Midwest Coyotes

[Skerhunter]

It’s random. Heck sometimes there are 4 or more.

A lot of times they will start howling if they hear prey distress when it’s bright out. They always respond to vocals unless it’s cold. It starts getting -10*ish and they don’t howl very much here. They still come in to 500ish yards, but are silent. I’ve called in singles, doubles, triples, etc when it’s bright.

But a lot of times I call them into 500ish yards. I get tired of them not coming in and grab the call, walk to the truck, etc. I’m assuming those coyotes know it’s a person now so I hate to waste stands when it’s bright. I like to only call each spot once a year.

I’ve called over 30 coyotes in to that 500ish yard range on a bright night. And only called 6 of those into range. That ratio sucks.

A lot of people say it’s because they can see you. I don’t believe it’s that though. I’ve tried sitting with brush behind me and same thing. As soon as the clouds cover the moon it’s completely different.

I believe it’s a lot like day hunting in the fact that if you hunt thick stuff it’s easier to call coyotes in. They are more comfortable in cover. Same thing at night. If they can see a ways other things can see also. They feel exposed.

Great info thanks for sharing!

Your explanation/observations on them feeling exposed is excellent and probably explains why a lot of people complain about the bright nights and low success (they are calling wide open areas the coyotes won’t use). I honestly hadn’t thought of it that way.

Around my place they always use terrain/cover to approach and generally aren’t hanging out in the wide open. That prevents me from getting to make observations like that! I get about 1-2 weekends a year to hunt more open terrain and less cautious coyotes.