Coyote Hunting

Coyote hunting is a great way to enjoy the outdoors when most other seasons are out. Coyote are highly adaptable animals. Able to change their food, shelter and sleeping habits with the area in which they are living. Much of the time they travel in pairs or packs. Coyote have incredible senses, so coyote hunting can be challenging. Their sense of sight and smell enable them to easily find food and to avoid danger. However, there are some things you can do to increase your chances of success in coyote hunting.

Coyote hunting in high desert areas, you will find that these animals like to be in high, rolling, tree- lined hills that border dry-wash gullies, open on the bottom and brushy along the sides. These gullies create nice shooting lanes and give you a place where you can sit up high on the sides and have a good view of the area both upwind and downwind and puts you in a good position for calling. The brushy sides help the coyote to feel safe a protected as they approach the call. Once they have approached, you can force them out into the lanes for a clear shooting venue.

You will want to select an area that has enough cover to provide a place for you to set your back against, as well as providing enough coverage to camouflage your silhouette and your movements while calling. You will also want to make sure that you are provided with shade as it can get very hot during the day in the high desert. If you are hunting alone you want to make sure that you give your full attention to the downwind side. A coyote will often travel around a bush to the downwind side to get to the prey they have been stalking.

A coyote’s thoughts are never far from its next meal. So keep this in mind when choosing an area in which to hunt. Make sure you hunt from stand to stand in a cautious manner. Don’t get too focused on getting to the next call. Getting anxious and too focused can cause you to miss or to spook your prey. Stay low and keep your head up.

Coyotes like to hang out near livestock. When choosing your place of hunting locate the livestock and then talk to the ranchers to find out where they have been seeing the coyote. Don’t forget to get permission before hunting on private property. There are some interesting things about coyotes. Coyote parents sometimes supply mice to their pups for hunting practice. When they are about two years old they choose a mate and mate for life. Coyote are often considered pests and when caught in populated areas are often killed rather than caught and released into the wild. Coyote have many different modes of communication. They can growl, howl and bark. In the wild they are often heard howling in unison which can be a very eerie sound. Like many animals they can also use a variety of body languages to communicate. A coyote can run as fast as 40 miles an hour when in pursuit of prey, making it very difficult for anything to outrun them.

Coyote hunting is fascinating and addictive. Learning to better understand how these animals operate can become a great way to spend your down time. So look out for the adrenaline rush, it can sneak up on you and take over all your thoughts, just like the coyotes and their food.