Slow Down that Coyote for the Best Shot

Eager coyotes have a conviction to race to calls, especially those that sound like an easy dinner. A jogging, trotting, running or racing coyote represents a challenging shot when compared to a shot on a coyote standing still. Be ready for these overachievers. Keep a bevy of tactics at the ready to ensure you can get these photo finishers to brake for a few seconds as you line up for the shot. The following tactics offer options on how you can bring a coyote from 30 mph to 0 in the blink of an eye. None require big investments or a larger backpack for product hauling.

BARK

This is the go-to tactic to stop a coyote in its tracks where you want it. As soon as a coyote hits a window of shooting opportunity, bark. Your canine imitation tosses a hint of suspicion into the overall ruse, but not the type of distrust that can catapult a coyote into reverse escape mode with tires smoking. In nearly every instance a coyote will stop and try to evaluate the competition, albeit for only a second or two. Your job is to follow the coyote and when you bark be on ready reticle duty. You’ll only have a few seconds before the coyote continues or begins to circle in curiosity. Shoot now as the bark may not work twice.

FAUX FRIEND OR FOE

Coyote decoys come in all shapes and forms. You can purchase imitation coyotes and even fake prey. Use a strategically placed decoy to make a coyote stop to take a second look. The most lifelike, easy to deploy and light to carry include various models from Montana Decoy. My favorite for coyote hunting, that goes with me winter, spring, summer, and fall, is the Sitting Coyote decoy. It catches the eye of any incoming coyote and typically makes them stop to assess the distant relative. Since it weighs next to nothing and collapses into the size of a large envelope, carrying it requires no extra effort. For prey, look at antelope and whitetail fawns, or the Miss Hoptober cottontail decoy. It’s perfect for coyotes or bobcats, and also carries easily.

Use the Sitting Coyote Decoy to try and stop a coyote in its tracks.

For optimal effectiveness look for terrain that will highlight your faux friend. Open glades in timber, meadows, slight rises, and mowed hayfields all offer positions of maximum visibility. The decoy should be at an upwind angle of your position as any coyote loping in will want to circle downwind of the deceiver and get between you and the decoy. Once the coyote sees the decoy, odds are in your favor that it will pause to evaluate the authenticity. Now drop the hammer.

SOMETHING STINKS

Coyotes have remarkable scent detection capabilities due to having more than 220 million olfactory receptors in their nose working in their favor. You only have 5 million. Use their nose to stop them cold with scent such as commonly found coyote urine.

The tricky part is getting the scent situated upwind of you, but in a gap where you believe a coyote will pass. Look for terrain to help you with this chore. Field edges, riverbanks, cliff faces, and drop-offs provide structure you can back up to force the coyote into an upwind position as it comes into contact with the scent you placed for a distraction element.

To keep scent concentrated, utilize felt-style wicks for soaking purposes and place it at coyote nose level, or even higher to spread the odor over a large area. Be sure to eliminate your scent by wearing scent-proof boots as you disperse the concoction. When a coyote brakes to catch a whiff, set a permanent parking brake.

Use coyote urine to catch a predator's attention.

DANG IT, JUST STOP!

It took nearly 45 minutes for the coyote to show up, but when it did it had shifted into overdrive. I had positioned myself on a sagebrush bluff overlooking a large bench in a rugged Wyoming canyon. Nestled in the ghostly limbs of a deadfall, I was as invisible as office employees at 5:01 p.m. on a Friday. With the coyote racing to my calls I suddenly felt like stopping this go-getter might be impossible.

Thinking ahead, I purposely placed my Sitting Coyote Decoy in a sage bush in the middle of the bench plateau. The coyote could not see the two-dimensional, photo realistic decoy’s slim profile, but when it passed the bush at 30 yards it caught the glaring eyes of the seated coyote staring back. It hit the brakes with dirt and dried grass showering into the air.

Following the coyote in my reticle and pre-ranging the entire opening, I knew there would be no holdover for my .22-250 at 150 yards. I did not let the lingering moment pass and quickly sent a V-Max ending to a great midday hunt.