Do you locate coyotes before hunting?

Newpond0

Newpond0

Active member
I scouted a new place a few weeks back and found coyote tracks leading thru a nice opening below a mountain with the tracks going up the mountain. Yesterday the wind was right in my opinion so I went back early am and called it. I didn’t see any coyotes and got nothing.

Now….When I walked back to the truck there was a bunch of fresh coyote tracks in the fresh snow that weren’t there when I walked in. They had come out to the trail I walked in on, walked up towards where I was calling, and eventually turned around and went back into the woods. They had come out of a different hilly area I had walked past going to the stand and went back in.

I really really regret not howling my way thru there when I originally scouted, I feel like a damn fool about this hunt. The tracks I found the first time only confirmed there was coyotes in the area but not where they would probably be when i would be hunting. In fact howling seems far superior to looking for tracks and “scouting” and seems obvious to me now
 
I don't think it matters what you do, they will sometimes back door you, or come from somewhere you can't see them. I used to think it wasn't a big deal to place my call where I couldn't actually see it, as long as I could see all routes of ingress and egress. Twice, (and we almost never have snow), I had coyotes get all the way to the call and I never even saw them, just their tracks in the snow. Needless to say, I haven't done that intentionally in decades, but if you're hunting in broken terrain, you just have to do the best you can, and realize that sometimes they will make you feel dumb, no matter what you do.
 
...I don't "locate " at vehicle before I hunt a spot... i just go in and hunt.
Reasons:
Law to an extent here.
Most places I park have poor visibility.
Coyotes can cover 300 yards in 15 seconds and don't want an "ahhh crap" moment.
So I'd rather be in correct position to better my chances for kills.
 
I don't locate coyotes. I try to setup and call in places that obviously favor me seeing them before they can cross my path of entry. This is not always possible, especially when you're dealing with wooded or hilly terrain. If you have to press your way deep into the area, there is always a chance that you'll get circled and winded. It's just part of the fun.

Take note of where they came from and busted you and study the terrain features to try and get an idea of why they came that way and where they may have been to begin with. The thing with calling is that just because you found some coyote tracks in a certain spot, you don't really need to hunt that specific spot. Coyotes can be drawn from hundreds of yards away to your calling. Pick calling setups that favor you!
 
If it’s like down here, a coyote may leave tracks tomorrow and not be back through for another week or four.
It’s denning time right now, unless you’re in their bubble they may not even respond or show interest.
Now that advice doesn’t work everywhere or account for transients in the area. If I set up and do hear some answer and they’re greater than 300yds or so I’ll pack it up and move if I can, if not I’ll try them again another night but much closer to where I heard them the previous time. Again, this is for denning season.
Best way I’ve found to locate coyotes is a few scouting missions at dawn or sunset to listen for howling. Mark those spots and hit them at a later time. It’s not a guarantee, but it’ll put you where they were at those specific times.
 
Only time I do any "locating" is at night. Only reason I do that is to know which side fence of the corrals I need to lay my rifle across. There are always coyotes, I just like to know which direction they will be coming from. I regularly pull into my dad's place, park at the house and carry my rifle, light and call maybe 30 yards to the corrals and let 'er rip. depending on which direction they sound off from, I can easily move from one pen to another to be set up. In general though, I primarily call during daylight and do not "locate". as K22 mentioned, coyotes are usually found abut everywhere you look. I do have plenty of dry stands, but not enough to worry about trying to find them first. I too am in CO.
 
We use to do it all the time about 1.5 hrs before sun up, it defintly narrows down where the will likely somewhat be when the sun comes up and you start calling, downside is mamy times they will come to top of hill or what not and see a truck or something g else that alerts them, then you go in and set up perfect and nothing comes in, I truly believe it hurts more than it helps when you do it from the road out of your vehicle, especially if others are also doing it, seems like they get onto it and have their guard up.
 
If I see coyote go into cover after daylight, especially isolated cover like a block of trees, I wait and setup at sunset. I have not kept records, but I expect to have coyote come to the call. Much higher success than cold calling, at least for me.
 
jamieMN said:
We use to do it all the time about 1.5 hrs before sun up, it defintly narrows down where the will likely somewhat be when the sun comes up and you start calling, downside is mamy times they will come to top of hill or what not and see a truck or something g else that alerts them, then you go in and set up perfect and nothing comes in"
Click to expand...
I used to head out and get set up in the dark, waiting for shooting light to appear, and then start calling. After many dozens of such early starts, I noticed that a large majority of the early morning stands were blanks. I attributed the blank stands to the coyotes watching me walk in and sit down. Their night vision is way better than mine, lol. Now, I get out there about 9-10am.

Last Saturday, I got out there about 2pm, and this one, a female, came in to 97yds, along the game trail. Rifle is a 1963 Sako, L461 in 222RemMag, using 55gr Sierrra SPBT over Varget, scope is a Leupold VX-2 6x18x40, which is way to much power for me on a calling rifle, and I will change it out soon.

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