How To Drive To Your Stand
Driving to your coyote hunting stand
It would be nice if we could just teleport into our favorite coyote hunting stand, but it doesn’t work that way. In most cases we need to drive fairly close to our calling spot. Fortunately, coyotes aren’t usually spooked badly by vehicles traveling the roadways where they live. Unfortunately, they often spook when one of those rigs comes to a stop.
What can you do to minimize the impact of your transportation?
Some of the tactics you can use to reduce the chance of spooking coyotes are really no-brainers. First, when you are in your hunting area, turn off the radio. Have you ever heard the deep resounding bass coming from the stereo of the car beside you at a traffic light? I guarantee that if you can hear it a coyote can too. Turn off the radio.
Don’t drive through the area you plan to hunt. When exploring new hunting areas it’s not uncommon to realize you found a great calling spot after you’ve already driven over the ridge or around the corner. Make a mental note of the location, good stand setup spots and good places to hide your rig. Then keep driving and come back later when you can approach it the right way.
Whenever possible, park in a spot that is not visible from the area you plan to call. If a coyote sees your truck, he is less likely to respond to your calling. Having said that, I have, on a couple of occasions, had coyotes walk right past my truck when coming in to a call.
Once you’ve parked, try to be as quiet as possible when getting out and gathering your hunting gear.
Take the key out of the ignition. If you don’t, there will be a warning beep-beep-beep telling you not to leave your keys in the car. It will also serve as a warning to any coyotes nearby. They have excellent hearing.
When closing your doors, don’t let them slam shut. Gently guide them until they make contact with the door jam and then push them closed. If you are using a remote to lock the doors, use a setting that does not give an audible signal that the door is locked. If you don’t have that setting, use your key to lock the door.
Turn off your lights
I like to make my first stand of the day right at first legal shooting light, or as soon as I can see well enough to spot an incoming coyote as it sneaks through the sage. This often means driving into the stand while it’s still relatively dark. in doing so, be careful not to let your lights shine into the area you plan to call. I like to slow way down and turn off my lights all together to avoid the possibility of spooking any dawgs in the area.
If you have been careful in approaching your calling spot and quiet when getting out, you don’t really need to walk a long way from your vehicle to set up for calling. On most of my stands I’m usually a quarter mile or less from my rig. You really don’t need to be miles from the road, in fact, coyotes often use roadways as travel paths.
If you are hunting areas that really don’t offer a place to conceal your rig and are hunting with a buddy, doing a drop stand can be very effective. To do this, have the passenger be ready to quickly get out of the vehicle, stop as briefly as possible to allow them to exit the vehicle with the needed equipment, and drive away, leaving the passenger to set up and call. This can be a very effective tactic for hunting coyotes that might otherwise be overlooked.