# Why do you walk so far and wast so much time?



## Danny B (Jun 6, 2006)

That is my question to those who walk a 1/2 mile from the truck and make 1/2 hour stands. 
The whole idea of predator calling is to call the animal to you or your caller. You don't have to walk a mile or a 1/2 mile to do that, matter of fact you don't have to walk far at all. 
Time invested on a stand is very important when hunting coyotes. When taking to much time you are wasting time. True you can call a coyote up in an hour, but you can call more by making more stands.

Think about it this way. You walk a 1/2 mile, it takes 30 minutes to get there and 30 back=one hour, then a 1/2 hour stand. That adds up to 1 1/2 hours a stand for maybe 8 hours of hunting and maybe 7 stands. 
In 8 hours of hunting. I'll make about 30 stands, who do you think well get the most action?

It really don't matter what part of the country you hunt or the terrain you hunt in, it all comes down to time management and odds. Put the odds in your favor.

I know some guys say they are happy just calling in one coyote now and then and that's cool, I'm not trying to help them. I'm trying to help people who want more action and less work..... this should get some opinions going lol. :beer:


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## Fallguy (Jan 23, 2004)

I don't have even CLOSE to the experience you have, but I have seen both sides. I have walked a half mile to an area far from any roads and called in coyotes. Over Christmas I shot a 32 pound male by parking the pickup behind a little rise, and walking about 50-75 yards into a pasture. I called him into 25 yards (so he was real close to the well traveled road). I don't really know how much it matters. My feeling is if I get into a rut, I am going to change things up if only for self confidence.


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## bretts (Feb 24, 2004)

I have often thought about that...not only do you waste time, but also energy, I think a big thing is hiding the pickup, as soon as they see the pickup it's not good. Confidence is a big thing when hunting yotes, as with other game....but for some reason I lack the most with yotes


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## Danny B (Jun 6, 2006)

Fallguy, you don't need self confidence, I think you already have it. :beer: I've played both ends of the stick myself, just trying to put thoughts in the minds of those who do walk alot. 
There are other ways of getting it done without doing all that work, if that's what they like no problem. 
Bretts, coyotes and trucks is another subject and one I'll post about soon. Should be interesting to see what people think. :wink:


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## Fallguy (Jan 23, 2004)

I've always been a sucker for hard work. That's why I love shingling so much in the summers. I'd much rather finish a day of hunting where I'm so tired I can't even keep my eyes open than have a bunch of energy left.


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## Danny B (Jun 6, 2006)

lol, you can't be 64 years old either :wink:


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## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

Danny B

That is a question I have asked myself since I started calling in 1958, 59, 60 somewhere in there.
I think my success per unit effort is better if I walk a ways from the truck. However, I think you are right about making more stands. What do you want 30 percent success after busting your behind and making five stands, or 25 percent success while making 10 stands in a day? It's hard not having the highest success rate you can, but the other way puts more coyotes in the back of the truck. I have changed my mind back and fourth a lot of times about this, even though I know your right.


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## R Buker (Oct 29, 2005)

Here's why some folks, especially in the east do it that way.

I go out of my way to contact land owners. Usually I call 75 guys and end up with about 100 different spots I can call coyotes. But, some guys are doing well to get 20 spots. For those guys, run and gun will burn out there spots quickly IF they don't kill coyotes at those spots. It would be like me telling you that you can only hunt the same 20 spots over and over in a given year. You'd do everything you could to maximize your success from those stands.

Of course in ND or NM, that would be silly at best. Then I agree with you, get in, call, kill, get out and move on.


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## Danny B (Jun 6, 2006)

Randy, if it's that hard to find places and animals to hunt back east, I'd move out west :lol: . Besides you're in Minn, that's kinda like the west.

This style works good in the west and most of the contest hunters use this style. You could probably call it hit and run, or maybe Gorilla style predator hunting, what ever you want to call it, it works.

Don't they have National Forest , State or BLM land back east? If they do, I'm sure it don't get hunted any harder then out west.


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## R Buker (Oct 29, 2005)

Danny B said:


> Randy, if it's that hard to find places and animals to hunt back east, I'd move out west :lol: . Besides you're in Minn, that's kinda like the west.


WHOOO HOO!!! Minnesota in the west! Danny, I didn't even realize they grew that weed in NM! HA HA :wink: :wink: :wink: :roll:



> Don't they have National Forest , State or BLM land back east? If they do, I'm sure it don't get hunted any harder then out west.


You really ARE smoking wacky weed... We have a ton of state forest in Minnesota "up nort" but coyotes and foxes are few and far between. Wolves seem to make sure of that. Most states don't have nearly the land we do in Minnesota (even though ours is crappy for coyotes at best). Most states out here have areas of "Waterfowl Production Areas" and "Wildlife management areas." Most of these in my area vary between 40 and 160 acres. In the county I hunt in most, there are approximately 30 such areas. Most guys are too lazy to knock on doors or call farmers on the phone. So, they hunt the state land. How many times do you think those areas get called in a year? HA HA HA HA

Danny, You really do live in "God's Country."


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## Danny B (Jun 6, 2006)

Minnesota is just east of North and South Dakota and they are right next to Montana. :roll: 
Bill Hickok was shot in the back in Deadwood, not to far from Minnesots. Jesse James robbed some bank "Northfield"? in Minnesota. 
Billy the Kidd was from New York and Roy Rodgers was from Ohio, so why can't I say Minnesots is kinda west? :lol: 
Besides, my Great Grandmother came from Minnesota to Wyoming in a covered wagon. So I'm calling Minnesota kinda west, it's sure in the heck more west then back east. 
I got news for ya, New Mexico is not Gods country. If it's anything, it's northern Mexico, and it's all fenced off. The Cattle ranchers run this State, but they do like coyote hunters. :wink:


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## papapete (Jan 2, 2005)

For me the hardest part about when doing the quick sets (walking a short distance), is getting in quietly. When your target is that close to the road they can hear you drive-up, park, shut-off your pick-up and so on. When you are making the 1/2 mile trek to your stand it's not so obvious. Maybe i just need to be more quiet. :lol: I would have to say that 80% of the coyotes that i've shot i had to walk a ways for them.

Another thing Danny B is that our habbitat is a lot different than yours. You can probably park your pick-up walk 100yds and call into vast areas that hold coyotes. There is an awful lot a agriculture in the eastern part of NoDak. The coyotes are more isolated into slews, cattails and so on. Just a thought.
:beer:


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## Danny B (Jun 6, 2006)

Papapete, to help keep the conversation going and hopefully keep interest up, I'm going to ask you if you think walking in a half mile well lesson the chances of a coyote hearing or smelling you?

Why would you think our habitat is way different then yours would be? The West and Southwest has lots of agriculture along with slews and cattails. It's not all sagebrush, high and low deserts, mountians, prairies and beaches. 
There is one little part of the west that does have more then it's share of fruit :lol: but we won't talk about that. :wink:

Thanks for your input papapete. :beer:


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## 1shot1yote (Dec 23, 2006)

One thing we are blessed with here in MN is lots of public land. However very little of it is very good for coyote hunting. Most of it is swamp or timber country, it's very hard to find good open areas to make good sets. At least that's what it's like in northern MN. Southern MN is more like the Dakotas but there is much less public land. Like *R Buker *said the wolves keep the coyote and fox numbers down. I cut just about as many wolf tracks and fox and coyote tracks when I'm looking for places to hunt.

I haven't hunted enough to give a good answer about walking far from the truck or not. I haven't had any luck calling coyotes in yet so neither seems to work very good. The other nite when we were out we saw a couple but they hung up about 150 yds out well out of shotgun range. We were only about 100yds from the truck. We don't have very good snow cover here and what we do have is very crunchy. Personaly I try to walk as short a distance as possible just seems like the more sets a guy makes the better his chances will be. The other evening I called in two gray fox and I was probably only about 50 yds from the truck. I'm not sure they are on the same intelligence level as coyotes though. They came in so fast though that I missed. It was still fun seeing something though.

Justin


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## R Buker (Oct 29, 2005)

And Wisconsin is just east of us and Michigan is just east of them and....

Danny... Jesse James did rob a bank in Northfield. Wild Bill did die in deadwood. I can drive SE to Northfield in 4 hours. I can drive to Deadwood in just over eight and I can get to Texas in just under 20.

My point is that most of Minnesota is covered with homes and 160 acre farms every square mile. To me, the habitat is definately eastern when it comes to coyotes. And, they behave differently than western coyotes. All I have to do is drive 4 hours NW to get into coyotes that act like they live in the west. They can actually be called in during the day time hours other than first or last light.


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## 1lessdog (Feb 4, 2004)

DannyB

You are right about walking in a short distance and calling. There have been many times had I only walked in 100 or 200 yds. I would not have bumped a Coyote. So most of the time I only walk in about 200 yds or so. And I still have real good luck. Most of my stands are 12 to 15 minutes. I can do alot of calling in a day.


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## papapete (Jan 2, 2005)

Danny B
I think it does reduce the chance of them hearing you. If only a little bit. As far as scent goes, it all depends on the setup and how you approach it. Most of the better areas around here are in the middle on now where. Areas that don't have traffic nearby. Granted there are also the quick hits around too, but I've had better luck getting away from the roads. When fallguy and I first started, most of what we did was the quick hit spots. We could get in 15 setups in one day. Usually we would hardly see anything. When we started walking away from the roads our success rate was better.

I probably should not have generalized your habitat like I did. I would love to see it some time though.

I am by no means an expert. I'm still learning my style. Form my experience, this is what has worked.

Good Discussion
:beer:


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## saskcoyote (Dec 30, 2006)

Danny's theory about walking less to get in more stands is something I'd have to agree with. The more time you spend walking, the greater the chance Old Wiley will detect your presence. As yote hunters know, a coyote's hearing, vision and smell are second to none. That's why it just seems common sense to give him as few opportunities as possible for him to to use those senses -- that means short walks to a set up. Why walk an extra half mile at a slow pace when a yote, on hearing your call, will cover that distance in a fraction of the time you will? What I try to do is get to the stand as quietly as possible? Does my method work better than others? I don't know. The coyotes that have busted me aren't talking nor are the ones who I've fooled giving up any information. All I can do is what's right for me taking into consideration the type of terrain I hunt although the terrain others encounter may dictate other methods.


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## Fallguy (Jan 23, 2004)

Another thing to think about:

If you are walking 100-200 yards to get to your stand I think you can sneak in pretty quietly especially through deep snow, etc.

It takes effort and concentration to walk quietly, carry guns, watch your step, as well as keeping your eyes up and ahead looking for game and calling spots.

Now let's walk a half mile in the same snow. After 400 yards you are getting tired, your form is breaking down, and I believe you will start to make more noise walking.

That may have impact on this topic. :beer:


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## papapete (Jan 2, 2005)

Then again I am always parinoid that my sound is not going as far as I intend it too. It is starting to appear that i'm in the minority. :-?


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## weasle414 (Dec 31, 2006)

R Buker said:


> 100 different spots I can call coyotes. But, some guys are doing well to get 20 spots.


I'm lucky to get 5 spots.... I've talked to quite a few people and it seems like everyone around Buffalo either already has someone that hunts on their land or they take care of their coyotes on their own.


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## Danny B (Jun 6, 2006)

You guys are making this interesting, that's what this is all about....ideas and opinions, Thanks and keep it up, we could all learn something. :wink:


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## kevin.k (Dec 31, 2005)

sometimes i think it is well worth it to walk a 1/2 mile but other you dont need to.

i like to work myself into the heart of the area so that way you arnt just calling on the edges of land where coyotes may have already heard calls before.

ild rather be in the heart of the area then on just the edge of some land.

yeah me and my buddie back west hardly ever walk we call just edges and usually get a few yotes that way.

it depends on the location of the land.

hunt your way in as your walking in, you gota go into stealth mode like all eyes are on you :wink:

just my opinion


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## yooperyotebuster (Dec 13, 2005)

I am not as fortunate as some to be able to hunt within a hundred yards of a road. I have has success in these areas for fox but not coyotes. It was mentioned earlier about property boundaries. It is the same in northern Michigan. In every square mile there may be 10 houses owning anywhere from 2 to 200 acres. Almost all of our state and federal lands are heavily forrested. With an average snowfall of over 150 inches it sometimes takes critters longer to show up. During heavy snow I cannot tell you how many times I have had dogs show up at the 30 to 40 minute plus mark. One of my best hunting areas is a pond chain 3 miles from the nearest road. According to my gps my ground travel in this area averages about 9 miles. I will usually start early in the morning and get out of there just before dark. I have called up to six coyotes in a day here but again I'm not in the land of milk and honey. It takes effort here and if you can't do it you won't kill 1% of what I do here.


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## Fallguy (Jan 23, 2004)

papapete said:


> Then again I am always parinoid that my sound is not going as far as I intend it too. It is starting to appear that i'm in the minority. :-?


Remember Papa coyotes have hearing that is far better than a humans. Your sound is getting out there even if you can't hear your partner calling. 8) As Randy Anderson says you don't have to blow them out of the country. I think that is what we did to those two the other weekend.


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## thepain1 (Dec 20, 2006)

The story starts last year. Drove up to a spot i wanted to call wind was in my favor parked the trunk out off sight about 150 yards from where i was calling. Sat for about ten minutes then started calling called in two yotes but they hung up about 500 yards out and then they started doing there warning bark.Didnt get a shoot they know something was up im sure they heard my trunk come in to the area this are probable only sees maybe two vehicles a year probable makes a difference. This year i learn my lesson parked a mile away and walked in wind was good and eveything else about the same as the year before called in three yotes all with in 60 yards shoot three.


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## thepain1 (Dec 20, 2006)

But know i have another story about how you dont have to walk a long ways to call in yotes. I was just pissing around driving around and i decided to just roll done the window and try a call. was calling for about two minutes and in came to coyotes they only came in to about 300 yards but they where coming.But this was a well used road so i think when they heard the truck it didnt sent off warning bells like the other spot.


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## papapete (Jan 2, 2005)

[/quote]Remember Papa coyotes have hearing that is far better than a humans. Your sound is getting out there even if you can't hear your partner calling[/quote]

Yes fallguy.....I realize that. Since I can't hear like them, I don't know how far it truely goes.


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## top dog (Jan 18, 2007)

Here in southeast Mn. everybody and their brother drives around with a rifle behind the seat for coyotes. If you see one, you shoot! Coyotes don't like roads much here, and besides all the houses are along the road for all these small farms, if I don't walk a 1/4 mile before I start calling I get every farm dog in the neighborhood barking and howling!


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## Danny B (Jun 6, 2006)

thepain1, it is legal to call coyotes from a truck in some States. Something I have done many times. It works best at night, as the animals sometimes come all the way in. During the day they usually hang out a ways, but in range.

When you hear stories of a couple guys killing lots of animals 20-30+ on a weekend, that's usually how they are doing it. They are not making brush stands and only walking to go pick up a dead animal.

Another thing, coyotes like to hang out not far from roads because of RKs "easy meals". Most coyotes have seen and heard cars, trucks, trains, planes etc. They have smelled humans, dog and cats along with about anything you can name. It's all part of a coyotes World, about the same as ours :wink: .


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## FurGittr (Jan 24, 2003)

Some of my best spots here in Minnesota are very close to major highways I think our critters are much more accustomed to vehicle noise than their cousins to the west. These are full moon spots though,for an evening/morning stand I'll hoof it in a bit further. If your lucky enough to have a 3 person team it works great to rotate drivers to different spots and get the vehicle away from the area each time. I've called in coyotes from the ditch this way before. As far as farm dogs barking most sections in the southern part of the state aren't large enough to avoid them hearing the call even if you went in the middle of it. I've called many critters in when it seemed like half the mutts in the county where barking back and forth. I would consider Minnesota coyotes "eastern" from here west "western".Totally different world just a few hours from here.


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## Danny B (Jun 6, 2006)

FurGitter, we also do drop offs where one hunter drops off the other hunter and goes down the road a 1/2 mile or so. 
They both makes stands for about 10 or 15 minutes and then goes back and picks up the other hunter and does it again and again all day long. 
You can make about 30 or 40 stands in a day that way. 
That would probably be hard for some to do, because they may not have that much land to hunt. By reading about this, they may be able to come up with other ideas that would work.


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## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

Danny B said:


> FurGitter, we also do drop offs where one hunter drops off the other hunter and goes down the road a 1/2 mile or so.
> They both makes stands for about 10 or 15 minutes and then goes back and picks up the other hunter and does it again and again all day long.
> You can make about 30 or 40 stands in a day that way.
> That would probably be hard for some to do, because they may not have that much land to hunt. By reading about this, they may be able to come up with other ideas that would work.


Danny, I was kind of keeping my mouth shut about that. MY friends and I call it drop and roll. Slow down to about 5mph and don't even close the door. After dropping your friend you can close the door a 1/2 mile down the road. Normally you can find a spot a mile away to watch the action through a spotting scope. This is where I think the use of small radios is ethical. You need some way to tell your buddy to come pick you up. It's also good at my age to have some type of communication with you. Help, I have fallen, and I can't get up.


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## Danny B (Jun 6, 2006)

Plainsmen, we've been doing drop offs for years maybe the mid 70s, No big secert nowadays, but I think we do them a little different then you do.

It's what most all the contest hunters do if the rules let them. Two guys making a stand a 1/2 mile or so apart, about 8 stands an hour for two guys. Kinda proves the point of the more stands you make the better your odds.

I won't give up any top secert stuff, don't know any? :lol: but 
if I can help other predators hunters, that's what I want to do.

If you're older, a two way radio is not a bad idea. A cell phone could save your life out here. :wink:


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## weasle414 (Dec 31, 2006)

Danny B said:


> If you're older, a two way radio is not a bad idea. A cell phone could save your life out here. :wink:


I think if you're in the woods or fields, you should always have a phone or a radio no matter what age you are. I thought it was a dumb idea untill this year, my dad wanted to get walkie talkies and he said if I fell and broke my leg out in the middle of nowhere, nobody would find me without it. I thought it was a dumb idea
and passed because it would've been "a waste of money." So, guess who steps in a woodchuck hole on his way to tagging a deer he just shot and twists his ankle . I was lucky, though, I was in a field about 100 yards from a road so I could easily make it back. Next time I think I'll at least have my cell phone on me. Also, last year I had a friend fall out of his deer stand when a gust of wind rocked the tree a little too far. He fell 20 feet, landed on his back and broke his back in two spots. He wouldn't have been found for at least another day if he didn't have his phone to call someone in town to go and help him. So I dunno if I'm being paranoid but I think it's better to have communication with someone whenever you're out hunting.


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## Danny B (Jun 6, 2006)

weasle414, your right. A good old motto to go by would be an BoyScout saying...."always be prepared.".........But don't walk to far to hunt coyotes :lol:


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## Brad.T (Mar 29, 2004)

After looking into coyote biology and reading books like "hoofbeats of a Wolfer" and talking to steve Allen i like to walk out into the good stuff and get into the "core area" of the coyotes for the plain and simple reason of making the curiousity outweigh the fear in the coyotes comfort zone


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## Horsager (Aug 31, 2006)

I think a big reason for the long walks in this region is that it's just plain tough to hide the pickup here where it's so flat.


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## Danny B (Jun 6, 2006)

Brad T. Coyote comfort zone? core area? Sounds like words a Biologist would use, but I've never heard a predator hunter talk like that? 
Only Steve Allen I know started the Tonight Show years before anybody ever heard of Johnny Carson.


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## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

Steve Allen is a North Dakota Game and Fish (retired) predator biologist. A point of interest: his father invented the compound bow along with his friend Jennings. Allen holds the patent. 
There has been a lot of fox coyote studies in North Dakota. Territory size, fox coyote territory overlap, behavior etc.


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## FurGittr (Jan 24, 2003)

Heckuva nice guy to talk to too,lotsa knowledge.


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## badlander (Dec 15, 2006)

The distance you walk all depends on where you live. There are many stands I only have to walk 100 to 200 yds. The there are some that I have called for yrs and have to walk 1/2 mile. Brad is right about the comfort zone. But if you are Howling and your to close your going to blow the Animals out of there. So you do have to think about the volume when you get in that close. I like to be 400 to 500 yds from where the action going to start. It gives you a chance to look things over while Animals are coming in.


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## weasle414 (Dec 31, 2006)

Believe it or not, I found a place today that had more tracks 50 yards from the road I parked on than 1/2 mile in (or anywhere inbetween.) I didn't see any but I heard they've been seen around the roads a lot there.


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## papapete (Jan 2, 2005)

Do you guys get coyotes to come across open country a lot. I often wonder if they are just hanging up in the cover and i just don't see them. A few of my spots are setup like that (target area....open field....then the brushy area that I am calling from).


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