Midwest Coyotes

[SneakyThunderCat]

Full disclosure, I'm new to the thermal game & night hunting. I've been out a few nights & have killed a couple of dogs so far. But I've noticed that one night may be an awesome night with a lot of critter movement, & the next night is super slow, and the dogs just don't seem very interested in the calls no matter the sequence.

It kind of got me thinking about how the weather may influence their behavior more so than I initially thought. Obviously frigid cold weather & snow means hungry & more active coyotes, but it's been a pretty mild winter here so far this year. Until we get a major cold snap or a bunch of snow, I'll still be out and about trying to figure out what works best, but I wanted to fire up a thread in the meantime.

Weather-wise what have you noticed increases coyote activity and/or success calling? I'm wondering about barometric pressure, cloudy vs clear nights, wind speeds, temperature, time of year, moon phase etc...

Also, how do you determine what your calling sequence is going to be? or do you typically do the same thing every time or does it change depending on the time of year/time of night?

Side note-EHD has put a major hurting on our deer herd this year & I would like to shoot as many of these damn things this year as I can.

 

[Skerhunter]

Where I’m at a lot of snow and super cold shuts the night hunting down (single digits) Which we will have next week. Nicer weather obviously can make them a little lazy, will still respond but you need to be set up fairly close.

I hunt when I have time, coyotes located and the wind is right for that area.

Right now we are in a weird spot behavior wise, that affects them a lot more than the weather. Males are looking for mates and will be very responsive to vocals. Females will respond but generally expect you to come to them. Pairs it will be a toss up if they are territorial or not.

I rarely change up my sequence. If I know cats are around I cut out vocals. If I know the dogs are educated I generally don’t use any distress. If I’m doing depredation where coyotes are killing someone’s chickens/live stock/pets then I focus on distress.

 

[dirtytough]

I haven’t tracked environmentals really. I have good luck when it’s cold. It was -32* one night and a coyote trotted right down the road past my pickup straight to me. No way is that happening when it’s normal temps. They would skirt the truck and if they crossed my scent trail they would run.

Full moons stink. It’s rare to have a stand on a full moon that I don’t have coyotes howling. Most of them I see coyotes on. Very few do they come into range on though. They will usually skirt 500ish yards downwind.

Clouds cover the moon and next thing you know you just killed 5 on a couple stands during the full moon.

I play a pretty basic sequence. Depending on the coyote response whether it’s audible or visual I might change it a little.

I hunt when I have an opportunity and the wind is decent. If I had more time than spots I would track weather vs kills.

 

[coyotekilla]

Im not a pro but I'm at 36 so far this year, 1st year hunting at night. So far full moon & clear skies are bad, full & clouds are good. Wind over 10 isn't much good as it tends to bounce and swirl here. Right before or after a 2 day storm is good. Snow cover and much moon at all is bad. Cows & deer are your friends, use them like sentries. Supressor is almost a must. And don't be afraid to use bird calls.

 

[Jtb.kfd]

Im not a pro but I'm at 36 so far this year, 1st year hunting at night. So far full moon & clear skies are bad, full & clouds are good. Wind over 10 isn't much good as it tends to bounce and swirl here. Right before or after a 2 day storm is good. Snow cover and much moon at all is bad. Cows & deer are your friends, use them like sentries. Supressor is almost a must. And don't be afraid to use bird calls

These outline my experiences in Washington State. Additionally, the eastern side of the state consistently gets down to the low teens to upper single digits. A few times a year it will get colder for a couple days. Anything less than 5 degrees and the day and night hunting shuts down completely.
I vary calling sounds/sequences with time of year and or hunting pressure in an area. In un pressured areas with lots of coyotes I have found the sound and sequence don’t matter a lot.

 

[SneakyThunderCat]

Ive been out on nearly a full moon night and also noticed they were skeptical to come into calls. Im sure because they can see so much better. Next time I’m out on a brighter night I am going to set up the caller a ways away and try to use the fox pro decoy to my advantage.

Went out last night with almost zero wind and I think it was just way too quiet. Not much for action.

Temps are dropping, moon phase is good so it shouldn’t be too bright. I’m going to try and go out this weekend. Hoping there is a little wind for some noise cover when I walk into sets. I will update the thread on how my nights go and note the weather going forward.


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[dirtytough]

Next time I’m out on a brighter night I am going to set up the caller a ways away and try to use the fox pro decoy to my advantage.

If you have any owls there is a very good chance that decoy will disappear.

 

[SneakyThunderCat]

If you have any owls there is a very good chance that decoy will disappear.

Good call. Have had a few of them fly in while out calling.


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[fulldraw1972]

About 98% of my hunting is during the day. So far this year it’s all been during the day.
I have made 74 stands since Thanksgiving and have a call in percentage of 42% for those stands with total amount of coyotes called in at 52 Coyotes.
I tend to keep it simple. Wind 10 mph or less. Expect coyotes to be moving in the mornings and be in good cover the afternoons. Stand locations depend on time of day. Give them some prey distress, coyote pup distress and then a coyote fight.
The first couple of hours and the last hour of daylight to start the stand off with I will throw in some long howls.
Max volume and 3 to 4 minutes a sound. If they can’t hear it they won’t come and if they are coming from a long ways away it takes a little time.
There have been days that have had clouds and there have been days that have had no clouds. Temps have ranged from single digits to 50.
Can’t really point to a single weather or moon phase that has affected my calling this year.
This year has by far been my best year since I started calling in 2007.