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Hunt Coyote Like A Deer Hunter
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8/30/2010
Instead of broadcasting your position to educated coyotes, try leaving the calls at home and apply one of the following tactics borrowed from the deer hunters.
by Charles R. Shawley
Stand-Hunting
Stand-hunting, under the right conditions, can be effective for coyotes. The technique is the same as that used by deer hunters — set up near a well-worn trail and wait for a coyote to wander by. The two main keys are: finding well-traveled coyote paths and getting on the stand early.
Stand-hunting is best employed in the heavy cover between feeding and bedding areas. Your setup location should allow you to ambush coyotes as they travel between the two. In heavy cover, movement is much more concealed than in the open. However, stand hunting can be successful in the open, if you hide your movements with available cover while traveling between stands. You might have to crawl through short vegetation like a sniper, moving only inches at a time.
Stand-Hunting Tactics
Stand-hunting works best on windy days. Constant attention to wind direction is essential as it dictates not only where you set up in relation to travel corridors, but also the direction you travel between stands. Always set up and travel into the wind.
Try to keep the sun at your back. Coyotes have a harder time seeing you if forced to stare into the sun.
Successful hunting requires a significant amount of scouting to pattern call-shy coyotes and plan your path for the day. Fortunately, coyotes have routines that allow for patterning. These routines vary during certain times of the year, but if you choose those times of the year when the coyote's behavior is fairly habitual, you can often predict its behavior and location. Determine paths from feeding to bedding grounds, but do so at a considerable distance from your potential stands. Spending too much time near ambushing sites could tip-off the coyote, alter its pattern and ruin your hunt. As it is for deer hunters, a trail camera with a time stamp can be a huge asset.
Allow the area to cool off by waiting several days between scouting and hunting. When you arrive at the stand, get in position and take a few minutes to range the terrain with a rangefinder. Range the path where you expect the coyote to pass, as well as other prominent features, in case the coyote's approach does not go according to plan. Do this ahead of time. You won't have time to range the coyote as it approaches.
