Hunting Tips

THE BASICS BY WOODY personally i've never had much luck while hunting coyotes at nite with a red light as i do with fox and coons. they cant see the red filtered light, but seem to be more sensitive or shy of it. i can call a coyote to about 75-100yds at nite...then they just hang up...somthin about that lite they dont wanna come closer. if your set on trying coyotes at nite...try a full moon over snow....its like daylight then. hard to explain....but what i'm gettin at is you may have better luck hunting at dawn and dusk. at least thats when i do best. set-ups....your gonna wanna go against all your used to with other types of hunting...put the wind at your back. or a cross-wind set up(wind coming right to left for right handers...and opposite for lefties..so a swing downwind is easiest)reason being, is that a coyote will circle downwind to confirm with thier noses what thier listening to with thier ears. this will put them into your rifle muzzle. if your huting during daylight...get into your set-up quietly and using the available terrain to hide your approach. stealth is key. use good camoflage...nothing fancy...but be sure to use a face mask and gloves. canines see things is shades of gray with hues of yellow and blue. so camo pattern dont really matter.....BUT...movement is what thier eyes see better than most other critters. excess movement while on stand calling will kill your efforts. if your a spring gobbler hunter...well the same applies for calling predators. sit tight...scan with your eyes and not your head...if you must move..do so slowly. alittle cover scent wouldnt hurt either....coon or fox urine around where your sitting might buy you a couple seconds for a shot. calling solo can be tough, not impossible...but difficult. i really suggest that you hunt in pairs. but do so safely..know where each other is while calling...so that when that fox or coyote comes, you will know what direction not to shoot. whoever is gonna do the calling...have them move about 60-75yds UPWIND of the shooter. the idea is to get the coyote to come into the shooter when its circling downwind of the caller. this works better than you'd think. a solo hunter can accomplish this as well if he/she has an e-caller with a remote. simply place the unit 60-75yds UPWIND as you would with a partner. once on stand...wait as you would hunting for anything else. let the woods settle down. start calling soflty for about a minute, the idea is to not startle away anything that might be close if you did your job of sneaking in to your area. i suggest using a bulb-style mouse squeaker for this. then move into your rabbit or bird distress sounds. calling for about a minute or two with 5-8mins inbetween each sequence. increase the volume with each sequence.....not too loud though. dont raise the volume any louder than the real animal can produce in real life scenario. do you think a coyote will respond to a rabbit cranking out 85 decibles? no. once a coyote does appear and hangs-up further than your comfort range with your rifle...some lip squeaks will intice them closer....simply purse your lips and make kissing sounds like your calling your cat or dog over. i'd give each stand no less than 30mins....no ore then an hour this time of year. calls.......i use both mouth calls and electronic calls. both have thier place and situations where each one will perform better and produce better for the hunter. i recommend EVERY new predator hunter to get proficient with mouth calls. simply because they dont run on batteries, and they just sound better. you can put inflection into your calling with a mouth call....sounds more authentic then the repiticious(sp?) sounds a e-caller will make. but, that being said...an e-caller can be quite usefull with the correct sounds and with a remote control to get it away from you as noted above. go to varmintal.com and listen to how these calls should sound....and practice! and one simple piece of advice on calls......dont use a howler if you dont know what your saying. its that simple. dont buy a howler and go out tooting on it all over the country. unless you know what to say and how to say it at the right time....your just not gonna see anything. sure you may get them to howl back...but they will quickly figure out that your an imposter. coyotes have a language all thier own with howls, yips and barks. there are about 7 basic coyote vocalizations that they use regularly....learn them and know how and when to use them. once you do know which types of howls to use...you'll see more coyotes. scent.....from what i've read...a coyotes sense of smell is about 5x better than a deer..if not more. don't go nutz on scent control, by that i mean scent-lock suits and such. but a simple spray down with a scent elimnator/nuetralizer wouldnt hurt. be aware of the wind at all times. and be sure you can see & shoot a fair distance downwind of your set up. as said before...a little cover scent might help. but it must be fresh....dont use that coon pee you've had in your fanny pack for 5 yrs. that will just send up a red flag. the best way to get a coyote on the ground is to fool as many of thier senses as possible. by that i mean, your calling has to sound relativley realistic...your scent has to close to nill as possible,(dont go overboard...as you'll never be able to fool a coyotes nose), and even sight....a turkey tail feather hanging on a string from a branch away from you will be just enough to get thier attention off of you. i'm not sure about the legality of decoys in NY...so i wont get into that. another simple way to relax them while coming into you is to mix up a spray bottle of rabbit urine mixed with coyote or fox urine.....50-50. spray it around your set and spray it into the wind every couple minutes. and above all....watch your movement while calling. this alone will get you busted above all else. rifle/shotgun choice......simple...use whatever your most proficient with and keep it in the centerfire realm. 22WMR and 17HMR's may put down a coyote....but not with the efficiency a centerfire will. shotguns keep in the 12 or 20 gauge size...buckshot works best(what size buckshot is up to your states reg's, #4 Buck is now legal in Pennsylvania)try for head shots and boiler room shots....coyotes are hardy critters and marginal shots will produce marginal results. if your using your deer rifle...buy ammo designed for varmints(rapid expansion bullets). coyotes simply dont have the body mass it takes to expand a bullet designed for deer sized game...resulting in lost coyotes.