Wanted to share a cool story I had happen last Friday. Also maybe get some advice on where we went wrong. I have been coyote hunting for 3 years now but this is my first year doing it without someone else showing me the ropes and making my own setups hunting my own properties.
The field we were in is about 300yds long and 100 yds wide running North South the long way. Road we walked in from is on the North end and there is a power line on the South end with long grasses and then a hay field. Thin fence row with trees on the east side and a low lying swampy wooded area on our west. There is a hill that runs East West about 100yds south of the road that prevents you from seeing the back 200yds of the field. We setup about a third of the way down the south side of the hill so we could see the rest of the field and yet were not skylined. On the other side of the power lines from east to west there is a wood lot then the hay field then another wood lot. We had an east wind with a slight south to it about 3-4mph. So any scent should be going towards the swamp and slightly the road. Call setup 30yds out and slightly to our east.
Ok now that you have a picture let the hunt begin. So we arrived at this property and got set up about 2 hours after dark. Excitement was high, I had a friend out with me who had never been coyote hunting before and I had him on the rifle. I was carrying my 12 gauge just in case we got really lucky on multiple yotes in close. We called for about 20min, coyote sounds then mostly jack rabbit distress sounds, then a few more coyote sounds. Then we sat in silence for 15 minute, right as we were about to head out I picked up eyes coming out of the south east woodlot. Those are the right height I thought, and it is moving like a dog. "Right there" I whisper. My friend gets the gun up and switches from his scan light to the one mounted on the gun. "Its a coyote, and another one just came out of the woods behind him" he whispers. I now pick that one up with my light. "Stay on whichever one is closest" I tell him. These two start on an angle towards us that should put them almost straight south of us and slightly west. They are about 350 yds away at this point. as they start trotting I just catch another set of eyes exiting the woods with the edge of my light. "There's a third, stay on that front moving one for now." The first two close the distance to about 300yds entering the grass under the power lines as the third heads straight west staying in the hay field. I have my light one the third that is almost on the west side of the hay field now still a good 350 away.
"The back one keeps pausing and looking at the east wood lot," friend says. "Ok, stay on the front one for now," I reply. I then do a quick scan away from the third across the hay field and the east wood lot and what do I find? Four coyotes standing just outside the tree line on the hay field edge! SEVEN COYOTES! "Oh my word there are four more on the left," I whisper with shock hardly thinking about what I am saying. "What?!" my friend whispers as he excitedly breaks off the closest two and turns to the wood lot. I immediately get my light on the closest two. "Look quickly then get back on the closest one," I coach. He does. I quickly look for the one on the west side and he has headed back east towards the rest across the hay field. Over the next 45 minutes we watched these SEVEN COYOTES zig zag in and out of the the grass and hay field but never making it through the grass into our field 3 different times we had three different ones 5 yds from being in the field so my friend could see clear enough for a shot. After the first one did this I tried a pup distress and that brought the second one in to almost the same exact spot. Then when that one backed off I turned the call back off for a while then tried a couple young coyote yips. This brought the third one in 5yds from entering the field but towards the south west corner. He went back and forth a little staying in the grass then retreated also. I kept checking the wind and it stayed good through this whole shindig. Shortly after that to the NW a nearby houses dogs started going crazy and all the coyotes slowly made their way across the hay field and out of the south end. "You just saw more coyotes in your first ever sit than i have ever seen in a single sit, let alone all together," I said back at the truck. We sat 3 more spots after that and had one other single we just could not get close enough. He is now hooked.
The field we were in is about 300yds long and 100 yds wide running North South the long way. Road we walked in from is on the North end and there is a power line on the South end with long grasses and then a hay field. Thin fence row with trees on the east side and a low lying swampy wooded area on our west. There is a hill that runs East West about 100yds south of the road that prevents you from seeing the back 200yds of the field. We setup about a third of the way down the south side of the hill so we could see the rest of the field and yet were not skylined. On the other side of the power lines from east to west there is a wood lot then the hay field then another wood lot. We had an east wind with a slight south to it about 3-4mph. So any scent should be going towards the swamp and slightly the road. Call setup 30yds out and slightly to our east.
Ok now that you have a picture let the hunt begin. So we arrived at this property and got set up about 2 hours after dark. Excitement was high, I had a friend out with me who had never been coyote hunting before and I had him on the rifle. I was carrying my 12 gauge just in case we got really lucky on multiple yotes in close. We called for about 20min, coyote sounds then mostly jack rabbit distress sounds, then a few more coyote sounds. Then we sat in silence for 15 minute, right as we were about to head out I picked up eyes coming out of the south east woodlot. Those are the right height I thought, and it is moving like a dog. "Right there" I whisper. My friend gets the gun up and switches from his scan light to the one mounted on the gun. "Its a coyote, and another one just came out of the woods behind him" he whispers. I now pick that one up with my light. "Stay on whichever one is closest" I tell him. These two start on an angle towards us that should put them almost straight south of us and slightly west. They are about 350 yds away at this point. as they start trotting I just catch another set of eyes exiting the woods with the edge of my light. "There's a third, stay on that front moving one for now." The first two close the distance to about 300yds entering the grass under the power lines as the third heads straight west staying in the hay field. I have my light one the third that is almost on the west side of the hay field now still a good 350 away.
"The back one keeps pausing and looking at the east wood lot," friend says. "Ok, stay on the front one for now," I reply. I then do a quick scan away from the third across the hay field and the east wood lot and what do I find? Four coyotes standing just outside the tree line on the hay field edge! SEVEN COYOTES! "Oh my word there are four more on the left," I whisper with shock hardly thinking about what I am saying. "What?!" my friend whispers as he excitedly breaks off the closest two and turns to the wood lot. I immediately get my light on the closest two. "Look quickly then get back on the closest one," I coach. He does. I quickly look for the one on the west side and he has headed back east towards the rest across the hay field. Over the next 45 minutes we watched these SEVEN COYOTES zig zag in and out of the the grass and hay field but never making it through the grass into our field 3 different times we had three different ones 5 yds from being in the field so my friend could see clear enough for a shot. After the first one did this I tried a pup distress and that brought the second one in to almost the same exact spot. Then when that one backed off I turned the call back off for a while then tried a couple young coyote yips. This brought the third one in 5yds from entering the field but towards the south west corner. He went back and forth a little staying in the grass then retreated also. I kept checking the wind and it stayed good through this whole shindig. Shortly after that to the NW a nearby houses dogs started going crazy and all the coyotes slowly made their way across the hay field and out of the south end. "You just saw more coyotes in your first ever sit than i have ever seen in a single sit, let alone all together," I said back at the truck. We sat 3 more spots after that and had one other single we just could not get close enough. He is now hooked.