How Coyote Classroom came to be
Becoming a successful coyote hunter
I was introduced to predator hunting as a teenager when my Dad bought a Burnham Brothers hand call. We went out several times a year for the next four or five years, bought and listened to cassette tapes on calling predators, followed the instructions and tried to mimic the sounds made by the experts, and never called in anything but crows, hawks and magpies.
When I got involved with athletics in high school, my time was limited and I basically gave up on calling coyotes.
After marriage and three kids, my interest in coyote hunting was rekindled and I started talking to a coworker about giving it another try. I called and killed my first coyote on a trip to western Utah where we met a woman who complained about coyotes killing her cats. We found a slight rise in her back yard, set up and called for about three minutes. I was watching the left approach and my buddy the right when the ‘yote came in on his side.
I first became aware of the critter when his 7mm magnum went off. Later he told me the dog had come in on a dead run and by the time he got his gun up all he could see through his scope was hair.
Somehow he had missed the coyote, but it made the mistake of stopping for a look back at about 200 yards and I put it down with a shot from my .243. We were both hooked.
I moved my family to Sanpete County in Utah and quickly learned that the turkey and sheep industry in that area had declared war on predators and, though there were some in the area, they were heavily pursued by farmers, ranchers, sportsmen and government trappers.
With the advent of social media, I began watching YouTube videos and had the good fortune of making the acquaintance of Kerry Carver, Steve Walker and Big Al Morris.
I purchased a FoxPro Hellfire and a set of handmade calls from Carver Predator Calls. My son put together an AR-15 for me. I camo painted the rifle and went out the next day for a hunt south of Mayfield, Utah.
On my first three stands I had coyotes howling at me and figured that either I was messing things up, or more likely, they had been educated already. Working my way back to the truck, I made a couple more stands. Stopping about 300 yards from where I was parked. I turned on Bay Bee Cottontail and eight minutes later caught sight of a coyote standing in a small opening in the junipers that edged the sagebrush flat I was watching. I pivoted the AR on my homemade shooting sticks, centered the crosshairs on the dog’s chest and killed my second coyote.
From that point on, my interest and success increased. Although my fun-on-the-ground rate isn’t in the same league as that of Big Al, Kerry Carver, Rusty Gamble or Micah and Garrett from Hidden Instinct, I’m moving in that direction.
According to information gathered by the Utah Division of Wildlife through their Mule Deer Protection Act program, ten percent of coyote hunters harvest 50% of the coyotes. My coyote hunting game has improved to the point that I am now among the top 5% of coyote hunters in Utah. I am continuing to learn and improve.
It was fun to watch the YouTube videos of Hidden Instinct and their goal to kill 100 coyotes in 30 days. I learned from their successes and was comforted to see that shifting winds and rotten weather affected their hunts the same way it does my efforts.
Which brings me to the purpose of this blog series. I hope that the things I have learned and the ways I discovered them will be of help to anyone who is interested in taking up the challenge of coyote hunting. If you are new to the sport, read on and hopefully you won’t make some of the same mistakes I made. If you are among the elite, feel free to comment and add your insight.
Anyway, I hope you will enjoy my contributions and that you might pick up a hint or two that will increase your success and enjoyment of this challenging activity.