Calling coyotes that are not hungry.

Yotarunner

Yotarunner

Custom Call Maker
Just figured I would throw this up for discussion.
Lately myself and a few other coyote hunting buddies have come into quite the dry spell which we are guessing is coming from the extremely mild winter and abundance of food.
On a regular winter out here we probably average seeing a called coyote one in 4 stands or so provided conditions are good. Right now I'm somewhere north of 12 stands with zero response and my friends in the area are reporting the same results.
I know that a lot of folks on here think that's still not bad but for us spoiled albertans that's pretty bad.
For me a run of the mill vanilla stand is either howl, distress, pup distress or jack,cottontail, pup distress usually done with custom handcalls.
So my question is for those of you either hunting pressured coyotes or coyotes living with abundant food sources what do you do to elicit a response?
 
I've hunted quite close to dairy dead piles and the coyotes have more food than they could ever eat and still they come to the dying rabbit. Finding a cow carcass out in the bush is usually good for a coyote with distress sounds. I don't think hunger is a driving influence all the time even when using distress sounds.

Pressured coyotes, hunt where nobody else will, coyotes feel safe there.
 
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Rabbit calls are a waste of time anymore .
In fact I have seen coyotes coming in hot and if we changed to a food distress call they would slam n the brake like they winded us and run off as fast as they can.
Gota piss them off with challenges or a promise of sex...
 
Close to 50% of the coyotes that we call in with rabbit, rodent and bird distress sounds come running in with their hackles up ready for a fight.

Quite often when I start playing a distress sound at the start of a calling stand I will get a challenge from a male coyote.

From what I have seen when coyotes are full of juniper berries, grapes or carrots they still want to eat some meat.
 
The great thing about vocalizations is a coyote doesn't need to be hungry for it to work. I am a firm believer there is a vocalization that will trigger a coyote any day or any time of the day, but of course it varies based on lots of factors. There isn't one answer to your question as there are too many variables. However, the main triggers for most coyotes are hunger, territorial, social, and sexual. I would also throw curiosity out there as another trigger. There are tons of other triggers and subcategories of all of these. As the mate is approaching in many parts of the country, the sexual/territorial triggers will be fairly strong depending on if a coyote has a mate or not. Before, during and after dispersal of pups the territorial/social triggers are pretty strong which is late Fall/Early winter. Denning season changes the strategy once again in the spring, and the cycle goes on. The key is to find the right trigger and use the sounds that will elicit a response. If all a person does is blow or play a rabbit call all year or any type of prey in distress, they will kill coyotes but they are lowering their %'s because they are mainly focusing on one trigger. If they know how to use vocalizations to their advantage, their success should increase.
 
Thanks for the responses. Ao seeing as breeding season is just kicking off out here how would you guys go about iliciting a response? I have had some luck with howls of all sort but have yet to be successful enough to feel confident in my selection of sounds at any given time.
To answer a few things. The main food sources right now is meat of all sorts from mice to dead cows. I'm hunting a lot of ground where I know for a fact that I'm the only one calling coyotes so although some areas it could be pressure lots of them are not called at all.
 
If they are not hungry but hear a distress sound it could trigger a territory response IMO.. They want to know who is hunting on their turf.. If one can sit up close to their bedding or core area,they will respond some how.. Dan
 
Originally Posted By: YotarunnerThanks for the responses. Ao seeing as breeding season is just kicking off out here how would you guys go about iliciting a response? I have had some luck with howls of all sort but have yet to be successful enough to feel confident in my selection of sounds at any given time.

The most common techniques would be a female invitation or whimpering and/or male invitation or challenge type of howls. Some people have luck with actual breeding sounds, but I haven’t had much success with that personally.
 
For the most part, I have found calling in January to be somewhat lackluster in these parts unless experiencing a cold snap. Roughly fifteen years ago, I got frustrated trying to call none responsive coyotes during a very similar January as this. After trying various calls and not finding that magic call, I reverted to my bow hunting experiences of deer and started patterning the coyotes travel routes instead. To this day, that is my "go to" style of hunting in January. I'll sit somewhere near their travel routes and wait. Not as exciting as calling a coyote but it can produce. For me, January can be tough to entice a coyote to the call but the drought seems to fade going into February's mating season.
 
Originally Posted By: KirschOriginally Posted By: YotarunnerThanks for the responses. Ao seeing as breeding season is just kicking off out here how would you guys go about iliciting a response? I have had some luck with howls of all sort but have yet to be successful enough to feel confident in my selection of sounds at any given time.

The most common techniques would be a female invitation or whimpering and/or male invitation or challenge type of howls. Some people have luck with actual breeding sounds, but I haven’t had much success with that personally.

thanks for the help! i will do some stands starting to focus more on the vocals and see how it does.
 
Originally Posted By: SnowshoesFor the most part, I have found calling in January to be somewhat lackluster in these parts unless experiencing a cold snap. Roughly fifteen years ago, I got frustrated trying to call none responsive coyotes during a very similar January as this. After trying various calls and not finding that magic call, I reverted to my bow hunting experiences of deer and started patterning the coyotes travel routes instead. To this day, that is my "go to" style of hunting in January. I'll sit somewhere near their travel routes and wait. Not as exciting as calling a coyote but it can produce. For me, January can be tough to entice a coyote to the call but the drought seems to fade going into February's mating season.

i was hoping someone from the area would have some input! i have always marveled at your ability to find travel routes and kill coyotes off of them. until recently i didnt have any areas that this seemed possible but it just so happens that today i found an area that looks promising.
hopefully your right and this drought will start to fade soon.
 
Originally Posted By: SnowshoesFor the most part, I have found calling in January to be somewhat lackluster in these parts unless experiencing a cold snap. Roughly fifteen years ago, I got frustrated trying to call none responsive coyotes during a very similar January as this. After trying various calls and not finding that magic call, I reverted to my bow hunting experiences of deer and started patterning the coyotes travel routes instead. To this day, that is my "go to" style of hunting in January. I'll sit somewhere near their travel routes and wait. Not as exciting as calling a coyote but it can produce. For me, January can be tough to entice a coyote to the call but the drought seems to fade going into February's mating season.

I have seen much the same thing. We hunted with a lot of success in December. Then right at the tail end of December something shifted, and the coyotes seemed to shut off. We went from seeing a coyote every 2nd or 3rd stand to going almost all day before we would see one. Not sure if it is the moon phase but it happens. Doesn't seem to be the weather because it has happened for several seasons. Now that I am seeing others running into it, there has to be something going on in their heads.

But you just stay at it, and try some of those vocalizations and see if you can get locked onto the pattern again.
 
Interesting to hear that others notice the same thing. Last year I had all kinds of good luck during January but we had all kinds of nasty cold to get em moving. I'll keep hitting at hard as I have going into febuary and we will see how it goes.
 
I agree that things get little different but really varies place to place. Last two years I have went way west for a trip and in that particular area.

We just got back on Monday and those coyotes are odd. They will not come if you howl and really hate a change in the sounds. Pup distress worked once on the whole trip. We killed 13 and missed another 5-8 we should of had. Hardly had any that would not respond other that one that was eating on a dead animal, and one in a recently called ranch.

But at home, I cant get them on distress and use mostly pup or vocals.

So not sure if high populations are harder to use vocals or what the deal is.
 
I just recently ran into the pressured area issue. Found out a couple of my go to spots were being hit by other hunters. It is not my person property obviously, so I'm not at liberty make comment for the landowner giving others permission. But he made comment to the hunters that recently got permission there that I only come around every 10 days or so.... Hunting west central Ohio. What is the average time to leave a property sit before attempting to call again? With the cold snap and snow we have been watching tracks and sitting in the mornings watching for them to travel.
 
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