What to do, When? Coyote language

For you seasoned coyote callers, got some questions. Here is the scenario.

I’m siting right before dark last night, enjoying the evening. I hear my first dog barking fairly close over in the corn field. Probably 300 – 500 yards ish. I hit my E-caller with a female invitation call. Waited 3 minutes and hit a serenade call. About then I spotted a dog out in the pasture at 500-600 yards. He is looking my way, but not committing. I hit the fawn distress for 10-15 seconds. Paused and watched him. He started coming closer stopping every so often. I hit the fawn again. The dog keeps coming. At 250-300 yards he stops. I decide not to shoot since I was hoping he’d come in. Instead he headed into the corn field. Now I got two dogs out there. One barking occasionally. I tried the female invitation call again. nothing. I then sat quietly until I couldn’t see through my scope. I had dogs howling north of me a ways, some east of me a bit closer and the dogs in the corn also howling. I left my stand frustrated I didn’t know how to communicate better.

So, can anyone recommend a good read/video that tells what to do when. I’ve got one video by Randy Anderson I need to watch again. Looking for alternate opinions to gain knowledge from. Also, if you have any advise, I’ll take it!!

Thanks!!

A couple of ideas. And I’m by no means batting 1000 when it comes to these, but I try to remind myself because I’ve been told or read these over and over.

First, don’t overcall! With eCallers the temptation to just keep pushing buttons and overcall is even worse. Add to that the fact that eCallers are LOUD compared to mouth calls or natural sounds. Call quiet and short first, then wait. And wait some more. And more.

Next there’s the problem that you don’t know how the dog that was out of sight responded to your call. He could have moved downwind, picked up your scent, and bolted. So your calling may have “worked” in the sense that he responded.

That’s one thing about coyote calling that is a big X factor: You never know when something worked, but then the dog came in and busted you before you even saw him. The assumption is that if nothing came into sight, the calling was wrong, but that’s often an unproved assumption. The alternative is everything was working great until he busted you.

My strictly uneducated guess was that the coyote that hung up at 250 was not a domiate coyote and was intimidated by the howling, but curious enough about the fawn bleating to come within 250-300 yards. Then he got nervous and left.

I’d say move out of man-made stands and away from anything else man-made that would intimidate them. Work the usual prey calls quietly at first. Don’t forget the coyote pup distress, this one can work wonders in areas where there are overlapping packs.

If they show signs of hanging up, somtimes you’re going to have to let ‘er fly. At 300 and .22-250 is still freaky-flat. Send it! On a coyote sized target, you should be able to do the boom-whop on them up all day long at 300.

If there was something that worked 100% of the time, everybody would be doing it. I’ve had several coyotes come in to a jackrabbit call. That’s only funny when I add that this is 250 miles from the nearest jackrabbit. You just never can tell.

Grouse

my go to would be a pup distress this time of the year. I always hit the pup after I shoot my first dog any time of the year. But what works today may not the next.

I like the Randy Anderson “Mastering the Art” dvd. Get the 3 hour version instead of the 2 hour. I feel it has crutial information that is left out in the 2 hour version. As for your setup. I would guess they knew you were there. Either winded you or watched you walk in.

Kooty, A few random thoughts…as we all have those frustrating moments of WTH.
Multiple calls – Never had much success with if I get across the board with calls. I like the invites for late winter until about April. But, its tricky at times. If they are “packed” and have a larger number of younger members, they can get very hesitant and cautious. Older and more dominate members will come in to investigate other trespassers in their range. Range size/density also plays a huge part in this equation. This is where I often have one or two come out in a field and hang up at 300-500 yrds. Many times they will come out and bark like they are trying to draw a response. Any little thing that isn’t right can send them away. I also have had a number of them leave an opening from that 400yrds range and disappear in the brush, only to be busted by them 20 minutes later as they sneaked around me.

When I run food source calls (rabbit,…) I’ll mix in a few excited barks / Ky-Yi to simulate an excited pack getting in on a kill. Again, with the introduction of another pack, I often get a coyote to investigate at a farther range from me. If I had to guess, I would say 1 out of about 5 or 6 come in close (100yrds or less) when other pack sounds are used.
Now, this is VERY different for me in April through Aug when dominate females are so receptive to puppy or distress sounds.

Over-calling – Plain and simple, over calling will be a billboard with a plane flying over pulling a banner that says you are here. I still to this day pull out a clock (phone or wrist watch) and watch the time. If i run a long winded sequence of 2 minutes of calling, I stay off the calls for up to 10 minutes. If you have a good call sound that carries, they know your there. I have my best close range action when they come in “looking” for me. If you call too often, they can pin-point your location so well and circle you before you ever knew they came in.

Wish i had more time to elaborate, but its time to pack up for Colorado. Since I’m not trapping here until Dec, I made a goal to take song dogs out of CO, WY, KS, and Nebraska. Figured over the next month, I’ll have 2 days to hunt in each state.