CalHunter

In order to make this sub-forum more efficient, I am pinning this topic to the top also. This is the pinned topic where a member can post a question about predator hunting. An experienced member will take the "question" and start a new topic with just that particular question/subject matter alone. Any and all experienced members can then post additional information, knowledge, experiences, etc. that are pertinent to that question alone.

This type of format should enable a member to ask a question and get a specific topic with all of the answers to their question alone. Feel free to list your question in a new topic but please peruse the topics already going to see if you're duplicating a question or topic. If you read a topic about a specific question/topic and you have a further question on the same topic, please post your question in that specific topic so all of the answers are gathered in one single topic.

Thanks in advance for your help, questions and expertise. As the topics grow, more members will become experienced hunters and the knowledge base will continue to grow. Enjoy the sub-forum and good hunting.

CalHunter
Moderator

CalHunter

I can start it off. What are the different strategies or tactics for using a FoxPro e-caller versus using a mouth caller or both? Are the preferred setups different for bobcats, coyotes, foxes? Is there a difference between setups for gray fox versus red fox? Gotta throw a which camo is best question in since that always seems to get asked. How about scouting and what to look for in terrain for different species? There are lots more questions and hopefully these suggested questions generate more questions from interested members and also more articles from experienced members.

Nomercy448

Added new thread for species specific info: fox and bobcats, vs. coyotes...

OhioNovice

Multiple Questions about location/time set ups:

--How long do you call at one set before moving to a new location?

--How far away do your sets need to be as to not confuse the predator; yards, miles, acres? Assuming you can slip in quietly and unnoticed.

--How long before you can return to a location that you originally called; hours, days, weeks?

Nomercy448

Added new thread on Plan of Attack...

b_stricker12

Any members that are experienced in calling coyotes in the big woods? Most of my areas only consist of 40-80 acres and only have small meadows or fields. (they vary from 2-25 acres) How long do you normally do each "set" in areas that are not as open. I've heard some people say 15 minutes because of the woods and some say as much as an hour. The areas I have are also miles apart because all of the private land in Northern WI, does it pay to spend 20 minutes at one "set" and then drive 10 minutes to the next? or just stick it out at 1 spot?

Nomercy448

You'll hear different guys set themselves at either end of the spectrum for 'deep woods' hunting strategies. Some call long, some call short. Both ways can be productive.

Number one rule for calling coyotes, in ANY environment, is that you have to see them before they see or smell you. This is a bigger hurdle in 'thick woods' than it is in the open, because they have more cover to conceal their approaches, and they'll likely know where you are by sound, even if they can't see you, LONG before you even spot them coming in.

This presents a big problem when walking into your sets as well. It's impossible to know what is in the woods as you're walking in, so you might get busted before you start, and never know it. Depending on the location, I might set up on the edge, and not walk into the woods at all, and plan on calling them right up to the edge, rather than penetrating into the woods and spending more time walking (avoid the scenario where I can't see the forest for the trees). I also spend more time letting the woods "cool off" after walking in before I start calling than I normally would in open ground, so if a coyote heard me walking in, but didn't completely bail, they might not associate my call sounds with my previous walking sounds. Give it 5-10min after setting down before calling. I spend the same 5-10min letting it cool after my last call series so if a coyote came in and I haven't spotted him yet, it loses interest and meanders off before I get up and reveal myself, educating them.

In thick woods, less calling is more, unless you're using an e-caller. The more you move, the more chance you have for coyotes to spot you because you have. Get in, set down, call a little, and watch a lot. An e-caller can be helpful to draw their attention away from you so you can let it run and worry less about getting spotted calling, but it also means you have to walk around more to set it and retrieve it.

How long you spend at each set is up to you. If you only have a few spots to hit that day, you can afford to spend more time at one spot. I'd be hard pressed to ever spend over an hour at one spot. 15-20min is also too short in my opinion. 15-20min per set during a contest is great, where you're relying on volume to win, but if you're just hunting, plan your day to give you a little more time for the fish to bite. 15-20min of active calling is a better hunting strategy, 30min is better. Depending on your walk time, I figure ~40min to an hour per set when I'm casual hunting. Time to walk in, time to let it cool, 20-30min of intermittent active calling, let it cool again, and time to walk out. 15-20min of total set time leaves you about 5min on the call, which isn't enough.

The cooling AFTER the end of calling is probably the second most important part of my calling strategy, at least in the top 5. Putting down a call and standing up to leave will often bite you in the butt. Too many new guys educate coyotes this way. They'll stop calling, give up and leave, then notice a coyote they hadn't spotted yet hauling butt away from them. Or worse, they DON'T EVEN SEE IT, but either way, they successfully educate that coyote.

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?
I called in 7 coyotes when we were wolf hunting, so I must be doing something right...but I have not seen one in two weeks so I am starting to doubt myself! Thanks for your help.

Nomercy448

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.

feedemsteel1983

I hunt in ct and we dont have big vast open plains like out west ! So I know that there is a big difference in hunting thick oak and maple patches verses hunting open valley's and plains! Since New England is mainly thicker wood and smaller fields how do you get into the right setup without spooking the yotes out! For example i have a few farms ranging from 85 acres to 700 acres with fields averaging 5 acres to 35 acres ! Ive tried setting up at the edge of the fields with a decoy 20 to 30 yards out from the edge of the field with my fox pro close by and me setting up 80 yard's away ... The wind was blowing from the wood line to the decoy but ive never seen or heard coyotes come in ... What might i bee doing wrong ... CT doesnt allow night hunting and hunting over a cow burial grave is the only way ive been able to shoot them ( besides while deer hunting ) Thanks for the in put and safe hunting!!!