If you wanted to try for a coyote, or perhaps a fox, by hunting over a fresh gut pile, when would be the best time to do so? I’ve heard that coyotes will avoid an area with human scent for 24 hours, so should I wait until the next day? I have the feeling that some of the bolder coyotes might move in a lot sooner and strip the pile down sooner. What do you guys think? I was going to hunt the stands of successful camp members for coyotes after they tag out.

I think it matters when they find it. I've seen gut piles gone by morning, or as with my latest one it sat for three days before it was gone.

Handles hit the nail on the head. They will hit a gut pile as soon as they find it. 2yrs. ago while gutting out a buddies deer he mentioned that this dog was watching us gutting the deer. When I looked up, I noticed this young coyote watching us at the edge of the swamp. I told him to slowly hand me my gun. Well believe me a 30-06 will destroy a coyote at 50yrds. The next day the gut pile was gone and so was the coyote.

So - get out there right away and don't give up until they come. I'll give it a shot. Thanks. Would calling help them find it sooner?

get a shovel the day before you plan to hunt it and throw organs and guts around a wide range, therefore a coyote has a better chance of being attracted and you have a better chance at shooting one

Using a coyote howl might help.

you might find that the fawn in destress would work best. do you have a spot light and can you hunt at night? because that will be you best time to see them. i find a lot of times areas where we deer hunt don't have a single print on them. and if we have 2 or 3 gut piles out there the next morning their are yote tracks all over. here in PA we can't hunt coyotes at night during deer season so i would check your law book.

my most perductive way so far to hunt a pile is to get out 1 or 2 days later and use a fawn in destress. however the woodpecker in destress call has also worked well for me.

howling may work i'm not sure. never tired it over a pile because i was always afriad i may put the deer on high aleart. i don't know though may work really well and not bother the deer at all. i would try yelps instead of howls as well
good luck

I'm in PA, too. At night we'll be relaxing in camp and playing poker. I'll combine my coyote hunting with deer hunting in the day and try the fawn bleat. Calling in a deer would be acceptable as well. We've had a lot of coyotes around this year. AS a matter of fact, there were two coyotes already honing in on my archery deer when we found it.