# Spring Yote Hunting



## SSGGW18 (May 25, 2018)

Afternoon-
I am kind of newer to the predator scene as I started to hunt coyotes weekly this past January. As what I have read, I am trying to not give up as this sport is hard and frustrating. Being I have not hunted coyotes in the warmer months, I just have a few questions.
-Reading up on things, my understanding is that this time is when the pups are born. How does this have a impact on their habits? Are they denned up more? I am guessing the males hunt and the females hold up with the pups? Are males more aggressive when other males are calling around their area?
-I have mostly only hunted the hours of 2000-0300. I am looking to expand my hunting times and trying sunset/sunrise hours. Which would be better for this time of year?
-Any calling tips this time of year? Using a FoxPro with 175 different calls on it so I have options.

All advice and suggestions would be very appreciated. I thank you in advance as I am still learning more about the sport.


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## San V. Sasse (Aug 19, 2010)

Still got to eat. Fawn, rabbit, rodent distress and so on. Pup distress and den raid. Pups will be out and about. Mouse squeaker was my go to call dururd summer to fall.


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## SSGGW18 (May 25, 2018)

That is pretty much what I was thinking. I do have a fawn in distress and I am pretty sure I have a fawn being attacked by a coyote call as well. I was thinking about the pup distress but just didn't know if it was too early just yet. I have tried mouse squeaker but haven't had much response from that in the past. I am pretty sure it is the locations I have tried it though.


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## chris_kreiner (Sep 6, 2006)

Most of the coyotes we've been calling in lately have been to howls. I start the sets off with a relaxed scenario and then build on that and get territorial and aggressive. I shot this double last week at 10:30 PM. The first one came to TT Pre Hunt Howl 2 minutes into the set and the second showed up 3 min later to TT Pup Distress. I've tried fawn distress a couple times but haven't gotten any response to that sound yet. Mouse distress has been used at low volume to try and coax the weary ones a little closer.


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## SSGGW18 (May 25, 2018)

chris_kreiner said:


> Most of the coyotes we've been calling in lately have been to howls. I start the sets off with a relaxed scenario and then build on that and get territorial and aggressive. I shot this double last week at 10:30 PM. The first one came to TT Pre Hunt Howl 2 minutes into the set and the second showed up 3 min later to TT Pup Distress. I've tried fawn distress a couple times but haven't gotten any response to that sound yet. Mouse distress has been used at low volume to try and coax the weary ones a little closer.
> View attachment 315002


WOW! Nice work right there and nice shooting! I appreciate the advice on the calls, I will be trying these out this weekend to see if I can get any responses/reactions. I know it all depends on the location but just nice to see success from certain calls. Which NV viewer is that in the picture? I think I have the same one and used it once. I was sitting on the edge of a large field and couldn't really see much from it.


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## chris_kreiner (Sep 6, 2006)

SSGGW18 said:


> WOW! Nice work right there and nice shooting! I appreciate the advice on the calls, I will be trying these out this weekend to see if I can get any responses/reactions. I know it all depends on the location but just nice to see success from certain calls. Which NV viewer is that in the picture? I think I have the same one and used it once. I was sitting on the edge of a large field and couldn't really see much from it.


The thermal unit on the ground is a Pulsar Quantum XQ23V. I've also got the Pulsar Digisight N355 Night Vision scope with Night Snipe NS550 IR Light on the rifle. Both of these have completely changed the way I hunt. So nice to walk into a field and see everything in it. Here is another double I shot Mid March.


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## SSGGW18 (May 25, 2018)

chris_kreiner said:


> The thermal unit on the ground is a Pulsar Quantum XQ23V. I've also got the Pulsar Digisight N355 Night Vision scope with Night Snipe NS550 IR Light on the rifle. Both of these have completely changed the way I hunt. So nice to walk into a field and see everything in it. Here is another double I shot Mid March.
> View attachment 315126


Very Nice! Yeah... that was not the handheld I was thinking it was. I ended up getting a Stealth Cam Hand Held NV viewer for 60% off retail. I figured for $40 it is worth a shot but just not impressed with it. I run the ATN X-Sight with a Streamlight Super Tac IR light. Having two children under the age of three limits my budget right now so I hunt with what I can afford. The ATN is a decent scope (for the cost) and I have not really had any issues with it. The IR has been very impressive as it was lower cost and it can reach out to 300 yards if needed.

Your setup is very impressive and needless to say, I am jealous! I eventually would like to move to a thermal unit, even if it is just a handheld. Like you said, it is nice to be able to see everything before walking into a field. What Tri-pod are you running? I have two different bi-pods but was thinking about investing into a tri-pod. Also, any suggestions for a decent thermal handheld under a grand? I figured it is one of those times where you get what you pay for.

Great to see your successful hunts and yet again, I am jealous. I have been out so many time and have yet to take one down. I feel each time I head out, I learn something new that I need to do/not to do and feel a successful hunt is coming soon. Just hard to learn the sport as I walked into it totally blind with very little advice. I have setup camera's on my hunting property and have been studying the dogs habits/patterns for three months. I wasn't able to get out last weekend so this weekend it will be on.


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## chris_kreiner (Sep 6, 2006)

SSGGW18 said:


> Very Nice! Yeah... that was not the handheld I was thinking it was. I ended up getting a Stealth Cam Hand Held NV viewer for 60% off retail. I figured for $40 it is worth a shot but just not impressed with it. I run the ATN X-Sight with a Streamlight Super Tac IR light. Having two children under the age of three limits my budget right now so I hunt with what I can afford. The ATN is a decent scope (for the cost) and I have not really had any issues with it. The IR has been very impressive as it was lower cost and it can reach out to 300 yards if needed.
> 
> Your setup is very impressive and needless to say, I am jealous! I eventually would like to move to a thermal unit, even if it is just a handheld. Like you said, it is nice to be able to see everything before walking into a field. What Tri-pod are you running? I have two different bi-pods but was thinking about investing into a tri-pod. Also, any suggestions for a decent thermal handheld under a grand? I figured it is one of those times where you get what you pay for.
> 
> Great to see your successful hunts and yet again, I am jealous. I have been out so many time and have yet to take one down. I feel each time I head out, I learn something new that I need to do/not to do and feel a successful hunt is coming soon. Just hard to learn the sport as I walked into it totally blind with very little advice. I have setup camera's on my hunting property and have been studying the dogs habits/patterns for three months. I wasn't able to get out last weekend so this weekend it will be on.


I just switch my tripod set up because I'm now using an AR. Took this picture of my buddies setup last weekend which similar to what I'm running. There are a lot of expensive additions in this hobby but it really has improved the number of sightings/shots I've had. Last year I took one shot and kill in all of 2017. Since the change, 2018 has resulted in over 25 sightings, 17 shots, with 9 kills. It's been an amazing change. Not sure where you are located but your more then welcome to join me sometime and check out the equipment I'm using. Maybe we'll even call in a couple coyotes to shoot at.


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## SSGGW18 (May 25, 2018)

chris_kreiner said:


> I just switch my tripod set up because I'm now using an AR. Took this picture of my buddies setup last weekend which similar to what I'm running. There are a lot of expensive additions in this hobby but it really has improved the number of sightings/shots I've had. Last year I took one shot and kill in all of 2017. Since the change, 2018 has resulted in over 25 sightings, 17 shots, with 9 kills. It's been an amazing change. Not sure where you are located but your more then welcome to join me sometime and check out the equipment I'm using. Maybe we'll even call in a couple coyotes to shoot at.
> View attachment 315283


You sir, have a eye for photography! What a great picture on top of a get setup! Thank you for the encouragement as I felt I was just failing at this sport not taking a single dog yet. I have shot twice and missed both. First shot was on a dog trotting into the woods and was just a bad call on my end. The second shot was all my fault on the miss as I let my excitement get to me when I needed to focus on shooting fundamentals.

So what did you run before and why do you think it had a impact on your success? Clearly, what you are doing/using is working now! If you are located in/around Portland (in your signature), I am not all that far from you. I live in Holt but usually hunt Mason and Grand Ledge. I have access to all kinds of properties all over the lower half of MI, hunted them twice during the Great Lakes Predator hunt but have yet to return to a majority of them as my focus has been local. The Mason property has at least three dogs present on the property, if not more. The two properties in Grand Ledge have a lot of dogs just haven't been able to get them in my sights. There is a property in Chelsea/Manchester which I hunted during the Great Lakes hunt which produced at least two different pack but we just setup in a bad location. I am still itching to go back as I never heard anything like that before with two packs closing in on one location.

I will for sure take you up on the offer! Yes, I would like to see your equipment in action so I can determine if I need to invest in something better. Also, I am sure I will learn a lot from someone who is successful with the sport. Figure out what I am doing wrong and what I need to change or continue.


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## chris_kreiner (Sep 6, 2006)

SSGGW18 said:


> You sir, have a eye for photography! What a great picture on top of a get setup! Thank you for the encouragement as I felt I was just failing at this sport not taking a single dog yet. I have shot twice and missed both. First shot was on a dog trotting into the woods and was just a bad call on my end. The second shot was all my fault on the miss as I let my excitement get to me when I needed to focus on shooting fundamentals.
> 
> So what did you run before and why do you think it had a impact on your success? Clearly, what you are doing/using is working now! If you are located in/around Portland (in your signature), I am not all that far from you. I live in Holt but usually hunt Mason and Grand Ledge. I have access to all kinds of properties all over the lower half of MI, hunted them twice during the Great Lakes Predator hunt but have yet to return to a majority of them as my focus has been local. The Mason property has at least three dogs present on the property, if not more. The two properties in Grand Ledge have a lot of dogs just haven't been able to get them in my sights. There is a property in Chelsea/Manchester which I hunted during the Great Lakes hunt which produced at least two different pack but we just setup in a bad location. I am still itching to go back as I never heard anything like that before with two packs closing in on one location.
> 
> I will for sure take you up on the offer! Yes, I would like to see your equipment in action so I can determine if I need to invest in something better. Also, I am sure I will learn a lot from someone who is successful with the sport. Figure out what I am doing wrong and what I need to change or continue.


Thank you. I’m sure just a couple tweaks to your technique will change your success rate. I changed a number of techniques this year. Now I’ve gotten to the point where I’m pretty confident I’ll get at least one to respond each night out. I’ll PM you my number and we can meet up for a couple hunts sometime. I’m heading to St. Johns tonight to share my technique with a couple hunters on their properties and tomorrow I’ll be in the Grand Ledge area helping a buddy on some of his properties. This has been a ton of fun but its not for those who need their beauty sleep. Lol.


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