Wanted to ask for a little help with coyote/fox hunting techniques at night time. I will be going for the 1st time Saturday night and was wondering what you all would consider the most valuable advice you could give me. I have a fox pro that I used primarily for crow hunting but the predator hunting looks like alot of fun and want to get into it. I have a mojo critter decoy and I think most things I'll need to at least try to be successful. I do however lack the experience and knowledge that you may have if you have done this yourself already. If anyone could please give me some pointers to shorten the learning curve it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all.

Go to extactly where you see them in full camo, including a head cover and gloves.

Pattern their movements in the area and learn how to best plan your final approach.

Otherwise, all you will do is educate them - understand, because they do !!!

Set-up in good cover with a good view, especially down wind of your location.

You would be wise to bring a low slung chair or at least a cushion, so you can remain motionless for extended periods of time.

Put a stick and strink with a turkey feather on it (any decoy will help - your Mojo Critter is what I use) about 100 feet out front & upwind of your location.

Call softly until you get better (or on low for E-caller in case they are near by, so you don't blow them out)...................they'll know exactly where the call is coming from, so no need to continuing calling once you see them, (remain motionless) lip squeak them in the rest of the way.

You must see them before they see you !!!


Bring shooting sticks so you can prop your gun on them to steady your shot.


1 in 10 attempts is good for a hawk getting a mousse, so don't get discourged

^ what Sheridan said (starting to see a pattern with your "help me learn to call coyotes" posts amigo! haha)

To add to that:

Wind is absolutely key. As a rule of thumb, I would rather skip a hunt than run a set with the wind in the wrong direction. With the wind in the wrong direction, my odds of drawing in a coyote are low, but my odds of them getting my wind before I see them and get a shot are high, meaning I'm more likely to educate them to my call than I am to get a shot. I'd rather stay home than teach a coyote how to avoid my bullets.

Move slowly in your set. Even simple stuff like turning your head too fast can give you away. One KEY time is when you take the call away from your face.

Don't call too long for each series. Spend your time watching, and less time calling. A 1min series really IS better than a 2 min series. A dog will know EXACTLY where the sound is coming from, and they'll come right up to the edge of their cover, stop and look for the call, so if you call too long, they'll have a chance to spot you before you spot them. Same rule applies for E-Callers, except you have the luxury of using a decoy and camoflaging your caller well, and using the visual cue in your favor.

Having a partner is generally a good idea, day or night. Two people can see so much more than one, and it lets one guy focus on calling, and the other focus on watching, then shooting. At night, they can help run lights as well.

Night calling is basically the same as day calling, but with their confidence more amplified, and your visibility reduced. I run the call less at night then during the day, to give myself more time to watch.

Where legal, use a red or green filtered spotlight, and pan back and forth with the outer edge of the halo just dipped into the grass. You will be able spot the glare in their eyes this way, without shining the light directly ON them which might spook them. You can take a helper to run lights, or try to run them yourself. When I call alone, I hold the light high until I have a shot, then drop the bright center spot onto their body, and take the shot. Some guys will hold the red light on them until they're ready to shoot, and lip on a bright white light for the shot. Either way works.

If lights are NOT legal, then a 50mm objective, 30mm tube, illuminated reticle scope in relatively low power (2.5-7x, 3-9x, etc) is a good option to help improve your visibility for shooting. Set the reticle intensity very low, so you don't "wash out" your target. Moonlit nights are best, especially over snow cover. A clear starry night over mud can work, it's just very hard to see anything. 1x up to 4x red dot scopes are a good option as well.

A shotgun with buckshot is sometimes a better option at night also. The action is often faster and closer, and your visual accuity is poor, so the ol' "point and click" is sometimes a better option than a scoped rifle. 00buck out of an improved or light modified choke or T or No 4 buck out of an extra full (turkey) choke.

NM,

These basic "newbie" questiones come up so often, I just "cut & paste" one of my previous posts on the subject with some minor additions, if there is a particular question asked also.

Not a typist + I like short responses when at all possible.

Understood. I'm just not smart enough to realize to cut and paste my old stuff, so I retype everything. As you've noticed, I'm not very skilled with concision, but since I use the forums to help me pass the time , I suppose I'm getting what I need out of the relationship! I don't mind spending time typing, just sucks for everybody else that spends any time reading all of it! haha.

I'm sure I speak for many on Huntingnet.com - I always enjoy reading your posts !

Always helpful, informative and well written !!!

Here is a recent outing;

Thanks (for the instructions)Topgun - first picture I've ever posted !


Now you know why I wear a head cover in my Avatar LoL !!!

Now wait a minute amigo, you're going to post a nice pic of a downed dog and not give any details? Way to blueball all of us dog hunters! If you're gonna post the pic, you gotta at least give some details about how it went down! haha

Nice dog though, and by the smile on your face, I'm betting there are good details leading up to it!

No Mercy,

Are you trying to turn me into a typist ? LoL

I was with a buddy, not really a hunter, as he doesn't like to kill anything; but he does enjoy outdoor adventure.

He is a camera & video kinda guy, and I'm always after him to keep still; but I've learned to appreciate the videos he has taken of my/"our" hunts.

I belong to a hunting club, in and around Palomar Mountain in San Diego.

I make it a regular practice to take coyotes off each piece of our properties; once I've taken one/two from a particular area, I'll hunt in another area.

On this hunt, we were set-up near the property line which borders a farmer’s/rancher’s place & a piece designated as "open space" by the state.

We were set-up about 1,000 yards from the farm house and about 250 yards from the fence line to the "conservancy".

The two of us were on that hillside ( you see in the picture) sitting in low slung chairs in some decent cover, on a knob about 1/5 of the way up the hill, overlooking pasture land with a wooded stream bed that runs along the property in the bottom, which is where those yotes hold up during the day.

It was late in the day & we put my Mojo Critter and my Foxpro Spitfire about 30 yards out on the end of that knob, nearest the pastures.

I was bouncing back and forth with "grey fox in distress" and I like to use "lost kitten" when hunting near farm houses.

Three dogs came from the direction of the stream bottom and this farm house, but got weary just before they were going to pass the fence line and cross onto our property.

They stood there barking at our set-up for 20 minutes before they headed to the right where they headed out of sight due to the hillside on our right.

As last light was nearing, I starting playing a few coyote calls, as I knew if we were going to close this deal we better do it soon !

As we couldn't see them any longer, I said to my buddy; "it wouldn't surprise me if they are working their way around the hillside we were sitting on".

Now it's late, and I say again; "it wouldn't surprise me if they are standing up on the top of the hill, laughing at us".

Sure enough, my buddy who can look over his left shoulder and see that hillside; as I have to turn completely around if I needed to look.

My buddy whispers to me; "he's right there", and points right behind us.

I say, okay.............."How far ?"; he says +/- 110 yards.

I say, "any landmarks I should look for once I make a move ?"

So, I need to pick up my gun with bi-pod attached 180 degrees, "plant" the legs of the bi-pod, find the dog in my scope and pull the trigger; all before he sees me.

Remember I'm sitting - Pick up my gun, turn over top of the back of my chair, "plant" the legs of the bi-pod and when I put my head on the stock; his head is right in my scope.

I lower my crosshairs down into the neck line and slightly on to his chest/shoulder and squeezed the trigger (what 3 seconds, maybe).

Dead dog...................The End !!!

See, I knew there had to be a good story!

It's always satisfying to dump one after working so hard to bring them in those last precious yards!