So what I am doing wrong ?

Buford_Dawg

Senior Member
Need help. I have a strong population of Yotes on both my hunt clubs. I have a Foxpro eCaller and have now been on 7 sits in the last month. I have called up zero coyotes. I have called up a fox. I get situated in areas I know they are and try to use wind (if there is any) in my favor. My routine is to start with about 2-3 minutes of female howels and barks and turn off, listen and look for 5 minutes, redo sequence, if nothing, then I will start with BayBee Cottontail for 3-5 minutes varying volume and stop, look and listen for 5-10 minutes, do same sequence, if nothing, mix in Lightning Jack and go thru this whole routine for another 20-30 minutes. I ususally sit about 45 minutes in a spot. Am I over-calling or what? The other evening I called from 6pm till dark, nothing, got down, walked to truck and as I was putting my equipment up, a pack of Yotes started howling about 300 yards past where I had been sit up.
 

Philbow

Senior Member
You're probably not doing anything wrong. But and it's a big huge but:
1 - IMHO if they have heard the calls once and been spooked or detected something wrong then they will not come in again to those calls.
2 - IMHO they will circle down wind out of sight frequently and smell you, and you will never see them.
3 - Even if they have not been spooked before sometimes they just will not come in.
4 - I probably see a coyote or coyotes about 10% of my calling sequences/set-ups. I manage to kill less than 50% of the ones I call in.

My most effective sequence has been adult cottontail then whatever Grey fox distress is available. I would mix-up my calling sequence and maybe change location but I don't see anything wrong in your post except being too consistent. Also if you check the coyote hunt thread you'll see a lot more 0 seen than posts with anything killed.
 

antharper

“Well Rounded Outdoorsman MOD “
Staff member
I agree with philbow.... with that said my most effective setup is in the next few months using the pup distress setting , I’ve killed several females in the last few years that have came running in as soon as I turned call on , good luck !
 

Permitchaser

Senior Member
You didn't mention what type of terrain you calling in. If your in the woods good luck. They can circle and you'll never see them. Try edges and use a decoy. A fawn decoy with a motorized tail flipper should work
 

Yotedawg

Senior Member
Coyote vocals are really hot right now for us. Put a lot of emphasis on scouting and location. Use the wind but if possible, setup with a crosswind. If you are calling in the woods or small fields, you most likely have called up dogs and never saw them. As stated, they will circle around and backdoor you. We have gone nocturnal with our hunting. If that is a possibility for you, I highly recommend it. There are night vision options that work really well in the $500 range. Thermal is more money but worth the investment if you can swing it. The amount of dogs we would see early morning/late evening doesn't compare with what we see night hunting. Keep at it, pay attention at what works and what doesn't. Don't get frustrated, just because a dog hears a rabbit in distress doesn't mean he's coming in at all. We have yet to kill a poor dog the last couple of years. The dogs we have taken were really well fed. If you are a youtube watcher and you have been watching coyote hunting videos, don't get caught up in what you see there and wonder why you aren't seeing dogs here. Those videos are out west where they usually see dogs coming from way off. Eastern hunting is a lot different, we have to put a lot more emphasis into our setup. Keep at it and good luck.
 

chase870

Possum Sox
You need to post each hunt in the coyote hunt thread as well. I hunt almost strictly at night, mainly because my hunting partner and I both have thermal, and animals really show up well for us due to the heat signature they put out. I have called in and killed them during the day as well. I would venture to say you have called in more than one you just didn't see them. I think they are harder to kill this time of year, adults are paired up, females are pregnant, and the juveniles are a bit more cautious than they were in the early fall. Remember you are only hunting him till he hears the call, then he is hunting you. Try to use the distress calls that match the food source in the area you are hunting. My favorite call in areas where there are some houses near by is the kitten in distress, when fawns are dropping fawn in distress, rodent and rabbit in distress in fields etc. I also kill a couple each year during turkey season.
 

chase870

Possum Sox
You got one hunt listed in the hunt thread so you missed putting 6 hunts in the reason I asked people to list all their hunts is to see what works and see how many yotes get called in and what they are responding to etc. Its a learning/teaching thread and your input will help others, and ours will help you as well
 

willie1971

Senior Member
You're probably not doing anything wrong. But and it's a big huge but:
1 - IMHO if they have heard the calls once and been spooked or detected something wrong then they will not come in again to those calls.
2 - IMHO they will circle down wind out of sight frequently and smell you, and you will never see them.
3 - Even if they have not been spooked before sometimes they just will not come in.
4 - I probably see a coyote or coyotes about 10% of my calling sequences/set-ups. I manage to kill less than 50% of the ones I call in.

My most effective sequence has been adult cottontail then whatever Grey fox distress is available. I would mix-up my calling sequence and maybe change location but I don't see anything wrong in your post except being too consistent. Also if you check the coyote hunt thread you'll see a lot more 0 seen than posts with anything killed.

That has been my experience too. I see them once out of maybe 10 hunts, and you cannot discount that they are not around. I have had them yelp when I got out of my stand, as though they were laughing at me. It gets really hard to shoot them once you see one. To me, thats the hardest part. they dont sit still
 

chase870

Possum Sox
just looked through the hunt thread I'm 0 for 8 hunts on killing a yote. Don't get discouraged don't give up. We killed a few prior to me starting the hunt thread then we got snake bit and aint called up a thing. It will change soon enough. If one gets in range and you have a shot you best kill him as he wont give you many chances.Good luck
 

Barebowyer

Senior Member
I have had no luck with any distress calls this time of year in Ga personally. I have had the best luck with dominant male vocals and they usually holler back before showing themselves. that has been my experience the past two seasons this time of year and I have killed them before and after dark even within 30 yds. Stay with it
 

drawedback

Senior Member
I often try to approach coyote hunting much like I do Turkey hunting. First you have to scout and atleast have an idea of where the coyotes are hanging out at any given time. If you are trying to call them half a mile, or across a river or revene, or across an open pasture or field, you are not going to be very successful. Also don't play the same tired ole sounds on every set, try to switch it up, try new sounds. You are looking for a trigger, something to make the coyote drop what he is doing and come check you out. Some of the best prey distress sounds are sounds they have never heard. For example, we had lots of success this winter with snowshoe hare, pretty sure Ga yotes have never heard a snowshoe hare, but they still came to investigate. Remember they can't really reason that there shouldn't be a fawn calling in Feb, or a woodpecker squealing at night, or a distressed calf a mile from the closest pasture. So, mix it up, and have fun with it. Keep at it, and good luck.
 

furtaker

Senior Member
Coyotes get call shy quick if you over call an area. Turn on an electronic call in front of your dog and the first time he goes crazy. The second time he might pick his head up and look at you. The third time he's probably ignoring it. I used to love to hunt them but I got kinda burned out on it because they are so hard to kill. Trapping them is more fun to me anyway.
 
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