Predator Hunting Tactics: An Advanced Beginner’s Guide

Like any hunt, predator hunting begins long before you reach a stand. Coyotes are tough animals with a strong will to live, which makes them adaptable to almost any environment in North America. Hunting them requires preparation and a willingness to continuously tackle challenges.

Coyotes have a huge impact on big game animals like deer, elk, and antelope by preying on fawns and calves. Hunters can help alleviate pressure on big game herds and give fawns and calves a better chance to survive by managing coyote populations.

Savage ambassador and hunting guide, Kyle Kuechel of Yuma, AZ started predator hunting to extend his hunting season after deer season ended and to help increase big game populations in his area. To learn more about Kuechel, check out his Savage Journey on becoming a better predator hunter.

Many areas have open hunting seasons on coyotes. Which means that you do not need a tag to hunt coyotes year-round (check your local regulations). You just need a hunting license, accessible land, the right gear, and a little bit of know-how. 

If you have buck fever, but your season for chasing bucks is over or you want to knock down coyotes to preserve huntable populations of big game, give predator hunting a shot and keep reading! Kuechel helped us break down some tips for anyone get started hunting coyotes and to help beginners raise their game!

Advice for New Hunters

It can be daunting for a new coyote hunter to begin. Kuechel offers three pieces of advice for anyone getting into predator hunting:

1. Find a mentor. If you have never been coyote hunting before, the best thing you can do is to find someone in your area with experience who can teach you and help you get started with the necessary gear. Most hunters are thrilled share their passion and to take a new hunter under their wing. 
2. Mix it up. Every hunter gets stuck in a rut from time to time. If you can’t find the coyotes or they are not responding to calls, you need to do something different. Kuechel has seen too many hunters focus on one area where they have killed coyotes before or fixate on one technique of calling. Flip the script and get out of that rut. 
3. Don’t be afraid to mess up. Coyotes are smart and adaptable animals. You must continuously try different things to trigger a reaction from a coyote, and inevitably you will try things that don’t work. You will forget a critical piece of gear. You will miss a shot. The weather will change. Don’t let any of these challenges discourage you. “I’ve learned from my mistakes every single trip,” says Kuechel. Successful predator hunters are just as adaptable as their prey.

Land Access: Where the Coyotes Roam

One of the biggest challenges we face as a hunting community is land access. There are a couple of things you can do to find land access:

1. Research land access resources in your area. Your state’s natural resources department is usually a great place to start.
2. Hire a local hunting guide or find a mentor who knows the area well, know public access points and has relationships with landowners
3. Utilize mapping technology. Apps like HuntStand, OnX, and others are changing the game for helping hunters access public and private land. Mapping technology that can be in the palm of anyone’s hands also helps keep hunters accountable for their whereabouts. 

Public Land

Kuechel says he’s blessed to live in Arizona, which is one of the biggest public land states. He hunts almost exclusively on public land. 

Remember -- Public lands are for everyone and belong to the public, so here are a few best practices:

• Be courteous and respectful of the land
• Pick up after yourself
• Follow all local rules and regulations, comply with all signs and boundary markers, follow all gun and hunter’s safety rules.
• You may not be the only hunter or outdoorsman in the area, so be aware of your surroundings
• Find more resources at Tread Lightly. 

Everyone has access to public land, but you still need to do your research if you want to have a successful predator hunt. You need to find and scout access points, the conditions of roads or trails, and local rules and regulations. Knowing the access and roads/trails will help you determine if you need to enter on foot or if you’re able to utilize a vehicle. “Be willing to work for it on public land. You might have hike 3, 4, 5 miles, but you might call in more coyotes than anyone else,” says Kuechel.

Private Land

You need to get the landowner’s permission every time you hunt on private land. If you have a relationship with the landowner, never assume that you have permission to hunt whenever you want – always ask. 

If you have to knock on doors to get permission, here are a few tips:

• Ask for permission with plenty of notice before your proposed hunt.
• Show up looking presentable. Don’t show up in your hunting gear ready to go or looking dirty.
• Have a plan and share it with them. You should clearly communicate what you plan to hunt, where you plan to be, when you will be there, and who will be with you. And stick to it if you get permission. Don’t deviate from it unless you have communicated the changes to the landowner previously. 
• Be respectful. If they deny permission, thank them for their time and move on. If they grant permission, ask them about any rules they have on the property and anything you should be aware of. Pick up any trash you see, check fences, and remove coyote carcasses. Remember: You are a guest on their private property. 

Ultimately, you want to build a relationship with the landowner. Making a good impression, building trust, and helping them manage the coyote population on the property will go a long way in maintaining hunting access. 

Eat. Breed. Protect. 

Coyotes have a well-earned reputation for being wily and smart. Many hunters worry about overeducating them, making subsequent hunts harder. Kuechel warns against overestimating the coyote. When it comes down to it, coyotes have three main biological drives: Eat, Breed, Protect. 

Eat

Coyotes are predators, and their appetites rule them. The fall and winter seasons are when their predacious behaviors kick into overdrive. During the winter, coyotes tend to be less nocturnal when they search for food. You will probably find distress calls to be the most effective when coyotes are in a predacious mode. 

Breed

Like most animals, coyotes have a breeding season. In general, coyotes breed in late winter or early spring, but it will depend on your specific area. Female and estrus sounds are the obvious choices to bring a male in running.  

Protect

Coyotes live in family groups and are territorial. A family group pressuring another group’s territory is a quick way to spring a coyote into action. Fighting or pup distress sounds are effective calls to trigger a response.

Predator hunters tend to get in their own heads a lot and overthink coyotes. Kuechel reminds us that coyotes are simple animals. They want to eat, find a mate, and protect their territory. “If you approach your sounds that way, I think you’ll have a lot more success.”

A Winding Road to Avoid Getting “Winded” 

When setting up your stand, you need to take the terrain and weather into consideration. 

As with almost any kind of hunting, the wind is everything. Coyotes have a keen sense of smell and a predator hunter’s primary challenge is to not get busted by the coyote’s sniffer.

One of the best predator hunting tips: You want the sun at your back and the wind in your face. Swirling wind is a predator hunter’s worst nightmare, and it is a common challenge when hunting in the hills. You must always be aware of how the wind is changing and adjust your approach accordingly. “Sometimes you have to give up the sun, but I always try to never give up the wind,” says Kuechel.

With each stand, Kuechel likes to remind every hunter to “watch the wind.” If a coyote comes into a call, they tend to come in from downwind or from the side and approach it with their nose first, so it’s imperative to be aware of wind changes and to watch for coyotes coming in from different directions. 

A light breeze might be nice for a picnic, but 0-3 mph winds make coyote hunting more challenging. A stronger wind can make your approach simpler. “I love hunting in the wind because I know which way it’s going,” says Kuechel.

Before every hunt, Kuechel looks at wind models and the National Weather Service. Knowing weather, storm systems and wind predictions can help you plan out how you are going to approach your stands for the day.  A cloudy and overcast day makes it easier to navigate your stands and easier to spot any approaching coyotes. Kuechel has had great success hunting in front of or behind storm systems. In general, cooler days are recipe for success. Coyotes tend to be more nocturnal when it is too hot during the day. 

The terrain you encounter as a predator hunter will vary widely depending on what area of the country you are hunting. Learning from a local expert is the best way to develop a plan on how to approach stands. Some people like hunting in the flats, but Kuechel notes that it can be harder to see approaching coyotes if you’re surrounded by trees or brush and may only have one or two shooting lines. Kuechel prefers hunting from an elevated position whenever possible, so he can see the coyotes coming in from a long distance. “I like cover behind me, so I like sit by a big tree or big rock,” says Kuechel. Using a natural feature in the landscape to provide cover on your backside helps you blend in. If you are navigating hills, walk below the ridge to avoid silhouetting yourself and catching the watchful eye of a nearby coyote. 

Calling All Yotes

Calling for coyotes is arguably one of the most exciting aspects of predator hunting. Why? It is different every time. Figuring out what the coyotes are responding to is part of the appeal. 

How do you find coyotes? In addition to scouting (look for tracks, scat, and prey) and glassing, howling is a great way to locate coyotes before heading out to your stand. Kuechel typically does this from the road or trail before trekking in further. If he hears a response to the howl, he can then develop a plan to put pressure on the coyotes in the area to bring them into the call. 

Electronic calls have upped the coyote game by making anyone a good caller. This technology has welcomed many new hunters into the sport and makes good callers better. When using a combination of an e-calls and hand calls, keep in mind where the focus point is for the coyote. Set up an e-call some distance in front of you and make sure you have clear shots especially in the direction downwind from the call. When a coyote comes into the call, they’ll be focused on the source of the sound, which should set you up for a nice shot. “I have had sets where I turned off the call for 5 minutes and getting ready to leave, then I’ll have a coyote come charging in, and it’ll run right to where the call is. Their hearing is incredible,” says Kuechel. 

When using a hand call, YOU are the source of the sound and the focus point.  “You have to be really on your game to be able to come off that call and get on your gun and make a shot, but not get caught moving,” says Kuechel about using hand calls. Be prepared for a coyote to come in close and be looking right at you.

When cycling through a call sequence, remember to keep the coyote’s biological drives in mind – eat, breed, protect. Your initial goal should be to appeal to all three during a stand and see what the coyotes are responding to. If you get a response to one, make a note of it for your next stand. If you don’t get a response, don’t give up – but don’t keep trying the same things either. Mix it up! “I think a lot of people get stuck in their ways and get hung up on what worked previously,” says Kuechel.

When coyotes are predacious in the fall and winter, distress sounds are usually the ticket. Kuechel recommends trying a few sounds that might be a little outside the box to use in conjunction with classic distress sounds. He refers to them as “comfort sounds” – sounds that coyotes hear all the time in their environment. One of Kuechel’s favorites is crows or ravens. When a coyote hears scavenger birds, it’s a signal to them that there is a meal for the taking! “I think a lot of people sleep on those sounds because they just want to blast Lightning Jack or the rabbit.”

On the season goes on and more pressure is placed on the coyotes by hunters, territorial sounds like fights, pup distress, and den raids are effective.

Kuechel recalls a hunt in February with a client when he played a rabbit distress call for several minutes with no response. There were plenty of signs that coyotes were in the area, but none were responding to the distress call. Before moving on, Kuechel tried a female coyote howl, and “coyotes lit up everywhere!” They were suddenly surrounded by coyotes in every direction. He followed up the howl with a fighting sound to keep their attention, and his client ended up knocking down two coyotes on that stand.

“In the first eight minutes, nothing happened because they weren’t interested in the rabbit. But as soon as they heard that fight, the whole pack came.” From that stand on, Kuechel knew that distress sounds weren’t going to work that day. The coyotes were in a fighting mood. They killed five coyotes that day and all of them responded to pup distress, howls, or territorial sounds. 

Kuechel prefers to fade in from a low volume and play a sound for 2-5 minutes, fade out, stay silent for 30-60 seconds and just listen. Then he repeats that pattern with another sound, appealing to a different biological drive. If he doesn’t think a coyote is coming after several cycles of this, he’ll move onto the next stand and repeat. There’s no one right way to do this or magical sequence to bring in a coyote. Kuechel stresses the importance of mixing it up and to keep trying! This part of predator hunting is trial and error – but don’t get caught up in superstitions. 

Calling in a strong crosswind is one of Kuechel’s favorite predator hunting tactics. For example, if you have a strong crosswind from right to left, keep watching to the left because the coyotes want to come in from downwind. Using an e-call in this situation is a big advantage. You can set up the e-call farther away from you, so the wind is blowing your scent behind where the coyote will approach.

Stick to it!

As Kuechel says, your ‘sticktoitiveness’ comes into play with predator hunting. It’s going to test your patience and take you for a ride – the grind never stops.

“Trial and error is the name of the game with predator hunting,” says Kuechel. The first time you’re successful, it’s hard not to get hooked.