New to coyote hunting!

I live on the northern boarder of Anoka county and have 9 acres, most of which is more of a lowland area which is fairly dense with trees. I am looking to start coyote hunting and am looking for some assistance on the what and how to go about it. My next door neighbor has 15 acre and I may have access to that as well. Both of us want the coyotes gone. Location(shooting laws) and neighbors are not a concern (most in the neighborhood hunt), so looking to keep this about how to get started.

A few questions to start this off:
1) I have multiple shotguns, but none with a rifled barrel for slugs. I also have a deer rifle. Since the area is fairly wooded and I would not have any shots over 100 years, do I need to look at getting a shotgun with a rifled barrel? I plan on it before next deer season….but not sure it is needed for this?

2) Do you hunt coyotes from the ground or stands?

3) What is the minimum needed for a call? At this point I am trying to take out a pack, or at least a few of them. I don’t know that this will turn into a new hobby like duck/pheasant/grouse, so I am not looking to buy the best call out there.

4) Quick reading on this has informed me that you pick a spot, do some calling, and if you don’t see anything move to another spot to do some calling. New spot is determined by wind and how far the calling may have been heard. If it’s windy, you don’t have to move as far as the sound of the call would not have traveled as far.

5) Sound like coyotes can become call wise?

6) Would it be preferred to set up in an area that is more open, or more in a forest area that has some shooting lanes?

Thanks for any help on this!

I’ll send you a PM with some info. Personally, a shotgun with some Hornady Heavy Coyote in BB might be all you need.

Some answers to your questions, Hemi,

I’ve sent you a PM, if you want to just try coyote hunting without shelling out a ton of money on gear, let’s do a 1 day hunt together. I’ll provide everything including the ammo.

1. No, you do not need a rifled barrel. My favorite coyote load is Hornady predator 3 inch BB loads. Buck works fine as well, but I’m not a fan of 00 buck which is by far the most common. I’m much better with 4 Buck, which is harder to find.

2. I sit on the ground. The term “stand” is used in coyote hunting to mean “a place where you sat and called”.

It is important to choose good calling locations. This is probably the most difficult thing to learn, where to set up and why.

3. You can use mouth calls, but I’m not a fan. Randy will give you a different answer, but with mouth calls, calling skill is much more of an issue and the variety of calls you can use is limited. I like eCallers because of the variety of sounds, the overall volume, and for one more BIG reason. The call sound is NOT coming from you. The coyotes are looking for the source of the sound, so they are less likely to spot you. This gives you a little bit of an edge in a game where you need every advantage you can get.

4. Essentially correct, but in your situation I would be VERY careful not to overcall. You’re talking about <40 acres you’d be hunting and even counting calling them off of other properties, keep in mind that you have to get them onto your properties to be able to shoot them. I would be very careful with setup and tactics in your situation because if a big pack ever busts you, your chances of getting them to come in again will be very, very slim.

5. Yes. Very.

Have you ever watched those TV shows where they coyotes come trotting in to the call all happy and tail-wagging from two miles over the hill in Nebraska? Yes, well, that’s the thing that almost NEVER happens here. You might get some to come roaring in, but keep in mind in areas where you can’t see long distances, you never know the number of times you get busted. The coyote hears, but comes in downwind, gets your scent, and is gone. Never to return! He now knows your game and he’s not playing anymore.

6. Personally, I like to get in the cover with the coyotes where they seem to feel safe. I like treed ridges and thin timber, but I also like brushy pasture areas and fencerows.

But all this is dictated by the lay of the land, the wind, the coyote travel patterns, barriers to the coyotes, etc.

The last thing I’d tell you is be ready and don’t miss! The problem with coyote calling is that it doesn’t work. Until it works! So you had better be ready when it finally works, but it’s easy to go out 10 times and see nothing and then get caught thinking this will be another dry stand… Been there, missed that.

Grouse

Take Glrouse up on his offer. If all works out, he might forget his ecaller sitting in the woods. Then you’ll have one to use until he figures out what he did. LOL

That is a great offer and its always a good idea to tag along until you know what you want.

Quarter to the wind, give yourself the best vantage point, call at LOW volumes (your not trying to pull them in from 5 miles away), and dont over call. 30 seconds to a minute or so, then rest it. When your thinking its time to call some more, give it another minute or two. It’s to your advantage to have them curious and looking around Vs. being zero’d in on an exact spot. Pay attention, and constantly looking. Most of the time if you get much notice in a wooded area, its one of those glimpses where you think you saw something….but wasn’t sure – then there it is in front of you.

When I’m by myself, i like all the control of hand calls. Old school…but i like it. When I have clients out, we use a lot of ecalls. I don’t know how they treated their clothing, boots,..or any other scent control. Ecaller allows me to get the focus further away from variables that I can’t control