Wild Guide Magazine Wild Guide - Winter 2017 | Page 22

PREDATOR ISSUE

AGRICULTURAL EQUIPMENT
In most cases , coyotes that were born and raised in and around agricultural operations have very little fear of agricultural equipment . Coyote hunters can use this equipment to their advantage . Last year alone I took 63 coyotes sitting on , under , or around farm equipment that was parked for the season in agricultural fields or near the farmyard . I also had incredible success hunting from grain bins , and even an old farm truck left in the back 40 to rust away many years ago .
Last winter I took three coyotes
in four shots while lying under an air seeder that was parked for the winter .
Coyotes are accustom to the noise and the sight of equipment used to feed livestock and in many cases , get very habituated to livestock operations including the movement and noises that comes with it . Many cattle ranchers have told me that coyotes are less than a hundred feet away from the tractor when they ’ re feeding cows .
I have three cattle ranchers that book me each spring during their calving season to keep the coyotes at bay . Coyotes can be
very aggressive and move in on a cow as she ’ s calving . Young heifers ( first time to calve ) and their calves are at the greatest risk . If coyotes are in the area and a heifer gives birth , if the mother instinct doesn ’ t kick in immediately and she runs off , she leaves her newborn calve unprotected and at the mercy of the coyotes . Coyotes will move in quickly and begin to eat the newborn calve from the outside in while it ’ s still alive . Usually starting at the nose and sex organs .
During the calving season it ’ s unavoidable . The smell of blood is in the air which
attracts coyotes . I setup inside the calving corrals facing the fields where the coyotes call home with the cows behind me . I ’ ve even used square straw bales and made a ground blind using the middle plank of the corral for a gun rest and picked off coyotes one by one as they moved towards the calving corrals looking for an easy meal . It ’ s not uncommon for the cows to get worked up as a coyote approaches . Hunters need to pay attention to what the cows are telling them even if the hunter doesn ’ t see a coyote . The cows are telling you there ’ s one in the area and it may be
in close proximity .
After shooting a coyote during the calving season , don ’ t be in a hurry to retrieve your downed coyote . In these areas and situations , there ’ s usually more than one coyote in the area and I ’ ve seen as many as 11 coming in together . After shooting one coyote , it ’ s not uncommon for a second or third coyote to be approaching from a different direction . Hunters need to be ready to move without being detected by the approaching coyotes and shoot from other areas of the calving corrals . My best hunt from a calving corral I killed five coyotes
in 12 minutes with the closest shot being 45 yards and the farthest kill was 112 yards . Calving season can be one of the most productive coyote hunting seasons of the year , and the ranchers will thank you for your efforts . An added bonus to hunting coyotes and helping out landowners is you may gain deer hunting access for the deer season . On one particular landowner ’ s land , by showing I was a responsible and courteous coyote hunter , he granted me permission to hunt deer during the fall .
THE DRIVE BY
If you ’ ve never been busted by a coyote hunting on agricultural land , give it time and you will . However , you can once again use the coyote ’ s familiarity of agricultural equipment to your advantage .
After being busted for a second time during the same hunt , my hunting partner and I came up with a plan in the spur of the moment to
21 Wild Guide . Winter 2017
try and take out three coyotes that were outsmarting us . My hunting partner slowly drove the truck by some round bails . As he slowed the truck to a crawl I jumped out and ducked out of sight behind a round bail . As the truck drove away I made an aggressive pup-in-distress call with my mouth call . I suddenly had the three coyotes moving in on my
location , and they were moving fast . I was able to take two of the three and both of them were females . We tried this on several different occasions during the past two years with success each time and ninety percent of the coyotes taken were females .
What I believe is happening is the coyotes think another coyote or a pup has been hit by the truck and is hurt . With the truck moving away from the pup-indistress calls , the remaining coyotes in the area come to the aid of the wounded coyote pup .
I did this same technique at a metal grain bin a few months ago and filmed a coyote to within 12 yards of me . It ’ s been one of my go-to techniques in heavily hunted areas .
Please exercise extreme caution when using this method to avoid injury while exiting the vehicle . We recommend bringing the vehicle to a complete stop before exiting .