The Best Time Of Year To Hunt Coyotes
It’s certainly true that you can call and kill coyotes any day of the year but, statistically, the late fall and winter months are by far the most popular for pursuing Prairie Poodles. I would speculate that the harvest numbers by month are more of a reflection of human preference than a coyotes willingness to respond to calling.
Based in information gathered by the Utah Division of Wildlife and FoxPro Fox Data, here is how each month stacks up.
Late summer and early fall hunts will bring in mostly younger coyotes. Also, the hides will not be furred out and won’t be as valuable as winter coyotes.
Best months for harvesting coyotes
January, February and November log more harvested coyotes than any others. They are followed closely by October and December. Numbers drop off for March, September, April, June and August. May and July are the slowest months for coyote hunting.
I personally don’t start hunting coyotes until August for several reasons. Primarily, my neck of the woods features summer temperatures in the 100 plus degree range. Those temperatures are just too uncomfortable to be hiking around the desert. I feel my free time is better spent on the lake chasing crappie and wipers.
I also don’t feel right killing a nursing female and leaving the pups to starve. I’d rather have the opportunity to hunt them later in the year. I realize that from a strictly predator control point of view, killing a nursing female eliminates several future calf killers with one bullet, but I’m just not comfortable doing so.
I usually continue hunting dawgs through March. By then things have warmed up on the lakes and my interest switches to fishing again.
What sounds should I use at different times of the year?
To break down the best sounds for different months, lets follow the coyote life cycle, starting with the breeding season. In my area, breeding season begins in January and runs through March. Coyotes still need to eat during the breeding season, so don’t completely abandon prey distress, but switch to more vocals.
This time of year I like to start my stand with a few single howls, wait for three to five minutes and then go into some type of coyote pair sequence. Next I’ll play some social interaction sounds and then move into breeding sounds. I like MFKs Hooked Pair. and Bump & Grind. From there I will go into some female whimpers and then finish up with pup distress. In my experience, coyotes respond more aggressively during the breeding season and stands can get pretty intense.
When coyotes start denning up and raising pups, they will need more energy and respond well to prey distress. They also become very protective of their pups and any pup fight can trigger a response, followed by pup distress. Keep in mind that, while the pups are in the den, the adults tend to stay close to home. You will need to be more careful in approaching your calling stands because you will be much closer to the coyotes that are willing to respond. You will also need to be more committed to your scouting because you’ll need to pinpoint coyote locations more accurately.
In August and September the pups will be dispersing and heading out on their own. This time of the year most of the dawgs called will be young of the year. For this reason, I avoid any type of howl that might intimidate these younger pups. Prey distress is my go to, followed by pup fights and pup distress. Older coyotes will often respond well to these distressed pup sounds as well.
October through December I start with prey distress for about 15 minutes and then switch to vocals for the rest of the stand. I usually stay on stand a little longer through the winter months because by this time of the year some of the coyotes have been called, missed and educated. Cold weather demands a higher intake of calories for coyotes to stay warm. Try some different types of prey distress sounds, something they might not have heard before.