Coyote Hunting – A Beginner’s Guide to Successfully Calling Coyotes!

Coyote hunting is quickly becoming a popular pastime for hunters across North America, largely due to the sheer thrill it offers. There are few things that can get my adrenaline pumping faster than seeing a coyote closing rapidly on my position in response to the desperate pleas of my distress call. My goal here is to give you some basic strategies that can quickly get you up to speed on the basics of coyote calling and help you experience the joy of coyote calling. The tips and strategies that I will discuss will be listed in order of importance to your success when calling coyotes.

The first and most important element that is crucial to your success in calling coyotes is scouting. It’s a simple fact that you can’t call a coyote if there isn’t one there to call. When out in the field exploring, look for scat and coyote tracks that indicate coyotes are in the area. Also, take notes on where you see coyotes repeatedly, as these will be areas you’ll want to target with your vocation. Landowners are a great resource for giving you clues as to where they are seeing coyotes on their land and where they think would be good places to call. Look for areas that have a high concentration of coyote prey, such as rabbits, prairie dogs, deer, and mice. If you look for these types of areas, you are bound to find coyotes.

Second in line to succeed in calling the coyotes is set. The way it is set up (positioned) in the booth to call is critical. Pay close attention to the direction of the wind at all times. The coyote’s sense of smell is highly adapted and should not be ignored. When setting up, be sure to position yourself with the wind directly in your face or in a crosswind. Coyotes are notorious for circling downwind to gain a scent advantage, so in my opinion the ideal setup would be with a crosswind and enough open downwind area to see any coyotes circling. It helps if you can hunt with a friend and position them downwind to catch coyotes surrounding your position. If you have one of the newer remote controlled digital callers on the market, you can position the call upwind of your position and therefore be in perfect position, while the coyote starts circling. Just don’t place it too far in case the coyote decides to go directly to the caller’s position. It is also important to call with the sun at your back. This makes it more difficult for the coyote to see you, since it has to look directly at the sun when it approaches. Another important aspect for the installation is to try to position yourself in the shade. Being in the shade will help hide your position and make it harder for the coyote to see you. Now putting all these elements together would certainly be the perfect scenario, but in reality this is not always possible. Sometimes you have to sacrifice the position of the sun or your ability to sit in the shade to call a prime location. However, I never sacrifice wind direction to call an area. If the wind is not right, I wait to call that area another day.

The third element to a successful coyote call is camouflage. It is important to try to blend in with your surroundings by matching your camouflage to the terrain you hunt in. It is also essential to cover all exposed skin, including the face. Human skin is highly reflective and coyotes will pick up on this. Try it yourself by having a friend dress in full camouflage, except for a face mask, and then have him hide as if he were hunting. Now, go back several yards and see how easy it is to pick it out. Now try the same experiment with your friend wearing a mask. I bet you will be surprised at the difference. Another important component of camouflage is to limit movement when standing. Coyotes have keen eyesight and will pick up on the slightest movement. If you must move, do so slowly and deliberately.

Last, but certainly not least, is the actual act of calling yourself. Many of you will be surprised that I saved this for last. Don’t get me wrong, getting the sound right is very important and you could be making the saddest distressed rabbit sound the coyote has ever heard, but unless you get all of the above items right, your chances of bagging it are greatly reduced. Learning to use a mouth-blown rabbit in a distress call is a relatively simple task. Any of the calls on today’s market are likely to work for you. If you don’t know what the correct sound is, I suggest you buy one of the many coyote call videos on the market or buy a CD or cassette tape of the sound of a live rabbit in distress and practice along with it. . Many beginners make the mistake of thinking that they have to sound perfect to call a coyote. The truth of the matter is that the coyote doesn’t care. As long as it sounds like an animal in distress, it’s likely to attract the attention of a coyote. The interesting thing about calling coyotes is that no two people sound exactly the same when using a particular call, but all sounds are effective, and chances are yours is too. Another topic that hasn’t been mentioned is how long to call each location. This depends on many factors, but I usually stay 30 minutes at each booth, especially when calling into an open area. If you live in an area that is heavily wooded, you can only stay in the booth for 10-15 minutes because the sound won’t travel as far. When you call, you’ll want to do it in short intervals. For example, call for 20-30 seconds, wait 2 minutes, and repeat. Do this during the time you are on the stand.

These are the basics you’ll need to become a successful coyote caller. Study them up close and then head out into the field and call some coyotes. Once you do, I’m sure you’ll be hooked for life just like I am. I wish you the best of luck.