You ought to thank the proliferation of electronically recorded calling devices for the success that is being experienced by people who would otherwise be less than decent coyote hunters. This notwithstanding, you will need a clear understanding of what each coyote call does so that your hunting hobby can move to the next level.
Below are a couple of howls that you will need to fully comprehend if you are going to succeed in getting into the head of your prey and draw it to your gun’s sights.
Group Howls vs. Solo Howls
You would want your call to attract a huge pack of coyotes without intimidating them. This being the case, a solo howl is less threatening than a pack howl. It should be done with a low frequency, high pitched and long drawn. This mostly announces a young, lone, and non-aggressive coyote and thus your pack will be willing to come over and investigate.
What the experts recommend
According to AI Morris, a 3-time winner of World Coyote Calling Championship, a mix of a solo howl and distress howl will give you more success in calling coyotes. Note that the less threatening your call sound, the more encouraged the coyotes within the hearing distance will be.
Distress Calls
One of the nature’s best omnivores is the coyotes. A study of their stomach contents after they are killed shows that they can eat almost anything including plastic bags, rocks, and sometimes some meat, probably from kill. Thus said, a coyote hunter will do well for themselves if they know what sort of a distress prey call he must make as long they set in the coyote’s earshot.
Depending on the latest experience, a coyote will respond to distress calls differently. If for example the coyote has had a recent altercation with another hunter using the same call, it will be very hesitant to make the same mistake. Studies show that coyotes in heavily hunted grounds are much harder to hunt than those from unpressured grounds. An experienced coyote will wait for the downwind of the call, put its nose up for any hint of danger before responding to the call.
A study done by the Idaho National Laboratory shows that all the coyotes they trapped and then fitted with tracking collars had a very hard time responding to distress calls. They never responded to the call until there was a downwind and even then, they would wait for approximately 17 hours to approach and investigate the source of distress.
Most of the experienced coyote hunters feel that if you are serious about nailing a coyote within your sights, you need the patience of a sniper. To catch the coyote off-guard, you should make your call at about dawn. It is said that during this time, the coyotes are less aggressive as they would have probably eaten already and their natural instinct is not heightened.
What the experts recommend
Les Johnson is one of the most renowned coyote callers in the US. He reckons that the best time to call the coyotes is an hour after darkness. Most predators are more comfortable operating in the dark. In fact almost all the known carnivores prefer to go hunting in the dark, probably because the herbivore feed during the day and are mostly lethargic at night.
Whines & Yelps
How about tripping the maternal, territorial or protective instincts in a coyote, all at once? The way to do this is by using the non-aggressive calls such as whines or yelps that are done by the pups. Coyotes are fiercely protective of their young ones and if they feel that one of their young ones is being cannibalized by another predator, they would come to investigate even if this poses danger to them.
The Denning season (March to May), the coyote’s family bonds are extremely strong. It is during this time that a smart caller would use his repertoire of whines and yelps. Another period when these kind of calls are effective is during the mating season (about September to January) when the coyotes are feeling territorial. It is important to note that when the pups are grown, the family ties are all but broken and it will thus be harder to attract the coyotes using this calls.
Sometimes one form of a call will not work. Before you decide to change, it, increase the intensity and volume of the yelps in order to reach coyotes that are far away.
What the experts recommend
According to a coyote tracking expert Gerald Stewart, it is not enough to use a blend of calls. You should also use some scents for the coyote’s nose as well as a moving decoying. This will make the coyote to fully commit to come to your gun’s sights. A mix of distress, howls and yelps will do the trick.
Challenge Howl
Imagine inviting a coyote for a fight? The predators are always game for a good fight with an elk. But coyotes are not like the other predators. Rather, they love to use bark-howl to threaten the coyote. They avoid fights whenever possible. Thus their howl is more threatening as it seeks to get the intruder to leave. Wolfs will go after the intruder and kill him while coyotes will go after the intruder, get submission and then let the intruder go.
Once you understand this, you will only use this sort of call when you are sure that you are well within the coyote territory and are directly threatening their livelihood. Ensure that you are not in the overlapping territory because the coyotes would rather leave you to that territory than engage in a gruesome battle for territory.
What the Experts Recommend
Experts say that the best way to use the challenge howl is to wait for a response from the coyote and then ensure your next howl is less threatening. This gives the coyote some confidence to come investigating.
Resources for Coyote Sounds
- Click here to see all the important coyote call sounds. You can even download the mp3 sounds and use them on your next hunting trip.
- The Varmint AI’s is another great resource for the coyote call sounds. It has real life experience by expert coyote trackers.
- The Average Outdoors Man is another great resource where you will get to understand coyote sounds like woof, growl, huff, bark, yelp, whine, challenge bark, distress calls, pack howls etc.
- For Coyote hunting vocalizations, click here.
- If you are just starting out with your hunting activities, you will need to learn common rookie mistakes that people make when out on a hunting spree.
- This app resource is also worth looking over.
