One thing veteran coyote hunters know is that you have to be able to give ’em a change of pace when it comes to your calling. What you throw at them is dependent on many varying factors, including time of year, whether you’re hunting private or public ground, hunting pressure, etc. Toss in the importance of scouting, and you can assemble a program that will up your odds for success, regardless of the season.
The truth is, thanks to the many incredible electronic calling devices available at reasonable cost, even a novice can immediately become a decent coyote caller by simply watching the wind, sneaking quietly into a stand location and remaining hidden while the machine works its magic. To take it to the next level requires an understanding of what motivates canis latrans throughout the winter and the breeding period. That will enable you to “match the hatch” and use those sounds with the best chance of success.
Ringing the Dinner Bell
There are basic categories of coyote calls that fall into the grouping of prey distress, nonaggressive yelps, societal howls and challenge howls. This is a simplistic description, of course, as researchers have identified a larger number of coyote vocalizations and nuanced variations of them. For the purposes of getting started in trying to call coyotes, however, this is a good place to begin. Let’s examine each group, and how they can best be utilized.
If there’s something a coyote will not swallow, I’m hard pressed to find it. Studies have shown their stomach contents contain everything from what you’d expect — rabbits, rodents, songbirds, carrion, fruits and vegetables — to stuff such as rocks, plastic grocery bags and food packaging, pieces of metal, shoes with leather soles, candy wrappers, avocado pits and — in urban areas — housecats. In fact, a study conducted in Los Angeles and Orange counties, California, showed housecats made up about 8 percent of local coyotes’ diets.
Being smart critters, it just makes sense that hearing the sound of a common prey animal in distress signals a quick, easy meal for a coyote. However, coyotes are also cautious, and the way in which they’ll approach the sounds of prey in distress is very dependent upon their past experiences when approaching these sounds. A young coyote living in an area where hunting pressure is low is much more likely to come barreling in than an older coyote and/or one that’s experienced and survived an encounter with a hunter.
These pressured coyotes will more than likely first move to an unexposed position to get downwind of the distress call, then wait, often for an extensive period of time, before moving in closer — if at all. Several studies of GPS-collared coyotes have shown that this caution can keep a coyote from reaching the calling location for an hour or more. The lesson here is that, when using prey distress calls, a hunter must be extremely patient. Spend at least 30 to 45 minutes on high alert, before moving on.
When it comes to using a prey distress call, what time of day is best? My friend Jimmy V. is a serious caller with decades of experience in the Southwest. His take is that the last hour of the day has been his most productive time, with midday his No. 2 best time. His thinking mirrors that of other professional coyote callers, which is simply that the cover of darkness is a great security blanket for coyotes, and that those that are hungry are more likely to approach his calls as nighttime gets closer.
Nonaggressive Yelps
Who doesn’t love a puppy? A series of nonaggressive yelps, with perhaps a whine or two thrown in for good measure, gets the brain of a coyote churning in several directions at once. They can be social, they can trigger the maternal instincts of a female, they can trigger territorial behavior in alpha males and dominant females. In fact, the yelp is a high-frequency, rapid sound sequence that serves as a specialized, close-range signal within the family unit. According to scienceinsights.org, “The yelp is a versatile tool for managing relationships and conveying emotional states within the immediate social structure of a coyote family. One primary function is signaling submission or de-escalation, especially between subordinate and dominant animals. A subordinate coyote might use a high-intensity yelp or whine to acknowledge the dominance of an alpha member, reducing the likelihood of conflict.”
Because yips and whines, and combinations of yips and howls, convey so many different sets of information, they are arguably the most versatile coyote vocalization a caller can use. They are especially important during spring, when coyotes are denning and raising young pups — but they are effective on both ends of the denning season, too.
When on stand, try starting out with some soft yelps, wait a while, and then if there’s no response, do it again, only a bit louder and more aggressively. It’s a great way to begin a hunting day at dawn, then after moving stands throughout the hunting day. Throw in some howls and prey distress calls, too.
Try Picking a Fight
As a rule, coyotes don’t really like to fight with one another. Biologists have said that their observations in the field substantiate this. When barking at one another, they’re really saying, “Get off my lawn!” Coyotes will challenge newcomers coming into their territory, chase them down, force them to submit, then give them a swift kick in the pants and make them leave.
Armed with that knowledge, this is a sound to be used only when you’re set up in a known core territory. This can be especially effective if you’re set up near a den during the breeding period, when the response can be a Charge of the Light Brigade scenario as the entire pack comes on the run, hackles up and teeth barred. It can be crazy exciting.
How to locate a true core area? Coyotes are more vocal at night, and you’ll be able to hear them howling from a long distance on a calm night. Importantly, coyotes tend to be less wary under the cover of darkness. Scouting after dark takes advantage of this. You’ll still have to factor in the wind but, since you’re scouting, you can listen, then mark the hotspots on your GPS or Smartphone hunting app. This allows you to hit more spots more efficiently when hunting. Using this data will help you make an educated guess as to where the denning sites would logically be. Voila! Come back, set up and lay it on ’em.
Howling at the Moon
All coyote callers just naturally like to hear a coyote howl. It’s a fun sound to make with your voice, and its primal nature speaks to something deep inside all hunters.
In his research paper, “Analysis of Coyote Vocalizations,” Philip Lehner, then with the Department of Zoology and Entomology at Colorado State University, conducted field studies from July 3 to August 11, 1976, in Grand Teton National Park and on the National Elk Refuge. The study was conducted as two separate, but related, research projects. The purpose was to determine the function of the lone howl, group howl and group yip-howl vocalizations.
While his results then were considered preliminary, he stated that four results were worthy of emphasis: (1) all the attacks and 80 percent of the approaches were made to unfamiliar vocalizations; (2) most (seven of eight) of the group yip-howl responses were given to group yip-howl playbacks; (3) the animals appeared to be able to discriminate between lone howls of group members and non-group coyotes; and (4) location of playback in the territory did not appear to be as important in determining an individual’s response as did the ongoing behavior or social status of that individual.
Taking that a bit further, Rich Higgins, one of the country’s most accomplished coyote hunters and callers, has written that offering sounds that “appeal to the largest number of coyotes without alarming or intimidating them” is the ticket to success. “I’ve found that the most effective howl to draw them in is a lone howl that is low frequency, high pitched, and long,” he wrote. “It announces the presence of an unknown, young, small, nonaggressive coyote that any other dog within hearing distance will be willing to investigate. Louder, long-range howls are more likely to get howls in return, but they are less likely to draw a coyote in to your stand.”
The Bottom Line
The best coyote callers understand what the basic vocalizations of a coyote mean and when they are best employed for maximum response. They also know that, in most cases, using a combination of sounds that mixes it up can increase the odds of having a dog or two come investigate what you’re serving up. As an example, start off with a howl — not aggressively, but one that suggests a newcomer has arrived, he’s not a true alpha, and he’s checking things out. Then maybe add some yelps, yips and whines, and maybe some prey distress sounds, too.
Mix and match as the situation and season dictates. For example, during the breeding season, forgo the prey distress sounds and instead try imitating a receptive female with a sound such as a hurt whimper and whine calls many hunters use to try to stop an escaping coyote, only make it higher pitched and more submissive. Throw in the sounds of a subdominant male. Keep the wind right, and if you have time and the right terrain features, add some scent and a moving decoy to your caller.
It’s a chess match, and when it all comes together, there’s nothing like it.
