Keep your hunting skills sharp while you help the fawn and turkey poult survival rate.

by Gary Sefton

	• Set-up locations are important, and they vary from month to month. Details are in the text.

We are talking about coyote hunting here. In the summertime! You camo up, get in the woods in the early a.m., pick a spot, then set up and call. It is as close to turkey hunting as you can get without a gobble and once you see a big song-dog bounding across a field, making a beeline for your calling stand, I'm betting you will be cutting back on your time at the beach.

Prime Time for Predator Control

Better get them now! The coyotes' nutritional demands are greatest from April through September due to the extra burden of bearing and raising pups. Prey species like deer and turkeys are more vulnerable in the summer months, especially during nesting and fawning time. As can be expected, coyotes take advantage of this situation.

You might get some verbal grief from fur hunters and trappers who want you to wait until winter to call the dogs, but waiting until the pelts are prime will most certainly increase the mortality rate of the prey species you want to tie your tags on next hunting season.

The Season Is Open

In spite of increased hunting pressure and loss of habitat, coyotes are robust survivors. They are way over-populated in many areas, so most states let them be hunted year round and impose no limits. For whatever reason, New York and New Jersey don't allow summer coyote hunting. Michigan requires written land owner permission that is easily obtained, but I believe the rest of the country is wide open. To be on the safe side, check your local game laws before you go.

Prime Time for Calling

Coyotes are extremely territorial during the summer months when they are feeding and raising their pups. Their hostile response to interlopers and their increased nutritional demands make them as responsive to calling as they will be all year … and calling is what I'm all about.

In May and June when the females are giving birth, I start my calling sequences with distressed coyote vocalizations (yips, short howls and coyote pup and canine pup distress squeals) to try to stir up their parental instincts. I have had success with the pup yips and yikes and squeals I do on an open reed predator call, but the coyote pup distress calls on my Johnny Stewart Preymaster are more consistent and much easier to make. If I get no response to my "pups in pain" calls, I lay on some rabbit and/or rodent distress cries.

In late July and August, the pups are more mature; their appetites rule. I might start my calling sequences with a short howl or two to get their attention, but my real emphasis is on the prey-in-distress calls. If I could use only one call, it would most certainly be a cottontail distress call, which is the universal predator call, but I have a whole pocket full of squealers and squeakers plus a Preymaster Digital with a full range of distress calls so I can pick and choose.

If the wind is blowing, coyotes have a tendency to circle down wind to scent- check the caller. In early morning calm they usually come straight to the call, so that is when I do most of my hunting. I'll start calling 30 minutes after first light and keep on until it gets too hot for me and the coyotes. Typically, I'll call for 15-20 seconds non-stop, then wait and watch for two or three minutes. If I am in an open place that looks good and I am comfortable, I'll continue to call at those intervals and stay put for 30 minutes or more. If I am in the woods where the leaves keep the sound from carrying well, I'll move every 10 or 15 minutes to cover more ground.

Hey- Hay

Finding good coyote hunting locations shouldn't be a problem for you in the spring and summer months. Hit the road and look for freshly cut hay fields, the fresher the better. The hay cutting and gathering equipment turns hay fields into smorgasbords full of easy meals for hungry coyotes by stirring up and skinning up the rabbits and mice and birds that live and nest in the tall grass.

The fields are usually cut and baled twice a year, sometimes three, in late spring, summer and early fall, so you should have numerous opportunities to exploit these coyote magnets.

Nor should you have any problem getting permission. It would be most unusual for a farmer to ask you not to hunt coyotes on his place. In addition, this is a good opportunity to develop a relationship that would allow you to help him control his deer and turkey populations, too.

When I am hunting around hay fields I like to set up in the woods, 10 to 20 yards from the edge. I know coyotes don't mind hitting open fields to look for mouse and rabbit nests, but they seem to be more relaxed and respond to calling better in cover where they are less exposed.

No Prisoners

Setting up in the woods also favors my choice of hunting arm. Most mornings I'll carry my 870 Remington, 3½-inch, 12-gauge magnum shotgun stuffed full of # 4 or #5 shot. Rifles seem to have more sex appeal, but in the field and forest country where I hunt, things can happen fast and I want to be ready. The shotgun is fast and final. If I set up right, most of my shots will be inside of 40 yards and the 30½-inch loads through an extra-full turkey choke are lethal at that range.

I know coyotes have to make a living, but they are prolific breeders with few natural enemies. Their numbers must be controlled to maintain a healthy balance. Your hunting won't put coyotes on the endangered list, but every one you take out of circulation means one less consumer of huntable wildlife roaming the woods.

So…

It is time to get over feeling sorry for yourself because hunting season is over. Camo up, get out there with them, and "Run 'em Hard!"