“Champions are brilliant at the basics.” So stated John Wooden, the most successful college basketball coach of all time, a man whose UCLA Bruins dominated college hoops during the early 1960s to the mid-1970s, winning 10 national championships in 12 years, and who compiled a 664-162 winning record during his 29-year coaching career.
I started seriously hunting back when Coach Wooden’s teams were at their peak, and his philosophy was something I embraced in all things. Not in the beginning, of course. As a young whippersnapper I thought I knew way more than I did, was smarter than the average bear, and could cut corners on the way to achieving success. It took years of stumbling and bumbling in the field before the lightbulb went on and I learned Coach Wooden was right — that there are no shortcuts to success, that to be consistently successful one must first master the basics.
That’s especially true when hunting coyotes, one of the cagiest predators on the continent. As all serious coyote hunters know, each day afield is different. Some days, it seems so easy — though those days are rare. Other days, you wonder where they all went. You never know what the day will bring. What I do know is that if you use basic principles as the foundation of your hunting strategy and technique, tweaking them a little bit here and there based on the conditions at hand, over time your successes will grow. Here are my own Top 10 basic tips for coyote hunting success.
No. 1: Scout, Scout, Scout — The more spots you have to set up and call, the better. onX Maps and Hunt Stand have become staples for scouting both from home and in the field, but nothing beats boots on the ground. Generally speaking, seek out edges in unfamiliar country — tree-lined edges near agriculture, poultry farms and cattle feed yards and pastures are prime locations. If you can obtain permission to hunt private ground, so much the better. Many times you’ll find landowners who won’t allow hunting for big game or upland birds will allow coyote hunting, so don’t be shy about asking.
No. 2: Respect Their Noses — The sense of smell a coyote possesses is legendary. I don’t care how “clean” you are, if they get downwind of you, the odds are great you’ll be busted and they’ll be gone. When they approach your calls, they will try and get downwind of you — so monitor your scent cone and try and set up so you’ll have open shooting lanes in that direction.
No. 3: Respect the Eyes — In addition to their noses, coyotes have excellent eyesight — especially at night. Here’s why. Coyotes have retinas that have a superabundance of rods with only a few cones. Rods require less light to activate than cones; having lots of rods also means great night vision — much better than humans, whose eyes have more cones than rods. In addition, coyotes have a tapetum lucidum beneath their retina, which reflects available light back through the retina, effectively increasing the light available to the photoreceptors. This is why they have excellent vision at dawn and dusk, as well as at night. They also will see you if you carelessly move about during the day. So, wear appropriate camouflage for the terrain and season, cover your shiny face and hands and minimize movement while on stand.
No. 4: Control the High Ground — A basic tactic you learn early in the infantry is to control the high ground. This allows you to both see the maximum amount of ground, as well as make it more difficult for an approaching coyote to sneak in undetected in little dips and cuts, or behind low brush. When setting up, take great care not to skyline yourself, and never sit at the very top of a hill, instead sit just below the crest so you will not be silhouetted.
No. 5: Bundle Up — The older I get, the less I like being cold. Trouble with that is, I have found that coyote hunting can really heat up the colder it gets. In bitter weather, they need calories to stay warm — and the sound of a distressed prey animal is what they’re listening for.
No. 6: Change Up Your Calling — It’s important to not fall in love with a single sound, such as the ever-popular, and wildly effective, rabbit or bird distress sounds. If you’re using an electronic caller — you are, right? — it’s loaded with innumerable different sounds. That’s because, just like a fishing tackle box full of different lures and baits, you have options when “old reliable” isn’t firing them up. Don’t be afraid to change up cadences, frequencies and call volume as you try to elicit a response. And, contrary to popular belief, the sound of a critter in distress that does not live where you’re hunting can work wonders at times. Friends who hunt in the East, for example, often have success using a jackrabbit distress call, even though there are no such bunnies where they live.
No. 7: Don’t Forget Your Mouth Calls — In addition to electronic callers, old school mouth calls still work extremely well when properly employed. Mixing them in with your electronic calls will broadcast new sounds to educated coyotes. And, when you see a coyote approaching, shutting down the electric caller and using soft mouth calls or even lip squeaks can get them into position for a good shot as it searches for you.
No. 8: Set Up For Minimal Movement — When you set up and before you start calling, make sure your rifle is pointing in the direction of the e-caller’s speakers. This helps to minimize movement when you bring the rifle to bear when a coyote approaches, which will be honed right in on the sound’s location. If you have to move the rifle to get a coyote in your sights, the best time is when the coyote moves and/or when its head is behind some obstacle.
No 9: Make Them Stop — Your best shot is always at a coyote that’s standing still. When you see them coming, get on the gun and track their movement. When they’re in range, hesitate and stop, be ready to take the shot. If they’ve gotten suspicious for whatever reason and turn to leave, get the crosshairs on target and bark. Normally this will stop them for a second or three as they look back to try to figure out what the heck is going on. When they do, shoot them.
No. 10: Success Breeds Success — If you’ve had a successful stand, when you move to the next spot, why change things? Keep mimicking the calling sequence that previously worked for you until it doesn’t. Here’s an example. When I lived in Arizona, I’d often start off with a coyote pair sequence for 30 to 60 seconds, then stop and listen for a response. If coyotes would howl back, I’d wait for them to stop — which is important, because when they stop, they are listening for me to answer back — then I’d hit them with a rabbit distress for two to three minutes, changing the volume all the while. No coyote? Switch to a woodpecker for another two to three minutes. No coyote? Switch to a screeching housecat. After 10 to 15 minutes on stand with no action, I’d go to a yipping coyote at max volume for maybe a minute, then immediately switch it out for pup distress for another five minutes or so. If that didn’t work, it was time to move on. I found that most of my successful stands produced action in under 10 minutes.
