Nice Looking Stand- only thing missing was a coyote

[ivarhusa]

I don't have a lot of experience to judge when a stand location is good or not.  I've watched a lot of videos, and the locations I see most often have good visibility in the foreground, over hundreds of yards, looking down over land that includes wet bottoms with trees and cover.  I found one of those almost perfect calling sites today.


The tallest trees in the background (right of center) are 870 yards away (thank you Leica!), with at least 200 yards of clear ground ahead of me, over a wide swath of ground. The sage was sparse enough to see through 80% of it. There is a stream below and a pond off to the right of the frame (behind terrain).  A great set up.  Except it is FFTH land, within 20 miles of town, so it gets a lot of traffic.  Mostly bird hunters, but I expect coyote hunters as well.

The approach was well concealed, and over 1/2 mile to the vehicle.  The ground and foliage was damp, and quiet. The wind was in my face.  I had a lot going for me

It was a good day to scout around and find places like this. Until the rains came, then I headed for a taco wagon and home. (The real reason for posting this picture was to make you wet-siders at least a little jealous. "A lot" jealous would require me to close the deal with a coyote down.  I'll keep trying.)

[Kain]

  Dont get many that look like that over here.  Even If I find a real open area it wont stay that way for long.  Looks like a great spot now you just need to find more near it so you can make a day calling one right after the other.

Here is one that I got a coyote at on Saturday.  I will probably get another two years out of it before it is to overgrown to see anything. 


Your spot will probably be huntable for years.

[bobcat]

Your spot will probably be huntable for years.

More like centuries!  Yeah that's what I hate about over here. A guy has to find new spots every year because the ones you hunted the year before have become too overgrown to see anything. (yes it does happen that fast)   

[carpsniperg2]

nice lookin spot.

[ivarhusa]

We have two factors that I can think of that drastically change the landscape in the shrub-steppe.  The first and most significant is fire.  It can take out square miles of sage, leaving utterly barren low-grass hillsides.  Second, ranchers will drag range lands to remove sage, maiking more open ground for grazing.  Whole hillsides.

At my introduction to this sport, I was told barren-ness was very detrimental to coyote hunting success.  Without some vegetation to conceal your presence with, I was told it was pointless to hunt.  A friend, Charles Shawley recently said to me quite the contrary.  He regularly hunts from an exposed position (say, in the Palouse) with success, and I've seen it on videos, too. Gotta keep movement to a minimum (that's our mantra).

[saylean]

Both look like fun spots...

Your mission of making a westsider jealous was a success..sounds like a good spot, situation.

[Bofire]

  I spent several years hunting "spots" that look good, now days if there is no sign, tracks etc, I do not hunt. get lots more coyotes now!!
Carl

[Kain]

I spent several years hunting "spots" that look good, now days if there is no sign, tracks etc, I do not hunt. get lots more coyotes now!!
Carl

I have the exact opposite problem down here.  LOTS of sign and no spots.   

[GEARHEAD]

The best stand, is the one you are sitting at. think of it like a stream you are fishing. you move from one hole to the next methodically. only difference, know which way the wind is blowing, at the hole before you arrive. i've called for 30 minutes to get a yote, and i've called less than 15 seconds twice before dropping the hammer on a 15 yard dog. ya just never know, head on out, work into the wind, make a day of it. i've killed alot of called in yotes, and even so, i'm at best 3 dogs for maybe five stands. like anything, the harder you work, the better your result.

[ivarhusa]

I wish I knew how to weigh the factors in selecting a stand. Certainly, seeing any sign is encouraging, but the weather is so hot (summer/fall) and dry, it is rare to see a damp-ish stool that you could say "fresh" to.  I guess old sign is better than no sign. With winter comes snow, that can help. Still, if I see track, I can't know if he was here 1 hour ago or a day ago (with rare exceptions). A coyote could cross a lot of ground in an hour- let alone a day!

My present mode is to find land that is A) legal to hunt  B) has enough unplowed (CRP or whatever) extent to possibly hold a critter or two (or six) and C) has a reasonable 'view' so as to be able to see approaching critters.  I look for sign, but haven't given up on an area because it wasn't there. (I don't have so many sites to 'give up' on many.)

I do aspire to become more selective, as Bofire suggests, but haven't sorted out what to be selective on. I've only shot a few coyotes, and half of those were at locations that didn't have much obvious, current coyote activity (scat or tracks). As frustrating, my one "honey hole" has shown me no dogs lately, and no tracks or scat.  They've got to be there, but I don't have the evidence to show for it.

[Big10gauge]

Hey Ivar, Since you're in the tri cities area the following may not hold true since there's not a big difference in elevation change as in central wa. Right now the coyotes are generally more dispersed also. What you are referring to as your honey hole may not become active until the winter months when they can change their patterns. Once the cold weather hits you may find that what's currently non-productive may hold some coyotes. Keep at it.

[Bofire]

All I am saying is, there are lots of places that look good. If there is no sign, tracks? sightings? trails? something? you can spend your time better. Just because it looks good does not mean there is game.
Carl

[400out]

hunting between columbia center and badger canyon doesn't count 

[Big10gauge]

All I am saying is, there are lots of places that look good. If there is no sign, tracks? sightings? trails? something? you can spend your time better. Just because it looks good does not mean there is game.
Carl

Very true, in fact I send some of my ex-hunting buddies to those places. 

[ivarhusa]

BigTen, I hope you are right about the honey-hole coming back active in the winter.  When I first visited the site, the snow was covered in coyote tracks, going every which way.  They were feeding from the 'dead pile' this rancher had.

I haven't figured out "how small is too small" of a space to hunt over.  I'd like to get on some irrigated land, but that tends to have little in the way of cover.  There are also neighboring farms in every direction, and at least one ranch house to stay away from (to a degree).

[Decker]

BigTen, I hope you are right about the honey-hole coming back active in the winter.  When I first visited the site, the snow was covered in coyote tracks, going every which way.  They were feeding from the 'dead pile' this rancher had.

I haven't figured out "how small is too small" of a space to hunt over.  I'd like to get on some irrigated land, but that tends to have little in the way of cover.  There are also neighboring farms in every direction, and at least one ranch house to stay away from (to a degree).

As mentioned previously, no cover can be ok, just make sure you are lying down, etc. When I first started hunting dogs (15ish years ago) I was always trying to find the "perfect calling spot" where you could see a long ways, elevated, good cover, etc. One year I flat ran out of those in the areas I hunt so I began to call areas seemed harder to call (visibly). By that I mean, I didn't have a wide open expanse in front of me to see them coming in. (I actually think that may hinder smarter dogs.) I started walking into flat areas with CRP grass or just sage and finding a BARELY elevated hump, or possibly a depression that they would have to (and this is the important part of my success) walk through to be down wind of me. While it is good to hunt with the wind in your face almost all of the time, don't like it as much calling yotes (I've had too many come in RIGHT BEHIND ME and I don't get a shot.) I like a side wind, preferably to my left (as I'm a right-handed shooter).

Call those "awesome looking" coyote spots, but don't be afraid to call a thicker or "tougher" area with a smaller opening down wind. Other hunters will have by-passed them, and the dogs there are more comfortable to come in to a call when they don't have to expose themselves. (Why you dirty dogs  )

By the way, coyote sign comes and goes, but where I like to concentrate is where there are an abundance of last years dens. I have found that while they can cover large distances, a lot of dogs tend to be "home bodies" and at least return to the same to breed. I could be wrong about this, but after hunting the SAME black coyote three years in a row at the SAME spot, I began to have more confidence in this theory. I wouldn't worry if the sign is old, the fact that there is sign means you are in a dog area, start calling it.