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So I'm thinking about going on a night hunt for some Coyote. I have plenty of them around, I hear them howling almost nightly out in my field. They sound like they are really close to. So, I've done some reading and some youtube watching and as near as I can figure, all I got to do is have a light with a red lens and a CD with Distress calls to play in a battery operated boombox.
I was thinking I'd go find a nice spot to sit on my hillside next to a tree or something, let that CD play and scan the area with that red light. When I see the glowing eyes of the coyote, put it in my sights and bang!
Is it really this simple guys, or am I missing something here?
Oh, your missing something, lol. Yotes are canny critters, and there's LOTS of factors to consider. IMHO, it's better to hunt in daylight, so you can see the terrain. Always set up with the wind in your face, the nose knows with yotes. Very seldom have I seen yotes approach a set head on with abandon. Young ones will, but, by and large they are very cautious.
I ,also, prefer a mouth call, as it is much easier to control the volume and duration of your calling, and you can change pith and tone. I've bad dogs make my position from over four hundred yards, and just boogy, and I use some good camo. Hunting coyotes is a challenge. They are about the smartest predator out there. Their vision, hearing and sense of smell is beyond excellent. A good time to hunt, is a morning following a rain or snow storm, or preceding one. I prefer after. Had my best luck that way. Bone up on calling tactics, rig up some good camo, I use a painted burlap poncho, study your terrain, never "skyline", and expect the unexpected. From there, practice makes perfect. Predator hunting is not simple, but DAMN it's fun! Very challenging and a test of patience and skill. Good luck. Hope this helps some.
What rifle are you planning to use, if I may ask? I usually use my AR, with 62 gr Hornady VMax. I also have a 788 243 for longer distance stuff. Generally, I try and coax them in to around the 200 yard stick before putting the crosshairs on them. If I can't make a one shot, instantly fatal placement, I won't shoot. I would rather not shoot, than miss or gut shoot the critter. I like my hunting clean and precise. I fivger if I need a follow up shot, I done screwed up. Lol.
If you are hunting your own property and a lot of hiking is not involved I would have a 12 gauge loaded with 3" no #4 shot full choke for close range and a rifle for further out.
My advice? Don't bother because you are likely to make the coyote problem worse than it is. If you shoot the alpha female the population will explode. Learn a little bit about coyote behavior before you go shooting them.
Coyote packs are self regulating and adjust to the available food supply. The alpha female is the only dog whose pups will survive and she will kill the pups of beta females as well as her own excess pups according to the available food supply. You shoot her and you have problems.
You are in for an education. I think it is a mistake to hunt these critters at night, too many possibilities for an accident to occur. Because it is dark doesn't mean a coyote can't see you and will come into range, their hearing, and sense of smell is excellent, and often they are smarter than the person hunting them. A electric game call will work much better than a boombox, and a mouth call in the hands of someone that knows what they are doing is better yet. I suggest that you wait until you do some more reading and learn the correct approach and how to be patient, and then go out during the day, after it has snowed. Find or make a place for a blind so you can stay out of sight and not make any noise.
My advice? Don't bother because you are likely to make the coyote problem worse than it is. If you shoot the alpha female the population will explode. Learn a little bit about coyote behavior before you go shooting them.
Coyote packs are self regulating and adjust to the available food supply. The alpha female is the only dog whose pups will survive and she will kill the pups of beta females as well as her own excess pups according to the available food supply. You shoot her and you have problems.
This is new stuff to me. Yotes here don't congregate is large packs long term, and I have never seen more than five in a group. Females whelp solitarily, anx I have never seen or heard of them killing their own pups, which they have an average of two of, though I have seen as many as four. Attrition can be high on lean years, the rabbit population is always indicative of the number of yotes.
The actual packs I have seen eere loosely organized. Nothing like wolves. Pairs are the norm. I have never heard of female coyotes killing another females pups. Solitary males, challenging a territory, will, if the male of a pair is not around to protect them and the female is off hunting, they are toast.
Anyway, I'm not a wildlife biologist, just a beat up old range rat, so I'm not trying to refute what you've said here. Just saying I have never seen or heard of yotes behaving thus. Around here, packs are to loose and spend fleeting time together. There is no "alpha" structure. They may behave differently in other parts of the country with different terrain and food staples. The packs I have run across were always near livestock operations as well. I have never, personally, seen any more than pairs together, away from people oriented food sources, and then, only intermittently. Shoot one or two and the group disbands and they move on.
So I'm thinking about going on a night hunt for some Coyote. I have plenty of them around, I hear them howling almost nightly out in my field. They sound like they are really close to. So, I've done some reading and some youtube watching and as near as I can figure, all I got to do is have a light with a red lens and a CD with Distress calls to play in a battery operated boombox.
I was thinking I'd go find a nice spot to sit on my hillside next to a tree or something, let that CD play and scan the area with that red light. When I see the glowing eyes of the coyote, put it in my sights and bang!
Is it really this simple guys, or am I missing something here?
To hunt anything successfully you need to learn everything you can about it.
They are dogs so they have excellent smell. You need to counter this by using the wind direction. You need to approach your stand from a direction opposite where you are expecting coyotes to come from because if you track your scent all over they will bust you. You need to setup so the wind is coming from the direction the coyotes are expected from. Cover scents are worthless, they can smell right through them, you smell like a human and nothing is gonna change that. You can of course minimize how much odor you are spreading by using non-scent detergent and a anti-bacterial non-scented soap to wash. Good sealed gortex boots also help cut down on the scent you leave behind.
Sight. Coyotes like all dogs cant see all colors. Generally any animal that sees well in low light situations like dogs do not see color like we do. The eye makeup that gives them the ability to see well at night sacrifices the parts needed to see color. They do not see red-green-yellow-orange but can spot blue from a mile away. It would be like everything looking black and white to you except anything blue is blue. The most important aspect of your camo is to breakup your outline in a way that resembles the area you are setting up in. Hunter orange breakup is probably one of the best camos available because the striking difference between the black branches and the orange background doesnt fade out like other camo. Its good to keep you from getting shot. Orange blends very well with green grass or brown dead grass. The only time you might consider changing is when you have lots of snow, then a snow breakup camo would be more appropriate. All this info would also apply to deer.
The second part of sight is movement. Coyotes make a living by catching slight movements of things like rabbits and mice at long distances. Minimize your movement at all times when you get situated. It will take some practice to find out what works best for you but you need to find a very comfortable position that allows you to slowly scan the are. Keep your calls on a cord slung over your neck, up high on your chest or under your jacket. You need to have your gun up in a position close to ready. Bipods and a little customizing a strap works wonders. Also don't setup where you stand out, like a hill top, drop down the side 1/4 way from the top or so. Try to put some larger brush or trees around you. Watch out though, if you are in a bunch of open grass pasture with one bush in it the yote will focus on that bush when he comes in and that can get you busted pretty quick. In that situation its better to get low and in some tall grass, away from that bush. Also, a moving decoy helps focus the coyotes attention away from you and puts something he expects to see based on the sounds he is hearing.
Hearing. You need to watch the noises you make when approaching and minimize them. Don't drive up to where you gonna hunt, slam the truck door, smash your beer can you just finished and toss it in the back of the truck and expect coyotes to just ignore this. I actually witnessed this from about 200yds away when hunting yotes. It was a deer hunter in a different pasture. I just packed up and left.
Any unnatural noises are gonna get you busted. So minimize them, muffle them. Tape up the calls so they dont bang together. Tape up and metal that is loose and might bang against something.
Smarts. Coyotes are very smart. Tons of hunters run out every year with a foxpro or something similar and bang out the same tired call and get busted. Those coyotes learn and they know those sounds and will ignore or leave the area if they have been educated by another hunter. You really should get some mouth calls. There are tons of custom call makers out there that charge a pittance for some really nice calls. You can start with just 1 good distress call. I like to have 3 or 4 so I can switch when I setup a new stand. A squeeker is good too for coaxing them in a little closer and is easy to use with both hands on the gun. In some situations it does help to have a howler. If you need to locate them or are having trouble getting them to come in, a howler can work where a distress didn't.
Do you need to do all this to have success? Of course not, but the more you do the better success you will have.
What rifle are you planning to use, if I may ask? I usually use my AR, with 62 gr Hornady VMax. I also have a 788 243 for longer distance stuff. Generally, I try and coax them in to around the 200 yard stick before putting the crosshairs on them. If I can't make a one shot, instantly fatal placement, I won't shoot. I would rather not shoot, than miss or gut shoot the critter. I like my hunting clean and precise. I fivger if I need a follow up shot, I done screwed up. Lol.
Bushmaster AR15 chambered in .223
Thanks for all the great advice so far guys..... I think I better do a little more research before I go out though.
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