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Author
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Topic: attention: road hunters
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted December 10, 2012 12:12 PM
QUESTION: What have you found to be the most productive method for calling back a predator that you spotted in the road, or crossing the road?
Yeah, good question.
I have pondered that particular problem since I first started hunting long distances. There are some guys that believe it's best to roll past the crosser and just pull over and make a stand. I can't say that I have had very much luck with that method. Some, but not enough to be sold on it because, if they are traveling at 90˚ to your direction and you continue up the road, you have to understand that a segment of time has passed and they could be a half a mile away, maybe more by the time you get out and set up. Then, what do you do with the vehicle?
Others try to stop before they cross the scent path and same thing, try to call them in your direction, and there's the vehicle problem.
What I have found to be the most productive, by far, is to try and stop at the exact spot where they crossed, don't worry about the vehicle and look very carefully in the direction they took. Sometimes they are lollygagging and will be surprised within a few hundred feet of the road. I think they get confused to be called back from where the just came from and for that reason alone, the curiosity factor can work to your advantage. I use sounds if I can get to them but the most important thing is to unlimber the smoke pole and point it in the most likely direction.
Sometimes, they are going someplace and have no interest, they just want to get as far away from the road, and source of danger as possible. Depending on how far up the road they are when you saw them cross, and how well you were able to mark the place of crossing, this can make the difference.
I would say that pulling over and stopping as quickly as you can, even speeding up, if he is quite a distance up the road is the most productive. You need to be ready, lights off, door cracked open and your stuff in your hands and this increases your chances, a lot.
Stopping where they crossed is three or four times more productive than the two other options, in my opinion. But, it depends, as usual. If it's on a primitive road and you are doing 2 miles per hour, it's a judgement call and I have stopped short, and driven past in some circumstances. It's like anything else, you have to play it by ear, every stand is different.
But, whatever. It's better to try than to just keep driving. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Regards....LB
PS I'm going to clean up and post this on the board, maybe somebody has a different idea?
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 32368 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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TundraWookie
Knows what it's all about
Member # 1044
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posted December 10, 2012 12:21 PM
For cats, stopping where they went in and calling has worked best for me. Cats up here are stupid....really stupid. Canines on the other hand are a totally different beast. I have not found a consistent method to get canines to show themselves once spotted crossing the road. Most of my roads have the vegetation cut back 20 to 50 yards. Once they hit that vegetation they simply tend to vanish.
Posts: 857 | From: Alaska | Registered: Dec 2006
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted December 10, 2012 12:50 PM
I'm speaking of coyotes, primarily, above.
On cats, the kill percentage is much higher. In fact, you should go after a cat. They won't go far and depend on concealment. Totally opposite from a coyote. A coyote loses all curiosity when a vehicle stops suddenly.
Either you screw up royally or you are very unlucky to miss a cat. They are generally a "gimme". And, defending them a little bit, they have a macho attitude, they seem to have very little fear and that's the problem. If you are careful, you can walk right up to a cat and they won't turn and run until you enter their safe zone, whatever it is? Even then, they don't turn and run like a coyote might, they stroll, climb uphill, if possible but even a missed shot won't get them to hightail it out of there.
The problem is, a cat isn't afraid of anything. Call it stupid, but they have a completely different attitude.
Good hunting. Lima Brav 0
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 32368 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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TundraWookie
Knows what it's all about
Member # 1044
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posted December 10, 2012 12:55 PM
Yeah, that's it, a different attitude. I walked up within 20 feet of a lynx one time while blaring a mouth call the entire time. I was getting worried the thing might try to pounce on me. Finally it just walked off.
So the question still remains about the canines on the roads. It'll be interesting to see if anybody has a fairly consistent method of success.
Posts: 857 | From: Alaska | Registered: Dec 2006
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TRnCO
FUTURE HALL OF FAMER
Member # 690
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posted December 10, 2012 03:31 PM
If I have the option of getting infront of the coyote, that's what I'll do. In general, a guy can look at the terrain and have a pretty good guess as to where the coyote is headed, so I simply play the wind and get around to where I beleive I'm ahead of/infront of the coyote.
I've never had very good luck calling them back to a spot that they just passed through, but on the flip side, I've called several by getting infront of them.
When I opened this thread, I assumed by just reading the title, that Tim would be the local pro to weigh in the quickest and with the most information about road hunting. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
[ December 10, 2012, 03:33 PM: Message edited by: TRnCO ]
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Is it hunting season yet? I hate summer!
Posts: 996 | From: Elizabeth, CO | Registered: Aug 2005
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted December 10, 2012 03:51 PM
Yeah, that's what I thought, too! But, figured, what the hell?
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 32368 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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TundraWookie
Knows what it's all about
Member # 1044
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posted December 10, 2012 04:01 PM
TRnCo
When you say that you get in front of them, do you mean you drive past the spot they crossed? For most of my areas, once they cross the road, they disappear into the woods or snow covered brush. I have stopped before and had them poke their head out of the brush (once). Other than that, I have yet to find an effective way to get them to present a decent shot. I think driving past them in my area and dropping a hunter off might be the most effective strategy. Take the truck down the road for a 5 minute drive and turn around to go pick up the hunter (and hopefully animal). It's a thought anyways.....
Posts: 857 | From: Alaska | Registered: Dec 2006
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted December 10, 2012 04:10 PM
I have done that, dropped off a hunter. Nothing works better than stopping right where they crossed and doing some lip squeaking. For me.
I was confused about "getting ahead" but I assume he's meaning daytime and with a twisting and turning trail, maybe he means to "head him off" by rounding a curve and waiting for him? But most of my comments pertain to night crossers.
Now of all the methods discussed, I have actually killed a coyote a half a dozen times by stopping before, and about the same, driving past and the same, (approximate) with dropping a passenger off. But, stopping at the spot where they crossed, I'm thinking it has resulted in maybe 50 kills? WAG
Good hunting. El Bee
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 32368 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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TundraWookie
Knows what it's all about
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posted December 10, 2012 04:25 PM
Leonard,
Have you had success in various types of terrain with the stopping where you see them method? If you had to venture a guess, how long does it take for them to poke their heads back out?
Posts: 857 | From: Alaska | Registered: Dec 2006
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted December 10, 2012 04:35 PM
Right away.
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 32368 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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TA17Rem
Hello, I'm the legendary Tim Anderson, Southern Minneesota Know it all
Member # 794
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posted December 10, 2012 06:16 PM
I stopped at the house today for a very short break and saw this post but did'nt have the time to respond right away but now I have some time..LOL
What I have done in the past pertains to coyotes crossing a road dureing the day or were mouseing near a road... A rancher friend told me once if I see any coyotes close to the road make dam sure I can kill them or don't take the shot or they just get road shy. Was good advice...
Some of my hunting trips I was limited on how much time I was going to be there to hunt or had a long drive to the hunting grounds so I did'nt always have the time to locate coyotes prior to calling them..
I had a gravel road about 60 miles long that took me through my hunting area with ranches at the start, middle and at the very end that I hunted on..
What I usually did was make the 60 mile drive through my area and look for coyotes that where still out and about near the roads or spot some crossing the road as I went and also looked for fresh scat on the road. Just by looking if the scat pile was'nt flattened out then it most likely was fresh..
If a coyote was spotted I would write down the nearest mile marker and what side of the road the coyote was on and just keep going atleast on the first day of hunting.
When I got to the end of my route then I would make a few stands here and there in some key areas then head back the way I came..
The road I traveled on ran mostly east to west so either I had a N-W or S-E wind to deal with and would set up according to wind direction and what side of the road I was going to make a stand on..
I very seldom set up on the coyotes trail going in as they sensed danger from the passing vehicle to start with. What I did instead was set up 200 yards or more right or left of where the coyote went in or was spotted prior.
In most cases the coyotes came in pretty quick and had some that bedded down on the same hillside I set up on and only a few 100 yds from the road.
Dureing the rest of my trip if I spotted a coyote close to the road or crossing it I would just drive off a few miles and sit and wait for things to get quiet and then move back to where I spotted the coyote but stopping short of the exact spot and once again calling to it off to one side.. For sounds I just used mouse or rabbit at full volume on the E-caller and after 15 min. if nothing showed I would do a few howls followed with prey distress and wait another 15 min... For me the key has always been to give the coyote a little time to forget and let things calm down before moveing in to call..
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What if I told you, the left wing and right wing both belong to same bird!
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TRnCO
FUTURE HALL OF FAMER
Member # 690
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posted December 10, 2012 06:34 PM
I'm talking terrain with 1 mile sections, with a road every mile. Coyote crosses going into a 640 acre section, then I'll go around to the other side, terrain permitting, and enter the same section and set up to call the coyote to me.
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Is it hunting season yet? I hate summer!
Posts: 996 | From: Elizabeth, CO | Registered: Aug 2005
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Okanagan
Budding Spin Doctor
Member # 870
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posted December 10, 2012 07:44 PM
Interesting topic. I've had the same experience with cats, that they come back to the spot where they went into cover, usually right away. They can be hard to see, sitting just behind brush, in daylight.
On coyotes, always in daytime, I have had good luck driving far enough to get out of sight and setting up where ever seemed like the best use of terrain etc. for that critter and the way he was headed. Many coyotes in BC hit afterburner if a vehicle stops: conditioned by road hunters. On second thought, a number of coyotes did not cross the road but were spotted mousing or travelling somewhere off the road. Mountains and hills, not plains nor farm land.
A yarn: Glassing for elk in the Canadian Rockies years ago with three friends, one of them saw a coyote cross the logging road 200 yards from us. I asked which way it went and the friend nodded his head to one side. I walked into the timber on that side of the road. 30 yards into the fairly thick trees was a living room size open and I sat down on the near edge. I whimpered with a Weems All Call and the coyote must have been coming my way because within 30 seconds he was 30 feet from me and I shot him. Less than two minutes from my departure I lugged a HUGE old toothless male back to the road and my friend asked, 'How did you do that?" They didn't know about calling and hadn't heard the soft call.
[ December 10, 2012, 07:46 PM: Message edited by: Okanagan ]
Posts: 269 | From: 49th Parrallel | Registered: Jun 2006
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Cdog911
"There are some ideas so absurd only an intellectual could believe them."--George Orwell.
Member # 7
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posted December 11, 2012 01:37 PM
Ditto TR. My country is sectioned. If the cross and we're within 200 yards when we see them and we have permission on the ground they're on, we take the shot because our area owners want us to kill 'em all. If they're spotted crossing into ground we don't have permission to hunt, we take a WAG as to where they're going, get around the section and set up for them. If they're hunting, they'll not think twice of trucking right in. The trick in either case and in any scenario is to resist the instinct to either speed up or slow down. Any change in the engine tone will send them running like hell. Screw locating. I've hunted these places for 45 years either by myself or with my dad and grandpa and fact is, the coyotes today travel the same routes and stay in the same drainages today that they did in 1975. Get 'em up and moving, either to the call or running for their lives, and they'll pretty much follow their past patterns. In some of these places, you can drive up to one end, shoot into it with a .22 pistol and cruise to the other end with time to stop, get out and shoot the coyote that runs out. To the original question , in this country, if a coyote crosses and sees your truck, stopping where he was won't get you much fur because that coyote is outta there.
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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
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted December 11, 2012 02:00 PM
Well, that's the difference, Lance. I hunt what could be described as wilderness, not settled farmland.
I don't even know what a section looks like, much less roads laid out in a measured grid.
Good hunting. El Bee
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 32368 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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TundraWookie
Knows what it's all about
Member # 1044
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posted December 12, 2012 08:12 AM
The country I call would definitely be considered wilderness. No farmlands or sectioned parcels by any means. Leonard, your experiences seem to suggest that animals that are not locked into the grid pattern of man made farms & sections are less leery of stopping vehicles and will come back out the way they came in to present a shot. What kind of visibility do you have off of the roads you've done this on? Are you talking open areas with sage brush, or a more dense vegetation?
Here are a couple photos of the terrain I drive in and see predators cross. Stopping to call where they go into the brush has not seemed to work very well.
[ December 12, 2012, 08:19 AM: Message edited by: TundraWookie ]
Posts: 857 | From: Alaska | Registered: Dec 2006
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Kokopelli
SENIOR DISCOUNT & Dispenser of Sage Advice
Member # 633
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posted December 12, 2012 08:56 AM
Man, those are the worse alkali deposits that I've EVER seen!!!!! ![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
TundraDude; I think that the problem is that you're not driving far enough past the coyote.
Next time that you see one cross the road, turn south, drive about 5000 miles or until you come to a place called McNeil, which-ever comes first. Turn left on the first dirt road and go about a mile. Park by the cactus and make your calling stand. Very likely the coyote will respond.
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And lo, the Light of the Trump shown upon the Darkness and the Darkness could not comprehend it.
Posts: 8233 | From: Under a wandering star | Registered: Apr 2005
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TundraWookie
Knows what it's all about
Member # 1044
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posted December 12, 2012 09:18 AM
KoKo,
I like that strategy. Will I need to use snow camo in McNeil, or do I need some type of desert sand scrub-brush pattern?
Posts: 857 | From: Alaska | Registered: Dec 2006
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted December 12, 2012 10:42 AM
My observation is that there is a surprising lack of cactus around McNeal. I think the elevation is around 4500, but not a lot of creosote or sage, either?
What roads I have done this on? That's a hell of a question! Not farmland and usually not forested either. Typical western landscape.
Good hunting. El Bee
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 32368 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Kokopelli
SENIOR DISCOUNT & Dispenser of Sage Advice
Member # 633
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posted December 12, 2012 02:49 PM
We don't get a lot of snow down here (in most places) but the other morning it was colder than a mother-in-law's kiss.
I'm the wrong guy to ask about camo; I'm partial to TreeBark, Woodlands & Tiger Stripe. It worked twenty years ago & it worked two days ago.
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And lo, the Light of the Trump shown upon the Darkness and the Darkness could not comprehend it.
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