Wind at their back side, as per usual.

M

medic joe

Active member
This picture shows a pair of bedded down coyotes. They are right at 1/4 mile from me on the road way. Snow drifted Fence line behind them. Runs due North/South. I'm West & slightly north of the coyotes. They are on the West side of the fence. A casual observer can tell by just looking at this pic. The prevailing wind is coming from the South east. As both coyote have their rump & shoulders facing away from any wind that blows over the snow drifted fence line. When I do spot a coyote(s) from the road way. I use ground objects, features & hills. To triangulate their precise coord position. Prior to making my stalk plan.

Even on flat terrain with heavy ground cover. Any coyote bedded down in the cover. Will have the prevailing wind at it's backside.

 
If you were going to call those coyotes Joe, and you saw them there from your position the picture was taken, where would you set up and what would be you're reasoning behind that setup?

Or seeing that you're obviously close enough for a shot would you just shoot them. But for me I might call them for the experience of seeing their reaction and path they take according to wind and terrain just to learn something first
 
Newpond0 said:
If you were going to call those coyotes Joe, and you saw them there from your position the picture was taken, where would you set up and what would be you're reasoning behind that setup?

Or seeing that you're obviously close enough for a shot would you just shoot them. But for me I might call them for the experience of seeing their reaction and path they take according to wind and terrain just to learn something first
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Well that day. My rifle scope was set for 1/4 mile. There were some large hay bales right off of the road. I could've sniped at them from. But I gave them a pass. Call? Here is my take on calling a bedded coyote. When one is bedded. It is more reluctant to answer a distress call. Versus a coyote that is already on it's feet. I've actually tried that on a few. Two of whom never budged. The 3rd one I believe seen me move. As I was dressed in white & laying prone on snow. Around 300 yards from that coyote. In that coyote's line of sight. I was using a home made (mouth hand call) mouse sqeeker. That coyote stared right at me, got up & slowly walked away. As it would pause & casually looked back.
 
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medic joe said:
Call? Here is my take on calling a bedded coyote. When one is bedded. It is more reluctant to answer a distress call. Versus a coyote that is already on it's feet.
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I agree with this 100%. I’m not saying that all bedded coyotes won’t respond. But I have witnessed the reluctance a couple times. Here’s how it played out…

Night hunt. I setup on the south side of a field. Wind from the west. and walked my caller out about 50 yards to my upwind side at about my 10 o'clock position. Scanning I see a small signature on the edge of the woods 300 yards across the field. Then another signature appeared briefly a few yards away from the first. They would appear, then disappear in the same spot over several minutes. I initially thought bedded deer in the knee to thigh high grass. I went to calling and opened with howls. Deer stood up all over the field, just not these two. I played some distress and watched as the deer reacted to that. Curiously looking and investigating the sounds by approaching. Not the two on the field edge. After a couple head lifts and no other reaction I realized what I was dealing with. Plus, after looking at deer at roughly the same distance I could see the lack of big ears when they did lift their heads.

To shorten this up, they weren’t interested in anything while bedded. So I waited in silence for probably 20 minutes just to see how things played out. If you can’t call them in, you may as well study them! Well they both stood up finally and just milled around right where they were bedded. Very obvious now that it was a coyote pair. I hit some Vole Squeaks and saw a reaction. They immediately started moving towards and downwind. I dropped the big male at roughly 70 yards right in front of me. It’s partner high tailed it out of there snd accosted me from the woods for the next 10 minutes.

In summary, while bedded, this pair just wanted to rest. Once standing, this pair was interested in other things. They are interesting animals.
 
hunt0168 said:
I agree with this 100%. I’m not saying that all bedded coyotes won’t respond. But I have witnessed the reluctance a couple times. Here’s how it played out…

Night hunt. I setup on the south side of a field. Wind from the west. and walked my caller out about 50 yards to my upwind side at about my 10 o'clock position. Scanning I see a small signature on the edge of the woods 300 yards across the field. Then another signature appeared briefly a few yards away from the first. They would appear, then disappear in the same spot over several minutes. I initially thought bedded deer in the knee to thigh high grass. I went to calling and opened with howls. Deer stood up all over the field, just not these two. I played some distress and watched as the deer reacted to that. Curiously looking and investigating the sounds by approaching. Not the two on the field edge. After a couple head lifts and no other reaction I realized what I was dealing with. Plus, after looking at deer at roughly the same distance I could see the lack of big ears when they did lift their heads.

To shorten this up, they weren’t interested in anything while bedded. So I waited in silence for probably 20 minutes just to see how things played out. If you can’t call them in, you may as well study them! Well they both stood up finally and just milled around right where they were bedded. Very obvious now that it was a coyote pair. I hit some Vole Squeaks and saw a reaction. They immediately started moving towards and downwind. I dropped the big male at roughly 70 yards right in front of me. It’s partner high tailed it out of there snd accosted me from the woods for the next 10 minutes.

In summary, while bedded, this pair just wanted to rest. Once standing, this pair was interested in other things. They are interesting animals.
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I get you. Prior to seeing/hunting any coyote. I hunted mostly Red Fox. Which were not hard for the most part. Sneaking up on one that was bedded. Back in those early years. I was a killer. My spot/stalking tactics back then. I was on top of my game. Winter of 1968 is when the coyotes moved in to my main hunt areas(3 counties). So I focused on them. Still I only cared about killing them all. As I closed the gap on them for a shot. One year a little later on. I thought why not just spend time observing their behaviors vs just killing them. So that became my main & only focus. Over the following decades. I found that more interesting vs just killing them. So I just observed them un-molested. The more I observed, the more I loved just learning from them. Over those decades. They taught me more than I ever imagined. Just watching them be their selves. I learned how they interacted with fox. Their mates & as a "family group". I soaked it all up. As the decades rolled on. I gave many hundreds of them a free pass. Just so I could learn their behaviors. Hindsight to all of that observing. They taught me plenty. They also made me a better hunter.
 
medic joe said:
I get you. Prior to seeing/hunting any coyote. I hunted mostly Red Fox. Which were not hard for the most part. Sneaking up on one that was bedded. Back in those early years. I was a killer. My spot/stalking tactics back then. I was on top of my game. Winter of 1968 is when the coyotes moved in to my main hunt areas(3 counties). So I focused on them. Still I only cared about killing them all. As I closed the gap on them for a shot. One year a little later on. I thought why not just spend time observing their behaviors vs just killing them. So that became my main & only focus. Over the following decades. I found that more interesting vs just killing them. So I just observed them un-molested. The more I observed, the more I loved just learning from them. Over those decades. They taught me more than I ever imagined. Just watching them be their selves. I learned how they interacted with fox. Their mates & as a "family group". I soaked it all up. As the decades rolled on. I gave many hundreds of them a free pass. Just so I could learn their behaviors. Hindsight to all of that observing. They taught me plenty. They also made me a better hunter.
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I cut my teeth on fox also. As a caller, not a spot stalker. When comparing fox and coyotes, I don’t think there’s much comparison. Fox are pretty easy. Reds give a bit of a challenge. Greys are do not pose any real challenge at all! I do not kill fox anymore. Unless one of my landowners asks me to, they get a pass. Occasionally I’ll let a newcomer to the calling game take one to give them a taste.

Personally, I’m still out there to kill coyotes. They need to be managed like anything else. I hunt a lot of farms, and the farmers appreciate the help of me lowering their losses. I do have an incredible respect for the coyote. They are an amazing and resilient animal. They deserve the respect.
 
hunt0168 said:
I cut my teeth on fox also. As a caller, not a spot stalker. When comparing fox and coyotes, I don’t think there’s much comparison. Fox are pretty easy. Reds give a bit of a challenge. Greys are do not pose any real challenge at all! I do not kill fox anymore. Unless one of my landowners asks me to, they get a pass. Occasionally I’ll let a newcomer to the calling game take one to give them a taste.

Personally, I’m still out there to kill coyotes. They need to be managed like anything else. I hunt a lot of farms, and the farmers appreciate the help of me lowering their losses. I do have an incredible respect for the coyote. They are an amazing and resilient animal. They deserve the respect.
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You & I are a lot similar. I have not shot a Red fox in probably 40 years. Nor a coyote in roughly 15 years +. Last coyote I shot was a sheep killer. For quite a few years now I just hunt coyotes. To observe their behaviors & take their pictures. To use in teaching other coyote hunters. Some of their behaviors in the wild. As well as explain stalk in tactics. To a potential call area or tactics on stalking a sleeper. When I have called. I always leave 1 hill between where a coyote may be. Leaving my upwind, crosswind & down wind open. Because they don't always circle to the down-wind. I do little calling. Because the population does not exist. Whereas, they are not starving/interested/ or territorial & routinely respond. All of their senses are top shelf. I do find them most interesting.
 
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