Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints Novice coy dog hunter needs advice

I have gotten out of trucking and am working on a ranch. Every morning about 5-6 AM I hear 4 different dens of coyotes howling to each other. With calving season in late Feb I'm sure the ranch owner would like me to "thin the packs" in Jan.
I have a long heavy 264 Win mag w/ a 6-20 Springfield scope and a heavy barreled AR-15 w/ a 4-12 Redfield. I'd like to get a digital distress cottontail call and a motorized decoy by Jan, but I took a pretty good pay cut by getting off the road.
What do I need for camo?? Is a blind better?? Is this a good call or should I use something else?? I will be hunting with different teenagers, so I don't know how still they will be able to sit in Jan in WY. I have limited preparation time and funds, any advice will be appriciated.

Sounds like you may have some fun with those coyotes.

If funds are an issue I would not bother with an electronic call, just pick up a couple of good mouth calls. Maybe a Jack rabbit sound and a cottontail.

Most any camo will work, but something like Cabela's Open Country or Moss Oak's Brush would be good in that part of Wyoming.

Get a good bipod or a set of shooting sticks and practice a little with the calls, you should be all set.

My dad and I got lucky yesterday morning, we killed five coyotes on a large cattle ranch we hunt on. We did not call them in, just spread out and walked them up. They were lying down in tall grass and would let you get pretty close. We had to shoot them on the run, but that was fun. Three more managed get away.

Cowboy,
It is less about the sound, and much more about WHERE you make the sound - set-up is critical in calling coyotes. The old real estate saying "location, location, location," is nowhere more important than in coyote calling. You simply have to pay attention to wind direction and need to select a calling postion to help funnel the coyote where you can kill it. Expect a coyote to attempt to circle downwind if you let him. One whiff of you and he is history. And no, the Scent-Lok stuff or cover scent doesn't work on a sharp canines nose like a coyote. You do not need an e-caller, hand calls work fine. Handcalls however will direct a coyote right to YOU, so movement on the stand will get you busted more than any other single thing you can do to screw up. Camo really isn't necessary either, brown Carhartt's work fine - as long as you control your movements on the stand. Last point, know what the coyotes are doing at the time of year you begin calling. Late January or February in many places means the coyotes are breeding and distress calls may be less effective than howling. Howling can be complicated however and while you are learning the trade, distress calls are more foolproof.

+1 MOGC...

One saying I heard from Byron South that is so very true and has stuck with me...

"Always remember what you do before you start calling is much more important than what you do after you start calling..."

Cowboybart, MOGC has given you some very good advice. Here's a website that deals with predator hunting. There are a few hunters from your neck of the woods there too. BTW, I'd skip the blind. It'll only slow you down putting it up and taking it down on each stand. MI VHNTR

http://www.predatormastersforums.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php

Thanx for the tips. Any brand of mouth calls better than the next??

I like Tallyho's and crittrcalls. A Bill Austin howler to round it off....Don

Here is the best online tutorial I know of...

http://www.predatormastersforums.co...amp;Number=395217&page=0&fpart=1

Okay, I'm cheap and lazy. The easy way to get good sounds is to get a walkman, Radioshack mini-amp (runs on AA or AAA batteries I'm not at home to look), and a small (say 5") outdoor horn speaker with about 25 feet of speaker wire.

Johnny Stewart tapes have called a lot of coyotes and they are cheap.

You can use a CD player and your computer to burn any combination of calls you can imagine.

Here's a like to Dan Thompsons calls (at www.allpredatorcalls.com)

I have the howler mentioned above but I really like the weems type calls - easy to blow.

Spot

There's a couple Byron South DVD's that explain everything quite well. I have Coming to the Call II. Here's the website: http://www.comingtothecall.com/

I've had good luck with a Dan Thompson cottontail distress hand call this season. I also have had good luck with a Primo Hog Squeal call this season (its loud and raspy and sometimes sounds like a jackrabbit distress). Most of the name brand calls seem to work ok.

If you want a decoy, a couple turkey feathers tied to a stick works and its cheap.

A little tip on using feathers for a decoy - add a small fishing swivel to prevent the line from twisting up, preventing free movement while blowing around in the wind.

I know how cold it gets up there in Jan. You had better get two of each mouth call so you can have one defrosting in your pocket while you use the other.

First off I am curious but what part of Wyo will you be in?

Secondly like the others have said, I would go with 3 or 4 different mouth calls b4 I went to a electronic one. But then again I like to do the work and not have a call do it for me. One inexpensive electronic call you could check out is the Cass Creek ones. They're awfully darn good for a small amount of change.

Critter call is no doubt my fav and I would get the magnum size one. With it you can squeal like a bunny and or use it as a howler and come late January that will be very handy.
I also like one that Circe makes that is a 3 in one call.The Primo Regulator Tandem Pak and their Kiy Dog is a good one as well.

As for camo if it is white out a old bed sheet will work just fine as a cover up and or you can get some whites. I've never worried tons about what color I wear.

What I do worry tons about is site selection and being able to get in undetected by wind and sight. If a dog has either of those 2 on you it is game over.

Last couple of thoughts I would start off very softly and I mean soft. And being as I am naturally impatient I take along a watch and time my calling sites. I'll normally stay in place for 20 minutes b4 I get up to move on.

Best of luck to ya, for me calling critters is about as good as it gets. I've called in a bit over 60 bruins now and I just love it.

Dober