Going to try my hand at calling some yotes in this weekend.

Will be using an electronic call. Have never done this, and really not sure how to set up since there's very very little open fields. The only place I can set that is open is by a tank.

Few questions:

-what sounds work best this time of year?
-how long to call at each location?
-is it beneficial to try and locate them before setting up?
-will they typically try to come in from down wind?
-if so, should I try and position the call so they come between me and the call?

No one has called predators here in at least 5 years.

Here's the pond. The red rectangle is a levee. You can't see across from down by the tank.



Here's a 4 way on top of a hill that I think would be good



Here's the entire place. You can see there's not much open. Also, the wind will be trying to screw me basically as soon as I get into the pasture.

Cottontail or jackrabbit in distress call.

Yes, they will come in or circle in from downwind.

Do you have access to a tower or other elevated blind?

Yes re: blind. There's a few box blinds that are probably 8-10'

I was planning on taking a chair and setting up, but can't figure out how to keep them from circling behind me.

My experience is they come in pretty quickly if they are going to come in. I would not spend more than 15 minutes in one spot if you have a lot area to cover. Obviously sit longer if you don't have a lot of other places to try.

I wonder if I could kill a rabbit and use it as a decoy of sorts, or at least to cover scent.

setup with a crosswind and where you can see as far as possible on your downwind side

any prey distress should work, but definitely use pup distress somewhere in your sequence

My neighbor here in SA is Holcomb. He said that the reservoir used to cover 200 acres and had 10 lb. bass plus crappie and catfish.

Have killed the last few coyotes to piglet noises. You will get lots of groups of pigs to come in to those noises too. It's fun!

As was said above if they are going to come in they come in quick. Sit about 30 mins max. Do not leave your set without using pup in distress for at least 5 minutes. Get a snoopy stuffed animal or similar and put it where they can see it. That way they focus on that and won't see you moving.
Can certainly kill a rabbit and use for scent.

Few others have touched on this but don't waste too much time in one spot. Anecdotally, they're either there in less than 10 minutes or they're not coming.

I listened to a podcast with one of the predator calling guys that records all of his hunts in a journal. Something like 95% of his kills were in the first 15 minutes. 50% were in the first 5 minutes.

Get elevated or where you can see for a ways and expect them to come down wind.

Good luck!

I typically stay longer if it's extremely hot. Not saying stay an hour, but the 15-25 minute window goes out the door when it's really hot and I'm hunting a field or senderos out of a box blind. I'll stay longer because unless I'm hunting in the early morning hours it's still darn hot at 10 pm and the more I move the more scent/sweat I pour out every time I make a new stand.

Don't discount the occasional platinum fox or lucky bird in your calling routine.

This seems like a good place for a stand, unless the sight lines are too short. I would be 30 yards off the fence with the wind in my face, and it would be hard for them to circle behind

3 sight lines are like 110, 130, and 180 yds

Are you planning to hunt daytime or at night w/ thermal?

We use different tactics for each.

Tandy, I don't know you, have loved reading about your hunts on here, but you've could've killed 5 coyotes in the time it took to put this post together. Hell, go out and hunt. Let the animals teach you how to kill them, instead of txags. That's the most rewarding part of hunting, figuring out how to kill them.
No offense meant, love reading your posts. Kill 'em all. Good luck.

Night w/ thermal. Only planning on shooting 100 MAYYYBE 150 at most. Ranging is hard w thermal

AlAggie said:

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Tandy, I don't know you, have loved reading about your hunts on here, but you've could've killed 5 coyotes in the time it took to put this post together. Hell, go out and hunt. Let the animals teach you how to kill them, instead of txags. That's the most rewarding part of hunting, figuring out how to kill them.
No offense meant, love reading your posts. Kill 'em all. Good luck.

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None taken. I won't be heading down there till Friday. I figure with only 2 nights and also chasing pigs it wouldn't hurt to try and flatten the learning curve and learn vicariously through others.

Just use the wind. Sendora's, fields. If you're after coyotes, kill right away. If you're after bobcat, they slip slower. May have to let the coyotes go.
Guided down in s Texas for a couple of years. Used to drop off hunters and then predator call. Fun as hell. Just have the wind in your face with shooting lanes or openings in front of you.
Put your speaker 30 yards or so in fromnt of you, and hang a turkey feather or purchased flicker tail above or near speaker. Movement of feather will give you extra time.

tandy miller said:

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Night w/ thermal. Only planning on shooting 100 MAYYYBE 150 at most. Ranging is hard w thermal

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All the contests I ha e placed or won have been hunting at night in South Texas. You have lots of advantages at night. You do not ha e to be as stealthy, they don't pay as much attention to scent, etc.

You do need a decoy w/ a light. You can get by without it but it will pull in the wary ones that wouldn't commit otherwise.

Shoot me an email and I'll give you some tips. Easier to type on my laptop than my phone.. shawn@kelsoarms.com

Email sent

SKelso is the real deal. Listen to him and do whatever he says. And then buy some optics from him!

set up in the shade with the sun to your back, that way they are looking into the sun when coming in and are less likely to spot you. put a decoy out in the sunlight to distract them, preferably in the same general location as your call and not too close to you.

I have a squeaker out of a dog toy i tape to the forend of my rifle. If one comes in but gets suspicious before he is in range, i hit the squeaker to change it up and get his mind off his suspicions. We hunt in the wide open in Kansas so our yotes might come in from a half mile out. This gives them a lot of time to analyze what they are hearing/seeing/smelling.

skelso said:

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tandy miller said:

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Night w/ thermal. Only planning on shooting 100 MAYYYBE 150 at most. Ranging is hard w thermal

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All the contests I ha e placed or won have been hunting at night in South Texas. You have lots of advantages at night. You do not ha e to be as stealthy, they don't pay as much attention to scent, etc.

You do need a decoy w/ a light. You can get by without it but it will pull in the wary ones that wouldn't commit otherwise.

Shoot me an email and I'll give you some tips. Easier to type on my laptop than my phone.. shawn@kelsoarms.com

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They recently opened up night hunting here in Kansas. My brother has a thermal on his supressed AR15. He has been absolutely slaying them in the vast open desert that is southwest kansas.

EskimoJoe said:

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skelso said:

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tandy miller said:

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Night w/ thermal. Only planning on shooting 100 MAYYYBE 150 at most. Ranging is hard w thermal

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All the contests I ha e placed or won have been hunting at night in South Texas. You have lots of advantages at night. You do not ha e to be as stealthy, they don't pay as much attention to scent, etc.

You do need a decoy w/ a light. You can get by without it but it will pull in the wary ones that wouldn't commit otherwise.

Shoot me an email and I'll give you some tips. Easier to type on my laptop than my phone.. shawn@kelsoarms.com

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They recently opened up night hunting here in Kansas. My brother has a thermal on his supressed AR15. He has been absolutely slaying them in the vast open desert that is southwest kansas.

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I always wanted to call in Morton County, KS while we were up there bird hunting. Lots of coyotes in the SW corner of Kansas. That's awesome that you can night hunt up there now.

After you coyote hunt for the night, you should go back to those tanks and call for raccoons. It is one of the most fun things I've done with a electronic game call.

All you have to do is play a raccoon fight sound and they will come running.

we have had the best luck in S. Texas with the rabbit/cottontail in distress call. Have brought in plenty of coyote and a few bobcat.

On a little funnier note, I can verify that the smell of spare ribs smoking will also bring them in. True story.

If you were hunting in the suburbs, you would need a call that sounded like a toy poodle.

According to next door, the sounds of children playing would attract every predator in a 10 mile radius

ttha_aggie_09 said:

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According to next door, the sounds of children playing would attract every predator in a 10 mile radius

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jumping in this thread as I have wanted to hunt the back part of my small property just outside of D/FW where we have seen yotes passing around right behind us and hear them every night at dusk.
Who makes a good call for daytime hunting as I haven't entered the thermal realm yet?

ttha_aggie_09 said:

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According to next door, the sounds of children playing would attract every predator in a 10 mile radius

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Are we still talking the four legged predators?

Yes - I was making a joke regarding the folks on NextDoor that are constantly thwarting off attacks from mountain lions, bears, red wolves, and coyotes in the suburbs of Dallas/Houston/San Antonio.

Any yotes hit the ground yet?