Time on stand?

Oh yeah, there's no shortage of kill shot footage. Which is all good and fine but to your guy just starting out it could be super frustrating because it seems as though that's all calling predators is. But I understand it too. I wouldn't want to film even an average day of calling. There'd be a lot of editing to do. But I think if there were more videos of what an average day of calling looks like for most, it'd weed out the people that want to pursue this sport with the notion that it will be easy before they even got started. I don't live in a State where coyotes are rare by any stretch of the imagination. But easy is one thing it ain't. Every State has it own set of challenges. From terrain, coyote density, hunting pressure and the list goes on and on.
 
I have found 15 min. pretty good. Sometimes something says stay here a little longer, it seldom pays off, but I've had a couple at 16 min.. if I don't have a watch or timer I stay till I get uncomfortable, feet fall asleep, then I have to stay longer wiggling my feet so I don't fall over trying to stand up on numb feet, when my butt starts to hurt, or when my back gets bad enough that I hope I can straighten up when I get on my feet.

A self-propelled truck mounted recliner would be nice but then I'd doze through the stand.
 
OKRattler said:
Oh yeah, there's no shortage of kill shot footage. Which is all good and fine but to your guy just starting out it could be super frustrating because it seems as though that's all calling predators is. But I understand it too. I wouldn't want to film even an average day of calling. There'd be a lot of editing to do. But I think if there were more videos of what an average day of calling looks like for most, it'd weed out the people that want to pursue this sport with the notion that it will be easy before they even got started. I don't live in a State where coyotes are rare by any stretch of the imagination. But easy is one thing it ain't. Every State has it own set of challenges. From terrain, coyote density, hunting pressure and the list goes on and on.
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I think a gently edited video of what a real caller does and goes thru with him killing nothing would be extremely helpful to a new caller. From the time he turns off the ignition until the time he gets back inside the truck at the end of the day. The humble, gritty, glamorless but real truth of the matter.

The highlight reels in my opinion help him get from the couch to the store spending $ and into the field a few times with completely unrealistic expectations and way too many gaps and it ends there.

Most probably give up, never realizing all the variables involved they need to address and practice. All they know is it didn’t work, they suck, and don’t have a clue as to why or what they need to fix. With a completely deflated confidence as the cherry on top.

If they even start doing research they’re going be sucked in to buying products they don’t need thinking it’s the missing key, getting western style tips for their eastern terrain and vice versa, and a whole lot of entertainment that doesn’t educate that wastes their limited time for this.

That being said maybe it’s best the way it is. Let the selected few grind their way thru it and the rest can be useful thru supporting calling/hunting related businesses
 
Over the years my time on stand has fluctuated. Back when I first started I was taught to only stay for 15 minutes. Which no doubt I did kill coyotes in that amount of time. But I started staying on stand longer, mostly trying to get a bobcat and noticed I was killin more coyotes later on into the stand. So I just got into the habit of staying that extra ten minutes.

But in my opinion the time of year has a lot to do with that too. After Christmas and everyone has gotten that brand new e-call you're gonna see those coyotes coming in slower and more cautiously. For example several years back a buddy of mine and I were calling in sandhills and about the 23 minute mark I saw a coyote on a hillside 1/4 of a mile away or more. It made its way towards the call but would stop and watch and continue its journey over and over again. Finally I watched it belly crawl into a plumb thicket 125 yards away. It was roughly 32 minutes into that stand when I shot that coyote. It was obviously a coyote that had been around for a day or two. It acted more like a bobcat in behavior as it got closer to the call than a coyote. It literally army crawled into thick cover to keep from being detected. Or so it thought.

I hunt anywhere from flatland prairie to sandhills to rough terrain with rocks, gullies and plum thickets to thick brushy areas and trees everywhere. So I'm pretty well rounded in most situations I believe. Had plenty of experience in all types of terrain. I don't change my time on stand based off of where I'm at. It's purely based off of what I'm trying to call up and kill. In the thicker areas I'm more likely to call in a bobcat so I'll stay longer. But if a coyote trots in before a kitty cat shows up......well.....you can probably guess what happens next.
 
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here in PA, we hunt at night, our stands are in open fields and usually last around 30-40 minutes if no responses or sightings we move on. if we get a reply or a sighting we stay put. we dont call non stop. we call, wait, call, wait, unless we get a reply then tactics change.

one night we got a single lone howl in response to our calls, we played a few more and then waited. 65 minutes later 3 coyotes walked out into the field and none of them left.
patience has killed many a coyote here in PA while being impatient has let a lot of them live longer.
 
I would say 35-45 min is pretty normal for me. However, the ones I have seen have come in within 10 min. Wishful thinking I suppose. Additionally, if I hear them I almost never see them. The ones I have seen have almost always come in quietly.
 
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90% of the coyotes I call, come in within 5 minutes. I know a few straggle in after 20 minutes. Often, when I am hunter with a partner, I put on a sound like mfk gang violence (on just under mid volume) and tell them to continue to scan while I go gather the dead ones. They often shoot additional coyotes when I am out gathering the dead. I believe coyotes come in and investigate most stands I make, some at the hour and beyond mark, but I can kill more, making more stands, targeting the 90%
 
jmeddy said:
Rattler, When I first started this craziness, we could only use lights if night hunting. I started keeping track of sets and in one stretch I had made 184 sets without seeing "eyes". Told myself that night to quit counting!!! And I did until thermals became legal here in PA. Still, I can go many sets and several nights w/o seeing-hearing any predators.
As for the learning curve, the fellas on here sure helped that along after I found out about this site and is the reason I became more than a 'lurker' the last few years. Watching videos on here in just a few months of seeing coyotes coming to the call taught me more than I could learn in a decade of my own experiences.
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I tried a little night hunting back when night vision was available, but was very expensive. Bought an ATN scope on sale from Cabela's but it was defective. Could barely make out the target frame @ 100 yards, so sent it back & bought some good Lightforce eqpt. Never was very successful. We shot a few, but I think one of the problems I had was there was always shrubs, etc. that cast shadows that spooked the coyotes before they got into comfortable range for positive identification. In the high grass & shrubs I had to get them around 100 yards before I could positively ID because there are endangered Ocelots on some of the ranches I hunted.

Have to say that I learned more, especially from the excellent thermal videos posted by Jeremy, Owen, Mike, Russ, and many others on PM about nighttime ID and even reading their body language than I had over many years of daytime hunting.
 
If i have a while to hunt and only a handful of spots, up to 30min. Otherwise 15 min and im gone. They either pop out and bust before i see them by then, or theyve come in and been killed.
 
hm1996 said:
I tried a little night hunting back when night vision was available, but was very expensive. Bought an ATN scope on sale from Cabela's but it was defective. Could barely make out the target frame @ 100 yards, so sent it back & bought some good Lightforce eqpt. Never was very successful. We shot a few, but I think one of the problems I had was there was always shrubs, etc. that cast shadows that spooked the coyotes before they got into comfortable range for positive identification. In the high grass & shrubs I had to get them around 100 yards before I could positively ID because there are endangered Ocelots on some of the ranches I hunted.

Have to say that I learned more, especially from the excellent thermal videos posted by Jeremy, Owen, Mike, Russ, and many others on PM about nighttime ID and even reading their body language than I had over many years of daytime hunting.
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i have a pulsar digex NV scope that i used to use. i could clearly ID coyotes out past 300 yards. here is a coyote at 200 plus yards

11-13-20_200 yards.jpg
 
I’m in ND and can see the next zip code in most of my stands and stay at least 25 minutes. Most come within the first 10 minutes but a lot of them come late too. Last week, I spotted a pair a little over 1,000 yards and couldn’t get them to commit within the first 20 minutes. Think it was 29ish minuted before I got the first shot at them. I’ve had good success with longer stands.

At night, It’s not uncommon for me to stay 45
Minutes. I only started night hunting on 1/1/25 but so far, a lot of my called coyotes have come after the 20 minute mark at night too.

I haven’t done a contest yet but if I did, I would probably get beat down because I hike 1-3 miles into stands and stay a bit longer.
 
bohunr said:
i have a pulsar digex NV scope that i used to use. i could clearly ID coyotes out past 300 yards. here is a coyote at 200 plus yards
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Back then, there was no where to go to try NV out and not much info as to what to expect from one. IIRC it was Gen 1 or 2 scope & Cabelas had it on sale for just shy of 3 grand and only had one in stock, so figured it was a closeout. Since Cabelas allow returns "for any reason", decided to go for it. When it performed so poorly, I called ATN, described problem and the tech told me something was wrong with that scope, return it for repairs. Since I could not get anyone to commit that it would positively ID a coyote beyond the 100 yd range I was getting w/Lightforce, I called Cabelas and told them what ATN said and asked if I sent back to factory and it would still not ID past 100 yards could I then return to Cabelas and they said no, so I sent it back to them.
I had a BIL in special forces and he had their team's weapons specialist call me. The spec told me to get NV to ID a coyote reliably @ 200 yard, I could expect to spend up to 10 grand. Way beyond my budget.
I would have been tickled w/your scope, BH, or even had there been someone back then to post pictures as to what they were seeing through their scopes, but there just were'nt much info available back then. Like they say, "too soon old, too late smart", I guess, I just missed that boat. :ROFLMAO:
PM offers a wealth of info in that regard today.
 
I average around 25 minutes per stand. I don't have a ton of spots to call, so I like to sit a little longer and make the most of them. I would say on average the 10-12 minute mark is when the action happens.
 
PA here… tournaments 30 minutes tops and I’m gone. Sometimes less if it’s a small spot. A lot of places I call, I am calling into individual pieces of cover where they will be if they are in the area. On stands with larger vast woods around usually 45 minutes and if nothing happens I leave.

I have stayed on stand 3 hours before chasing a howling pair before I got them to show.

This fall I killed one that took an hour and 44 minutes to come out before I killed it. It’s all situational.

On nights there “on” I usually give it 30-40 minutes and move on to another spot. It seems like when they’re really responding I’d rather hit as many spots as possible, that is NOT the norm for me though. Most nights it’s slow and I’m grinding away for an opportunity. Calling in PA really is hard, there are times I get really frustrated. lol
 
We get a lot of silent takers, for that reason I'll be on stand a minimum of 30-45 minutes. I do not call a lot- I'm quite conservative for the most part. I use more patience than anything- I don't worry about the next spot while at a stand. I don't dream up a theatrical storyline call list..

If we get responses, like anyone, we'll assess the situation from where we set-up and they respond. I will make aggressive changes... If we have to relocate due to wind, I'll scoot call to different angle or I'll move. Rarely can I hop in the truck and relocate closer to them- even though we have over 330 properties with many being grouped in 2 to 3 square miles.
There are spots where we can drive and try a different angle.

One thing I notice, if they are upwind, say just a half mile- they may take an hour to circle....even though they could cover that distance in 45 seconds.
I've waited 4-6 hours to kill them....I've gone to spots and howled 2 times in 3 hours. I've also gone to spots and was out of there in 5 minutes.
 
Still pretty new to this, but up until now my stands have all been about an hour or more.
I have a lot of drive time during my day job and got thinking about my successful stands. I then called my son about his stands as well.
It seems that if nothing has come in within the first 10min, then the next 50min are a waste. Heck one night I stayed on one for 2hrs just because it was a “good” spot…killed/saw/heard nothing.
From here on out, at least for the foreseeable future, I’m going to give it 15min and move on.
Even stranger, if I get a response, I’d say 80% of the time they’re coming.
Very few coyotes have come in unannounced.
What’s even stranger is if I don’t get a response from a location where I’m “certain” they are, I can move sometimes 100-150yds and hit the call again and they respond and come in.
I’m still not convinced these coyotes down here will travel a thousand or even hundreds of yards to come in. Don’t know if it’s overlapping territories or if they just aren’t hungry enough, but if I’m not in their bubble, they just ain’t coming no matter how long I spend on stand.
I guess if I found tracks and really suspect they’re coming through eventually I could sit and play a call every once in a while, but that’s more like hunting coyotes than calling them in to me. I got traps I can set for those scenarios, lol.
 
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