Are American attention spans decreasing, leading to speedier shifts from one focus to another? I’d say yes, and depending on the research, studies do indicate that since the explosion in screen-time motivation, attention span has diminished. One study I reviewed indicated that in 2004 employees spent an average of 2.5 minutes on a document before looking at email or another screen. Fast forward to today and that figure now sits at less than one minute — 47 seconds to be exact.
I know my own attention span has crashed. When I do not see the hunting action I desire on Instagram, my finger is flipping reels faster than a card dealer in Vegas. But that phenomenon does not have a direct cause and effect on hunting, or does it? Do you get impatient on your coyote stands? Do you feel like a coyote should have shown up in the first 15 to 20 minutes? Are you already considering leaving before the 30-minute mark?
Like social media reels that grab your attention, a multitude of elements affect how quickly you move from set to set during a coyote hunt. In nearly every example, waiting longer has significance. With coyotes experiencing more hunting pressure, focused and unplanned, such as big-game hunters or landowners taking hurried shots of opportunity, coyotes have plenty to think about before showing up to your calls.
Early in my coyote hunting education, I started staying longer on sets. Good memories of success by sitting it out longer have led me to rarely give up a stand in less than 45 minutes and most of my stands last a full hour. Will staying longer help increase your coyote success? Here are five scenarios and strategies that work for me — you decide.
The Sound of Hope
“We’ll have your table ready in just a few minutes.” When you hear those hopeful words at a busy, popular restaurant, you wait longer and hold out for the hope that a few minutes does not turn into another 30 minutes of waiting. That flavorful steak is worth it. Right?
When you hear the return howls of coyotes you should do the same, whether they’re answering your vocalizations or just sounding off on their own as you settle into your setup. A coyote howl or yip resounds with hope. You know a coyote resides nearby. Of course, you need to take distance into account. A coyote howl that makes you jump from shock due to its close proximity exudes hope measured in gallons. The same is not true of a coyote howl that’s barely audible. Far-off howls could be from a coyote at the edge of its territory. Although coyotes cross territorial lines all the time, they do have some respect for the boundaries set by other coyotes in the area.
Strategy — Even a far-off coyote deserves a try. It’s there. Why not? The simplest way to answer the sound of howling hope is to mimic what you heard. A drawn out, lone howl could be a coyote looking for company or merely proclaiming territory. Your similar response might incite it to come looking for company or merely satisfy its curiosity. Or your return howl could spike territorial dominance for a coyote to come looking for trouble. Regardless of the reasoning rolling around in a coyote’s mind, wait longer.
Obviously, any coyote that sounded off nearby could show up quickly. Your wait might be short and sweet, but don’t bet on it. Coyotes generally respond to prey in distress in a hurried manner, especially uneducated coyotes early in the season. Coyotes responding to vocalizations oftentimes walk in unhurried, based on my years of watching coyotes in open country. A few jogged in, but most acted like a 1980s mall shopper going from store window to store window.
Coyotes that sounded like light years away when they responded to your howls clearly require a long wait. Rub the sleep out of your eyes and get ready to stick it out for an hour or more.
Educated Coyotes
With a bare landscape or snow on the ground, the odds of having to deal with educated coyotes is likely. For starters, during the variety of hunting seasons prior, many nimrods take advantage of chance coyote encounters to let some lead fly. Coyotes quickly learn to stalk in the shadows away from humans. Then you have the ever earlier execution of coyote hunting contests. I have no opinion one way or another on these events. They spur hunting interest. Nevertheless, teams hunt expeditiously from set to set to accumulate as many coyotes as possible within the contest time frame. That results in a landscape dotted with educated coyotes.
Finally, there simply is more interest in coyote hunting than ever before. You’ve likely noticed aisles in sporting goods stores devoted totally to predator hunting, rifles tailored for predators and your neighbors suddenly discovering time to call coyotes during the winter when they had previously hung up their hunting gear after deer season. All that mean more hunting pressure and coyotes with a graduate degree in paranoia.
Strategy — Yes, you should wait longer. While you linger, totally avoid using the common calling sounds that provide comfort to your soul. Instead, be a pioneer. Be creative on your hand calls and peruse your electronic caller’s library for prey sounds that often get overlooked, but might pique interest in a coyote that has heard every bunny sound imaginable.
A category I revert to often includes scavenger birds such as crows, ravens, jays and magpies. These sounds not only attract coyotes thinking dead is ahead, but these instill confidence. They also attract real aerial decoys for added realism. And do not get hung up on imitating only those prey species found in your ZIP code. Interesting wins over garden variety every time.
Long Distances/Terrain
Landscapes vary depending on the habitat that makes up the backdrop. Sounds carry farther in open country. Sounds get blocked in canyon country, and if the landscape still sports foliage it acts like the foamed walls in a recording studio. It muffles the sound. You can alter the amount of time and the intensity of the sounds you use based on how these environmental elements affect sound.
Remember, for many sounds, humans and canines hear it in a similar fashion. Blasting the sound too loud can cause fear in a coyote just the same as a nearby truck door slamming. On the other hand, canines can hear a vast range of high-frequency sounds that humans cannot. Theory is that they developed this to hear the high-pitched sounds of their main prey, rodents. Loud is good to send a message across the countryside, but keeping it in check and possibly using higher-pitched sounds could go longer in winning the coyote game with landscape barriers.
Strategy — Waiting longer gives coyotes hearing your message on the other side of a farm field ample time to make a move to you. Again, 45 minutes is not too long, nor is 60 minutes. But before you plant yourself for that long commitment, review your site. Your checklist should require that you have a commanding view of every corridor a coyote might take to you, particularly the downwind avenues. Any stand that provides downwind camouflage for a coyote to sneak into and get your scent could ruin any set, regardless of the time you spent there. Often, I use the 3D Map feature on my HuntStand app to give me a view of potential setup sites and their vulnerabilities before the hunt.
Weather Matters
You know that wind affects sound projection. So does snow, rain and of course days calmer than the Pope. Again, all of this affects not only where you should hunt, but how long to sit. Obviously, in breezy conditions your sound is not carrying as far, and a stand where you might wait for 60 minutes could be reduced to 30 minutes. The same goes with weather noisemakers such as snow and rain that create their own sounds, and more when wind is added.
Calm days aside, when sound carries for miles, I tend to sit longer in a fog. The peaceful, cloaked landscape instills confidence in coyotes and they could arrive from any direction. Not only does fog prevail in still circumstances, but the heavy moisture also tends to pull your scent downward around you. When favorable weather makes an appearance, hunt landscapes that heighten your lengthy stay.
Strategy — Instead of sticking to tradition, match the landscape you hunt to the forecast about to happen. On bluebird days, flip a coin according to the wind. On windy days, seek environments that block the wind. Think heavy timber, canyons and coulees. Your goal is to set up with large natural wind blocks deflecting some of Mother Nature’s blast.
Light drizzle or snow could also bring on a flip of the coin, but with a little heavier moisture you might want to again seek the canopy of timber. My longest sits in weather events, clear skies aside, include light snow and fog. Coyotes seem to be more active, especially if they sense this is just the beginning of a multiday, horrible weather event.
Fewer Coyotes
In closing, you could simply be out of coyotes like grocery stores were out of toilet paper during the great pandemic of 2020 (and beyond). By the time the new year rolls around, many coyotes have taken a ride in the back of a truck from chance meetings by deer hunters, coyote calling contestants and the diehard predator crowd now undeniably hunting 365 days per year. Those absentees add up to fewer coyotes to call. Add in all the factors above, plus utilizing unique strategies, demands you stay longer on stands. A coyote might be responding from a greater distance, reducing its pace due to paranoia or simply mapping a hidden course to your location. You have one ace to play. Set up a profile on match.com.
Strategy — Late in the winter, specifically February, coyotes breed. It’s the coyote rut and many pairs fall to speedy, red-tipped bullets before consummating the marriage. Fewer coyotes, missing spouses and roaring testosterone, demand you think love. High-pitched howls, female whimpers and estrous whines stretched out through an hour or more of calling could pull a lonely coyote in your direction. After watching these rituals through spotting scopes and on properties I could not hunt, sitting up to two hours is not out of the question while waiting for a shy coyote to arrive when love is in the air.
Coyote hunting is not social media reel-based entertainment. It requires a commitment and that commitment is time. Spend the time and you might have the makings for your own social media reel that inspires others.
