Sure it’s still whitetail season and I’m going to blog about late-season in the very near future, but it’s also time to think about coyotes and here’s why. If you want to find success you need to get out early while there are still a few uneducated coyotes left. Every day you wait means less and less young coyotes to hunt as they fall to deer hunters and savvy coyote hunters.
My best calling generally takes place in December and early January well before the bulk of coyote hunting contests take place, and before deer hunters get focused on predator hunting. By late January and early February coyote hunting can be tougher than finding tamper-free evidence on the debate over global warming.
Before coyotes receive their doctorate degrees in cunning and escape, get out and after them. Young coyotes are running on their own right now and oftentimes traveling with sisters, and brothers. You may call in one or more coyotes, and old reliable calls like a rabbit in distress will work just fine. As the season progresses and coyotes grow weary of the dying rabbit call, mix it up. You can use anything from fawns in distress to your homemade recording of your parakeet feigning animal abuse.
You sure do pick great lunch spots dad.
This photo is of my son Cole’s first coyote taken while we were deer hunting in South Dakota the last week of November. I was searching for a lunch spot out of the wind when I spotted this coyote napping, in fact, completely passed out under a bush. We crawled up to a hillside lip and I barked to get the coyote to raise its head. He barely moved so Cole gave him a wake-up call the Hornady way.
This was Cole’s first coyote, although he’s seen the effects of good calling on overenthusiastic, young coyotes while by my side. Now it’s his turn to enjoy the fun of calling coyotes.
Mark Kayser
Comments on this entry are closed.