nce deer season comes to a close , most hunters put away all their gear and don ’ t think about hunting again until the next Fall or Spring for Bear at best . But this is the start of an exciting new season , predator time ! The coyote is not only one of the smartest critters that you can hunt , but having the ability to fool them with a call is one of the most exciting things you can do !
It doesn ’ t cost a ton of money to get into , but I guarantee once you start calling , you will be addicted , having more fun and excitement then you ever imagined . Tour around a little scouting areas with lots of sign and coyote tracks , this will help spiral your success rate over the top . There is nothing more I love to do in the winter months then get out calling and spend countless hours with a predator call stuck to my lips each and every winter .
I have been lucky enough to get out on more than one occasion with who I believe is the “ YODA ” of predator hunting , Predator Quest ’ s one and only Les Johnson . Les is a Master Coyote Caller and 8 time World Champion Caller , so when you a have the opportunity to have a legend like this calling for you it ’ s not hard to put the smack down on a pile of coyotes while picking up plenty of tricks along the way . I have never seen anyone that could suck a coyote into range like Les and having the chance to spend some days hunting with him showed me why he practically wrote the book on Calling these Song Dogs .
Coyotes are one of the smartest critters out there and having a chance to fool them with a call can be exhilarating . They don ’ t make too many mistakes and a predator hunter needs to have their ‘ A ’ game on to make it count . Having a coyote coming on a dead run to you is so exciting it is almost guaranteed to make the hair on the back of your neck stand on end ! Once you get a taste of the action , you ’ ll be hooked for life .
SET-UP ’ S I prefer my set-up ’ s to be in areas with
a good vantage point with something to break your silhouette , so if you can get a bush-line behind you or set-up along a fence-line , anything that will help conceal any movement . If you can get a little higher up on a ridge or hill where you have the advantage of seeing a little further , that will give you a great advantage and believe me , hunting these cunning little critters , we need all the help we can get .
Make sure your set-up is far enough away from your vehicles as nothing will spook a coyote coming into a stand at full-bore like the sun glistening off your pickup parked off in the distance . Take along a heat-seat or a shooting chair , especially when you ’ re hunting in snowy
winter conditions , as there is nothing worse than a wet behind on the first stand of the day . A seat will make your day so much more enjoyable and comfortable while on stand .
Hunting in pairs is the best if possible , as an extra set of eyes and sitting back-toback looking in different directions will increase your success . Those sly dogs can surprise you and having a couple angles covered will put more predators on the ground .
I like having my decoys set-up before I start my calling sequences and use both a Coyote Decoy and a motion decoy with great success . These tools can help take the hesitation away from a coyote and when he keys in on one of these he will come in with the afterburners on !
Wild Guide . Winter 2017 10