So I am really green when it comes to predator calling but got a foxpro hellfire for Christmas last year with the decoy.

Here is what I have been doing:

Usually go out late morning or at night, with an occasional afternoon early evening hunt thrown in

Using the jackrabbit distress call at various volumes
- had small success with calling in a red fox (let him walk)

Using mouse squeak
-called in quite a few gray foxes

Using coyote locator
-had huge success in getting response, from multiple packs/pairs but cannot get them to come in

Using coyote female call/yip
-nada

Cottontail call
-nada

This thing has like 75 preprogrammed calls and sounds great. I am really trying to take a few coyotes out of the lease since our landowner has slowed down flying and actively trapping predators.

We see and hear more yotes than we have in 10+ years of hunting the property. Killed one last weekend over a fresh calf kill (could have been a still born calf - either way it was less than a day old).

I am concerned with our fawn numbers in the great year we had... They are very, very low. Survey indicates 10%.

So if you have some advice, note advice, please help me out.

I am not looking for a lecture on the balance of nature. I truly respect the necessity of predators in a healthy ecosystem but also recognize that this population needs to be controlled.

The few times I've gotten them to come running I've used the yip call, and once I hear them, throw out the pup distress. Especially in the time of year when they have pups, they have come flying out.

Cottontail or lightning jack seem to work as well for me.

I'll be following this, I would like some tips as well

Lucky bird or any of the pup distress sounds seem to work well.

Any recommendation on how long to play them?

5 minutes on then wait 5? Keep playing for 10-15 and then move on?

Thanks for the input so far!

I called a coyote in with a squeeky chair in the blind.

Following this as I want to increase my yote killing effeciency.

I've had really good luck with just turning the call on and letting it go. I might sit 20 to 30 minutes a set and I let it play the entire time. I may switch sounds halfway through but I leave it playing. I do try and have another odd ball sound lined up that I can hit once, just in case I need to stop a coyote to shoot.

From my experience, lucky bird and a rabbit sound is money on foxes and cats. Coyotes are always gonna try and circle you to get downwind so be ready to shoot.

If you are around 10% (not unusual in many parts of the state during a drought, but South Texas does stand out), you have bigger habitat issues.

Shoot coyotes if you want, but realize at the level you are talking about you're really not doing anything for wildlife management.....from a purely biological standpoint, coyotes don't overpopulate, their population is a reflection of prey availability.

When I'm photographing coyotes, I'll make a half hearted dying rabbit sound and then rub nickles together when I get a visual.

I'm interested in ppls methods as well. I just purchased primos predator decoy and a icotec electrionic call.

Also, I've seen coyote lures and scents for sale but these are completely new to me and almost seem gimmicky. Has anybody used any?

Appreciate the feedback

This is on the fringe of the hill country north of Uvalde where our yearling numbers have historically been much higher.

We have had a record year for rainfall and forage available for deer. Almost no competition with deer less cows and free range exotics.

Problem I have is that this has been the perfect year our deer herd yet the numbers don't reflect it on fawns and our deer are noticeably "spooked" this season. Starting back in bow season and we have only shot 3 deer this year, so you can rule out pressure from hunting.

Combine that with the fact that I have hard more coyotes, on various locations of the ranch, this year than ever before and I get a little suspicious.

Also consider that I put a lot of time and money in feeding, managing, and growing these deer. I am okay with coyotes, but not when there has been a massive influx in one year that correlates with a horrible fawn crop.

Finally, you know I wouldn't be able to kill all of the coyotes if I wanted to. Just trying to reduce population.

The Rich Outdoors has a really good podcast on predator hunting. I believe it's the most recent podcast.

I ran several surveys this year where we saw 0 or 1 fawn over 15 miles. Don't know yall's particular survey protocol, but really good vegetation conditions can also bias against younger deer.

If you want predator control efforts to have an effect, it will need to be an all out effort.

Good point about the vegetation hiding fawns. Still not seeing the numbers at the feeders; however, there hasn't been enough consistent activity due to available of food to accurately assess that.

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Any recommendation on how long to play them?

5 minutes on then wait 5? Keep playing for 10-15 and then move on?

Thanks for the input so far!

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Just turn it on and let it play. Most coyotes I have called have come in within 10-15 minutes. I will usually stay on a stand for about 20-30 minutes then move. I also use a mojo critter decoy. The movement of the decoy does a great job of keeping their eyes off of you.

I enjoy the heck out of calling coyotes. I'll set up my call, decoy and electronic call and then sit still and quiet for 15-20 minutes. I have an acrylic mouth call that gets really loud and I'll blow that thing as eratatic as I can for about 15 seconds, then wait for another 5 minutes or so. I think that this gets their attention and starts their approach. I'll then use the jackrabbit or cottontail distress starting very quiet and working my way up to the loudest setting for about 5 minutes then stop and wait for another 7 or so. Repeat the process, then if no success I'll try another spot. Once I see a coyote I'll turn the call way low or off and use a mouse squeek to bring them close. Moon phases have a lot to do with it, full moon I'll call late morning and with no moon I'll call first thing in the morning. Night time is also effective. Camo is critical, they are super smart animals.

Definitely the most productive methods I have found for killing Yotes is snares. You are able to hunt 24/7. Good luck, nothing worse than finding a new $400 dollar calf dead because of coyotes.

This is my sport! I'm glad to see the interest here. There are things to do that are more successful than others but coyotes come in all flavors! Early in summer and fall they are younger and dumber. Don't shoot if you can't kill because then they are educated to your system. Hunt by yourself if possible because they don't miss much like movement, scope glare, etc. Camo everything including rifle and scope. In the beginning you will make mistakes so learn from them. The more you hunt the better you will get. Shooting sticks are just as important as your rifle and scope and trigger. Don't try to kill a moving coyote if possible. Freeze them with a bark and aim small.Remember, its harder than calling turkeys!
They come from all directions some fast and some slow. Shoot the first time you think you can hit him.

I live in Georgetown so PM me if you want to hunt. I've called in 119 so far. No night time hunting for me.

If anyone on this board needs coyotes removed please PM me. I do it for the sport, not for money!

We kill about 20 to 30 a month. The don't mess with our Cattle. They do however try to get our Dorper sheep.

Alot of good tips in this thread already. I grew up predator hunting and learned from my Dad, who was friends with the Burnham family.

I use alot of the Burnham calls and techniques.

Thanks everyone for the feedback! I wasn't able to try out my advice ths past weekend, mainly due to 3.5" rain making roads extra sloppy.

The rich outdoors podcast was great on calling and general advice but lacked some advice on scent control and how to play the wind. I am pretty sure I know how to do both as I am a fairly experienced Bowhunter, but a little advice from an expert would have been nice.

I'll follow up with individual thanks tomorrow.

Thanks again!

It's kind of counter intuitive if you have been deer hunting much, but you want to have the wind at your back when calling predators. No matter what direction they come from initially, they tend to circle downwind of you so they can catch your scent before coming closer. Because of this you want to try to have an open area where you can see them down wind of you.

If you have a pasture upwind of you and woods downwind of you, the coyotes will likely circle down into the woods and bust you before you can see them. They can really come in from any direction, but this is a good rule to follow.

Predator Masters is a great resource that can help shorten the learning curve.