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I hope this has helped in some way.Just a thought on setting up,we think nothing of walking in a half mile or more.Calling will yield poor results if you have an aversion about getting more than a hundred yards from your vehicle.
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Thanks everyone for the words of advice. Yes, you've all been a great help, especially this last part. You'll see why when you read on.
I've figured out my problem: I take my ATV deep into the forest to hunt coyotes. My bike is alerting them to my presence. Next trip out, I won't use the bike. I'll use the patented "B.L.T.S.," perhaps better known as the Boot Leather Transportation System.
For what it's worth, here's what I did on Saturday. Feel free to let me know what you think I did wrong or right. I'd appreciate the feedback.
Set up on the ground in a well-concealed uphill spot, upwind, along an old logging road covered in coyote tracks. Wind was about 5 mph, temp was about 30F, snow was about a foot deep, and it was dawn. Used a cottontail in distress call. Just for good measure, I put out a snowshoe hare pelt about 80 yards downwind on the side of the road. Called hard at first for 10 straight minutes, called intermittently after that, maybe three sequences every 15 minutes. The road ran east-west. On the south side was dense forest. On the north side was a clearcut.
Next stand: Put myself in a tree stand. Placed the rabbit pelt about 75 yards to the north of me, with the wind blowing towards the east less than 10 mph. It was about 11 a.m. and the temp was about 31F. Called for about 7 or 8 minutes straight, then called intermittently for another 30 minutes or so. There was a clearcut area between me and the bait. The bait was placed along a wood line. No coyote tracks in the immediate vicinity but there were several along a road that passed about 150 yards away.
Last stand: Set up along an old logging road that ran north-south in very dense woods. Wind was very light, out of the west. I was on the west side of the road in dense cover. Bait was on the road, north of me, in a big dip in the road, where you could see tons of coyote tracks, as if they had caught a mouse or something the previous night. Called with a howler and a rabbit-in-distress call for 15 minutes. (Gotta quit smoking, it's hard to call for that long with MY lung capacity.)
Someone else told me as well that my big mistake was taking the ATV into the woods with me. I won't make that mistake the next time. They also told me that when they're yipping and yapping back at me, they are merely laughing at me because they've busted me, so I think your advice is very valid.
It had snowed slightly the night before I went out and there were very fresh coyote tracks all over the place, includign some that showed two coyotes had started to respond to my calling but then turned around. Sounds like my calling could use a little practice as well, judging by that evidence!
Thanks again for your input and feel free to add more after reading this about how I set myself up.