Need help with coyotes

[Eric Anderson]

Can’t draw them in this year. Bait isn’t working, calling isn’t working. Huge amounts of tracks and markings.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Open area, woods ? Temperatures?

 

[IdaRam]

And a few more questions/stuff to think about... You may already be a mile ahead of me here.
Are they being hunted hard? Hunted coyotes become very call shy and difficult to deal with. Can you hunt them at night? Looks like you are in NC?
What type of call are you using? Electronic or mouth?
What calls are you using? Rabbit, bird, rodent, deer in distress, etc? Try something non-standard. If they are getting hunted the call might not matter though.
If they are smart dogs they will circle well down wind and try to catch your scent. Many times coyotes come in, but they are never seen. Especially in areas that are brushy or heavily timbered.
Not sure when they den in your area, but out here in the west it is right now and for the next several months. They can become more vulnerable during denning season because momma has to eat! If there is an abundant food source, like a major vole infestation and they are getting plenty to eat, it is likely they will not take risks and stay or become nocturnal. And once again, you are kinda screwed
I have lived your frustration! Sometimes the odds are stacked against you. Hunting pressure and factors like abundant food sources will raise hell with your coyote hunting. Unless you can legally go nocturnal yourself it can be tough.
Seems like everyone has a FoxPro these days. They are great calls, I love mine. But many people aren't good callers, they are coyote educators Sounds like your dogs may have received their Phd's.

 

[Divernhunter]

They heard you are an excellent shot and never miss. They are staying away from you.

 

[Eric Anderson]

Both open areas and woods. Temps have swung from lows in the 20’s highs in the mid 30’s to lows in mid 60’s to low 80’s highs in the last week.

It is like everything is turned upside down. I had 3 does come in to a coyote call when the temps were cold. Last night lows were in the 60’s I had bait (fresh squirrel) tied up to a sapling in the woods with a trail cam set up on top of it. A possum found it first, ate its fill, then 4 deer came in and spent an hour licking at the blood on the leaves last night.

Day old coyote tracks 3 feet away. No coyote on camera since May 11. No sign until 2 weeks ago, then prints and markings everywhere.

 

[ThomasBeaham]

Here coyotes are denned-up in February and notoriously difficult to hunt.

 

[Ridgewalker]

If you have a tree stand, get in it.
Don’t touch your caller with anything but clean rubber gloves before you put it out.
Try a simple decoy using a feather on a string tied to a stick next to your call.
Use an oddball sound, ie, baby crying, calf sound, chicken sound, etc.
Watch the forecast and when a cold front is moving in, hunt ahead of it.
Try to get a crossing wind blowing into an open field. Then watch the down wind side.
IdaRam gave you some excellent info.
Sooner or later it will all start coming together. Just be tenacious and keep trying.
Best of luck!

 

[Eric Anderson]

Thanks for the advice so far.
I forgot to add, these are suburban coyotes. So stand selection is pretty limited. Million dollar houses make poor backstops.
All my coyote hunting is nocturnal as well.

 

[jeff]

During the breeding season howling and other social calls seem to work better than the traditional food source calls.

 

[BRICKBURN]

First things that come to my mind:
The Coyotes have a good food source and don't need a stinky squirrel. (someone is feeding them)
They are migrating into/through your area, not living there. (Nothing since May)
Too many people/dogs, etc going through your area pushing them around. (just a guess why they are not slowing down)

 

[AB2506]

I agree with Brickburn. The coyotes are not immediate residents to your hunt location and likely only roam the neighborhood at night.

They are also well fed. Are there lots signs posted about missing dogs and cats? Are garbage cans regularly tipped over and the contents scattered about? Other options are that some do gooder is feeding them, or people are leaving dog/cat out and the coyotes are helping themselves.

As for no response to calls, it could be that others are calling and are doing a poor job of killing the coyotes that respond. I once went on a multi day coyote trip with a guide. We could get coyotes to respond and come to about 600yds. Then they would mill about barking and howling. My guide later learned that some locals were running coyote calls from their iPod through their truck speakers. It was unclear whether this was just for kicks or if they were poor shots. Regardless it is a poor practice to call to your truck. Coyotes are too smart to not learn from that. If it hadn't been so windy, maybe we could've tried more sounds or a looong shot. You can fool a coyote once but if you don't kill it, you are just educating it. It is much harder to kill that coyote in the future.

A coyote will usually move to come in downwind, if possible. Pay attention to that direction.

Coyote vocals will likely work better. Watch some Randy Anderson videos on YouTube to learn more.

I once read an article where the author had regular success sitting on stand for coyotes. He had learned trails the coyotes used to move from hunting areas to denning/sunning areas. He would set up watching a trail and would routinely harvest coyotes moving along the trail. Likely a different situation than yours, he was hunting the brakes between a river valley and the field above in the West.

Just food for thought.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Here is some "research" on urban Coyotes.

Their premise:
The Foothills Coyote Initiative lauched in 2015 and is funded by SSHRC (2015-2019).

'Well over 500,000 coyotes are killed every year in North America, making coyotes the most persecuted carnivore on the continent. Despite killing so many coyotes, pet and livestock depredations continue and mounting scientific evidence shows that killing coyotes can increase attacks on domestic animals. We need a new paradigm. We believe that local expertise can be combined with and enhance or challenge existing scientific knowledge and help us reach our goal of improved welfare of people, pets, livestock and coyotes. "

However, the presence of anthropogenic food items in 14% of scats suggests heightened risk of food conditioning, a potential for habituation to humans, which can increase human-coyote conflict. We recommend stricter enforcement of garbage laws, responsible husbandry practices with domestic pets (leash animals), and targeted educational campaigns.

If you can use the information to enhance your Coyote hunts to make the authors happier.

https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/cate/vol4/iss1/8/

 

[flatwater bill]

Agree with Thomas.............Feb the very worst time to hunt coyotes.......FWB

 

[BRICKBURN]

Agree with Thomas.............Feb the very worst time to hunt coyotes.......FWB

Except when you can catch 5 dogs chasing a bitch in season. Although that is a lottery.