baiting would be better, IF you had a lot of bait. By a lot, I mean one dead pig, cow, or other large animal to freshen a bait sight with regularly. The trick with baiting is having enough to be able to replace the eaten portion often enough to keep the coyotes coming back for more. Once coyotes find a easy, consistant source of food, they will come back time after time.
Since most of us don't havethat kind of source for bait, calling is more practical! Once you learn how to do it, you will get results. Start with basic rabbit distress. If you've ever heard a rabbit in distress, that's the sound you need to mimic!
As was said, if a coyote smells human, game over. Their sense of smell is better than the whitetail, and the coyote doesn't stand around wondering if the human just passed through, is near, or is far. It will simply turn around and go back the way it came. Don't expect a coyote to cross your tracks and keep coming. they won't!
When coyotes come to the distress call, how they come and how fast they come will depend on many factors. How hungry they are, if they are the dominant coyote in the territory, if the sound is in their comfort zone, etc. In general, the coyotecoming through dense cover will probably come through the easiest path, but a coyote in a more open area will take the shortest route, up tothe point where it decides to cut to the downwind side which can vary greatly from one coyote to the next.
The biggest thing is for you to have an idea where the coyote is when you start calling. You'll want to sit in a place that you can see downwind, force the coyote to expose itself in the open, if it wants to smell youit has to expose itself to you first. That's where you want to shoot before it has the chance to smell you!The coyote may deside to take a straight line to you, if given cover to do so. Not all coyotes use caution when coming, so they all don't always try to smell the situation, especially if given cover that they can use to get close to the source of sound.

Best advice, if you've never heard a rabbit in distress, you need to findsomewhere that you can listen to the sounds you are trying to mimic.The better you can sound distressed, in general, the better predator response you will get!