RE: yote ambushes
How much a decoy helps really depends on what the terrain is like. They can help draw them in a little closer. They also divert the coyote's attention away from you when he closes in. If the coyote comes running in, he has been relying on his sense of hearing and smell to try and locate the prey, or at least the general area. As he closes, he gets to a point where he switches from audio to visual, and begins using his eyes a little more to try and spot the exact location. The decoy can shift his attention away from you, so you can get away with limited movement without being noticed.
You can use nearly anything for a decoy,from a feather tied to a piece of string or a stuffed animal. If there are rabbits in the area, sometimes I'll whip out the .22 and then use a real rabbit. I rub the rabbit on my clothes and then tie him up where I want the coyote to come in and where the coyote can see the rabbit easily. If the wind changes directions, I'd rather the coyote be smelling rabbit than me.
As far as fields, coyotes generally aren't comfortable going across open fields, especially in the daytime. When I am around a field, I try to use the field to my advantage, setting up near a corner and using the wind to call parallel to the edge. I really like the wind to be blowing at about a 5 or 10 degree angle into the field, where my sound is generally following the edge, but my scent is blowing slightly into the field. That way, if a coyote tries to get downwind of me to sniff things out, he'll usually stop just short of walking out into the open field, and begin following the edge toward me. Since my scent is not quite parallel to the edge of the field, he'll have to get closer if he wants to smell me. Hopefully within gun range.
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