facing downwind on coyotes?

I had a hydrology professor in school that would start his answer to most every question with the phrase "well it depends". This sounds like one of those situations. One thing I have noticed every one seems to agree there is never just one right answer, and depending on where you are and the pressure on the coyotes in your area the right answer may be different. I really appreciate all the info that I get from this site. Part of hunting is figuring out each situation you are presented, all the info I have gotten from this site has helped a lot. Thanks all.
 
Originally Posted By: bklnHow about coyote lure the one the trappers use, to spread around your ecaller 40 yards away and making sure that the dog will hit the caller (well, the lure) smell first before it hits your scent cone?
Would the lure even mask your smell?
Good info on this thread.
Happy New Year everyone

If your set up is right, they won't smell you. You can't beat a dog's nose. Look how many drug smugglers get caught every year, and they are trying to mask it. Save your money, pay attention to the details of your hunt. Stand location and the wind.
 
We 'generally' hunt cross wind. That, I believe, gives us the opportunity for both up and downwind shots. That does not cover the back door and it takes the perfect location and two hunters to get that done. With that said, I have had them 4 feet over my head, ten feet behind me(downwind) millimg around, 15 feet from me downwind and still coming, and 20 feet behind me - studying the 200 hundred pound rabbit. Who knows what goes through there little minds. The one curiosity I have is with misting or using lure around the E-CALLER. Since I have left a scent trail to and from the placement of the caller? Is there a true benefit to doping the space around the caller. My mind wants to say yes; guess thats because I want to believe anything that will get me my next 'yote.
 
I just ordered Darrel Hollands Coyote hunting DVD and he really stresses in the dvd to face downwind and use scent blockers is the reason I had questioned whether anyone here uses them often..

He even draws a setup scenario on a board with the wind at his back facing downhill..
 
It depends on the terrain and what feels right at the time. I like to be able to see downwind but not necessarily straight in front of me. I prefer to keep it in front of and to the left(11 o'clock). Being right handed I can swing that direction more naturally.

Nate
 
I'm with border dog . Thick security cover to the front (where I expect to see them coming from) with an easy travel route to my down wind side on the left . Down wind side has the most visibility.
 
the one that came today came from straight up wind
we knew he was there from the howling match we had.
one was howling behind us{cross wind} around 300 yards too but it never showed. it may have crossed where we walked in.
 
The only time I would hunt anyway other than downwind is if I'm hunting a step sided draw in open country that more than likely a coyote would come charging out of no matter what the wind direction. But even then he'll try to work downwind. Does that make any sense?
 
No matter where I'm calling I try to face to the down wind side. I try to call crosswinds the most but even then I'm facing down wind. If I'm calling in to the wind I set facing cross wind the direction that the coyote will most likely take to get down wind. 90% of the time they will try to get to the down wind side. I have shot eight and have called twice that many more this year and they have all been going to the downwind side or came from downwind.

A lot depends on how close you are to the coyote when you start calling. The hard chargers from up wind usually come in to my calling within the first couple minute. That tells me they were close when I started and didn't think about anything but getting right there. The ones coming in at the 8-10 minute mark get a little more leary as they have more time to scope things out, being farther away.
 
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I always try to hunt with a partner and if they want to face up wind I'm ok with that because I will get the most shots because I am facing down wind. Basically if you allow the coyote to go down wind he will and a lot of coyotes will use the terrain to circle down wind and most of you guys who say keep the wind in your face you guys wont see most coyotes. When my dad a.k.a Rich Higgins went to Idaho national area were they study coyotes using GPS tracking systems, every single coyote that he called circled down wind, some would even circle a quarter of a mile out with out exposing themselves just to get down wind and to smell whats making the sound. Even in the thick stuff here in Arizona one of the best tactics we have been using is set the caller 100 yards up wind and the shooter with a shot gun on top of a ladder down wind. About a month ago me and a friend went west of phoenix and in one morning in the thick stuff called in 9 coyotes and all of them came in way down wind and we had to be ready to ambush them. But if you get to hunt behind locked gates where you are calling to virgin ears or any other place that the coyotes are not pressured and the coyotes don't have a clue then ya you can face were ever you want. But if you are going to hunt coyotes that have been hunted before then you have to watch your down wind if you want good results. But that's just my opinion.
 
A few obsevations: A ten mile an hour wind is worse than a 20 m.p.h wind for downwind. Get behind or on the side of a hill. Is the air warming or cooling; as you have more options while the thermals are rising.
 
i'm no expert but crosswind is working for me. This way I can see upwind or downwind and ya know MOST predators are coming from the way you are facing when useing a hand call(so says byron south). Every now and then ya get one come in the back door but thats part of the fun. I'm also always facting where i THINK the dog is going to come from like the thick brush or whatever.

important thing make sure your scents is not going where you expect the dog to be or come from like don't want it blowing down the road that you expect the dog to use.
 
Howler, what part of Indiana are you from?
I hunt in west central Indiana where we have a lot of open agricultural land dotted with small woodlots and drainage ditches. Most of the time the coyotes around here are located in the brushy ditches, and the small brushy thickets. I like to set up in fencerows or similar cover where I can target the ditches and woodlots that hold coyotes. From these fencerows I can usually see 360 degrees, across the harvested fields, for a half mile or so. I can't let my scent flow to my targeted cover, so I will set up in a way that any coyote coming to my calls from that cover will have to move into the open to get downwind of me. If he wants to come straight in great, but if he dares try to get downwind, I'll see him, and shoot him before he gets there. If I decide to enter a wooded creek bottom or drainage to call, I will find a tree to lean against as I stand and call into the wind, or call with a crosswind, where I can see downwind. I always make sure I don't let my scent float to where I expect coyotes to come from. I just make sure I can see and shoot to my downwind side. I've picked off quite a few coyotes as they try to get downwind of me.

Coyote 6974
 
I used to always hunt with the wind in my face. I thought I was doing it right. I have just recently changed my way. After reading and listening to many of the pros I will only sit facing down wind.
 
I'm with Cmiddleton I am calling to a specific area i like the wind in my face or from side to side if its blowing into the area I am wanting to call I will pass and call it another time I have seen them turn themselves inside out 400 or so yards out from scenting me.if they came in from down wind they will see my truck anyway.
 
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