Originally Posted by
b_stricker12
Thanks! One more question, in the areas I can hunt that have larger fields, would you put the decoy/call in the middle of the field to draw them into the open? or set up on the upwind side of the field to make sure they have to come into the open when they circle downwind?
Set design all depends on the location. I almost always, which is to say 99.9% of the time, plan for coyotes to try to circle downwind, BUT, I don't expect them to run along the top of a ridge just to get downwind. Those are things that I consider when I pick my "kill zone". Coyotes have instinctual behavior, giving them an approach that plays to that instinct will benefit you.
So yes, kinda. I would place the decoy somewhere that leaves coyotes room to circle downwind of it as they come in. But no, I wouldn't necessarily say that means putting it on the upwind edge of an open field in every situation. I WOULD, however, place it far enough out into the field that even if they run straight downwind to it, they reveal themselves in time to get a shot off.
By the by, if you're hunting in close cover, a short barreled shotgun is probably more effective for you than a rifle. Or even better, haul both. Hold the shotty in your hands at the ready, with the rifle at your side. If one comes in hot or surprises you, a stiff load of buckshot will deal quick death on the fly. If one hangs up back in the wood, you can swap over to the rifle and put it in the dirt.