I LIVE IN NORTHEAST PA AND WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHAT CALLS WORK THE BEST,WE HAVE TRIED THE TAPES OF A RABBIT IN DISTRESS WITH NO LUCK I PERSONALLY THINK THAT THEY ARE TO REPATITIOUS AND THEY CATCH ON THAT IT IS NOT A REAL RABBIT WHAT CALLS DO YOU GUYS USE THANKS FOR ANY INFO

I live in California and we shoot LOTS of coyotes.
A couple of years ago, my dad kept track and quit counting at 200 in a calendar year.

While we have had some good success using electronic calls, I agree with you that they are too much of the same sound over and over.

We have good luck with any number of mouth blown rabbit calls. I personally like the Sceary brand, but most all will work. We have some old mouth blown calls that are now off the market and they are frankly the best.

I think the mouth calls give you a chance to adjust to the situation. Is the coyote coming in at a run, or is he just sort of sneaking around trying to figure out what is happening?

I have a whole drawer full of coyote calls and like to vary the sounds that I use. Buy several mouth calls and try them, I think you may have more success.

Having said all that, in some cases the electronics can save the day. One time early in the year my dad and his buddy could not call up any coyotes using a rabbit sound. They switched to a coyote challenge call since it was breeding season and they killed 14 coyotes in a couple of days.

R F

another good choice might be a fawn in destress call or even a turkey call just other ideas: Coyote Slayer

200 dogs a year, That father of your's must be one heck of a coyote killer.

In response to Pete in Idaho, yeah my dad has killed more coyotes than anyone I know of around here. I am afraid that when he dies we will have a coyote explosion around here.

He works for a large ranching firm and keeps a rifle in the truck with him all the time. He shoots lots of coyotes just driving around.

He also is one of the best guys with a mouth call I know. I have shot coyotes that I watched him call in from 3/4 of mile away. It is really neat to spot a dog snooping around in a big open pasture way the hell over there then watch him home in on that sound like he had radar.

Lots of fun!

R F

Try a kitten in distress tape. It's good for grey fox too.

Hunting coyotes in PA is a great deal different than hunting them out West. We have big coyotes, but we don't have metric shit-loads of them like SD, ND, WY, etc. I shoot them only on rare occasions anymore. In PA, I think that it's best to hit a real open farm county and confine your efforts to early morning and dusk. The key is making sure that there are coyotes where you're hunting.

RFlowers--what's your Dad's preference for a yote firearm?

"GET TO THE HILL"

Dog

Mark, my dad's absolute hands down favorite for coyotes is his pair of 17 Remington rifles. I am sure that a big part of this choice is based on the fact that he shoots so many of them in pretty settled areas with great care about bullets not carrying on after the shot. He likes the 17 caliber bullets because they seldom exit a coyote and if he should miss, they come apart as soon as they hit something.

Having said that, when we go shoot coyotes in the foothills he tends to bring along a 22-250 Ackley Improved. He shoots 50 grain Ballistic Tips in that thing at over 4200 fps. It really puts coyotes on the ground.

R F

I am not a "pro" so to speak and I don't take any where near 200 'yotes a year, but my crew and I do put a beating on them where all other hunts are over. I also WAS a Pennsylvanian. I no longer claim such attrocities in public, as New Mexico is better in every way than PA with the exception of lack of Italian food. OK if your into a chicken parm taco.

If I had to try hunting them there(and I have spent time think of this) I'd spend most of my time howling to locate at 3:00 AM and hunt what I could find. I was from the other end of the state and have heard they really exploded since I left in '95.

I think most of the calls are junk and I am also going to plug the Sceery calls. Lot's of volume and good raunchy sound. My second choice would be to try the nastiest electronic fawn massacre. I think you'll also have to spend more like 25 minutes on a stand rather than 10-15. You just don't have the pond to fish from that we do. Also, how your Sunday hunting...........Not!!

For my money, the best mouth call is the Crit-R call. They have a website, http://www.critrcall.com. I have been using them for the last two years and have no complaints.

Pecos

RFlowers,

I used to live less than an hour from you (up by Lake Kaweah). I moved 5 years ago when I went to school.

Did they legalize electronic calls in California?

Myself and all the other ranchers used them on our own property in the hills. I used a mouth call when in the Valley though. I know you can get a nice tan there, but a striped one from behind bars is not my favorite.

200 Coyotes a year? Wow! He's got a sharp eye!

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My biased and non-politcally correct opinions on CA:

We had to pull up our roots from the LEFT COAST... too much bullshit and liberal politics to live comfortably. They should have split that state up 100 years ago. The voters in LA and the Gay Bay have made it too hard for hunters and ranchers. (i.e. Prop 187 = ceasing mountain lion hunting, leading to the decline of the black tail and mule deer population and subsequent predation on livestock) But at least in the cities their uninformed decicsion is biting them on the ass (literally) with all the mountain lion attacks and missing pets! Don't mess with God's master plan, it'll get ya in one way or another!
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Kenati