Coyote hunting at Wolf River WMA

[Guest dart67eb]

My boys (14 and 9) and I wanted to do some coyote hunting. I built a call using the instructions at varmintal.com. It seems to work really well. When we tested it out, it drove my dog nuts. I looked aorund for a weezel ball to make a decoy, but it seems no one carries them anymore. I ordered one on ebay but meantime, I put a fuzzy/feathery cat toy on a piece of clothes hanger.

The plan was for my 14yr old to be the shooter, my 9yr old to be the glasser and I would work the equipment. The place is rimfire only, so we used .22 CCI velociter (40 gr, 1435 fps). I spoke to the game warden about this and he said, "Go get 'em. They are killing all of the rabbits".

So we went out Saturday morning and the spot I wanted that had a good filed of fire was occupied by some bow hunters. We found another place to set up that wasn't near anyone and fired up the 16 min calling sequence. It was @ 0730. Nothing came that we saw but we didn't have the best visibility and there was no wind so the decoy didn't move. Anyway, we found out my 9 yr old's boots weren't waterproof, so we packed it in. He had a football game at 1130 anyway.

New boots purchased for him and a weezelball on order. My oldest is off from school Thursday and Friday, so we'll try again. Anybody have any suggestions?

[Guest Mugster]

No not really. Coyote for me is hit and miss, mostly miss. One thing I could suggest is trying 3 or 4 different spots if your hunting public land. Run through your tape or whatever your sequence is twice or maybe 3 times with a 5-10 minute break in between and then move is my advice. Most of the places I hunt, the whole thing is really one spot, so they either come or they don't.

[Rightwinger]

That's been my experience as well. They either will come and come with a purpose or you don't see them at all. Whether its them figuring it out and winding you or they have been called previously I don't know.

I do know that I have called them, had them answer within 400 yards or so and they still not show up. The last one I got I called twice and he was there in about 5 minutes. Came walking in like he owned the place. I guess he does now, his soul is resting on the hill top! LOL

When its not working, move and try something else. When it works, remember what it was. I hunt from tree stands exclusively but doubt that's going to be possible for you with young ones. Are you using a blind?

[Guest dart67eb]

No, we just lay up in the treeline, all cammo'd up. I've been thinking about a blind, though. I put the call and decoy @ 50yds away. Question: Do you think the call would make deer move and help deer hunters?

[Guest Mugster]

I dunno, deer are impossible to figure because they have brains the size of a golf ball. To a critter that basically does 2 things which is eat and run away, i'd suspect they'd run from something they do not understand and put them on edge...but it could attract them. Most deer hunters probably would not be too happy to see you in the woods with a coyote rig, but, its a free country imo...hunt what you want.

[Guest dart67eb]

I'll try to stay out of their way out of courtesy.

[tennessee01tacoma]

first tip would be to get a mouth call just a good ole cottontail squealer brand of your choice. I have never had any luck out of electronic callers. Get on youtube and search for videos and listen and try to imitate that sound. Also a howler can add a whole new dimension to your calling sequence and are pretty easy to use I use a primos howler called the hot dog which is super versatile and with some practice can be used as a squealer or even a sqeaker because of its open reed design. I also have the Lil dog which can be used for the same purposes just a little more compact. The weezle ball is what I use sometimes I put it inside my "rigor rabbit" decoy and it will flop on its side.

[dats82]

I took a class on this recently. It was in MO, but the principles should be close to the same. The guy that taught it suggested against blinds. The animal is very smart and will know that the blind is not suposed to be there. He said it is best to just use full camo and be still.

As far as calling, I was told you should wait about 15-20 minutes after you get in there to start calling. Let the birds get back to churping and the squirrels start running around, but then only stay in that one place for about 30-45 after you start calling. If you do not see them by then, you have either spooked them, or they are not coming. Also make sure you are using calls appropriate for the area and the time of year. i.e. a fawn bleak is probably more appropriate for the spring rather than fall. Not to say it will not work, but a cotton tail or turkey would probably be a little better this time of year.

Do not be scared to try something different. If whatever you are doing now does not work, try something else.

I am by no means an expert about this. I am just sharing some information I was told or learned.

[Guest ADAM]

me and my brother in law have hunted coyotes for the last 3 years, and have done fairly well (i would rather hunt them instead of deer). we have found out the best time is when there is a little snow on the ground and it is cold, it must bring them out searching for food, for some reason. we use a rabbit call and turkey call (box call) and a homemade cat call sounds like a tomcat. be patient and still, they have great eyes and noses. go in before daylight over open fields and mow them down. this is the hardest animal i have ever hunted.

[Guest dart67eb]

I went out with the boys last week and fired up two sets in the late afternoon. About 5 minutes into the 17 min sequence, we had a doe jump us from behind. She crashed through the brush about 10 yds behind us from downwind. Made us all jump. Didn't see any dogs, though.