What You Need to Start Hunting Coyotes

By: Ken Erickson

Here’s my list of equipment for hunting coyotes, ranked informally from least important to most important. I hope it encourages you to get out hunting.

SCENT

If a coyote gets down wind, it’s going to scent you. Whether you smell like three months of accumulated unwashed locker wear or whether you stepped out of the shower only an hour ago, your scent exists. So you’ve got to make your move before a coyote smells your presence. Know where your odour is blowing downwind (throw blades of grass into the air), and shoot before the coyote can scent you.

CAMOUFLAGE

Some animals have extraordinary hearing and vision. I think that a coyote is one of those. Therefore, it is important that you stay still and don’t make hearable “people” noises. It is very important to have a quiet vehicle and to keep your firearm handy and quiet (no squeaky sling swivels). You can usually get away with talking softly to a nearby partner, but keep it to a minimum. Try to avoid squeaking the fence wires when you cross them.

Although I have a variety of camo clothes, the most important thing is to get into a comfortable position that will allow you to sit with minimum movement. That said, your head should be moving constantly. You’ve got to spot the coyote coming in as early as possible; coyotes that materialize out of thin air—and they can seem to do that—get the adrenaline going and it can be very difficult for you to calm down enough for an accurate shot.

Matching your clothing to the environment will help, but not if you don’t see the coyote. Make sure your clothing is appropriate for the weather, get in quietly, and keep still. Try finding what works to break up your outline at the Salvation Army if you need to save money (paisley comes to mind). Put your savings into optics.

RIFLES

As much as inanimate things can be loved, I love rifles. But in my honest opinion they belong on the list as one of the least important items. I truly can’t think of a firearm that won’t work. Use what you have.

Now, that’s not to say that some aren’t “better” than others. I’ve spent years trying to find the best coyote rifle. And I did. For me…I think. For this article, it’s not important what it is. But this winter I’m going to try something that might even be “better-est”. The main thing is to take what you have. Make sure it’s sighted properly and then get out and hunt.

Don’t ever believe that you can’t hunt because you don't have a “proper” firearm. The real difference between firearms is their capabilities. Don’t expect a .22 rimfire, a bow, or a shotgun to kill a coyote at 200 yards. If that’s all you have, you’ll just have to get’em closer. I’d even try an airgun if I could get my hands on one that was powerful enough (I believe Louis and Clark hunted big game with an air rifle when they explored America—so they must exist somewhere).

CALLS

Although I have preferences, I suspect that most predator calls work. I’ve had partners call in a way that I thought was going to be ineffective—and we’ve still bagged coyotes. Some manufacturers specialize in predator calls, and that’s a good place to begin. Try starting with open reed calls because they’re not that much more difficult to master and they’ll permit a much larger repertoire of sounds. Tapes are available for instruction. Get out and do it; you will get it right.

Electronic calls are also available and you might choose to go that route. However, the better ones require quite a significant financial investment and I think it might be better to put your money into other equipment. (Check your local game laws before using an electronic call.)


OPTICS

Don’t let the lack of a scope hold you back. Just know your rifle, and use it within the limitations imposed by it and your skill. But, when you do purchase optics, get the best you can afford. Please don’t skimp in this area. I’ve never regretted having good glass, but I’ve cursed bad optics many times.

Your scope is probably first in importance as far as glass goes, but good binoculars are very useful, too. Still, don’t let the lack of good stuff stop you. Get out and hunt. Just don’t waste money on cheap junk when it comes time to spend. Generally, I can do more with a fifty-dollar rifle and a good scope than I can with a fifty-dollar scope and a good rifle. I think that my scope is more important for this task than my rifle.

GETTING TO WHERE THE COYOTES ARE

Here we are at the one, single, most important part of the equation. You simply cannot bag coyotes if there aren’t any around. If you had the best rifle, the best optics, the best scent, the best camouflage, the best call, and the best partner, it wouldn’t amount to squat if you don’t go out or if you can’t even find a raggedy, flea-bitten, gimpy coyote. So go out, look, and listen.

The best way to know that coyotes are around is to see them or to hear them howling. Scat is a very good sign, but you can be mistaken. Tracks are not as good because it is difficult to tell coyote tracks from, say, jackrabbit tracks, and lots of people don’t know that they don’t know the difference. I can’t always tell them apart, although there are ways to be reasonably confident (jackrabbits make a one, one, two pattern when loping—get a book on tracking from the library). Dogs generally leave larger tracks; foxes smaller tracks.


PARTNERS

This is a difficult one to rank in importance. I have had only a few very good hunting partners, but I think I’m blessed. But I’ve also got to get out by myself every once-in-a-while in order to spend a day alone and to try techniques that I’ve been thinking about. It also usually happens that I bag more coyotes when I’m by myself. A good hunting partner is...tremendous; a poor one is...a handicap. Two people in the field together are enough, in my opinion. The more people, the more chances of early discovery by the coyotes. Three is a crowd. You can’t easily see much more than 180 degrees by yourself, but one partner is all the overlap (and shooting help) you can realistically use. But, I’m an introvert—other people prefer to have more friends around to share experiences with—I’d rather do that after the hunting is done.