This year, on January 19th, the statewide archery and flintlock seasons for antlered and antlerless deer come to a close. Some hunters will thoroughly clean their firearms and equipment and then put them away until the next season, this coming fall. Others will turn their attention to a major problem throughout Pennsylvania that each and every hunter could (and should) address – particularly over the remainder of the winter months. And that, my friends, is the issue of the many coyotes and their devastating effect on various wildlife populations.
If we, as hunters and conservationists, are concerned at all about the future of our game birds and animals, then we need to take a serious look at doing our part to help control or reduce coyote densities in our area. A day of hiking throughout your favorite hunting locations right after a freshly fallen snow will reveal the stark reality that coyotes are busy every day hunting the very same tracts of land that you spend time hunting.
These lean, mean hunting machines spend hours covering miles of trails and logging roads, usually in the cover of darkness, day in and day out, in pursuit of whatever food they can come across. They will often focus on mice in fields or chipmunks in wooded areas, but will not hesitate to take a turkey or deer if the opportunity arises. They are a prime predator of newly born fawns, which are most susceptible in the first few weeks of a fawn’s life.
These next few months, particularly when there is snow on the ground, provide an excellent opportunity to hunt coyotes. They usually need to travel greater distances to find food and spend more time throughout the day doing so. Particularly when they are hungry, they are often more responsive to calling, and while daytime calling can work, waiting until the hours of darkness will usually be more effective.
Asking a landowner for permission to hunt coyotes or other predators on his land is often met with a positive response. It might also open the door for permission to hunt other game at a later date. Once permission has been obtained, make sure you contact the landowner before hunting so they know you will be on the property, particularly if you are hunting at night.
Years ago, a mouth call for a rabbit in distress was certainly the most popular and very effective. A fawn in distress call was equally effective. While both of these are easily produced with a handheld mouth call, the introduction of electronic callers has opened up a limitless array of sounds that will lure a wily coyote within gun range. Caution should be used to avoid overcalling, a common tendency with both handheld and electronic callers.
Now, there is a series of coyote vocalizations that has proven highly effective and is very well presented when used with an electronic caller such as those produced by the Pennsylvania Company FOXPRO. This is a 3-part sequence of sounds.
The first sound is a short sequence of just two or three male coyote howls, followed by several minutes of silence. You may want to monitor this period of silence, as it can be difficult to judge without actually timing it, and it is a critical step. Repeat two or three male howls and follow them with another period of silence. Be alert to any movement in the distance, but do not be concerned if there is none. This call is made to alert any nearby coyotes, not necessarily to bring them running.
The second sound is a female coyote yodel (all of these sounds are available on the FOXPRO electronic callers). Emit two or three minutes of the female yodel call, then allow several minutes of silence, followed by a second period of two to three minutes of the yodel. If you are calling from an open field, you can use these first two sound sequences at a higher volume setting. You are trying to get a coyote’s attention. If you are in a woods setting, you might reduce the volume somewhat.
The third and final sound is the “clincher.” It is the coyote pup-in-distress sound, played at a lower volume continuously. This call, presented at the lower volume, can be run for five to ten minutes, and that is usually enough time for any interested coyote to cover the distance and present an effective shot.
Setting up and calling coyotes isn’t effective every time, but when it does work, it is extremely exciting, and you can feel good about helping reduce predation in your favorite hunting haunts.
