This is topic Utah Coyote Area *spoiler* in forum Predator forum at The New Huntmastersbbs!.
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Posted by grayman (Member # 822) on March 22, 2006, 04:46 PM:
Well, since everyone else feels like playing their cards, or would that be calls, so close to their chests I will give a little info for you Utah Coyote Hunters in the spirit of good sportsmanship.
We have been heading out east from SLC for our coyotes. The areas around Deer Creek and Strawberry, mostly backroads, have been pretty good to us so far this year.
It can be pretty hard calling in some spots. You know this if you fish or hunt this area because at 1:00 standard strawberry time the wind comes up until 4:00 EVERY DAY! Not nice one directional winds but shifting winds.
Had a lot of luck in the strawberry/starvation resivour areas. As well as the strawberry river areas.
Have fun.
-Grayman
P.S. I think I am probably breaking a forum rule by giving away this info but there has to be someone nice on this board.
Posted by Bryan J (Member # 106) on March 23, 2006, 08:54 AM:
Well I don’t know that you broke any forum rules. When it boils right down to it this forum is governed by common sense with a few words that talk about some locations banned. You didn’t use any of them, or you would have seen something like this ****** ***********. This bunch has tolerated me around here for 3 years and in that time they have given information freely and helped me understand the coyote better.
I don’t know why but personally, I don’t want to know where someone hunts and have considered asking another hunter for hints to his productive hunting areas taboo. I’m more interested in the how than the where. I think you will find asking questions like, “How do you recognize a productive area?” or “What makes one area better than another?” better received, especially on a public forum. That is my personal opinion, and it is worth exactly what you paid for it. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Back on topic, I have driven through that country and always wanted to stop and call it. I’m glad you were having some luck.
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on March 23, 2006, 09:20 AM:
You probably missed his first post, Bryan?
He asked for good hunting spots in Utah, and I replied that if they were good spots, on public land, chances were not good that someone would divulge them on the Internet, in general, not specifically this message board. The sad truth is, your secret spots won't last long, if you share them. I keep relearning that pearl of wisdom.
Good hunting. LB
edit: and so, in a moment of kindness, he gave the world his spots, above. The motivation appears to be the cat fight thread about seventeens, he thinks we are mean people because of it? Very generous, but I don't think he realizes how many people look at this Board, on a daily basis?
[ March 23, 2006, 09:26 AM: Message edited by: Leonard ]
Posted by Az-Hunter (Member # 17) on March 23, 2006, 10:00 AM:
Im not a believer in "secret spots", this is a small world, and unless you have access to a private ranch etc, I'd bet a C note, that your "secret spot" is also someone elses.
Posted by grayman (Member # 822) on March 23, 2006, 11:01 AM:
HEH! I did not give exact directions to where we usually hunt, just a general area. Lots of back roads in that area so bumping into everyone will not be a problem.
Mainly just trying to get others to share, in a general sence, where is a good place or not to go. Especially with gas prices today it is nice to actualkly know a plce or two where you can have luck as opposed to trying to find new spots all the time.
Nothing is more frustrating to me then driving a couple of hours to a spots, calling for hours, and getting nothing in the way of a shot, then looking at my gas gauge and screaming in untold fury at having to fill 'er up again.
Just thought others would like to maybe share some spots so they have other places to go or if there was someone like me, who until a year or so ago, needs to find a place to hunt and has no idea where to go.
Mainly just trying to be helpful to other hunters.
-Grayman
edit: HEH! I do realise how many people look at this board daily. I am just trying to share info to hunters looking for a place to hunt. Maybe get some others to know that the outdoors is a big place. Sharing GENERAL info is a good way to go.
[ March 23, 2006, 11:03 AM: Message edited by: grayman ]
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on March 23, 2006, 11:05 AM:
where are you concentrating your efforts, these days, Vic? Seems like since some mean people were sending the general public down to McNeal; the "coyote capital of Arizona", coyotes became a little scarce?
Good hunting. LB
PS oh, and by the way, I'm sincerely sorry about that error in judgement.
Posted by Rich (Member # 112) on March 23, 2006, 11:21 AM:
McNeal, yes that is the real hot spot for coyotes, McNeal Arizona.
Posted by DAA (Member # 11) on March 23, 2006, 12:20 PM:
Grayman, I mean you no offense here, so please don't take any.
But, I completely disagree with your idea that the great outdoors is a really big place. My experience, around here, is that the great outdoors is not very big at all, and constantly shrinking at an alarming rate. Especially the parts with good coyote hunting! Really, just my opinion, but I think if you take a map of Utah, and start removing all the places you can't hunt - cities, developed areas, military, private etc. Then start removing the areas that aren't productive to hunt (few coyotes), salt flats etc. Then start removing areas that just aren't very accessible (especially in mid-winter). Then start removing the areas that do have good coyote numbers but have even better coyote hunter numbers that are just pounded to oblivion by Thanksgiving every year. The amount of ground you have left - really good calling areas on public land that don't get pounded to death by every one else, are a bunch of teeny-tiny little islands, most of them separated by a lot of poor hunting area in between. It only takes ONE good/dedicated calling team working one of these small islands, for one day, to make a very noticeable impact on the hunting quality to anyone coming along the next weekend.
That's why most guys are so tight-lipped about their best areas. Just my take on it, anyway.
On a separate but related note... Funny you should mention the fuel prices. Somebody asked me last night how my season had gone. I told him that it was a record year for fewest days of hunting for me (I only got out about 10 days, total). But that it was also the best year I could remember for avg. number of coyotes killed per day. we didn't get skunked at all, and only had one day with only a single coyote, we got at least two or more on all the other days.
I think the high fuel prices had a LOT to do with the great calling this winter. Part of it was good coyote numbers too, of course. The long, cool and wet spring last year made for a very good prey base and high survival rates for the coyote pups from what I could tell. But the high fuel prices really had the number of guys out there getting after the coyotes this winter down noticeably. At least in most of the places I was hunting. I know we were spending anywhere from $75 to $125 a day on fuel for our calling trips. I have to believe that kept a lot of people home. Maybe I'm on glue, but I really do think those high fuel prices contributed significantly to the quality of the calling this year.
Which kind of circles back to where I started... The less people out monkeying around in your calling areas, the better your hunting will be!
- DAA
Posted by grayman (Member # 822) on March 23, 2006, 03:02 PM:
Nah... no offense.
I can understand why most people would want to be close mouthed about their areas I guess.
I personally think though that we could also be shooting ourselves in the foot so to speak. (note to self shooting self in foot with own .308 = bad idea.)
Keeping our mouths shut about where are good general areas to hunt is really doing nothing but discouraging other hunters from, well, hunting. Now I can see where a lot of people would want to "keep it all to themselves" but in my opinion that just makes others hate hunters more and more. Kinda like driving through Park City with a deer slung over your hood which also happens to have a sign of "Bambi" around it's neck.
Imagine if you will if when you started hunting no one gave you advice and were generally surly about the whole thing. It would make for a lot less hunters.
Of course if that is the aim of people then I guess that we should just keep on doing just that.
I am happy to have given my info to new hunters. I wish them the best of luck. I just hope that they are as willing to help other hunters a long as well. Not in giving specifics to where they hunt but just info on a few good areas.
-Grayman
EDIT: Also, for you new hunters. Talked to a close friend and he says north of Vernal City can be a good area as well.
[ March 23, 2006, 03:05 PM: Message edited by: grayman ]
Posted by Bryan J (Member # 106) on March 23, 2006, 03:07 PM:
Yea, Grayman I didn’t mean any offense either.
Leonard I did see that post, just before this one. I also noted the overwhelming response, I made an assumption of what “nice” meant. So I guess I kind of approached this thread with a degree of prejudice. I was just trying to say that there ARE “nice” people here that will share information freely but get tight lipped when talking about areas to hunt. DAA did a much better job.
I do think that Vic is spot on. I know that I’m following someone or someone is following me in my areas. It seems that I can tell when I’m the one doing the following. I doubt that I could take Dave or Chad anywhere they haven’t already been, I also doubt that they would bother to give the spots that I hunt much of a second look. Has anyone else played leap frog with other callers down a road?
Grayman, I apologize for not asking for clarification and making assumptions. A productive spot on public land close to the city is a tuff thing to find, I hope your honey holes continue to be productive. From the Wasatch Front, unless you are up for a challenge, you have to burn some fuel. ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
Posted by grayman (Member # 822) on March 23, 2006, 03:17 PM:
HEH! I do not mind burning SOME fuel. Don't get me wrong.
I am just a bit weary from driving hither and yon to find some place that may or may not contain something to shoot at. $80 round trip to find nothing is getting a bit tiresome. Hell, I would even settle for a general direction from SLC to get pointed in.
"Go west young man!" would even be a nice change of pace from the usual.
I can understand where people are coming from in talking about their hunting spots, and many hunters can be SOB's, I know what you mean by leap frogging down a road with other hunters, but seriously; if we cannot help other hunters then what good are we?
A couple of years ago I told someone exactly where I was finding some nice bucks, lo and behold, he was there on the first day at the crack of dawn. I laughed a bit ruefully and learned an important lesson on that one.
I will not tell someone exactly where I hunt, but will always give a nice general direction/area for them to head in. This has made me some good friends and hunting partners in the past, and I hope will lead to more in the future.
To me it is kinda like fishing. When you are catching some nice fish there is always the jerk who pulls up right next to you in hopes of catching "your fish". However, I have found that most will ask what you are using and then stay a nice distance away from you. This is how I view hunting.
Fish by the river, Hunt near the aspens around the west side of strawberry, and so forth do not give away my spots but give people a good area to start from.
Just my opinion though. If I see you out near where I hunt I will give you a wave and move down, I hope you guys will do the same for me.
-Grayman
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on March 23, 2006, 03:42 PM:
quote:
I can understand why most people would want to be close mouthed about their areas I guess.
reply: you would understand, if you saw people unwilling to develop their own areas, while running your spots into the ground, then asking you for more.
quote:
I personally think though that we could also be shooting ourselves in the foot so to speak.
reply: this may be true, if we assume that the only way to promote hunting is to share our areas developed with hard work, and they are unappreciated by lazy hunters that expect these things given to them, and without gratitude.
quote:
Keeping our mouths shut about where are good general areas to hunt is really doing nothing but discouraging other hunters from, well, hunting.
reply: Yes, this may be true, but the more I talk to people, the more I am selective in sharing these details. Don't forget, these guys share, too.
quote:
Now I can see where a lot of people would want to "keep it all to themselves" but in my opinion that just makes others hate hunters more and more.
reply: as has been pointed out; as long as it is public land, you don't have to worry, others are also using it. Example: If you put a notice in the paper telling the whole town that you are leaving for Europe for a month, and if you tell them where to find the key under the mat....you might not have much left, when you return?
quote:
Imagine if you will if when you started hunting no one gave you advice and were generally surly about the whole thing. It would make for a lot less hunters.
reply: actually, I have a good answer to that question, as well. Do you think there were message boards when I started hunting predators? No. This is exactly what I do in the form of advice, and it's a damned good resource. New hunters never had it so good.
quote:
Of course if that is the aim of people then I guess that we should just keep on doing just that.
reply: that isn't the case. This board, in one form or another, and many like it, have existed for many years, already. All these guys demonstrate their desire to help new people. All we can do is invest our time and offer the best advice we give. This happens every day.
Good hunting. LB
Posted by grayman (Member # 822) on March 23, 2006, 03:55 PM:
Very good points Leonard.
I guess that it is just frustrating to me to know that I try to be helpful, in my own way, and it is hard to understand why others do not.
Though I guess you guys really don't know me so I could be a lurker with a "loose lips" attitude. understandable.
There is really nice info on this forum, that I cannot deny, however, I guess I was just kinda hoping for a bit more in my way of thinking. Being relitively new to hunting, last 6 years and most of those only deer, I guess I have a lot more to learn about how things work.
-Grayman
Posted by 2dogs (Member # 649) on March 23, 2006, 04:19 PM:
I've freely told anyone interested where I hunt coyote. Even took some guys there. Doesn't bother me, if they tag one. Good for them. Easier said than done, LOL! There's more where that one came from.
Frankly, I like alert educated coyote. Makes me work harder. Non-hackers, soon move along.
These coyotes...Well most anyway, are pretty hard to put a tag on. So any concern I might have, is nill.
Yah, they can be called. But they don't run in[their not tame, afterall]. Called one in last wk. Coyote hung way out there[well past 100yrd line , LOL!], so I dumped some 95gr hogs his way ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
Only heard of one taken in my hunt area this Winter. "Surround & drown" By a group of coyote hunters. I'm surprised it took so many ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
.
Posted by Krustyklimber (Member # 72) on March 23, 2006, 05:08 PM:
quote:
Imagine if you will if when you started hunting no one gave you advice and were generally surly about the whole thing.
Dang, imagine that?!?! ![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
Krusty 
Posted by Bryan J (Member # 106) on March 23, 2006, 05:49 PM:
When I first started hunting coyotes I didn’t have a clue. I came across someone who was willing to take me calling. We hunted together for a couple of years until I moved away. All I knew was to do what he did and repeat. While hunting with him he would choose the stand, did most of the calling and killing. When I was forced to do things on my own I realized how poor of a student I had been. The members of HM got me to pay attention to things that I should have been paying attention to in the first place, both reaffirming the basics as well as offering insight, opinions, and beliefs outside the box I had framed up. Discussions here have raised questions that I should have been asking myself long before I found HM. Searching out those questions and forming opinions of my own have helped make a previously unproductive area into an area that produces enough to keep me interested.
I guess you could say these guys taught me how to fish rather than giving me one. I can take what I learned with me instead of going to the same old hole until it is dry.
A public forum is much different than a face to face or private conversation though.
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on March 23, 2006, 06:42 PM:
Yeah, but it saves on gas.
edit: by the way, thanks for your generous remarks! Appreciated. LB
[ March 23, 2006, 06:43 PM: Message edited by: Leonard ]
Posted by rooster32 (Member # 61) on March 24, 2006, 01:42 AM:
Grayman,
I hunt those same general areas every year. We have a cabin in the Timberlake area outside Heber. There is a bunch of open ground out there for sure, but there are also quite a few guys calling it.
DAA is spot on with his analogy about calling areas and "good spots". When I got into the calling game a few years back, I jumped on a few boards and inquired about "where to go". At first I was like, damn nobody wants to help a guy out. BUT after giving it a go for a while and finally getting success after way too many stands, it was a huge payoff. Killing my first coyote on my own at my "secret spot". Figuring it out along the way for me and just seeing more coyotes is the big payoff even if I don't kill them. Don't get me wrong, I like getting some help, but it is much more rewarding to me knowing I am figuring it out with the tips I pick up here and elsewhere.
This winter I have been out on my snowmobile a bunch and have found some new area's that had a good amount of coyote sign. Will be fun this fall to hike into a few new "secret spots" that are a little off the beaten path that should pay off.
Good luck!
Posted by UTcaller (Member # 8) on March 24, 2006, 11:40 AM:
I wish I could be more help to ya too.But I really don't hunt Utah to much anymore.I'm a big believer in Road trips.Even with gas prices the way they are.For me it is alot more productive to go less times to a more quality area(out of state).This year we went on two,three day hunts.Then we went on one other two day hunt alittle closer to home.And I did hunt one day hunt here in Utah.But thats it.9 total days of calling coyotes.But we shot alot more coyotes in those 9 days than if we would have hunted 30 or 40 days in Utah.LOL
We did get permission to hunt 3 more ranches for next year though.Probably going to go out there in the next couple months and have a look around could be going out abit more next fall.
FWIW Good Hunting Chad
[ March 24, 2006, 11:51 AM: Message edited by: UTcaller ]
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