posted May 25, 2006 07:13 AM                  

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I setup so the coyote is upwind of me (area of timber/crp/etc) when I start calling. I'm facing looking downwind because for that given spot I believe the coyote will loop around me and try to get downwind.

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posted May 25, 2006 09:26 AM                  

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scruffy

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I setup so the coyote is upwind of me (area of timber/crp/etc) when I start calling. I'm facing looking downwind because for that given spot I believe the coyote will loop around me and try to get downwind.
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IMHO that belief is going to cost you alot of coyote. If you ask me, giving a coyote your backside with no consideration of a direct approach,into shooting range, is foolish.

Dennis

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Dennis, "for that spot" is the key word there. Without getting into the specifics (because I need pics to show you specifics and I don't have time for that right now, sorry) there are spots that I call that I know the coyote is much more likely to circle downwind than to come straight in. And some stands the coyote is much more likely to come straight in.

Alot has to do with my use of funnels, assuming coyotes would rather approach a call in the safety of cover than exposed out in the open. I use funnels to get the coyote where I want him to be and the distance I want him to be and have him positioned to walk out in the open to get to my downwind scent offering me a good distance broadside, and after I bark, standing shot. Depending on the lay of the land this has me sitting looking downwind, sometimes crosswind, sometimes looking into the wind.

If you ask me , always calling into the wind without regard to how the coyote is going to use the terrain and land features to his advantage to approach the call will result in a lot of coyotes standing in your downwind scent looking at your backside as you blow the call into the wind.

IMHO , it's "foolish" not to use the terrain and his desire to get downwind against him. If you let him work the terrain to get to your downwind, solely concentrating on your "direct approach", you'll be missing alot of the smarter older and wiser "always circle downwind" coyotes.

In my experience it's usually the pups that come charging in from upwind, no regard for the wind or their well being, and I make adjustments for this behavior in my fall calling.

Know your enemy and use his advantages and tactics against him.

Edit: Dennis, I think we're hunting different terrains also??? I hunted with someone from northern Iowa on Saturday and he said he'd never hunted in brush so thick, up in his part of Iowa it's flat and the "thick" areas aren't that thick and are far and few between. Down in my area nothing is flat, the "thick stuff" is so thick that you can't walk through it, thorns rip you up, both the 1/4" long thorns on bushes and the 4" long thorns on the different locust and hedge trees. Every time I head north I can't believe the difference. I'm not sure which I prefer though, both offer different challenges.

later,
scruffy

[ May 25, 2006, 11:00 AM: Message edited by: scruffy ]

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Git R Done

posted May 25, 2006 01:40 PM                  

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Have you ever considered that a coyote might not be using that funnel(finger) for cover? It might just be the path of least resistence. Easier to go around that thorn choked deep cut than it is to go through it.

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I believe most coyotes take the path of least resistance. And most thorn choked deep cuts have deer trials through them.

And I've seen coyotes walk the outside of timber fingers instead of walking through them. And I've seen them walk right across the middle of an open field. But the majority of them I've seen travel in cover when it's available (you'll see alot more coyotes traveling through cover when you setup to use farm creek crossings and such to catch circling coyotes Without the crossing creating a break in the cover the coyote had to cross the coyote would likely never have been seen in the cover).

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You call them funnels, I probably call them fingers or cuts and it makes sense not to get any deeper than the longest one prutuding from the cover.

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Which is easier, looking at a sound source infront of you as you walk forward or looking at a sound source to your side and a little behind you as you walk forward? It's much easier to look ahead at the sound source as you walk forward. When the sound source is to your side and eventually over your shoulder you have to continually look back and forth, back at the sound source, then back infront of you as you walk. A coyote has to do the same thing when working through cover. He can't "lock on" because he has to watch where he's walking.

The less he's looking at you as he approaches the sound source the less likely he'll be to spot something out of place, a little movement, etc that will cause him to retreat or the very least not break cover.

On some stands I like to keep all the action in front of me and don't sit very deep. Other stands, based on the lay of the land, fences, cover, wind, etc I setup and call deeper than the end of the funnels.

It's different setting up when you know the coyote is coming from behind you, you might not like it, might keep looking over your shoulder, etc. Calling a coyote from behind you out around you isn't the best setup for alot of places, but some places it's the best way to call and get the coyote in the open without getting yourself busted in the process.

You know, we should go calling sometime I'm in your neck of the woods or your in mine. I'll take the downwind side and you can have the upwind side. It's perfect!

later,
scruffy

[ May 25, 2006, 01:44 PM: Message edited by: scruffy ]

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Git R Done

posted May 25, 2006 01:45 PM                  

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It's perfect!

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Yep, Always have liked fishing out of the front of the boat!

Dennis

posted May 25, 2006 03:25 PM                     

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IMHO that belief is going to cost you alot of coyote. If you ask me, giving a coyote your backside with no consideration of a direct approach,into shooting range, is foolish.

Dennis

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posted May 26, 2006 08:03 AM                  

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I just couldn't bring myself to scruffy it and call with the wind

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LOL Lance, I thought I said I call with the coyotes upwind of me and sometimes, depending on the terrain, wind, structure, gut feeling, etc, setup facing downwind. Edit: good looking coyote!!! Love that Howa! It looks like it shoots as good as it looks.

HEY JRB, look at the following and tell me what part of it "perpetuate the vicious cycle of misinformation and mass hysteria", a quote from you above agreeing with Dennis on one of my many tactics.

This is what I typed in my first post in this thread-

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I try to setup with the coyotes upwind of me and setup where there is a "funnel" (might be what Q calls "structure"???) that funnels the coyote in the direction of my downwind side but requires him to expose himself long before actually getting into my downwind scent cone. Ideally I like setting up with a stand of timber or CRP to my upwind and a finger of timber or creek or something to my side that leads the coyotes from the upwind side to the crosswind side. With my downwind side a wide open field, pasture, etc the coyote that's at the end of the "funnel" 150 or so yards away must cross into the open to wind me. Depending on the land features I setup facing downwind or I setup facing upwind, but regardless my rifle is on the shooting sticks or prone bipod pointing at the end of the "funnel".

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I setup so the coyote is upwind of me (area of timber/crp/etc) when I start calling. I'm facing looking downwind because for that given spot I believe the coyote will loop around me and try to get downwind. Or I give him a "funnel" like a finger of timber on my crosswind side so he can get around me in the safety of cover. When he steps into the open to get to my wind, which is say a 50 to 100 yard walk for him, sometimes much more, depending on the lay of the land, it's time to bark and shoot. The only time a coyote on a stand setup like this gets in my wind is if he's running and I can't stop him by barking (likely educated and equates standing to being shot...) or I'm sleeping with my eyes open, staring off, thinking of something else, distracted, not paying attention, etc...

Sometimes the land lays such that I face looking into the wind when I call. Regardless of which way I'm facing I believe you need to have the coyotes upwind of you when you start calling.

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I, too, must ask why you would give them your back when setting up with the wind in your ear in such a manner as to be able to monitor the route to your downwind is better?

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Off the top my head I didn't know the answer so I went over in my head some of the stands I've faced downwind instead of crosswind and I've come up with only one reason. And actually it to correct an issue I need to correct another way.

The reason I gave the coyote my back intead of my side is my strong shooting side being left handed is to my right. For illustration I'll describe a stand I did this multiple times. I setup with a the wind out of the north, coyotes likely to the north/NW, I have a north/south funnel to my west 150 yards, I have a couple of options. I can sit south of the end of the funnel facing west, wind in my ear, keeping all the action infront of me, gun on the sticks pointed at the end of the funnel, any coyote that travels along or to the end of the funnel, walks across the open field between me and the funnel, etc is on my right side, my strong shooting side, as I'm facing west with the north wind in my ear.

But say south of the finger there is no cover, it's a baren field, my hiney would be sitting out in the open. I have a couple farms (all?) where a fence crosses perpendicular through a timber or grassy draw/funnel. So in this illustration (and I'm describing one of my favorite/productive spots) the wind is out of the north, coyotes are north/nw, north/south finger of timber funnel west of me 150 yards, and an east/west fence that cuts through the funnel with the end of the funnel being nearly 100 yards south of the fence. I sit along the fence, rifle on sticks, pointed at the end of the funnel.

Now, say on that stand I sit facing west with the wind in my right ear, left handed, my strong shooting side to my right, the end of the funnel and my downwind is to my left, my weak shooting side. If I feel a coyote is more likely to use the funnel to circle rather than come straight in (odds increase later and later in the winter....) I can do one of two things. I can shoot right handed or I can turn my body 90 degrees to the left, face downwind/south, my strong shooting side on my right now includes my downwind and the end of the funnel.

In Nov 2003 I called the above stand three times facing crosswind and had 3 adult coyotes go to my downwind side, my weak side as I sat there facing crosswind (double one stand used the funnel, single another stand didn't use the funnel) and one pup came in from upwind. On the three that circled downwind I scooted 60-90 degrees to the left before the shot so I could shoot left handed instead of shooting right handed.

On the pup who didn't circle, he must have came from the north east or east because he came from behind me as i sat facing west/crosswind. I didn't see him approach, but I about filled my drawers when he sniffed the back of my neck!

So to avoid scooting and busting myself and then potentionally only having a running shot opportunity, depending on alot of conditions and certainly not a majority of the time, I'll sit facing downwind instead of crosswind so my strong shooting side is aligned with the coyote's likely approach.

Now all that being said, I'm not saying it's the best approach to address the "weak shooting side" issue. Especially now that I see why I'm doing it, LOL... A better approach would be to become equally comfortible shooting both left and right handed. Every fall I shoot squirrels with my single shot 22mag left and right handed as practice. If a coyote was standing I think I'd do pretty good on dropping him right handed, but if the coyote was moving and barking didn't stop him I'm not sure how well I could accurately hit him shooting right handed. Swinging the rifle righthanded just isn't natural for me. I just need to practice practice practice.

There might be other reasons why I've faced downwind instead of crosswind, but I can't think of any right off the top of my head.

Does that help explain Lance. How do the rest of you guys handle your "weak side"??? Scoot around when the coyote shows up, switch hit (shoot both right and left handed), or is there another solution (yea, a right handed partner would work also ).

later,
scruffy

[ May 26, 2006, 09:04 AM: Message edited by: scruffy ]

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Git R Done