I have access to dead livestock and am using them as bait. Coyotes have been on it and I have set up several times, but no action during daylight hours. Has anyone had any experiance with this type of hunting. I appreciate your help.....ken

Ken,

The problem with open bait piles is that most anything can "hit" it. Crows, racoons, squirels, etc all come to the bait given enough time. So it becomes difficult to tell what is coming and when.

2 ideas come to mine. The first is to use a trail camera if you have one available. Hopefully one that will record the time on the image. The second is try calling. There are a number of inexpensive cd's for sale on ebay that work well if you want to go electronic.

Finally, from hunting black bear over bait, I am not sure when you present. But the most activity for bears comes the hour before sunset to the hour after sunset.

Pete

ken,

I have some bait out also, nothing yet...

A friend got 20 last winter over bait, all during daylight hours. He did say the best time for him was first light in the morning.

Keep at 'em.

Pete...We have had some snow, and in checking the tracks by the bait I am quite sure they are either coyote or smaller dogs. I have an electric caller[ 612 johnny stewart ]. I have set up several times at both evening and morning with no success. I've used pups in distress and squeally rabit with no luck. Thats what led me to try the bait. Thanks for the response....ken

Ken,

I have had some experience with baiting coyotes in No. Wis. 15-20 years ago we did not have many wolves and the coyote population was much higher. Also, the DNR did not have the restrictive rules on bait that are in place now. I would get “downed†livestock (can’t be injected) and let them freeze solid, and then cut them up with a chain saw so I could get the pieces in the back of the pick-up.

If I could, I would find a shed, barn or garage that had a window that looked over a field and then put the bait out 150 yds. If the shelter had electricity it was all the better as you could hook up a little heater to keep warm. I would take a sleeping bag, an alarm clock and hunt every night of the full moon. (used a 3-9 Bushnell Red Dot on a .243). I would set the alarm clock for the top of each hour and watch the bait for 10 to 15 minutes and then crawl back into the sleeping bag and slept until the alarm went off again. My best night I killed 3. (all at different times)

I hunted when ever I could during the day but never did very well. They are used to being in the timber and just don’t want to show themselves. The frequency of their visits seemed directly proportional to their hunger. As the snow got deeper, and the temperature dropped they came in more often. If they were able to travel and the weather was nice it may be several days between visits.

It can be some very frustrating hunting, but watching a coyote come in over a moonlit field, putting the little red dot on his shoulder and squeezing the trigger is something that will stick with you for real long time. Hope this helps and good luck.

Jim

Jim....I am set up in a inclosed deer stand about 100 yds from the bait. It has openable windows and a sunflower LP heater. Your periodic checks sounds like agreat idea. I believe the next full moon is around the 25th of the month. I'll be giving it a try. Thanks...Ken

Pdhntr1: What a cool and unique way to Hunt Coyotes! Thanks for relaying that for us!
I have only used the natural death cattle carcass's as bait on a few occassions. The ones that die naturally out where I Hunt usually fall (or are found by me) in real open country and approaching them stealthily is problematic (wind direction wrong, hiding vehicle, approaching without being seen etc). I have called Coyotes in the area of cattle carcass's with somewhat more success though.
Thanks again for the cool story!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Ken,
Set your bait near some sort of cover or just inside of cover. Like trees or brush. Coyotes will feel more secure there. Just give yourself some shooting lanes, obviously.
There does not have to be alot of trees or bush. Even a couple of trees or brush gives coyotes some security.
I also found that putting a whole animal out is best.(horse or cow.) I position a horse so its legs are away from me and it's back is towards me. Coyotes and wolves will eat out the stomach and organs first, then the hams and so on. From my experience, coyotes and wolves always eat on the side of the bait away from me.(I shoot from the house) They use the bait as an obstacle between me and them. I give them what they like best.
I have gotten coyotes and wolves at all times of the day. Early morning to mid morning is best. At night is good if it is legal.

A couple of other tips:
- allow birds and other small animals to enjoy your bait. The birds carrying on ATTRACT coyotes. It is also normal so coyotes think all is well.
- let coyotes come and eat for several days. Let them establish trails back and forth from the bait site for a while. It will draw other coyotes as well. This is natural.
- try to hold off from shooting a coyote if there are more than one. wait till they are in singles, if you can. The idea is not to educate the other coyotes standing near by. If you have lots of bait, the others will be back. Coyotes don't seem to mind a dead coyote lying beside the bait. As long as they don't have a shot to associate it with. I have killed three singles in one hour. When I went to retrieve them they were laying side by side. They showed no concern for the other dead coyote.
- through other food scraps out and around your bait. It allows cagey or the real cautious coyotes to grap a few and run off and eat them elsewhere. The coyotes eat them in safety and and then most likely think, Hey, that wasn't so bad and they let their guard down. They will get down right comfortable.
Hope this helps.


When it comes to coyotes, I am a dirty S.O.B


Daryl

Ken,

We don't have coyotes here in the UK, but I have taken quite a few Charlie (red fox) over fallen stock over the years. From what I read about coyotes, they are considered to be more wary than red fox, but I would say that our red fox are no fools as they are typically shot very hard in farming areas.

As already mentioned, you need to consider the location of the bait...I like the idea of you being 100 yards away as being too close often does not work...next I would locate the bait in or near cover to they felt secure approaching it..cover can also mean in a slight dip or dead ground especially as you are shooting from a tan evevated stand and have the height to see into the cover..

What about the wind? Even though you are in an enclosed stand of some sort, I would still want the wind correct...I would never under estimate the scent ability the wild dog family...

Charlie tends to start eating from the stomach of the bait too and I prefer the stomach of the bait facing me so that the bait does not shield the fox from my line of fire. You will know how much of an issue this might be by comparing the relative size of the bait to the typical size of a coyote.

If shooting at night and depending on the size of the bait, consider tying some fishing line to the bait and running it back to your blind.

Modern non stretch braided lines work best...on smaller baits (sheep) I could often feel the foxes twitching the line as they pulled at the bait...The down side is that attaching the line at each visit means leaving some potential scent in the area...you have to weigh up the pros and the cons...

I also used to stake out the bait...usually tying off around the back bone with fencing wire to a stake driven flush to the ground..foxes feeding are apt to drag and scatter smaller baits and that can mean you no longer get a clear view from your blind. I am not sure whether you would get away with this with coyotes or not but its worth considering...

Finally, take a look around the hardware stores for a battery operated heat/infra red operated light..We get them fairly cheaply here in some places and they are meant to look over garden sheds ect where there is no power. Mask the light off with duct tape till all that is visible looks like a glowing cigerette end. Postion this so the infra red detector "covers" the bait, preferably evelated on a tree or garden cane so its looking down..I have seen one used and it was set up about 30 feet from the bait in a tree looking down..all we needed to do was keep an eye for the masked up light to come on and then we could get ready and flick on the rifle mounted spot light...the only down side was that it gives false alarms on windy nights. Using bino's makes seeing the faint glow even easier...

Regarding calls and like spot lamps, with fox anyway I think they can be a mixed blessing...if everybody else in the area is using them especially if they are missing more than they are hitting, you will soon get call an/or lamp shy animals...then you have to work out other ways of dealing...If none of this works, revert to plan B...use a live duck in a small cage as bait! I have been told its very deadly!

Regards,

Pete

Another suggestion if you are gong to use the alarm clock method, get an alarm clock that vibrates instead of ringing out loud and put it in your sleeping bag (You can find alarm clocks like this at stores and websites that serve the deaf community.)

Thanks for all the ideas. I checked the site this morning. there has been much activity on the bait. It is going to be 0-20 below zero here for the next several days, hope to find a time to site on the bait during this cold strek. I sure appreciate your help. I'll get back to the forum if I hit paydirt...Ken

Ken,

After reading your last post, this may be irrelevant, but here it goes. I grew up on working cattle ranches (I'm not talking acres here, I'm talking sections of land) where we had cattle die off under various conditions. I have found that coyotes are rather particular about their carrion. If the cow you are using was sick for a long while and was medicated by the rancher or a vet, it is likely that the coyotes will not feed on this animal. On the other end of the spectrum, if a cow dies naturally or from say lightning strike, then the dogs will consider it a buffet!

Hope this helps somewhat.