it's getting too dark to drag it over hill and dale. You'll get coyotes alright.

Happened recently to a Catholic priest who hunts on my friend's family farm where we got an eight point a couple of weeks ago. We'll be hunting coyotes in the future.

After we got as much meat off of the eight point as we were going to try, we left the carcass sitting on a counter in the tractor shed. My buddy went out that night to get something out of the pitch black shed and heard something standing on the counter. I don't think it was a chipmunk...

 

[jeepmor]

+1 on the howler. They usually respond if they're within a mile or so. Foxpros work well, but they are spendy. Mouth calls are cheap.

If you come across coyote sign, you'll know it, their scat looks nothing like a domestic dogs.

 

[johnnydangerously]

thanks

i appreciate the help, I have found some tracks, but I am not completely sure if they were made by a coyote, or a domestic dog, thats why i asked for the comparison in mannerisms and behavior. If I knew what the animal was doing when making the tracks I might be able to figure out what animal it was, the animal's tracks were following a deers tracks, but I guess that could be a domestic dog or a yote. I have a Primo lil dog mouth call, and i think I ll get out there and give it a howl, and see what happens. I'm a novice predator hunter, so hopefully i don't do irrepairable damage considering this is my second year working the mouth call

 

[ArmedBear]

I took a short Saturday tracking class, and they said a coyote's feet tend to be narrower and a bit smaller than a domestic dog's.

http://hunting.about.com/library/weekly/blcoyotetrack.htm

Also, big cats follow deer.

Google "coyote track". There are images and pages explaining how to tell what they are.

 

[eliphalet]

Here's a couple of web sites you might enjoy.


http://www.varmintal.com/ahunt.htm

http://www.predatormastersforums.com/

 

[johnnydangerously]

thats an awesome suggestion- googleing the images that is- those tracks on goole of yotes look identical to what I was looking at in a hardwood forest, even the size.

 

[johnnydangerously]

eliphalet
did you notice on varmint al's home page there is a picture of a yote with mange, and the guy who shot it puts his mouth call right on the mangy yote..

 

[Cougfan2]

I used to hunt them in KS. They will eat damn near anything. I've seen their scat with soybeans in it.

I used to see guys in Western KS hunting them with Greyhounds. Mind you these were some gnarly lookin' scarred up Greyhounds.

 

[George Hill]

Look for food and water sources. Coyotes need that. Game trails going past. Set up over looking that area, use calls, use a decoy, use scents. Camo up like crazy. Watch for your own scents, so use Scent Killer or other such stuff to keep you invisible.
Then use patience.
Think like a predator.
The dogs will show up, and then you kill them.

 

[unreal45]

Randy Anderson's Calling all Coyotes DVDs are great for learning coyote vocalizations. They are also very entertaining.