Help! I have been varmint hunting for about 3 seasons. I have yet to bag a single fox or coyote. I called in one coyote at night but it did not come nearly close enough for a shot with a .22 mag(biggest we can use at night in NY durring open deer season, I use a .223 the rest of the time). I also called in 2 gery fox while bow hunting and never got a shot. I use mouth blown calls and also have a Lohman cassette caller. I have tried days, nights, I watch the wind. I scout to find plenty of tracks and scat so I know there is fur running around. I could balance a ball on my head I sit so still. I have access to a fair amount of private land as well as tons of state land where I hunt, and I just can't connect. Can anyone make some suggestions?

What kind of country are you hunting in?
What kind of set up do you use?

Can you describe your typical setups, the area in general, and how you call in a little more detail.

If you are hunting in areas where visibility is limited, hunting is harder. Also, the hunting pressure on the coyotes makes a big difference. If they haven't been hunted, they are much easier to call. If they have, then you have to adjust your calling accordingly. Coyotes where I hunt are hunted regularly. So I vary my tactics to try and sound different.

I hunt mostly in open hardwoods and focus my calling where I find thick overgrown patches that usually have plenty of tracks trails running in out and around them. Visibility is usually around 100 yds or so and I try to set up downwind so I could just see if something were to stick it's nose out to take a look. I have even taken to some of my deer stands to get a birds eye view and see a bit more. On the bright side I'm still always excited to go out chasing these critters even though I haven't been very successful....yet!

Not sure if this translates to your woods or not, but down here close timber = squeakers. Loud calls don't work. Squeak squeak, wait and watch. Be careful about your scent in timber, they will come at you from your down wind a lot.

Try around dusk, try different set ups. If you can find someplace where they HAVE to either approach you downwind or in the open.

Foxes will respond to squeakers a fair bit, so will hawks, owls, and cats if you got 'em up there.

Got my first in heavy brushy timber with a shotgun at 10 yards. Don't be afraid to set up for CLOSE shots, just CYA regarding motion and scent. 'yotes in timber are a lot like deer so far as hunting them, at least down here. They cover a lot of ground BTW, so fresh sent might be yesterday's news. Keep on trying, mix it up a little, do things you haven't done, one of them will work.

Coyotes will nearly always circle and approach from the downwind side. So unlike deer, you are better off setting up somewhere upwind and calling with the wind (using a mouth call). Your sound will carry better. Coyotes put a lot of faith in their sense of smell. If I'm planning on hunting where I can't see a long way off, I like to have a dead rabbit with me. I rub the rabbit on my camoflauge and then toss him downwind. I don't know if it works any better or not, I just figure any coyote that hears a wounded rabbit and smells a wounded rabbit will be easier to fool.

For the cassette caller, I would probably do the same thing. With it, you might start it playing and hunt downwind of it. Instead of setting up directly downwind, set up maybe 50 yards downwind and 50 to the side. That way it is harder for them to intercept your scent if they are approaching from directly downwind of the caller.

Like DigitalDan said, squekers work well in brush and set up where they have to approach you in the open or downwind. Dawn and dusk are great times to call, especially if your by yourself. Also, I use a howler to locate coyotes. I am just getting good at howling (takes lots of practice). When they howl back, that will give you a better idea of where they're at and where you need to set up to be in their area. Also, not near as many people know how to use a howler as use a rabbit call, so the coyotes (at least around here) aren't educated to it as bad.

Fisherhahn, I havent had much luck with coyotes either. Here is what I do for grey fox, set up in a hedgerow about 30 to 40 yards from the edge of the woods or brush. Crank up the grey fox pup, and scan continously with a light with a red lense. It's best if you have a light that is adjustable so you can dim it to where you arent lighting up everything red. The eyes of the animal light up just like reflectors even when the light is dim. I usually call for about fifteen minutes and then wait in silence for a couple more.

I talked to a local guy last year who calls alot of coyotes and he says that using a decoy has been extremely effective for him. He drives around and howls to locate them. When one answers he sets up with his hunting partner down wind,sets the decoy out about 5 yards into a field or pipeline, and waits about 15 minutes before calling. He then calls with an electronic caller.

Good luck, Just keep trying.

Don't know if it will help you or not, but it sure works for me to take a radio controled battery car and drape a piece of fur on it. It really focuses the animals attention away from you. Also in the woods make sure you don't call to loud. If you have animals close by you'll scare hell out of them wondering what 10' tall rabbit is about to eat them

Hi,

Fisherhahn maybe I can help. This is my first post on these forums as Im a new member.

Due to the increasing numbers of coyotes in my hunting area (Swain, southern tier) I've decided to take up hunting them. I am very new at this but found some great information relative to hunting coyotes in NY. This information was in my local paper last Sunday in the outdoor section. http://democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050123/SPORTS0104/501230349/-1/ARCHIVE2 (let me know if this link doesnt work. I live in the town of Greece in Rochester and this guy in the article lives in Greece too and shot 24 coyotes last season and has some good tips. After bow season this year I got some video's about coyote hunting, 2 from Brian South - Coming to the Call vol 1 and 2. Awesome videos but pertain mostly to hunting out west. But my Boys and I watch them all the time, they're excellent. Also got another one but not happy with it. Everyone seems to be using the Foxpro caller, so I checked out their website and found an article about hunting in the East. Seems they got alot of complaints that there callers were not working as advertised. So they had this article about hunting coyotes in the east by a pro. I had some great stuff and talked about how different it is than in the videos. Suggested using your deer stands and mostly night hunting. gofoxpro.com os the website but I cant seem to find the article, it was right in the opening page. You might have to ask them for it.

Hope some of this helps, I hope to get out soon myself.

Spike

So Fisherhahn, have you had any luck yet?