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Author Topic: Open Range Butch PAKMAN Member # 163 posted March 18, 2003 12:02 PM                   I'm a newbee to the forum and fairly new to coyote hunting in general. But I have been calling seriously this winter with some success and have been biten by the bug. To my topic... Here in Eastern Nevada, we have a seemingly endless sea of sagebrush that obviously holds coyotes. My problem seems to be that the coyotes out here(that aren't married to a ranch) seem to cover extremely large areas and it is difficult to narrow spots down so that I don't spend a lot of time at stands calling to nothing. Any suggestions for calling in very open range? Butch Posts: 8 | From: Nevada | Registered: Mar 2003  |  IP: Logged 20t-n-t Knows what it's all about Member # 46 posted March 18, 2003 12:16 PM                    Butch, first of all Welcome to the New Huntmasters BBS. First of all go out scouting and look for travel corridors, places that they are traveling a lot will have beaten paths with tracks comming and going. Then look for places where they can hide, Very thick brush, deep raviens, coolies and then try to put yourself within 2-300 yards from the cover and a clear view of the down wind side, they will most always try to circle down wind on you. I'm in south western Idaho and sage brush is the norm here also. Good luck and Smote the Yote Slydog -------------------- Teach a kid to hunt and fish and feed them for a lifetime...... Posts: 245 | From: Boise Idaho USA | Registered: Jan 2003  |  IP: Logged Butch PAKMAN Member # 163 posted March 18, 2003 12:58 PM                   Thanks 20t-n-t! I've been listing in for quite some time. It's a great forum and about time for me to join in on some of these discussions. Thanks for the tips too. I've consentrated on hunting around the ranches so far because I have had more success there, but there has to be plenty of coyotes just out and about. When I call away from the ranches, I average 1 or 2 coyotes in a day and I can't figure out a pattern for why those particular stands are successful (other than there wern't coyotes in ear shot of the other stands). Posts: 8 | From: Nevada | Registered: Mar 2003  |  IP: Logged onecoyote Knows what it's all about Member # 129 posted March 18, 2003 01:56 PM                   Butch, welcome to the forum. Man you live in the part of the country I love and many of the guys in this forum go to Nevada to hunt coyotes. I think 20t-n-t kinda covered it for you. It seems to me you are dong ok with a couple a day and you are only going to get better with time, Good Hunting. -------------------- Great minds discuss ideas.....Average minds discuss events.....Small minds discuss people.....Eleanor Roosevelt. Posts: 893 | From: Walker Lake Nevada. | Registered: Feb 2003  |  IP: Logged Butch PAKMAN Member # 163 posted March 18, 2003 02:53 PM                   Thanks Onecoyote, glad to be here. Posts: 8 | From: Nevada | Registered: Mar 2003  |  IP: Logged Leonard HMFIC Member # 2 posted March 18, 2003 05:28 PM                       Welcome to the New Huntmasters, Butch. Glad to have you on board! Yeah, I guess I hunted a bit in White Pine County? You will notice that the dogs are spread out, that's for sure. The best advice I have is to do what a good bass fisherman does; and look for structure. It might be the intersection of two roads, or a fenceline? It might be up against the base of the nearest mountain, or the edge of a dry lake bed, or along a line of telephone poles. Just something different that breaks up the monotony. A single odd bush or tree off in the distance, in that sea of sage. An old wrecked car, or a pile of dirt from a claim. A couple large boulders on the edge of a barely discernable wash, a bare spot.....anything different that stands out in all the uniformity. Good hunting. LB -------------------- EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All. Don't piss me off! Posts: 32372 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003  |  IP: Logged Az-Hunter Hi, I'm Vic WELCOME TO THE U.S. Free baloney sandwiches here Member # 17 posted March 18, 2003 06:02 PM                   The best advice I have ever heard concerning fishing, also pertains to hunting,"90% of the fish are in 10% of the water", same with wildlife. Coyotes; any predators for that matter, are not spread out evenly thru the countryside, no matter how good it might look to the eye. There are certain areas, or structure as Leonard put it, that will hold or attract predators, as well as the prey species they thrive on. You got to put your nose in the dirt and look for sign, tracks and scat, if they aren't there, neither are the coyotes. Sounds like your doin' just fine pard, keep hitting it. ~AzHunter~ ------------------------ "Most coyotes act the same, in most situations" Posts: 1671 | From: 5 miles west of Tim | Registered: Jan 2003  |  IP: Logged Cdog911 "There are some ideas so absurd only an intellectual could believe them."--George Orwell. Member # 7 posted March 18, 2003 06:16 PM                       I'm trying to hit Wise assed sage by the time I log off, so here goes. Ain't never hunted those wide open sage flats before, but it's got to be something like wide open prairie in that, like AZ said, coyotes aren't evenly distributed from here to there. Do a lot of walking and looking. Identify topographical features that offer coyotes an advantage, such as low areas where they might find water or that will have different vegetation that supports prey. I like to look for poop and see what's in it. Go ahead, tear it apart, lick that finger. BE the coyote. Honestly, coyotes poop for a reason and wherever you find more than a little of it is probably close to a coyote. They'll stay close to food so look for the kind of places inhabited by whatever you find in the poop. And BE the poop. If you're whacking two a day, that's a pretty good average and just enough to keep you hungry for number three. Right now, finding cover that looks "coyotish" seems hard to do. In a matter of time, the million and one things you look for and question with each setup will become intuitive and second nature. At that point, you'll crest the hill, look into the valley, and that little voice borne of experience will say, "this is it." Have fun and welcome to the board -------------------- I am only one. But still, I am one. I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something; and, because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do. Posts: 5440 | From: The gun-lovin', gun-friendly wild, wild west | Registered: Jan 2003  |  IP: Logged Butch PAKMAN Member # 163 posted March 19, 2003 08:29 AM                   Thanks for the welcomes and the advise fellas especially, "be the poop." Leonard, let me know if you ever want to try it again out here. I would love to take you to all my hot spots and learn a few things along the way. Let me set the record straight, I average 1 or 2 coyotes called-in, not killed. Not that I am a bad shot, but.... about every one and a half coyotes called-in equals one dead coyote. Posts: 8 | From: Nevada | Registered: Mar 2003  |  IP: Logged Wiley E Knows what it's all about Member # 108 posted March 19, 2003 09:07 AM                    Welcome Butch, Butch: "I've consentrated on hunting around the ranches so far because I have had more success there, but there has to be plenty of coyotes just out and about." Don't second guess yourself, you already have it figured out! 90% of the coyotes are "usually" within 2 miles of the cattle IN SPRING CALVING CATTLE COUNTRY at this time of year. That's where the food is. Afterbirth, calf colostrum manure, corn, range cake, etc. When the coyotes get closer to denning and more of the springtime food is available, they spread back out into the denning areas. Again, don't second guess yourself, you already have it figured out! ~SH~ [ March 19, 2003, 09:08 AM: Message edited by: Wiley E ] Posts: 853 | From: Kadoka, S.D | Registered: Feb 2003  |  IP: Logged UTcaller NEVADA NIGHT FIGHTER Member # 8 posted March 19, 2003 12:38 PM                    One word >>>>>>HOWLER<<<<<<...GOOD HUNTING Chad.... Posts: 1708 | From: Utah | Registered: Jan 2003  |  IP: Logged Butch PAKMAN Member # 163 posted March 19, 2003 12:54 PM                   Thanks Wiley E, I do try to stick to the cattle areas. The only problem is that there aren't a ton of ranches in one particular area out here due to the lack of water and the amount of miles I can physically cover in a day. So I have to hunt away from the ranches after I make some stands around them if I want to keep hunting for the day. This brings me to another question, how often can you call a particular area without making the whole population call-shy? Answer: until they quit coming. Sure. But seriously, rule of thumb, how long do you let your hot spots cool down before you head back. Butch Posts: 8 | From: Nevada | Registered: Mar 2003  |  IP: Logged Wiley E Knows what it's all about Member # 108 posted March 19, 2003 01:46 PM                    Butch: "This brings me to another question, how often can you call a particular area without making the whole population call-shy?" If you're killing what you are calling, they shouldn't get call shy. LOL! I know, I'm not helping. This question depends on so many variables and without knowing all yours, it's hard to say. As a rule of thumb, just change the sounds you are using and the direction you are calling from if and when it starts to concern you. Each year starts with a new batch of pups and ends in educated coyotes. You have to gauge your plan of attack based on the hunting pressure in your area. If you think they are starting to show signs of being educated to calling, just switch sounds and your direction of approach and that usually solves the problem. If you don't have a lot of CALVING cattle in your country, look for the deer and/or antelope herds. You should find coyotes around them. Talk to the local game wardens, they should know where most of the coyotes are based on their other wildlife surveys. Go out and howl and night and find them. Ask the ranchers where they have been seeing and hearing them. If they are there they should be howling. Good luck! ~SH~ Posts: 853 | From: Kadoka, S.D | Registered: Feb 2003  |  IP: Logged onecoyote Knows what it's all about Member # 129 posted March 19, 2003 04:17 PM                   Wiley, why just go out at night and howl to find coyotes he can go out at night and shoot em? I do believe night hunting is legal in White Pine county. Butch, do you night hunt at all? Good Hunting. -------------------- Great minds discuss ideas.....Average minds discuss events.....Small minds discuss people.....Eleanor Roosevelt. Posts: 893 | From: Walker Lake Nevada. | Registered: Feb 2003  |  IP: Logged Leonard HMFIC Member # 2 posted March 19, 2003 04:55 PM                       Careful, Danny. White Pine is closed to night hunting, last I heard? Not many ranches, this is true all over Nevada. But, there is no justification for milking a certain spot. You have all the room in the world, spread out. Big tip, coyotes in Nevada love to hang out around the traffic. I'd make stands not more than a mile from the highway. Good hunting. LB -------------------- EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All. Don't piss me off! Posts: 32372 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003  |  IP: Logged UTcaller NEVADA NIGHT FIGHTER Member # 8 posted March 19, 2003 05:14 PM                    Howling in the early morning hours with a Howler is one of the best ways to know if there are coyotes in the area RIGHT THEN.If you hear a coyote or group of coyotes howling you can be sure your in the right area.Tracks,and scat can be somewhat deceiving.True, they can tell you if you are in a generally good/productive area,but coyotes might not be in hearing distance of your calling at that time.Although it is also true that if you don't hear any answers to your howling it doesn't tell you anything,there's a chance coyotes have heard your howls and just don't answer,and then again there might not be any coyotes in the area at the time.But Howling to locate coyotes has worked very well for me over the years.It also lets you know where they will PROBABLY approach from, so you can set up your stand accordingly.Just my 2 cents GOOD HUNTING Chad.......... [ March 19, 2003, 05:24 PM: Message edited by: UTcaller ] Posts: 1708 | From: Utah | Registered: Jan 2003  |  IP: Logged onecoyote Knows what it's all about Member # 129 posted March 19, 2003 05:38 PM                   It's closed?? huh. Sorry about that, Good Hunting anyways. -------------------- Great minds discuss ideas.....Average minds discuss events.....Small minds discuss people.....Eleanor Roosevelt. Posts: 893 | From: Walker Lake Nevada. | Registered: Feb 2003  |  IP: Logged

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