My experience with bobcats is we call in way more than we see. They normally come super stealthy the last 100 yds. Really common for them to hang up were they can see the area were the sound is coming from and just watch and if a cat isn't moving you ain't seeing him. I love calling from deer stands for cats and don't move period.

Hey John, them gals look " a tad" bit better than the hooglims we had at camp this past year

My two cents... you have to beat their nose above all else. Try to set up with the wind in your favor however that is not always possible. They will work their way in with their nose in the air. For every coyote I kill at night I kill 10 in the daylight. A shotgun is a great asset. Everyone wants a rifle with a big scope for long range shooting. Don’t buy into this unless your in the Dakotas or similar state. A rifle with a 3 or 4 x is perfect. There will be some long shots but close shots are more frequent. I like to use hand calls . My favorite are the Seery AP6 and a old wooden cottontail call. I have and use a Rich Higgins custom howler. For nighttime calling I use a aluminum Tri pod I built with a Foxpro caller. We mainly hunt foxes at night but do call in a few coyotes to the gun.
I had access to high dollar thermal night vision as a LEO. My buddy and I would set up at night with the foxpro while I scanned with the thermal. With the thermal I could see coyotes coming to the call. They would get real close and my buddy would turn on his light and could not see the coyotes because of the brush. One night I could see six coyotes coming to the call working the wind and my buddy could not see any of them. A couple were within 50 yds. A few nights of this changed us to daytime coyote hunters. I have hunted and killed coyotes in Arizona,New Mexico the Dakotas and several Midwest states.
You will call in way more than you see. You will call in way more than you will shoot. How ever once you can kill coyotes on a regular basis all other hunting is easy.

Coyote calling is the funnest hunting out there in my opinion. No such thing as "never" or "always" with coyotes.

If you want to see some spectacular coyote hunting pics check out derbyacrebob's threads over on predatormastersforums.com

Also lots of good threads on predator calling there.

I always hear conflicting options on how to setup concerning the wind. Which is it?

That, sir, is a tough one . I'll give my .02 tomorrow when my tablet is charged.

For me it was all about some doing and application through a couple years of steady calling. I found with using elevation and distance it was not as much concern how my scent cone was flowing out into the area.

Elevation seemed to keep it far enough away or out of the nose of incoming dogs. I stopped worrying about the wind direction when so many dogs just kept coming in when the wind was supposed to be stopping them.

I still keep track of the wind though, but I don't let it stop me from making stands that most seem to be worrying about where the wind moves directly into the are I'm calling.

Even when I am down even on the ground calling into heavy sage and grease woods or river bottoms I still call favorable setups or those that look promising. I still have dogs commit.

Maybe it has for my area a lot more to do with hungry dogs or those more interested in the call. But for my calling I really don't let the wind stop me from making stands I like any more.

Should one be concerned about wind direction, yea It teaches you alot about other animal movements, such as birds coming in, that dogs may follow, it shows direction of flow of your scent, thats good for use in other types of hunting applications.

I would assume that in heavy covered habitat your scent cone can be stopped and linger filling up the area making dogs appear much more cautious or actually so, would be a natural logical conclusion for it to do so. Timing is probably more critical to success in calling dogs into these types of areas and probably shows them reversing direction when entering a heavy covered area. If they respond quickly after your set up, probably a greater chance of success if your on them than when they respond at the end of your timing in the stand.

I feel and try to express to others the need to learn your targets in hunting as well as ones equipment so that your more comfortable taking the time to a successful conclusion or harvest.

My bottom line is I have had to much success in calling dogs to really worry any more about them not coming into shooting range when the wind is a so called problem as so many people profess it to be. Maybe it's a range factor for me, I can take them before they are over cautious and I am reading the wind to be not a problem cause I can take them before others who fell it necessary to worry about the wind. I know that wind direction plays an important roll in trapping due to scent dispersal. So it is important to be watchful of direction.

The majority of my dog kills have been at 100 yards or less with many in much closer do to heavy commitment. I have had many dogs stop at distances further out and try to wind the sound, usually these dogs continue to move in a circle trying to find the source, so I do know there is some validity to the wind theory, still I have learned that when they stop if in range I have a shot and can take them if I have watched them come in. I have found that these dogs usually are grown adults, so either it is the wind or they are just very cautious coming in. However I still have been able to get the shot in a down wind situation.

Hows that for one way or the other LOL

will suggest to anyone that has grey fox to go out and scream at them with the grey fox pup tape.we have lots of greys and thats all i hunted when i started and you can learn a lot that can come in handy when you go after other canines.great post,will stop back in here when i have more time.

Thank you for starting this thread. I just started calling and this is just what I need. I would prefer to start out doing things right, versus being an idiot shooting at every dog in the state, and educating them. What kind of Calls do you use this time of year, Bird distress, rabbit in distress, Gray fox in distress, ECT.
Thank you again!
Trapre

I have not worried about the wind much. Some of the biggest old dogs I've taken came right up it.
In the west where I did my work so many years the windier it was the more I got down into broken country, and called from locations closer together. In near hurricanes I had smart old dogs rush in to 50 yards and less.
As a rule if I could set up with 100 yards of flat or open to my downwind side, I figured good enough and they would come at least that far into wind and I would take them. Maybe I have missed a bunch I'll never know.
Here I like to use old deer stands if I can get in them quiet enough, some get salt on the steps when I go by a day or two ahead of time and see good sign. Those stands again must allow me a pretty decent look where the wind goes or I move on to another.
These are pretty much good memories in this country as the wolves have cleaned out the coyotes pretty well and I don't push the little guys that I do run across at this time.

Osky

in my opinion... calling for about 30 seconds is as long as you should ever call.... you want them to hear it... but you don't really want them to pinpoint your position right from the start... wait about 3-5 mins... if you see nothing then call again about 30 seconds.... if you do see one... if he's coming in don't do anything. Let him come.. if he stops and acts like he just wants to look... thats because he's not positive where the sound came from. At this point you want to lip squeak just until he looks at you and starts coming in again... Then when he get close enough... shoot him. It takes experience to judge how things are going as far as if he's getting nervous or about ready to bolt. Play the wind... the wind is the most important factor when calling... if he starts to circle to your downwind... you better shoot. 75% of calling coyotes is having good spots that will hold coyotes more often than not. The remaining 25% is little things... like if they can even hear the sound or was it too windy? Maybe they just aren't interested ? You won't call something in every time.... sometimes they'll just sit down and look... sometimes they'll just go back to sleep... With all the e-callers on the market... god only knows what these coyotes have experienced!!! Make sure you hide your vehicle... when driving to you spot... go slow down the road... i mean slow... like 10mh tops!!! sneak into your stand ...like you were deer hunting....

P.S.. GREAT calling spots are just like great fishing spots!! why go fish where you've never caught fish? I hunt the same stand locations EVERY YEAR!!!!

You guys prefer to call buy yourself or is there an advantage to have two guys. I call by myself and lately another guy would be helpful. They seem to be coming in from every direction there not supposed to and I’m not getting good shots at them.

Haven't posted here in a long time. Seen this thread last night and thought I may add my .02........LOL

I haven't trapped much the past cpl years other than my ADC work. I have been calling on a regular basis, like every time I get a chance....LOL

Knowing your quarry and watching them closely will teach you a lot. I know it has taught me a lot anyway.

I started with an e-caller. Still use one, on a very few occasions. I bought a whole bunch of different mouth calls, now only use three different ones. A howler on occasion, a rabbit distress, and jack rabbit distress. As far as the sounds each makes, I don't think it makes a bit of difference. I use the jack distress more than any other and we don't have jacks around here at all. My other call I can change the pitch easily and it works very well also. Make it sound like something is dying or hurt, and most times "they will come". Find a call that don't take a air compressor to use and work with it. Makes it alot more fun and easier.

Wind plays into it, but not so much that I will not hunt a stand because of it. If everything is perfect I will be set up with a cross wind. That seldom happens because so many times the wind is always changing and switching anyway. If real windy, over 10mph, I hunt where the varmint will be protected from it. That in itself can be what makes the difference. Even if it means I am directly up wind from them. I also do my best to get me out of the wind. I can sit longer and move less if I can.

I used to use a guilly suit all the time also. I may still use one in certain situations, but seldom. I have set up on fence lines, CRP fields, cut corn fields, stubble bean fields, open pastures, on creeks and ponds, and in the timber. Most times wearing a pair of brown hunting pants and whatever jacket I sorta think will blend in best.

I do most times, in open country, use a decoy. It is either a rabbit pelt I have, or a coyote tail I cut off a road kill. Both tied to a string wrapped around a Kite reel. I stick the decoy on whatever I can find quickly that has some spring to it. Keep the string held down and use very slight hand movements to make the decoy move a bit. I have had hesitant yotes see that yote tail and come running all bristled up at times. They don't stay bristled long when that 12 ga barks at them. lol I use the decoys to keep the focus away from me.

Recently I have been trying something new. "Still" hunting yotes. I had found an area where the yotes were using a regular basis in and out of a pine thicket. I had called it a few times and was never able to connect. So one morning I just eased in real quiet and set up just as I would deer hunt. Took awhile but did see three and wound up shooting two of them. I have tried it in other areas and it does work, if your in the right area and you have the patience to wait them out.

I call cats at times. Not that I am trying to, they just seem to appear. I have called fox also. Reds seem to work a stand pretty much like a yote would. Greys just seem to come tearing in like crazy maddened aliens or something. You best be ready if a grey is around. Hawks and eagles will also respond of course. Which aint a bad thing, I think the yotes watch them and will be more at ease with them around. Hawks anyway, eagles maybe not so much.

Whew, carried on long enough...lol It aint rocket science, just takes a while to learn how to have fun doing it.

Great post and some excellent comments by true veterans. I use a moveable decoy that il. trapper mentioned except mine is an old 16 inch softball painted black midway down. It imitates a skunk but really is an eye attractor. I drilled a hole through the ball and screwed in an eye bolt and connected a trap swivel. To the swivel I got a (tangled) 100 ft piece of 1/16 th cable attached and I pull the ball around to get the predators attention...seems to work well. To the new callers out there, get out and experiment...calling is a ball!

I haven't seen what you guys are using for guns, besides shotguns. What do you use? I had my 22 mag the other night, but knew I couldn't get a shot where I saw one come in. That was the first time I had luck getting one to come in. Took the 243 out yesterday, didn't see anything. I am new to this, but have tried a few times over the years with no luck yet. I have a few around my house that I am more concerned about thinning way out. Anyway I can.

That is funny. And so right on. haha

A Remington R-15 .223 and a Benelli M1 12 gauge have been my calling combo this season.

The R-15 is an 18" inch barrel carbine that is a great woods rifle, fast handling and accurate...It has a Sightron Big Sky 3x9x42MM scope which pretty much stays on 3 power....A .243 and .25 -.06 are what I use for open country.

A good read for sure,thanks for your post il.trapper.

Customized Tikka .243. Federal premium 55gr ballistic tips.
Total confidence in hunting situations to 500 yards. It will get the job done a lot farther out if need be.

Osky