how long do you wait to shoot?

[littletoes]

Yea....I ain't buying it, know Jerry's background a bit, it tells the story.

Great thread, and I agree, you learn their body language. As long as they are curious, they will keep coming. As long as you paid attention to the wind when you set up, and what  behind you. If its an educated dog, it might start circling farther out.

Someone above said "they'd rather shoot than not...", thats a fine way to "learn 'em", and I don't want to do THAT.

Another question should be HOW TO STOP THEM WHEN DANGER CLOSE. I've had several inside 25 yards, and moving fast.

Hard to hit a target like that....a "woof" usually does it though. 

[trippledigitss]

I agree with the idea you should #1 Know your abilities, what distance you can consistently hit inside at least a 6in circle (I keep my goals lowwww  ) with confidence every time. #2 Be patient and try to get them as close as possible, like shotgun range (less than 25yds for me....) If they are not coming closer and hold up inside "your distance" fine - shoot em. If not - no harm no foul - he's still there for another day and nothing "bad" happened in his mind by coming into a call.
 
As for how to stop them inside 25yds and moving fast? 12 gauge with #4 buck - works like a charm! 

[Guy]

"As soon as you know you can hit em....let it rip."

Agree. When the shot is good, take it. Great off-season practice for deer hunting too... Any kind of live-animal shooting during the off-season months is terrific practice, be it coyotes, rock chucks, or even Oregon sage rats.

While out with a new hunter last fall, I saw him looking intently through his scope at a stone-still coyote about 200 yards away. He was watching the coyote, it was watching him. The new hunter isn't used to scopes, and isn't used to seeing coyotes or any other kind of game. He really didn't know if he was looking at a coyote or not until it moved, leaving the area. Then it was too late. I figured if he shot it or not, it was good for him to at least be looking through the scope at game, for the first time in his life.

Don't beat yourself up about it. It's just a coyote, there are more.

Regards, Guy