How to Outsmart a Coyote

By this time, most of us have our rifles sighted in, our hunt rigs stocked and ready to roll and all of our other necessary gear fine-tuned and ready.  The last remaining factor that spells success or failure is totally dependent upon you, the hunter.  Ultimate success will be dictated by your skill and strategy. 

 

All of us spend a great deal of time analyzing our prey.  We scout for the most likely habitat, look for sign and attempt to zero in on just exactly where and when the animals are most active.  However, what worked just fine last month and produced several kills may not work at all this month.  Coyotes seem to move around a lot and in the process; they can become more “educated” due to frequent calling and hunting pressure.  These shifts in animal behavior necessitate a shift in our attitude and procedures too.  Perhaps it is time for you to try something completely different.

Although the general animal habitat guidelines don’t change, perhaps our attitude and techniques for attracting them should.  Chances are, the typical coyote and bobcat have heard the pleading jackrabbit call more than once or twice and it may not have the startling effect we would expect.  Hey, even my dog is a perfect example of that.  He hears me testing different pitched calls all the time.  Now he is used to those sounds and he only reacts when I introduce something new into the mix.  Therefore, new ideas and a fresh approach might make the difference between coyote hunting success and failure.

A little side note is in order here.  


My personal feeling is that bobcats are nowhere near as smart as coyotes.  Cats are cats and they seem to be dominated by instinctive reaction.  A bobcat will often come back to the same call even after being shot at and missed.  You know how cats are…..if they hear an interesting sound and a see a moving object to match that sound, chances are they are sneaking into the ambush party.  Highly educated animal behaviorists may disagree with me but I believe coyotes “think things through” while cats simply become entranced in their stalk, dominated by instinct.  I have had bobcats so focused on the caller and decoy that they have walked right by me and didn’t even notice I was there. 

 

  

My point is, coyotes are damn smart and I believe their brain has the capacity to overpower their instinctive reactions.  Just watch the typical adult coyote coming to the call.  If he or she is not starving, the animal will approach to a certain distance that is comfortable.  From that vantage point, the coyote will take a hard look around and check things out.


If I were asked to describe a coyote’s best attribute, it would be “situational awareness”.  That call we’re playing is not a game to a coyote, he knows it could be a life or death situation.  His exceptional vision, acute hearing and finely tuned sense of smell all kick into overdrive.  Your stand is toast if a hunter makes the slightest movement or if the sun reflects off of some unnatural surface like you rifle, scope or sunglasses,  I don’t care what tortured animal sound you play, the coyote has figured out the game and he is gone. 

On the last hunt, I tried sounds, sequences and techniques that were different than my usual bag of tricks.  I thought of all the sounds other hunters were using in that area and I purposely avoided using any of them.  Instead, I used one of our RedHunterLLC Nutcracker Squirrel Barkers.  I changed more than the sounds however; I tried an entirely new coyote calling psychology.

In the past, my calling was not a part of a larger plan.  There was no scripting of sounds or end game in mind.  I simply played a CD or worked a mouth-call hoping that a hungry critter would respond.  I was only appealing to one sense…..hunger.  That would mean for me to be successful, the following factors would have to be in place:

·         A hungry coyote would have to be within hearing distance of my call.

·         That coyote would need to be hungry enough to respond.

·         That coyote would need to be comfortable responding in the calls’ territory.

·         The coyote would not be educated to that specific sound.

·         The coyote’s hunger would overcome caution.

For my money, those are too many variables.  By appealing to only one sense, you severely limit yourself.  For the best success, appeal to as many of the animals senses and “instincts” as you can.  The ultimate key word there is instinct.

Webster’s dictionary defines instinct as “a largely inheritable and unalterable tendency of an organism to make a complex and specific response to environmental stimuli without involving reason.  b: behavior that is mediated by reactions below the conscious level.
 

That is our ultimate edge gentlemen, playing on their strongest instinctive responses.  If you plan your ambush to appeal to instinct rather than their thought process, your chances of success will be greatly enhanced.  OK, it will indeed be easier to do this while hunting bobcat but the coyotes will take a bit more thought and planning.

You’ll need to play on a variety of instinctive reactions.  A few examples of coyote instincts you’ll want to tickle are mating, hunger, defense of territory, defense of young, curiosity sounds, curiosity smells, visual decoys, etc.

The fact is, soon after the season starts, most of the really young and dumb coyotes are dead.  If you’re going to put fur into your rig, you’d better prepare yourself with some new tricks and have something different to offer.

Today’s successful hunter will devise methods that play to a coyote’s instinctive reactions and hope that the bait (in whatever form that may be) will override the coyote’s education.  If you keep true to all of the other basics, the result should be a bunch of bang-flops for you.

Since most of our southern Kaliforniastan hunting areas are frequented by far too many other predator caller/hunters, my last hunt seemed to prove this “instinct” theory correct.  There are no hard and fast rules for success when it comes to coyote/predator hunting but a fresh, approach is always worth a try.
    

Before your next hunt, think about where you’ll be going and what new sounds, scents and visual effects you can add to your stand.  Make your ambush site look safe, easy to approach and attractive to Mr. Coyote.  The easier and more attractive it looks, the more success you will have.