So tell me a little bit about locating dens .I have heard about it .What are some things to look for area/locations.

around here, south facing slopes, caves, blow downs, old woodchuck holes. If you happen to walk up on one, youll know it. Then youll probably have to find another one as momma will have em moved before you can do anything about it unless you were prepared.

Here in Ag country it is different as it is in the Eastern woods, Mountains, and Prairies. Does your game & Fish Dept have any data where you can get a copy? Guessing that a DRY spot/area would be high on Momma coyotes list for picking a den site in Louisiana. Man made wooden brush piles (from logging operation) might be worth a gander. SNIPER is correct from my experience as when you find one in the spring, you will know it. I have 3 perennial denning spots w/i 3 miles of my house that I check every so often for the occurrence of a litter. I check in February and then about now. Listen at night now also as the teens will be trying their voices soon. I learned a lot when I found the first one coon hunting at night years ago. These dens are not occupied each year and I'm sure momma has some badger dens she utilizes if disturbed from these spots. But once you find one you start to get an idea where these could show up on the (your) landscape. Bones (AKA toys), will give the area away. Let us know when you find 1................................................ the mike

All I know is they hide them well. We have lots of coyotes and I spent lots of time checking cattle horse back, fixing fence, farming and scouting for deer and I'm always looking for coyote sign and I haven't found very many active dens. Coyotes know what areas humans frequent and areas they don't and they seem to pick areas humans are least likely to visit. I've observed pairs of coyotes and figured I was probably within a 1/4 mile of a den and might be able to find it if I tried.
When I have found an active den they move the pups right away as stated above. I think they will move them even if u get too close but don't actually find the den.

As has been said, they use everything. I've even found them with no "hole," just using big sage clumps or over hanging rock ledges. And they move more frequently and at a younger age than most think. Those pups don't stay in a hole long and then they are camped out in the brush, following their parents as far as they can, and then just hanging out until mom or dad get back. Lots of times there is an adult babysitter, usually a female from one of the prior litters. If there is a babysitter, the pups tend to stay near the original hole longer.

The best way to locate them is vocalizations. Go out at dark and howl and they will often answer. If there is a den, you'll know it because the male will give you that threatening bark, and the female won't shut up with her yip howl. After about the 20th of May (here), the pups will start to vocalize and then you can get the entire den to light up.

They must hide them well…I know where they light up from and have walked every inch of that drain and can’t find it. We drop dogs off in the field to the north when running hogs and those coyotes get all riled up when the dogs come through, but I’ve yet to find the den. I can set up and call them out from either the North, East, or West and eventually kill them or what I think is “all” of them, but still have never located the den.

Good info . I have never ran into one. It is something I wondered about.Always good to learn more more about the game you are after.

There’s a den somewhere inside the red circle…the outlined red is our dove field.

Waters a big deal in the arid regions.

But, it doesn’t take much.

Even a small seep can sustain pups and ma for a while. Dad, he can travel out for water.

Years ago when we still had red fox it was fairly easy to find they’er dens . We have had coyotes since the very late 70’s and I’ve only found 3 active dens in the last 40 years. The biggest thing I’ve noticed is when your dogs get too close to a fox den you probably won’t know it , when they get too close to a coyote den , your going to know it. The other difference is the trash. Fox dens will have bones and pieces of ground hog hide scattered around. Coyotes will have human trash, paper plates ,tin cans, plastic bottles, license plates, John Graham told me he found a range finder once. I’m guessing these are toys brought home by the parents. Years ago we found one of the old old spice bottles , you know , glass covered in white plastic. I picked it up and carried it up to the truck and laid it down next to the corner of the catch pen. A few months latter hunting the same pasture I picked up another and did the same thing and noticed that the first one was gone . Over the next few year we played this game many times. This is one reason we should not be afraid of toy sets, lol .

Always why you should stake your toys lol.

That is interesting info Golf Ball.

Of the dens around here it’s not surprising that they bring roadside trash to the den. I asked the guys at coyote days what they found at den sites as the coyotes they deal with are a little more rural and perhaps a little more man shy. But it sounds like they will pick up most anything too.

Edit: Oh, looking at the picture again, it seems that's a dashed line (boundary line?), not a river. At first glance, it looked like there is a river running through the circled area. I've heard in the past that coyotes like to den near a source of water (which makes sense to me), but this will be my first season of trapping so I don't speak from experience.

For those of you who have managed to find dens, how far were they from a source of water?

That blue line is just a drain from the pond. A small creek when the pond overflows. We have wet weather holes all over the property so water isn’t an issue any time of the year. They fill up during the Spring rains and can last all Summer long.

You kinda answered a question I have. I was wondering if dogs were good locators of dens, not that I intend to do it, just curious?

The dogs may not find the dens but if they get close enough, the coyotes will find the dogs. Years ago I recorded a couple of hounds treeing a coon one night and then put it on a loop. What I found was that it did not work without the presence of at least one dog. At that time I didn’t have a hound that I wanted messing with coyotes, so it didn’t work. In those days we had enough trouble with hounds and coyotes while coon hunting , we didn’t want to force the issue.

These dogs will ignore anything that isn’t a hog. I’ve watched deer get up in front of them and between them and they pay no attention to them. I’m guessing the coyotes just bark aggressively, but there’s generally 4-5 dogs released and they just may not want to tangle with them. I’ve seen those dogs bay and actually hold a hog and not even need the catch dog so that could be a reason as well.
Can only remember once of a coyote sounding off on a coon dog. Now that could’ve been a different story because in that instance he only had one dog out.

I run into it every year when spring bear hunting, generally the coyotes will just bark and try to get the dogs to chase them and lead them away from the den. I do remember one time I had a bear bayed in a bunch of thick reprod and I was in there trying to get a shot at the bear and a coyote had been following them around barking. I seen the coyote run in and grab one of my dogs by hind leg, actually put holes in it. I could have killed the coyote but the bear was only fifteen feet from me at the time and I was trying to get a clear shot at it. (plus I didn't want to kill a coyote to my bear dogs). He was a young dog but he ignored the coyote and kept baying the bear. I can remember a different time I was cold trailing a bear and it had been feeding around the edge of a cut during the night. A coyote kept barking at the dogs trying to get them to chase her and she finally got too close to a young male and he just turned and downed her had her dead in the time it took me to get 150 yards down to them. That was a female that was full of milk. I've seen them follow dogs around for an hour or two barking at them.

From what I understand, this time of year is when the decoy dog guys really have a lot of success.

Most all the trouble I’ve had with coyotes was back in the 80’s and 90’s, but it happened on a regular basis. I’ve seen what I assume was a dog coyote clean as many as 4 grown hounds off a tree during a competition hunt. At other times I’ve seen what I assume was a female harass a dog or dogs while tracking a coon . One night my Nt.Ch. female got caught by a (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) coyote in the edge of a fresh planted corn field. I ran out to them and used my dog lead to whip that coyote off my gyp , she followed us all the way back to the truck at 20 yards or less , only backing up when I turned and went after her. By far this was the most aggressive coyote I ever saw until guys started filming decoy dogs. Without a doubt if you like hunting with dogs this would be an absolute adrenaline filled way to improve your habitats by removing a multitude of coyotes in one set up .