need: coyote 101...

[jeepster]

now that duck hunting is over... i have to find some new way of passing the time in between job hunting.

ive never hunted any kind of predator before.... i know that there TONS of coyotes in the foothills...

my buddy and i were talking about going out and shooting stuff, making a multiple day camping trip out of it.... after temporalliy losing my hunting dog on the logging roads grouse hunting this past fall, and having spent multiple nights up there... jeez,  i dont know how many yotes i heard up night there..........

about all i know when it comes to coyote hunting, is 1) hide and cover your scent, 2) make wounded rabbit/critter noises, 3) wait, and 4) make your shot count....

i have a few rifles id consider using... 1) i have a very nice cz 452 in .17hmr with a 6.5-20x50 lense, 2) my saiga/ak in 223- open sights, and 3) my trusty old faithful savage 99 in sav .300 with a 4x dot reticle scope, and a win.94 30/30 (irons)... all seem like they would do the job, the saiga isnt fitted with a scope and irons are set to factory standards.... it needs to be properlly fitted with a scope and sighted in.... but its nothing i wouldnt use. the sav. 300 is good to go, same with the cz and 30/30... im assuming the .17hmr is inhumane... however that is the gun id prefer to use, mainly because ive never had a purpose for it beyond assassinating paper targets and soda cans....

i just have the itch for some coyote hunting... i would love some input and some basics. ive never done it before, but it sounds like fun....

total noob post i know...... but gotta learn some time... unfortunatley i have to teach myself from what i can learn on my own or read in mags/online....

the 17 hmr seems too light-duty for a coyote, but the terain seems limiting enough that a dog might get with in range... i just hate inhumane shots vs one shot one kill... but ive read people using the 17 for hogs and deer....... so that presents a question...

[JackOfAllTrades]

You might want to read this:  http://www.chuckhawks.com/compared_17HMR_22WMR.htm I don't think a 17hmr is suitable for anything over four or five pounds. The big problem is the fragmentation of the bullets that you get with the 17.

-Steve

[shoot-em-dead]

I have to agree with Jack. Also- spend some time looking through the threads here in the small game section and you'll find the awnsers on how to call them and hunt them in many of the threads. Good luck and have fun.

[jeepster]

the only reason why i brought up the .17hmr is that its a 800$+ gun/scope combo.... that ive never used beyond paper targets at the range...... it was a combined gift from the entire familly from years ago.... but i just hate the fact it hasnt been used for anything but target shooting.... its seeming like the most impractial rifle... EVER. glorfied bb gun.... beautiful combo tho.... but what is it useful for? not trying to sound like a snob, just trying to find a use for it.

[JackOfAllTrades]

Oh... those things are great for sage rats and prairie dogs! (as long as it's not windy).  Maybe even thin skin fox. But not yotes.

-Steve

[jeepster]

.17 removed from list of considered coyote guns.

[carpsniperg2]

Good choice, its to light for yotes. Your 223 saiga would work good if it shoots good. Most the ak's I have shot, don't shoot that well. If it shoots decent i would use that. Heck your 300 will work good to. Just a little more recoil and power then you need.

[bobcat]

I bet the .17 would work if you got them within shotgun range.   

But sounds to me like with what you've got to work with, the 300 Savage would be the best bet. Maybe consider selling or trading that .17 for a bigger caliber varmint gun.

[jeepster]

but aside from gun selection, its pretty much hide, cover scent, and call.... right?

[Decker]

I've killed a number of sage rats/rock chucks, etc. with that gun. I've even seen a few yotes put down with it at closer range too (50 yards). Honestly I agree with the advice given earlier, trade it in/sell it and acquire a bigger caliber dog gun. If your family really wants you to be happy with their purchase for you and have great fun with it, they will understand. Personally I LOOOOOOOOVE my .204 in Remington 700 SPS. I also use a Burris Fullfield II 6.5-20x50. Have killed quite a few dogs over 500 yards with it. Another popular choice is .22-.250. Good luck!

[Bofire]

 :)cover scent dont work, watch the wind.
Carl

[CAMPMEAT]

$800 for a .17 ? Somebody took that one in the shorts, sorry. I've got $425 in mine with scope.

[jgregg]

To be honest, cover scent on coyotes seems useless to me. I heard at the predator seminar here in kennewick a month or so ago, that they did a test where they put one bud of marijuana in a jar full of peanut butter, closed the jar and the dog still smelled it. Dogs have too good of smelling to really worry about trying to cover up human odor. Just play the wind.

[Decker]

To be honest, cover scent on coyotes seems useless to me. I heard at the predator seminar here in kennewick a month or so ago, that they did a test where they put one bud of marijuana in a jar full of peanut butter, closed the jar and the dog still smelled it. Dogs have too good of smelling to really worry about trying to cover up human odor. Just play the wind.

Sounds like the dogs definitely had the "higher" hand in that one. 

[shoot-em-dead]

To be honest, cover scent on coyotes seems useless to me. I heard at the predator seminar here in kennewick a month or so ago, that they did a test where they put one bud of marijuana in a jar full of peanut butter, closed the jar and the dog still smelled it. Dogs have too good of smelling to really worry about trying to cover up human odor. Just play the wind.

Sounds like the dogs definitely had the "higher" hand in that one. 

I like the joke- even still though this is a dog- I went to the semminar in Lacy and Jerry Melback said you can multiply a coyotes nose ten times that of a dog.

[Heredoggydoggy]

$800 for a .17 ? Somebody took that one in the shorts, sorry. I've got $425 in mine with scope.

  You did slightly better than I did.  I've got more than $500 in my .17hmr...  a $385 Burris Fullfield on a Savage $180 gun.  Made up for it, though-- a while back a guy I know wanted to sell a CZ .17hmr with a BSA Sweet 17 scope for $300.  You can bet I jumped on that deal!  Love those .17hmr's.  Wouldn't shoot a Coyote unless I could be sure of an under 100 yard head shot.

[Heredoggydoggy]

A predator hunting scientist wrote an article about Coyote Olfactory Senses a while back.  The gist of the article was that there is no way to mask the human scent, but by misting the air with a mix of other smells you can confuse the Coyote's brain into ignoring the human component of what he's scenting enough to get him to lower his guard.  He may be right.  I figure I can use every advantage when it comes to fooling those wily critters!

[Decker]

A predator hunting scientist wrote an article about Coyote Olfactory Senses a while back.  The gist of the article was that there is no way to mask the human scent, but by misting the air with a mix of other smells you can confuse the Coyote's brain into ignoring the human component of what he's scenting enough to get him to lower his guard.  He may be right.  I figure I can use every advantage when it comes to fooling those wily critters!

Okay, so here's the thing. I am a long time predator hunter and have killed my fair share. We all know we're supposed to "play the wind". But there ARE exceptions on times when you might want to play it a little differently. For instance, when I first started calling I thought having the breeze directly in my face when calling was the best I could get. Didn't realize that a decent amount of dogs that I never saw probably circled down wind behind me. Actually I know they did because I've had them come running in full-tilt (from behind me) and almost run me over. Personally speaking I usually try to call a cross wind, where the wind is blowing to my shooting side (in my case, I am right handed and therefore shoot to my left.) A lot of times we try to plan this downwind side to an "open area" where the coyote would have to come out and through to get downwind. This is a good idea...unless of course you're dealing with extremely smart dogs, which is often the case. Once a coyote gets fooled in and blasted once or twice, they don't forget. I hunt in the middle of extremely high pressured areas and do pretty well because I am doing some things different than most guys. Good example would be calling on a completely flat piece of ground. Most guys want to find an elevated stand where they can see dogs coming in. In a perfect world, great. If you have to have it like you see it on t.v. fine. (Same thing goes for turkey hunting. Worked as a guide for 10 years and some guys wouldn't shoot a bird unless it came in to a call set up in full strut, while gobbling, etc.) But if you want to kill dogs (or turkeys) that others won't have a chance at try some things different. Calling on a flat sage-covered piece of ground is difficult (mainly cause we like to see them coming) but it's SUPER effective, mainly because 1. The coyote feels more confident because there is some cover and 2. They learn the spots that regularly get called. Take a shotgun and try it. If you have an electronic caller set it upwind 20 yards and hang on. I do all of my calling by mouth and on a sage flat often make a howl and then sneak 20-50 yards downwind after calling once, wait a few minutes and repeat. It's more of a run and gun style but can be awfully fun.

Wind is a funny thing, I've had them come bombard me (up to 5 at a time) directly from down wind across a wide open field from 100's of yards out. There are times I've walked a long distance in to a stand and had the wind change (to bad) and still called it and been successful. I've had this happen with deer to. Had them walk right up to me from straight downwind. You darned well they can smell you, but SOMETHING you're doing or offering is just too much for them to pass up. Those are the glory sets. Those are the ones where they come runnin' SO HARD you can even get them to stop for a shot and you don't kill the dang thing...but who CARES!? That was awesome!