Forum difference?

[hunt0168]

New to this and was happy to see an East thread location.

This is pretty much what I’ve been saying. New to the sport or just trying to get it figured out, people are going to go to the forum that seems correct. You can’t blame them for that.

On the other hand I see what some others are saying. Predator hunting is predator hunting no matter where you are. Match tactics to terrain and you can pretty much hunt them anywhere so why have a separate category. To their point Spurchaser… if I had to take a guess, somewhere out west, a coyote has been lip squeaked up to a truck a time or two. Just a guess as I’ve never hunted out west.

Coyotes is coyotes. People is people. That’s typically where the problems begin?

 

[Kino M]

Ahh the old dead horse beating again, great off-season never ending debate!

The thing that gets me the most is how guys can have a staunch opinion on things but they've never actually hunted there, that I find amusing!

 

[hunt0168]

Ahh the old dead horse beating again, great off-season never ending debate!

The thing that gets me the most is how guys can have a staunch opinion on things but they've never actually hunted there, that I find amusing!

I’ve been pretty active in this thread today because quite honestly I’m enjoying a full day of doing exactly nothing! Feels good!

That said, I haven’t viewed this as a debate at all. More a conversation as to why there’s 2 separate forums. It doesn’t bother me in the least that there’s 2, but I certainly see the point of the guys that question it. And I don’t recall anybody taking a hardline stance either way? Just guys posting points of view on why 2 categories. Well, other than GCs post about anxiety and angst, and my reply to that. Both were in jest of course. At least mine was?

DAA explained why it’s the way it is. I haven’t a clue who pushed to get it back? You guys that have remained active for years would know better than I. I have just given my thoughts on why I think people would likely post in the east section. Most probable reason in my mind is because it’s the east that they’re from?

If the east forum were to disappear tomorrow I’d still be here. I look forward to everyone’s input in most of the categories. I’m here to share experiences, help when I can, ask about what I don’t know and learn from others. I’m not about insulting people or being a know it all.

 

[TXCOONDOG]

Ahh the old dead horse beating again, great off-season never ending debate!

The thing that gets me the most is how guys can have a staunch opinion on things but they've never actually hunted there, that I find amusing!

Because they know someone that has or read about on the internet so it has to be

 

[hunt0168]

Sorry Kino, I misspoke in the above post. It was not your post in jest that I was referring to. It was GC’s post from yesterday about the angst thing which I thought was hilarious! I corrected the above post.

 

[Stu Farish]

And it turns out it gives us something to argue about during the off months, bonus

 

[GC]

If a feller doesn't have a sense of humor, life can be pretty tough.

 

[DiRTY DOG]

Foxpro has an Eastern Cottontail sound L57.

Does an Eastern Interrogation Howl have a different accent than a Western Interrogation Howl?

I know Great White North coyote howls end with "eh".

 

[hm1996]

Down here in Texas, they end with y'all.
ETA, For you "northerners", the correct pronunciation is y'aaaaaaaaaaaal.

 

[AWS]

I like having the East forum. Having grown up east of the Mississippi (just barely) and lived a good chunk of my life west of it I think there is a difference. Not so much in tactics but in how you hunt.

Out West there are vast tracts of public land, I've hunt in about 10 of the western states and never had to ask for permission. Where I live now I can probably hunt the rest of my life and never have to hunt the same stand twice and rarely see another predator hunter.

In the east it is much harder to find hunting ground, much different terrain, greater concentration of hunters. Here where I live you would never know deer season was happening, back in WI the whole country is flooded with orange coats. The public lands of the East are mainly forested while much of the West you can see for miles. I took my wife on our honeymoon to northern WI and MN, she's from Colorado and her first comment was "all you can see is trees".

I think having both gives us an opportunity to see what other deal with in their pursuit of predators.

 

[hm1996]

Out West there are vast tracts of public land, I've hunt in about 10 of the western states and never had to ask for permission. Where I live now I can probably hunt the rest of my life and never have to hunt the same stand twice and rarely see another predator hunter.

In the east it is much harder to find hunting ground, much different terrain, greater concentration of hunters. Here where I live you would never know deer season was happening, back in WI the whole country is flooded with orange coats.

Exactly. Not sure if you'd classify south Texas as east or west, but 99% of my hunting has been pretty close to home.

For the past 20 years, most of my coyote hunting has been on some 30,000 acres spread over 3 south Texas counties. These ranches (were) typical mesquite brush country, thick mesquite, oak motts interspersed with small lakes (many dry) now cut by senderos, pipeline & power line right-of-ways and roller-chopped pastures.

Since I prefer the rifle, my hunting is done primarily on the many senderos or the edges of natural openings (not quite the same, but similar to western hunters. The roller chop can be hunted successfully shortly after cut, just like cut crops in the east, but aftergrowth soon takes over reclaiming them as far as coyote hunting goes. Occasionally I hunt the thicker stuff by seeking out any small clearings offered (kinda like the east, I assume? I do have the advantage of lighter pressure than our eastern brethren, however.)

Yes, the way I see it, tactics do change from east to west but other than hunting pressure in a given location, type of terrain governs hunting strategy, not the longitude or latitude.

One forum or two? Mox nix; those who ignore one or the other are the losers, as we can all learn from each other's success or failure. IMO, the terrain governs the coyotes' behavior, the coyote does what a coyote does to survive in his environment, and you must play by his rules, not ours, to be successful.

 

[spotstalkshoot]

I live in the middle, so I enjoy reading ALL the threads.

 

[Kino M]

Exactly. Not sure if you'd classify south Texas as east or west, but 99% of my hunting has been pretty close to home.

For the past 20 years, most of my coyote hunting has been on some 30,000 acres spread over 3 south Texas counties. These ranches (were) typical mesquite brush country, thick mesquite, oak motts interspersed with small lakes (many dry) now cut by senderos, pipeline & power line right-of-ways and roller-chopped pastures.

Since I prefer the rifle, my hunting is done primarily on the many senderos or the edges of natural openings (not quite the same, but similar to western hunters. The roller chop can be hunted successfully shortly after cut, just like cut crops in the east, but aftergrowth soon takes over reclaiming them as far as coyote hunting goes. Occasionally I hunt the thicker stuff by seeking out any small clearings offered (kinda like the east, I assume? I do have the advantage of lighter pressure than our eastern brethren, however.)

Yes, the way I see it, tactics do change from east to west but other than hunting pressure in a given location, type of terrain governs hunting strategy, not the longitude or latitude.

One forum or two? Mox nix; those who ignore one or the other are the losers, as we can all learn from each other's success or failure. IMO, the terrain governs the coyotes' behavior, the coyote does what a coyote does to survive in his environment, and you must play by his rules, not ours, to be successful.

There's actually a drastic difference in what it takes to be successful in the east vs west. It's much deeper than topography.

Some guys like to say "all coyotes are the same" and in some circumstances that has merit but definitely in my experience of hunting all over the country there are many caveats to where you are. The old saying "you don't know what you don't know" has never been truer IMO when it comes to this subject and unless you've actually got extensive hunting experience in both, how can you have an educated opinion based on actual experience???

Coyote density, topography, habitat, water availability, human population, coyote food source, weather are all important factors that play key roles into success rate. Those factors are drastically different in places thus tactics have to be modified.

 

[hm1996]

The old saying "you don't know what you don't know" has never been truer IMO when it comes to this subject and unless you've actually got extensive hunting experience in both, how can you have an educated opinion based on actual experience???

Coyote density, topography, habitat, water availability, human population, coyote food source, weather are all important factors that play key roles into success rate. Those factors are drastically different in places thus tactics have to be modified.

Admittedly, I have no on the ground experience in the east, or the west but that's where the benefit of visiting both forums comes in.

I compare my personal experiences with many of the excellent videos and writing of those who do hunt other areas and find a lot more similarities than differences in strategy and learn from both forums. Weather extremes vary of course depending upon latitude, but all areas experience wind and other weather swings as well as population booms & busts. I still contend the major factor boils down to terrain/habitat and agree that degree of human interaction on a given property definitely has a bearing.

One forum or two? Mox nix; those who ignore one or the other are the losers, as we can all learn from each other's success or failure. IMO, the terrain governs the coyotes' behavior, the coyote does what a coyote does to survive in his environment, and you must play by his rules, not ours, to be successful.

 

[hunt0168]

There's actually a drastic difference in what it takes to be successful in the east vs west. It's much deeper than topography.

Some guys like to say "all coyotes are the same" and in some circumstances that has merit but definitely in my experience of hunting all over the country there are many caveats to where you are. The old saying "you don't know what you don't know" has never been truer IMO when it comes to this subject and unless you've actually got extensive hunting experience in both, how can you have an educated opinion based on actual experience???

Coyote density, topography, habitat, water availability, human population, coyote food source, weather are all important factors that play key roles into success rate. Those factors are drastically different in places thus tactics have to be modified.

I haven’t hunted all over the country and agree that I don’t know what I don’t know. Can you give some examples of how your tactics would vary? It seems like any of the factors you mentioned would apply even if they happened within 10 miles of where you’re standing right now. You would certainly need to adjust your tactics but it doesn’t seem like it would be different tactics based on geographical location.

 

[Kino M]

I haven’t hunted all over the country and agree that I don’t know what I don’t know. Can you give some examples of how your tactics would vary? It seems like any of the factors you mentioned would apply even if they happened within 10 miles of where you’re standing right now. You would certainly need to adjust your tactics but it doesn’t seem like it would be different tactics based on geographical location.

I given many examples repeatedly over the years and guys simply don't want to listen and stick to their guns that everything is the same so in the spirit of guys actually wanting to learn I'll play along briefly.

One great example that's extremely elementary is water. The eastern US has zero water shortage thus the coyotes need for water is never a factor hunting in the east because it's abundant. The places I hunt in the Nevada desert water source is a drastic impact on success. Places in west Texas, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and other desert environments fall into this same category, water equals coyotes, find the water and there's coyotes there.

Another example is flooding. I live in the Ohio River valley. We have thousands of miles of agriculture ground that is below flood plain. These areas always flood in the late fall to spring off and on. Once the heavy spring rains are gone the crops are planted. These areas stay dry all summer and early fall. They are loaded with mice and rabbits, hence they have coyotes there doing what they do. After the fall harvest and these areas are flooded, it kills and or relocates all the mice and rabbits to higher location. What does that mean??? It means coyotes ain't there either so you have to adapt and go where the coyotes move to. Eastern guys face this every year, desert hunters don't have to play that game.

Just one simple caveat as water has a major impact on hunting difference across the country.

 

[hunt0168]

I given many examples repeatedly over the years and guys simply don't want to listen and stick to their guns that everything is the same so in the spirit of guys actually wanting to learn I'll play along briefly.

One great example that's extremely elementary is water. The eastern US has zero water shortage thus the coyotes need for water is never a factor hunting in the east because it's abundant. The places I hunt in the Nevada desert water source is a drastic impact on success. Places in west Texas, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and other desert environments fall into this same category, water equals coyotes, find the water and there's coyotes there.

Another example is flooding. I live in the Ohio River valley. We have thousands of miles of agriculture ground that is below flood plain. These areas always flood in the late fall to spring off and on. Once the heavy spring rains are gone the crops are planted. These areas stay dry all summer and early fall. They are loaded with mice and rabbits, hence they have coyotes there doing what they do. After the fall harvest and these areas are flooded, it kills and or relocates all the mice and rabbits to higher location. What does that mean??? It means coyotes ain't there either so you have to adapt and go where the coyotes move to. Eastern guys face this every year, desert hunters don't have to play that game.

Just one simple caveat as water has a major impact on hunting difference across the country.

So what your saying is Foxpro needs a splashing water sound! Lol..

I don’t disagree with what you said, and not being argumentative, but IF the east had a drought, do you think the coyotes would do something differently than the western coyotes do? Or would us guys need to do something differently than you to get back into coyotes?

Here’s where I’m coming from, and again, I haven’t hunted out west. But if I did, knowing only what I know, I would…

Look at the calendar and see what time of year it is to get an idea of where the coyotes are in their habits. Breeding, denning, dispersing etc. try to find someplace to hunt them. Look at the topography, pick a spot based on probable coyote holding habitat and wind direction. Based on all of the above, choose my weapon and potential calls and try to shoot a coyote.

I was trying to think of some things that happens here in the east that western folks might not do or do differently. About the only thing I could think of, and it probably happens out west too is…

We have a lot of smaller properties and often coyotes have boundaries they just don’t want to cross for whatever reason. Territorial or some other factor. It’s not uncommon to try and close the distance on these coyotes here in the east. We don’t have the numbers so when we find them we go after them if conditions and terrain allow. Is this something that western hunters do often? I would think if you have coyotes you would just go find more cooperative victims?

 

[Spurchaser]

Haha, you wouldn’t believe how many Western guys give advice of hunting water sources for everything…deer, turkeys, predators.
We have 3 nice ponds on one property and probably a dozen or more wet weather holes. If we ever hit a drought period it might come into play, but right now we’d need no more rain until about September for that to take effect. Every spot that could hold water is filled to the brim including all the creeks.
And when you mention the East you also have the SE US. We don’t get freezing temps, snow (forget deep snow) or anything else out West gets or our Northern climates. Food is plentiful just about year round. But, different food is plentiful. Like right now plums are falling like crazy. Mulberries were last month. Persimmons will be later on this Summer or early Fall. Rabbits, cotton rats, deer, turkeys, and quail all have babies scurrying around right now. Grasshoppers are plentiful as well. And I’ve seen predators eat everything mentioned.

 

[GC]

I fail to see how any difference in East vs. West has any bearing whatsoever on WHERE you post your hunting story, and experiences or ask questions about hunting strategies on a hunting forum. There is no actual NEED for a separate forum. Otherwise, there could be separate forums for each region, Calling the NE, Calling the SE, Calling the Midwest, Calling the Upper Midwest, Calling the Upper Great Lakes region, Calling the SW, Calling the Central Rockies, Calling the Northern Rockies, Calling the NW. And species, Calling Coyotes, Calling Bobcat, Calling Grey Fox, Calling Red Fox, Calling Bears, Calling Mountain Lions, Calling Wolves, etc. And there you are, back to a fractured discussion forum with such widely scattered traffic nothing moves in each subforum for weeks or months. It is silliness, period.

 

[hunt0168]

I fail to see how any difference in East vs. West has any bearing whatsoever on WHERE you post your hunting story, and experiences or ask questions about hunting strategies on a hunting forum. There is no actual NEED for a separate forum. Otherwise, there could be separate forums for each region, Calling the NE, Calling the SE, Calling the Midwest, Calling the Upper Midwest, Calling the Upper Great Lakes region, Calling the SW, Calling the Central Rockies, Calling the Northern Rockies, Calling the NW. And species, Calling Coyotes, Calling Bobcat, Calling Grey Fox, Calling Red Fox, Calling Bears, Calling Mountain Lions, Calling Wolves, etc. And there you are, back to a fractured discussion forum with such widely scattered traffic nothing moves in each subforum for weeks or months. It is silliness, period.

This makes the most sense of anything I’ve seen in this thread so far. Well other than our eastern coyotes can beat up everybody else’s coyotes of course.