Beginning to Yote hunt

Hi People,

About 3 1/2 years ago I moved from outside New Orleans to Central West Louisiana. This area is mostly timber and very limited pasture. The timber is mostly Loblolly pine, Sweetgum and various other deciduous trees. Although there is a fair amount of Deer hunting, No ONE goes out of their way to shoot yotes up here. I hear them every evening cutting up in the woods all around my area usually about 300 or 400 yds it seems but sometimes they seem as close as 150 - 200 yds. I own my own company and work out of my home repairing electric golf carts so I can take a few hours here and there to go try and shoot a few. I just need to get a few questions answered But first I will give you a general run down where I will be hunting. My neighbor will allow me to hunt his 40 acre field that has 2 year old pines planted on 8' centers. The pines are about 2' tall now with grass about 18" in the spring. We have 4 shooting lanes set up for 600 yards that we use for deer hunting there. This 40 acres is surrounded by thousands of Boise Timber land on 2 sides and hundreds of private timber land on the other two sides. Access to his land is via timber road that dead ends, literally NO traffic. The land is slightly hilled with a max elevation change of maybe 50'

I figure I will use my Savage 110FP .308, the Savage 110 in 270 Win I am building now or my AR-15 20" H-Bar.

Questions:

Should I hunt from our tripod stands we use for deer? Or should I ground hunt?

Will 130gr BTHP bullets be OK for the 270 Win or should I load 110gr or even 100gr bullets for that rifle?

How loud do you call yotes? I mean you can crank a decent amp and horn up loud enough to be heard from a mile. How loud is too loud?

Skin 'em? Cook 'em for my dogs? Bury 'em? Leave 'em for other yotes? Just wondering what you Varminters do.

Last but not least, when to hunt yotes? Morning, evening, night?

Sorry for the simpleton questions, but I just got interested in this yote shooting since I can hear 'em all night up here.

Thanks

308 and 270 will kill 'em real dead although I've seen 130g soft points from a 270 almost rip a coyote in half. If it were me, and I had those options I'd grab the AR.

Calling is kind of an art form, that I obviously haven't mastered! Didn't see squat this morning...just a bunch of deer. Any time of day can be good for yotes although I spend most of my time in the field early and late. Night hunting does require specific equipment and you may need to check your local laws. Here in IL., we can only hunt coyotes at night during certain times of year. It is fun though and a shotgun would probably be best.

Nothing wrong with using the deer blinds but be aware that a coyote will pin point the location a call is coming from at quite a distance. Volume should probably be dictated by terrain. If you think there may be coyotes close, start quiet and increase the volume as you spend more time in that spot.

I keep the nice ones but the rest are left for the buzzards and worms.....you may want to check and see if there is any market for hides in your area though.

You're about to start a very addicting and humbling adventure! May the force be with you! ;D

Here in Louisiana we treat them more like "guide lines" instead of laws...laws are way to stringent. JK!!! ROTFLMAO! ;D

....although there is some truth in that for some folks here in this state! Outlaws in some portions of this state are unbelievable!

I don't think the hides are worth anything here...so I will go with the splat factor. 25-06 with 85 Noslers maxed out.

Redwing, we have a lease close to where you're at....leased from TL James on Hwy 8. Lot's of Deer in that area....coyotes too. Keep us posted on your success.

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Originally Posted by trappst

Calling is kind of an art form, that I obviously haven't mastered! Didn't see squat this morning...

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Glad to see someone else had not mastered it yet ;D

I have only been out calling a few times. I think the noise I am making sounds like the noise on the videos. Either there are no yotes 'round where I am hunting, or my calls sound like a rubber goose being hit by a truck. Either way, I enjoy it. Best luck to you guys!

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Originally Posted by trappst

308 and 270 will kill 'em real dead although I've seen 130g soft points from a 270 almost rip a coyote in half.

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I have been using a 22-250 with 50 grain V-max at 2800fps - very effective

Quote:

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Originally Posted by trappst

If you think there may be coyotes close, start quiet and increase the volume as you spend more time in that spot.

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I always start quite. I usually start with a low volume locator howl. Wait a good 5 minutes before using a cottontail. Always start quit and get louder. If he's close, you don't want to spook him.

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Originally Posted by trappst

I keep the nice ones but the rest are left for the buzzards and worms.....you may want to check and see if there is any market for hides in your area though.

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Can't find anyone who wants 'em in my area - leave 'em lay for the turkey buzzards and other scavengers

Redwing,

Keep us posted on your tactics and success.

I'm originally from Natchez and will be moving back there after I retire. Coyotes and hogs are getting out of control.

I have found that hunting coyotes at night is much more productive than during the day here in Minnesota. I have tried certain spots at sunrise and sunset with no luck. Trying the same spots after dark have proved to be very productive. Obviously a good snow pack and 10 days either side of the full moon make a world of difference at night. If there is one thing I have learned about hunting yotes is always beware of the wind. A coyote will 95% of the time come in downwind of the call. I have had coyotes make a good 1/4 mile circle around me just to get downwind. I always start out with either a mouse squeaker or a very soft rabbit distress. You don't want to scare off any coyotes that may be close. Here is a rabbit distress calling sequence I have had good luck using. Call for 1 minute, wait 5 minutes, call for another minute, wait 5 minutes, call for another minute, wait 10 minutes. If nothing shows up using this sequence I then switch to coyote vocals for another 15-20 minutes. After that it's time to move on. Most of my coyotes I have shot at night come a running shortly after I start my calling sequence. It seems they have little fear after dark. If you are not going to sell the fur it really doesn't matter what you shoot them with. If you are going to save the fur I would look towards the .223 or .22-250. I use a .22-250 day and night with no problems. Hunting them at night is awesome.

I would think that at night you would be useing 00 buck
Whenever I call after sundown I always get that feeling that "something is watching" :o

The only thing that bothers me hunting at night is the owls. Guess what they eat dying rabbits too. :o Last year my buddy had one hit him in the back of the head while on a stand. He was sitting just behind me when I heard a "smack". I turned just in time to see the owl fly away. We believe it thought my buddies head was someplace to sit. I have never laughed so hard. ;D He for some reason didn't find the humor in it. Think you have nerves of steel??? Try laying in an open field at night when all the sudden you see an owl flying just 3 feet off the ground heading right at you. I have had it happen several times before and yes I have stood up to deter the owl away.

We went hunting at night. This was my first time Coyote hunting. The field was FULL of wild turkeys. They were all over the place. It was fun, but a little nerve racking too. It would be completely quiet until they started flapping their wings and running around right behind you. ;D

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Originally Posted by GaugedFreak

We went hunting at night. This was my first time Coyote hunting. The field was FULL of wild turkeys. They were all over the place. It was fun, but a little nerve racking too. It would be completely quiet until they started flapping their wings and running around right behind you. ;D

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What the heck are turkeys doing on the ground after dark??? I have never come across turkeys after dark that weren't roosted?

i have been told the best time to hunt yotes in my area in pa is an hour after sunrise and an hour befroe sunset. any ideas if this is true

I like sun up + 3 hours and 1 hour before sundown till dark

This topic is of interest to me, as I have had significant issues with them around my place, when we bought this 80acre farm, we moved in with 70 chickens, within 2 months we were down to a dozen or so. since then, When time has permitted I will try to take a shot if I see them, but I tend to work long hours. Then in this past December I spotted a yote trotting down the driveway (just over 1/4 mile long) about 7am

now because of the yote issue, we have acquired 2 great Pyrenees but they stay up all night keeping the yotes at bay, but the yotes figured out that the dogs would take a nap at that time. :X

tricksey buggers they are.

Are you sure they are turkeys? Turkeys on the ground a night in my area are yote food. I can't believe there are many yotes in that area if the turkeys are on the ground at night.

I've hunted coyotes for 40 years and still don't have a "handle" on them!

But it's fun to keep trying ........ LOL!!



Before you call ....... wait a while. If the coyotes busted you as you approach your stand .... a little wait may heal up the situation.

Then call LOW ..... for a while because the close ones will not be blown out that way.

Call loud for a while then back off to a more normal level to draw in the far away 'otes.

When you see one approaching ......... shut your call down. Just use it as a coaxer if the coyotes starts to hang up.

For hang ups ...... changing to another sound ..... best is a small rodent squeak or a bird sound ...... and draw them in for a deal closer.

Night hunting is GRAND ..... be sure you are legal ..... but I would seriously just hunt daytime for a while to get your "calling legs".

What caliber?

I like .223, .22-250, .243 and .25-06 .......

Think of your coyote hunting as this: Deer conservation work and shooter accuracy refinement.

Also, for all those little "nuances" ..... join the forum: Predator Masters ..... you won't be sorry!!!

Enjoy!!!

Three 44s

Great information in here :)

I'm very new to hunting(but have a TON of experience shooting) and am struggling with finding good places to go/people because I just moved here in southern Alabama. There is simply tons of land around here, but I know next to nobody around here. Any suggestions on ways of finding land to hunt on? I want to hunt just about everything this year, I figured I'd start with hogs as soon as turkey season is over and learning about coyotes now.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Bout the only thing i could add is something i heard someone else say once......It ain't chess, more like checkers....don't overthink it!!

have fun....now gitta callin!!


Hutch

Tree 44s has pretty much nailed it. What he gave you is good advice. Don't expect great results right away (unless you happen to be in a really coyote rich environment that is not called much) and remember the basics of wind, movement and marksmanship. They are sly, smart critters with a good memory. They will rarely make the same mistake twice. Read as much as you can about coyote hunting and always be ready for the unexpected because that is when they'll come. Good luck and keep at it.

Thanks CDD,

Also welcome to the forum!


A couple more points. As to educating dogs ...... they really get adverse to a call upon getting shot at and missed.

An ote can bust you and get away ...... that's not too big of a deal. But if you send hot lead in frustration on a chance shot ...... THAT coyote is smartened up for keeps. Like PHD smartened up.

The ote that just slinks away can be called in with a different sound/setup later on when you are better at calling.

When you talk to many callers the hardest thing is to transition from calling a coyote to shooting one. As you more up your rifle to shoot ..... they'll bust you ...... I don't have a good answer for it other than having your rifle atop a pair of shooting sticks so that your movement is an absolute minimum prior to the shot.

Many find E-callers good for this as it takes ole wiley's eyes away from you.

And decoys particularily moving ones help in this regard as well.

Hunting the Hunters ...... you are matching witts with one smart dude!


Three 44s