Baiting

Bait is working here the frozen pile is thawing and the yotes are coming in just at daylight, this seems to be my sweet spot for timing right now. 6:45 AM ole .243 barked loud and a coyote fell DRT. This is the second coyote this year and the second female in a couple weeks. Still have a good sized male around --- sorry no pics still can't find the camera .. may have to use the trail camera if this keeps up. Also we went out calling yesterday in a different location that we have never called before used e-caller and a "whabblin rabbit" second set we had one come in and were busted before we knew it was there...... great fun. It was our 9th set of the year and our first call in this year. Even though we didn't get a shot we were excited....it worked. With the snow leaving fast with the warmer temps and rain it is going to be tough night hunting here even with the full moon coming. good luck all!
 
Hey guys,

Just thought I would throw up some pictures from my bait site. I was beginning to get discouraged but I'm finally starting to see some predators.
I have been using some cheap dog food wet and dry, along with table scraps and some freezer burned venison. It looks like they have taken it all except the dry food so i might give up on the dry food.
I dont post very much but i just wanted to say thank you for all the help!





and lastly...
 
Hey thanks, doubleup. This one had a nice prime coat and was a decent size to. I had a bit of sewing to do because of exit, which is on the flip side. .223 with 55gr. sbt are not fox friendly.
 
After a fresh snow 2days ago I noticed coyote pee and poop 500 yds from bait. Took it and put it at bait as a confidence builder.no takers yet. Heard yotes howling a mile away or so last night so I know they are around.today I cut off 2x2's and removed sensor at one bait. We will see if the eagles and ravens will show now. 2days ago I created a new site 150 yds from original along a wooded area And have a sensor that does not stand out as much. We will see. Dreamer
 
dreamer, i only have my camera at my site and they do not seem to mind it at all it is on a tree. the only extra stake i have in the ground is an old wooden hardwood dowel that i fasten rib cages to laying between the ribs so they can't drag it off. any time i have had metal near the bait or fastened to it they will not touch it. i have been having such good early morning and some daytime sightings -- family and camera-- that i have not gotten sensors, also lack of nightvision. the mueller scope that i thought would solve my problem has not ---- the scope works great but my eyes are having trouble focusing so I am thinking i need to ratchet up the power and get a much highter power magnification the camera has showed plenty of nightime opportunity but the only way i will be able to see them now is if i am in my shelter blind with the shotgun which i still want to do...soon. after getting this coyote this morning the big male is only one of the three that is left unless the camera tells me otherwise and some new girlfriends move in or the male get challenged by some other male. good luck
 
dd, most scopes will not benefit by increasing power above about 6 or 7 because the human eye is limited to about that power as far as letting light into the eye at night. As far as day time use have you focused the ocular to your eye to make the crosshairs sharp?
 
doubleup, in daylight i have no problem making the target sharp. it is in early morning and early evening that i have the trouble. to try and remedy this and see if i can make it a little better, my old gun that i had the trouble with the scope all of the sudden shooting a foot high seems to be the scope failing. a friend has the exact same Tesco 3-9x32 which i did not know he had and he has the exact same problem. this is my deer gun and will put a new scope on it -- i was thinking about a redfield revolution 4-12X40 accurange might fit the bill and won't break the bank. it will be better than the old tasco and i can see if it will help at night and low light especially with the larger reticle. I don't want anything to big reticle wise. i have looked at these at a local sport shop and thought they were pretty nice. nice leupold warranty made in America. if you have any advise be glad to hear it. the old eyes aren't what they used to be ... the eye doctor says they still aren't bad..... i guess just not good enough for what i want.
 
dd, how far you setting up from your bait? Does the lighted dot in the center of the Mueller not give you am aiming point so you can center the crosshair, or you just don't have enough light to see the animal?
 
one site 185 yds. the other 143 yds. just not enough light -- so will the extra magnification in the redfield give me what i need? i originally got the mueller because the tasco cross hair was to fine and when i could see coyotes on the snow I could not see the crosshairs... so I do not shoot. with the mueller i can see the dot just fine but not enough magnification 2-7 .. I thought this would be enough because the old tasco was running around around 6 or 7 at night .... 8 or 9 to blurry. as stated in the low light the mueller does what it is supposed to do and is fun to shoot with.
 

Dog Driller, nice going on the DRT coyote.

As to seeing better with higher magnification, the more magnification you have the less light you will see, so you will need more light.

As to going night vision, the home-made job I am using is pretty darn good. The only problem might be an illuminator that would throw a bright beam at the distances you are shooting.

Question: Is it feasible to move the bait site a bit closer to your position?

Jkruger, nice going on the fox.

Deerslyr1, that's a good-looking area. Good luck with that.

 
6mm06 -- thanks -- I tried moving pile closer but the crows have been covering me up this year and they are at any spot that has bait. when I open the window the closer crows will set off a chain reaction and scare the coyote off. I am little limited on how close I can move it. the 185 yd site is the honey hole. they have a lot of safety getting to it and gives me a great angle for a shot .... when I can see it! I can not use any kind of lighting where I am.... rely on moon, snow or being within shotgun range which I still need to do. if I can get the right conditions. shooting 2 females probably did not help the long term growth of the coyote population. I know as a deer hunter and other local deer hunters will be glad I did.
 
dd, are you allowed to use a light on your rifle where you're located? My bait site is 145 yds from my house, but I keep a light from my shop shining on it. The shop is about 60 yds from the bait site so I have enough light to shoot with just that. I'm shooting a CZ in 17 Rem on the bait site with a 4x16x50mm Mueller sport dot. I rarely turn on the dot to shoot. I also have a Coyote Light mounted on the Mueller. It is actually my calling light but when not using it on my 243 for calling I just attach it to my CZ. It will allow me to identify targets at over 250 yds. I only put it on the CZ just in case a coyote moves off the bait site lighting and I want to take a shot. I don't normally turn it on or need it, but have it just in case.

Actually I've killed most of the baited coyotes at about 85 yds. where my first bait site was located. I shot 16 at that location, and obviously the shooting is a lot easier, but I'm shooting from my house, and opening the window is not always completely silent. So I moved the site a little farther from the house to cut down on the risk of a coyote hearing the window open. Don't know if any of this explanation will help you, but you might pick up on something to try differently.
 
no light allowed i suppose if it was attached to house it might be alright ... need to talk to game warden. i am not complaining as long as the coyotes keep showing up like they have, was just wanting to see if the 4-12 redfield revolution would help because I need to replace it on my dder gun anyway. thanks for the input
 

Dog Driller, does that also include an infrared light? I assume it does, meaning night vision would not be practical for you.
 
Brownshoe, sorry didn't see your post earlier. Nice pics and welcome to the Forum. It seems to be somewhat dependent on where one is located as to what they will eat and how plentiful their forage supply is. Mr. Wiley E. is the ultimate survivor and will even eat cow patties in tough times. Around here they will eat most anything. In my particlar case, I've had good results on dry dog food expecially if a little bacon grease or some such is mixed in. Also had pretty good results feeding them dog food mixed with Hardee's sawmill gravy. I can't tell they eat deer meat any better than table scraps of most any sort. During the summer they eat all manner of fruit. I've got pictures of them pulling pears off my trees, and some of the farmers have trouble with them destroying their watermelons in summer. Just keep trying to find what works the best.

deerslyr1, if NV is allowed does that mean that IR light isn't allowed with the NV? Curious laws fro sure.
 
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Brownshoe, like DoubleUp I'm sorry for neglecting your post. Welcome to the forums.

I haven't used dog food so I can't say about it, but I do know DoubleUp uses it often.

Seems you have a few predators about, so just stay at it and try this and that to see what works well for you. Sometimes there's some experimenting involved. Try not to get too discouraged, though I know it's easy to do. You just need to stay after it.

Currently my bait site is practically dead, nothing except a possum is coming, and he doesn't come every night. That is discouraging for sure, but I keep it baited and keep hoping. Sooner or later a coyote is sure to stop by for a meal. Hopefully it will then return another night when I'm waiting for him.

How do you plan to hunt the bait? Just curious.

Since things are so slow here at the moment, it has given me an opportunity to test some new equipment. Below is a test I did today with the home-made night vision.

I have been using a 12mm lens which has worked pretty good. Recently I ordered (from Ebay) a 16mm lens that has a 1.4 F stop, meaning it will gather a bit more light. It also helps magnify the scene a little bit. The field of view with the 16mm is less than with the 12mm, but I can definitely see better with the 16.

Click on the photo to view the video. The white inner part of the target measures 1.40" across. The target is at 60 yards, ie the same distance as my bait site.







This new 16mm lens is one Roland on YouTube suggested recently. I decided to give it a try and I'm glad I did.



 
Thanks for the welcome!

I've already come to realize the hunt is going to be difficult. I set up about 65 yards from the bait site with my shooting sticks, rifle and scope mounted light. However the wind really picked up and it started raining so I called it quits. I think my future investments might be a ground blind and a motion detector over the bait.

I would really love to try using night vision but will likely have to wait till next season to afford it.

Thanks again everyone for the info, and hope to have a kill posted before the season ends.
 
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