2021 Coyote killing counter

[Rookie]

For me, it's all about night hunting. The main reason is because my hunting involves a lot of wide open fields with patch woods in multiple directions. Hunting during daylight would be next to impossible. I can't tell you how many times I've been certain that a coyote would come from a certain direction only to find out there's one or five behind me. This is where a good thermal scope earns its money. While coyotes do have good night vision, they can't compete with a thermal. There's been many times where I've been able to pick up my tripod and relocate to a better position before a coyote got a chance to wind me. At night, coyotes rely mainly on their nose and use their eyes to detect movement. Look at the video posted above, that coyote was 30 yards away. We were standing in a field with no cover and they didn't know we were there. You wouldn't be able to do that during the day.

Unfortunately, night hunting requires more of an investment. You could certainly hunt with a light, but be prepared to be very frustrated. Night vision and digital night vision will work, but your range is severely limited and coyotes still sometimes get spooked by infrared. Thermal is where it's at, but it comes with a hefty price tag.

Day or night, the basics are the same. Invest in a good caller. I started out with a Primos Alpha dog. It was pretty good with fresh batteries, but the sound degraded when the batteries started dying and that tended to be only a few hours. I now use a Foxpro shockwave. I've been happy with it. Lucky Duck also gets good reviews, but I have no experience with one. Get some non stock calls added. Tony Tebbs has a lot of good sounds for reasonable prices. Don't rely on rabbit distress - every coyote in the country has heard it!.

Get a decent shooting platform. I prefer a tripod with a ball head, but everyone has their preference. Get a rifle that shoots as flat as possible. This is more important at night, but it still helps for day hunting.

 

[johntheplinker]

For me, it's all about night hunting. The main reason is because my hunting involves a lot of wide open fields with patch woods in multiple directions. Hunting during daylight would be next to impossible. I can't tell you how many times I've been certain that a coyote would come from a certain direction only to find out there's one or five behind me. This is where a good thermal scope earns its money. While coyotes do have good night vision, they can't compete with a thermal. There's been many times where I've been able to pick up my tripod and relocate to a better position before a coyote got a chance to wind me. At night, coyotes rely mainly on their nose and use their eyes to detect movement. Look at the video posted above, that coyote was 30 yards away. We were standing in a field with no cover and they didn't know we were there. You wouldn't be able to do that during the day.

Unfortunately, night hunting requires more of an investment. You could certainly hunt with a light, but be prepared to be very frustrated. Night vision and digital night vision will work, but your range is severely limited and coyotes still sometimes get spooked by infrared. Thermal is where it's at, but it comes with a hefty price tag.

Day or night, the basics are the same. Invest in a good caller. I started out with a Primos Alpha dog. It was pretty good with fresh batteries, but the sound degraded when the batteries started dying and that tended to be only a few hours. I now use a Foxpro shockwave. I've been happy with it. Lucky Duck also gets good reviews, but I have no experience with one. Get some non stock calls added. Tony Tebbs has a lot of good sounds for reasonable prices. Don't rely on rabbit distress - every coyote in the country has heard it!.

Get a decent shooting platform. I prefer a tripod with a ball head, but everyone has their preference. Get a rifle that shoots as flat as possible. This is more important at night, but it still helps for day hunting.

This is why I say you need to figure out how you're going to hunt them first. Most of my hunting is in woods and small fields, in very hilly terrain and usually involves a lot of walking. Light weight is very important unless you're looking for a workout.
Down here it is very difficult to get a shot over 200 yards, I'd venture a guess my average shot is under 50 yards. So for me an accurate rifle isn't quite as important but good glass with a wide field of view is. I've been playing with digital night vision but it has serious drawbacks in deep woods so I limit it to field edges. A compact AR is what I usually use, with either a very good LPVO or digital NV, or else my T3 Lite with 3-12x42 scope. No extra doodads on any guns, just scope, sling, and in the case of the NV, a IR illuminator.
Since a good percentage of my hunting is during daylight, full camo is very important. Don't forget to include covering your face and hands. I do use cover scents since my encounter tend to be fairly close. Don't know for sure if makes a difference but if it gives me a couple extra seconds for the shot...Oh, and probably the most important thing- a good pair of boots. Last thing I want to do is turn an ankle in the middle of the jungle. Lots of places down here don't have cell service.
One thing my type of hunting has in common with Rookie's is having a good call. Actually I'll use 2 or 3 at a time sometimes. A good electronic making prey sounds then another making yote sounds and a mouth call at times. Right now my primary call is the Foxpro Inferno, and a Icotec GC320 secondary. The secondary also has a decoy option that comes in handy.

 

[Rookie]

This is why I say you need to figure out how you're going to hunt them first. Most of my hunting is in woods and small fields, in very hilly terrain and usually involves a lot of walking. Light weight is very important unless you're looking for a workout.
Down here it is very difficult to get a shot over 200 yards, I'd venture a guess my average shot is under 50 yards. So for me an accurate rifle isn't quite as important but good glass with a wide field of view is. I've been playing with digital night vision but it has serious drawbacks in deep woods so I limit it to field edges. A compact AR is what I usually use, with either a very good LPVO or digital NV, or else my T3 Lite with 3-12x42 scope. No extra doodads on any guns, just scope, sling, and in the case of the NV, a IR illuminator.
Since a good percentage of my hunting is during daylight, full camo is very important. Don't forget to include covering your face and hands. I do use cover scents since my encounter tend to be fairly close. Don't know for sure if makes a difference but if it gives me a couple extra seconds for the shot...Oh, and probably the most important thing- a good pair of boots. Last thing I want to do is turn an ankle in the middle of the jungle. Lots of places down here don't have cell service.
One thing my type of hunting has in common with Rookie's is having a good call. Actually I'll use 2 or 3 at a time sometimes. A good electronic making prey sounds then another making yote sounds and a mouth call at times. Right now my primary call is the Foxpro Inferno, and a Icotec GC320 secondary. The secondary also has a decoy option that comes in handy.

He's right. If I could average 50 yard shots, I wouldn't be lugging a 6mm creedmoor around. My typical shots are 125-250 yards. Again, it all depends on the areas you hunt.

John, do you use sticks to shoot or free hand?

 

[dak109]

John and Rookie, keep talking.
The places I tend to hunt sound like a mix of the two.
I have been using a light and frustrating doesn't even begin to cover it. I was looking real hard at DNV. Now am leaning towards thermal.
I don't get out often period. Even less during daylight.

 

[Rookie]

Thermal was a major change in hunting. I was amazed at how many coyotes I had never seen. When hunting with lights, you always wonder if there was one that you didn't see. With thermal, there is no question. Another advantage is that you can see them a long ways off which allows you to wait or adjust your position.

For me, the biggest hesitation was buying something so expensive without knowing what I was getting into. If that's an issue for you, feel free to come by some time. I have digital night vision and thermal that you could look through.

 

[dak109]

Thermal was a major change in hunting. I was amazed at how many coyotes I had never seen. When hunting with lights, you always wonder if there was one that you didn't see. With thermal, there is no question. Another advantage is that you can see them a long ways off which allows you to wait or adjust your position.

For me, the biggest hesitation was buying something so expensive without knowing what I was getting into. If that's an issue for you, feel free to come by some time. I have digital night vision and thermal that you could look through.

Thanks for the offer. But I don't usually make it that far north.
I am on the list for a Super Hogster. No clue how long it will be. Decided on that based on reading your posts here and at Predator Masters, also Kirsch's.
The only thing I haven't seen specifically talked about is how thermal works in cover/ woods. I have seen videos looking into brush from an open field, it looked to be not much different than day scope except for more black. It was running on white hot.

 

[jagee]

He's right. If I could average 50 yard shots, I wouldn't be lugging a 6mm creedmoor around. My typical shots are 125-250 yards. Again, it all depends on the areas you hunt.

John, do you use sticks to shoot or free hand?

I just got 25 acres. 16 tillable split roughly down the middle by an access road to the property south of me, which is all woods and pond. I would likely be hunting coyotes in the same 7ish acres of woods along the edge of my property that I plan to deer hunt in.

 

[johntheplinker]

He's right. If I could average 50 yard shots, I wouldn't be lugging a 6mm creedmoor around. My typical shots are 125-250 yards. Again, it all depends on the areas you hunt.

John, do you use sticks to shoot or free hand?

Free hand. When they can come in from almost any point of the compass and wildly varying elevation, I've found the less encumbrances the better. Next time I go out, I'll get a couple pics of my typical hunting areas.

 

[johntheplinker]

John and Rookie, keep talking.
The places I tend to hunt sound like a mix of the two.
I have been using a light and frustrating doesn't even begin to cover it. I was looking real hard at DNV. Now am leaning towards thermal.
I don't get out often period. Even less during daylight.

If I could have afforded it, I'd have thermal instead of digital. As I mentioned above, the really big drawback with the digital is the amount of "glare" from the IR in thicker areas. Open areas it works well but just doesn't have the range of thermal but since a large field around here is maybe 15 acres its not a big issue.

Let me expand a little on my choice of daylight optics. Clarity and low light performance are the big issues for me with field of view being second.
Because a lot of my hunting is in wooded areas, I need something that I can see holes in brush to snake a bullet through. If I'm down in a deep holler or the north side of a hill, it gets dark quite a bit quicker than you'd think. The last hour before sunset is prime time, the yotes are getting up and starting to move but are still back in the thick stuff.
Most of the shots I get are moving targets so I need to be able to get them in the scope fast while having some idea if they're able to go behind a tree or some other obstacle.
Magnification isn't a big issue, I'm usually running 2-4x most of the time, occasionally in more open areas I'll go to 6x.

 

[Field King]

the pics are over the last couple of years. Thought i would share. we do hunt coyote but also trap many. Snares are an easy way to get the ole dog. The rabbits show what you can do when the coyotes are under control. Between coyotes and cats the rabbits are holed up a lot.

Nice but how do you insure local dogs don’t end up in the snares?

 

[pappyon]

Nice but how do you insure local dogs don’t end up in the snares?

i always get permission before i set any traps. also check if the neighbors have dogs. I have caught dogs in foot traps because i use scent to draw fox or yotes. But the coyotes in snares i set in holes in fences or runs in the fields or woods. deep snow helps when snaring but there isnt any guarantee you wont get a dog. I guess the way i feel is if the owner thought enough of his/her dog they would keep tract of it too. Cats are another story, They need eliminated. They are the largest killer of wildlife out there.

 

[dak109]

If I could have afforded it, I'd have thermal instead of digital. As I mentioned above, the really big drawback with the digital is the amount of "glare" from the IR in thicker areas. Open areas it works well but just doesn't have the range of thermal but since a large field around here is maybe 15 acres its not a big issue.

Let me expand a little on my choice of daylight optics. Clarity and low light performance are the big issues for me with field of view being second.
Because a lot of my hunting is in wooded areas, I need something that I can see holes in brush to snake a bullet through. If I'm down in a deep holler or the north side of a hill, it gets dark quite a bit quicker than you'd think. The last hour before sunset is prime time, the yotes are getting up and starting to move but are still back in the thick stuff.
Most of the shots I get are moving targets so I need to be able to get them in the scope fast while having some idea if they're able to go behind a tree or some other obstacle.
Magnification isn't a big issue, I'm usually running 2-4x most of the time, occasionally in more open areas I'll go to 6x.

I’m familiar with that type of terrain and have found the same to true with deer hunting some of my places. I picked up a new property last year that has some more open fields on it. Once the crops are out 900 yards is the farthest point I could see.
I switched from 223 to 6.8 SPC last year. I love am loving it for deer. I’ve only shot one coyote with it. Missed the first shot and rolled it on the second at about 200-250 yards. It was a target of opportunity shot. This year I switched glass to a Steiner GS3 2-10 so far it’s working out.

 

[pappyon]

 

[pappyon]

this was the perfect set up. Full moon for a couple days...we had a storm..blizzard. The wind was blowing and it was COLD!! The dogs were hungry. Shot 5 with my 22 from my deer stand this morning. All were within a 20 minute time period. 2 come in. Then a single. Then mom and dad. I was froze but loved it.

 

[pappyon]

I have found that the locator call for coyotes with the little fox pro caller usually gets a response. Of course they have to be near it to hear but i just move around. I put the moving tail flipper about 25 yards in front of me in some brush. along with the speaker. I climb up in my stand with my .22. After the locator call i turned on the rabbit squealing. One good blast then turned down soft. In minutes i saw 2 coming thru the woods. A little hill in front of me hid them while they were trotting towards me. When they come up i was already looking thru the scope. I am 24 feet in the air with a huge tree behind me in my deer stand. wind is perfect. It is a 2 man stand, And has the bar that comes down in from of you. I was resting the rifle on it. They had their eyes locked on the moving Hair ball in the brush. I let them get almost on it. Cracked the first one in the head. dropped it. The other turned and ran and i was rapid firing the Remington speedmaster center mass. I heard it hit twice. it disappeared over the hill. My heart was pounding. I quickly reloaded. The call still squealing. The hairball still flipping periodically. It has pauses built in it. I saw movement way out in front of me in the woods. I scoped it. Here it comes...another one. My heart racing it comes right in and runs up close to the dead one laying there. Between the eyes i squeezed a round off. Down it went. Legs stiffened and then they drop down. I could not believe it. It was about 9 in the morning. Cold. Damn cold. Like 2 degrees cold. I am not dressed for a long stay. Then i look towards my house across the open field. I see 2 dots in the snow trotting my way. Could it be??? I scope again. There they are . 2 big ones. Mom and dad. They came in like they didnt want left out of a meal. I dropped a big red headed looking thing in its tracks. The other turned and i was was squeezing that trigger as fast as i could. Then on a shot it went down. Right in the spine. Now i am shaking from freezing and excitement. I have to get down to look at these. I drug the 4 on a pile. I didnt have a long walk to the 4 wheeler but i did have to cross a ditch. Then i thought to myself, you hit that other one that ran over the hill. Having snow it will be easy to track it. didnt see any blood but i know i hit it. I didnt go 50 yards and there she laid. One thru the guts and one thru the lungs. i have never had anything close to this happen before. Have had pairs. One other time had 3 but they were not close to each other. I think this was a family. Mom, Dad and the kids. it was a good day. My grandsons were in school and all i could think of was how i wished they could of been there too. But it felt good knowing that some deer, turkey and rabbits are going to be around for the boys down the road.

 

[Rookie]

That was today?

 

[yetti462]

+1. 3 total. saw a bunch last night. only got bullet in one.

 

[johntheplinker]

+1 Now 4.

 

[pappyon]

when deer hunting, if a yote comes in we take the shot. He was happier than any deer he had killed.

 

[Trevelayan]

There are several packs around my valley but I never see much of them. I caught two of them snooping around my spring a couple weeks ago but they stayed out of range. Out here they're really skiddish and not used to people. I like their songs when they get wound up though. I think all my neighbors' barn cats are keeping them well fed...