Coyote Hunting in Central Minnesota

[MNHunter]

Hello. I am new to Coyote hunting. I live in Central MN. A buddy and I have gone out 4-5 times with no luck. We have found plenty of tracks and other sign, but have had no luck calling any in. Around here most people hunt with dogs. 2 groups of guys around here avarage close to 100 Coyotes a winter. There are other groups I don't know about I bet. So Coyotes are here. We go out, sit in good positions, I think, with favorable winds. We use both mouth and electric calls. Still learning on the mouth calls. We have hunted day and night with no luck. Neither of us have a lot of hunting experience.

I guess what I would like to know is if anyone in MN is on here and how they go about calling them in. Any tips would be very welcome. We have no one to ask that we know of. I know it has to be possable to get them in, but just need someone with some experience to give us a little advice. I have tried the DVD's like Calling all Coyotes. I did learn a lot from them, but they make it look way easier than it really is. We are getting a little frustrated to say the least. We have not even heard a Coyote call back, even though we found tracks just a few hours old. I know that because it was after a fresh snow that stopped a couple hours before we went out.

Here are a few more details about how we go about it. We use both mouth and electric calls. A decoy sometimes. Hut both day and night. Sit in open fields with trees and swamp bordering it. Wear complete snow camo, and use cover scents. Sit with the wind in our face or a favorable cross wind. Also sit on the edge of meadows opposite the swamp and brush. Not sure if they spend time in the trees or the brush/swamp. Most tracks we find are on field roads and deer trails. They like the field roads Also there are wolves in the area, but not in a few of the places we huted at.

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated. Thank You !

[bucksnbears]

calling in minn just sucks!!! don't know why??? just does. can't help you out as i'm stuggling at it myself

[Dcoy]

Ditto on what Bucs said.I think its mainly a factor of 'people' and 'development'.The more roads,the more traffic,the more 'civilization',the less vocal the yotes.They are clearly there in good numbers,just not vocal and over time,the trait is reinforced from pup age on.Rare to call them there,a bit less rare at night but....
That same 'trait' carries forward anywhere I think.Here in SoDak where I live its much better but still a world away from some places I call in western SoDak or NoDak.
Its less your approach/technique than it is your location.There you might have better luck walking and glassing the most remote(less used/traveled)areas around.Read the 'fox hunting' sections on this website and approach yote hunting there with those techniques and you'll score.Not big numbers,but score.
AND,think through and try hunt the areas that the dog hunters aren't.If calling only,think about sanctuaries where traffic is less and perhaps there's even no hunting.Call the edges.
Good hunting.

[lyonch]

MN calling sucks!! There really is no way around it. It takes a lot of extra work to call a minnesota coyote in. I also have a lot of hound hunters around me. This is what i do, when i call in minnesota:
Find a larger section than 1mile x 1mile
Look for tracks that cross the roads to see if there is fresh sign going into that section or spot one out there sleeping
Make sure the houndsmen haven't hit that area that season yet by looking for tracks
Find a place to call from as your driving around, with either a cross wind or wind to the face
Try to walk in quiet and undetected
Try to get as close to the cover as you can, but still have a good down wind area to shoot
The thicker the area, the longer you need to sit on stand (i sit up to an hour - minimum 30 minutes)
Try to hunt the full moons at night
Hunt the month of october before the houndsmen get out there (lots of pups to be had)
Locate in the months of June and July (the pups will have a hard time keeping there mouth shut)

It takes a lot of extra work to kill a coyote in minnesota. The last part is, dont miss!!

[Tim Anderson]

For day time calling you will need to set up in or along the edge of cover with the E-caller placed down wind or cross wind in the open. Most of the Mn. coyotes have a low confindence level and don't like to venture out far from cover when being called. Like mentioned look for tracks going into a section canbe 1x1 or larger, also check to make sure they did'nt pass through the section.. Coyotes willbe in or along the edge of heavey cover on down wind side.. Locateing is a good tool and shouldbe done as soon as it gets dark all the way to early mourning just as it gets lite.. Most coyotes will answer a howler and some may be a little fussy so you may have to use a different howler to get them to howl back. When locateing make sure you are standing away from the truck so you can hear in all directions. Coyotes that answer you early at nite will still be in there bedding area and the ones towards the middle of the nite willbe out hunting and early mourning on there way back to bedding area or already in it.. Once they answer just leave the area as quiet as you can with lights off for a short distance..

Nite time calling set up along a fence line or vacant grove or along a creek going through a section with coyotes, if E-caller is used you can place it out from you a little ways or just have it next to you.. Make sure vehicle is out of site, coyotes can see a half mile in the dark.. When I move into a area to call once I stop I let things quiet down abit before I walk in to set up.. Make sure you and youre partner both have a pair of field glasses, you will need these to spot a coyote out as far as a half mile that is comeing in or just standing there looking in youre direction. Once a coyote reaches about 250-300 yds you should then be able to spot it with the naked eye. Stand length can take from 20 minutes to over a hour depending on how far you are from the coyote.. Start a stand with a few simple howls or use them later in the middle of the time spent on stand.. Once the coyote is spotted some will require just a little bit of calling to keep them comeing and some may require non=stop calling... They will come just have to pick the right time and sounds... Good luck....

[MNHunter]

Thanks for the tips. I guess I will just have to be more patient. The areas we hunt are fairley large. 400+ acers of farmland, woods and swamp. There are houses closer on one of them, but that is the one with the most tracks. Trails within 100 yards of the house. I have another spot with over 600 acers of tamarack bog. I know they are in there, but so far have only found wolf tracks and beds. I heard them earlier in the year, but they are quiet now. Maybe the wolves ran them out.

Is there anyone in central MN that would be willing to show a couple of newbies the ropes? It would be nice to go out at least once with someone who has done this successfully before. Heck if there is someone in the area just looking for someone to go out with let me know. It seems 2 people can't quite keep a good lookout a full 360 deg

[bucksnbears]

i'd help you out but i'm sure you'de see i suck as bad as the next guy

[barebackjack]

You MN guys......how much calling pressure do you think your coyotes experience? All the forums seem to be full of MN guys the last few years. In my experience, the more a coyote gets called at and not killed, the less responsive it becomes.

Also,.......snowmobiles. Whether theyre chasing em or not, from what ive seen not much will shut em up and hole em up as fast as lots of snowmobile traffic.

The immediate area I live in in ND might as well be part of MN for all the people out and about. Between deer hunters (so many that opening weekend of muzzleloader season has as much orange in the woods as opening weekend of rifle), coyote "hunters", and snowmobiles, it makes the calling tough. Much much tougher than the area I grew up in, or any of the other places I regularly hunt.

My long term average for the rest of ND is about 25% success based on stands made, one coyote for every four sets. In the area near my home, its closer to 1:10 or 12. And its not for lack of animals.

[bucksnbears]

i can't say i've ever seen anyone calling around my area. hell, i never even see evidence of anyone even road hunting so pressure is a non-issue. can't remember the last time i seen anyone predator hunting here. i would say my rate in mn is maybe 1-25. nd varies but would be safe to say 25-30%. my theory is the terain differences. flat ass fields with very little cover. i called a remote 1/4 section of sunflowers last week that was loaded with sign. there had been no one near it judjing by tracks in the snow. got in quite,wind was light and crosswind,nice brushy fence row next to it. brushy drainage ditch. thought it was a slam dunk.. nothing. don't know the answers but it SUCKS .

[LeviM]

i can't say i've ever seen anyone calling around my area. hell, i never even see evidence of anyone even road hunting so pressure is a non-issue. can't remember the last time i seen anyone predator hunting here. i would say my rate in mn is maybe 1-25. nd varies but would be safe to say 25-30%. my theory is the terain differences. flat ass fields with very little cover. i called a remote 1/4 section of sunflowers last week that was loaded with sign. there had been no one near it judjing by tracks in the snow. got in quite,wind was light and crosswind,nice brushy fence row next to it. brushy drainage ditch. thought it was a slam dunk.. nothing. don't know the answers but it SUCKS .

Bucs, I know a good a handfull a guys that "RUN" coyotes in your area and my area.

[bucksnbears]

what do you mean by RUN ???

[lyonch]

My immediate area, has lack of numbers for coyotes. If i were to drive and hour north or an hour south, it seems there are a lot more of them. It's not the calling pressure or the snowmobiles in my area, but more to do with the houndsmen. Them guys can ruin a area in a short order. I am not against, nor for it. I am neutral on hunint with hounds. My personal best day was 5 coyotes called in one day. It was a triple and a double that were called in, in October. They were all pups!! Another thing that MN has in my area, is a lot of thick heavy dense cover. Wether it be a full section of cat tail sloughs or some really thick timber. The hound hunters on average in the area shoot around 100 coyotes from the first snow fall until the end of februaury. That's pretty good numbers if you ask me. In bucs area, a group of houndsmen could really put a hurt on them, with the 1x1 sections and pretty flat terrain. Another wicked tool that some of the guys in the area are using, are grey hounds. The grey hound is a site dog, and when a coyote breaks in the open, its only a matter of seconds before it is caught up to the coyote and is being shredded. Some of the houndsmen hunt virtually every day in the winter months, because they are laid off in the winter time. locating a coyote in the wide open in my part of the state is about as good as winning the lottery. This is why i feel night hunting is hands down better than daytime calling in mn.

[LeviM]

what do you mean by RUN ???

Snowmobiles, and trucks with AR-15s.

I really love when they sit in the bar and brag about the amount of coyotes they shot and actually call it "coyote hunting" I also get a kick, when you see them driving around in their trucks with full white on with calls around their necks. LOL

[EO caller]

Remind me not to go to MN

[lyonch]

Remind me not to go to MN

And i was just going to invite you over for a long day of calling and not seeing anything