This has been a particularly windy year in Colorado and I have yet to get out. There are two types of areas I hunt and the game is Coyote, Fox, and Bobcat. I hunt some open range land with rather shallow drainages (this is fairly flat land). I also want to hunt National Forest which consists of Ponderosa forests, exposed slopes w/Mtn Mahogany, each typically separated by deep drainages (this is fairly rugged land). How much wind (15mph, 20mph, 25mph, etc.) is too much and why? If you have some tips that you have used successfully in breezy to windy conditions it would be appreciated.

Deke.

Deke: I have hesitated to answer your question (in trying to answer it anyway!) and I see others have been on hold also regarding your inquiry!
I was born and raised, lived in and Hunted a lot in Washington state. Not much wind there (compared to Montana, Wyoming and some other Rocky Mountain areas!). I never recall a Coyote Safari (two days or more) being spoiled by incessant high winds (15 to 20 MPH+). In Montana the wind can blow for days at a time at speeds above 20 MPH+.
Wind, yes, can ruin ones chances while call Hunting and make things almost futile calling wise!
I said almost! Since I began Hunting in Wyoming and Montana on a regular basis sveral decades ago, and then moving to Montana 8 years ago I have HAD to Hunt on occassion in high wind situations!
Coyotes eat a lot of Mice and they can't hear them in high winds like they can in calm conditions so they seem, to me anyway, to lay low in the wind! Well after a couple days of wind they probably get real hungry (I am guessing here but my experiences have me posting my guess's for your consideration!) and they get to Hunting what ever they can spot and spook or flush up, wind or no wind!
In high winds I go ahead and call downwind as the sound travels much further like this and more Coyotes may be provoked into moving or showing themselves!
Yes, I call in the direction the wind is blowing and take my chances on the Coyotes not coming directly into my "wind trail" before I can get a shot at them!
One such windy day Hunt took place a couple years ago near Christmas time on the Powder River plains in eastern Montana. We had travelled from great distances (Minnesota, NW Montana and SW Montana) for this Hunt and we were not going to let the wind ruin our few days of Hunting.
On one occassion I and one of the three other Hunters on this Safari crawled to a ridgleine over looking a vast short grass and sage covered valley. I got out one of my loudest mouth calls and powered it up and pointed it with the wind (which was at our backs). Two Coyotes came at a run towards us and we got one of those two Coyotes at 260 yards or so. They were slowing down and getting into the "slip stream" of our scent was why we shot them up at that distance!
I think we got 6 Coyotes for the four of us on that trip - to some fanatastic and remote Coyote country! We probably would have got two or three times that many if the wind would not have been blowing so hard. We Hunted day AND night on that Hunt and again I fully expected to double or treble that take when planning our Hunt. I had been in that country twice that fall Hunting Antelope once and Hunting Mule Deer the other time. In addition I had Hunted Prairie Dogs that early summer over there. I knew there were tons of Coyotes in that area. On occassions like this (when I have driven 500+ miles to Hunt) I go ahead and Hunt no matter what the conditions!
But I fully realize that the incessant and strong winds (15 MPH+) will significantly diminish my harvest!
So be it!
It was still wonderful to be out on that Hunt as the Mule Deer were completely consumed by rutting and knock down, drag out, dust raising (yes it was still dusty there at Christmas time!), exhaustion inducing, kill or be killed fights!
WELL worth it!
I wish I could quantify more precisely or be more specific as to the actual MPH's that put the calling into more difficult categories but I can't. Around home I don't go out when its a steady 12 to 15 MPH because of reduced odds but at 5 to 10 MPH I have gone out and done fair.
I think my main point is get in open country and call downwind and shoot before they hit your scent trail! I have seen Coyotes actually swap ends in mid leap when coming to my calls and then race off at flank (full) speed when they have hit my scent trail! I do not usually shoot at full speed retreating Coyotes as this is more, real tough duty!
I hate to "educate" the Coyotes around home (up to 50 mile radius) as I can always get after them when conditions are better. And by educating I mean CALLING them and either shooting at them and missing or having them "hit" my scent trail and race away! These are now educated Coyotes and tougher to fool again.
Good luck and good shooting to you down there in Colorado!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Hi Deke,

How have you been doing?

Windy conditions are tough for me. I usually end up making more frequent, but shorter stands. Try calling to areas of thick cover or with wind breaks. If I had to put a speed limit on wind, I would guess 20mph would make me reconsider going out.

I'm not a good judge of windspeed, but when the grass lays flat, or the tumbleweeds are racing across the prairie, I'd as soon stay home and try again another day.
Fred

This is a tough question!
I hate to put a limit on it because it seems to depend on the area.
On windy days(15+) I try to find "pockets" where the wind gets broken up or passes over. I don't enter the pocket neccassarily, but call into it if it's small. Hunt the breaks on the leeward side of a mountain, ect. Calling the desert in the wind hasn't been very productive for me unless I knew where a ravine or canyon was hidden.

So in answering your post, I guess I've avoided your question. It is just hard to say. I don't like calling when it's real bad, and if it's been bad for several days it may not matter much. If the weather breaks after several days of windy nasty weather, they'll run you over! Nate

Fred,

Doing well and thanks for asking. Been pretty busy since we last talked with a new boy we had last March. Got out a few times with the older kids last February, killed a Coyote, and missed another that winded me with the sun at his back (a bad setup that I had to try anyway, one more educated songdog and Coyote hunter as a result). Have access to some private land whose owner was warm to me taking my kids out to hunt his varmints and it has been fun. Went out yesterday morning with my daughter for the first time this year. Conditions could have only been better if there had been snow to see the Coyotes better, but none came to my calls and I did not see any recent sign.

I am fortunate to be able to work my schedule to hunt when conditions are good. Looks like a general rule is 15mph max for my particular situation and to concentrate on calling into sheltered areas on the the more windy days.

Deke.