Montana Decoy offers tips and techniques for winter coyote hunting

With all the big game hunting seasons now over, sportsmen still have another excuse to hunt during these winter months. Coyotes are a challenge and they have one of the longest hunting seasons. They’re also more active now since they’re in their breeding period between January and March making them a bit easier to hunt.  

While many veteran coyote hunters hunt during the night with night vision optics, daytime pursuits are still on the table as the “yotes” as they’re called, move in early mornings or late afternoons and rest in the middle of the day. And like most mammals, their fur is often the thickest in winter which for the hunter, can fetch better pelt prices. 

The folks at Montana Decoy say you can still call and decoy a yote in during the day provided you follow some rules. Keep in mind that these predators have the eyesight of a turkey, a nose of a deer and intelligence of a domestic dog. As such, they can be challenging to hunt. 

Since coyotes enjoy a variety of food, they love rabbits, rodents and will feed on birds, insects and carrion when those main sources may now be tough to find along with competition from other coyotes. So to get their interest, Montana says to use a decoy or two along with calling. 

Montana suggests using one of their foldable coyote decoys and perhaps their Miss Hoptober standing up rabbit decoy. The latter could trigger an easy meal. The sitting coyote decoy along with a lone howl call (electronic or manual) can trigger a yotes territorial instinct and desire to defend its turf. 

An electronic call is convenient as it comes with preprogrammed sounds such a dying rabbit, howling calls and others. The yote will come in because it’s hearing a lot of commotion. But if it doesn’t see anything, it’s a red flag and it’ll take off. 
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When setting an electronic call along with decoys, set it away from your hiding place. Eighty percent of your coyotes will come in within the first 5-10 minutes if they’re in the area. If nothing appears in 30-40 minutes, Montana said to jump to another spot and set up there.
 
If you’re new to coyote hunting, it’s best to set up with the wind in your face and not in thick vegetation when yotes can make a stealthy approach. Instead, set your decoy and call close to cover but far enough so they must expose themselves. Hide the electronic call if you use one, in hard-to-see places like gullies and thick grass so the predator has to get close to see the source. And above all don’t skylight yourself on a hill or ridge but try to stakeout from an elevated position.

As for calling, coyotes are vocal animals and can be very territorial. A lone howl, says Montana, is a way for alerting other coyotes of its whereabouts. It can also be used to search for a hunting partner or to establish its territory. Their calls can be heard from over mile away.
A lone howl can be very effective at drawing in snooping coyotes and can commonly trigger other coyotes to begin to howl in response – a key in locating potential targets. 

A yip-howl is a coyotes way to promote community and can also be a rallying cry to warn away potential intruders. 

Barks are a sign of agitation, mostly at other coyotes that invade their territory. Barks are commonly heard when another coyote is getting too close to a kill or another animal is threatening it. 

Coyotes are no longer the big woods predators they once were. A Whitehall Township blog post has residents hearing coyote howls in the Stiles, Egypt, Ruchsville area. It should also be a reminder for pet owners to not let your dogs and cats out alone as the coyote will attack and kill your pets. 
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Montana Decoy hopes these few tips will help the novice coyote hunter and perhaps the veteran sportsmen looking to improve their odds of scoring on a yote. There are more coyotes around local areas than you would think.