Close coyote hunting

[L. Cooper]

Foster, I don't think roads bother coyotes much. In fact, once snow gets deep they will regularly use roads, snowmobile tracks, tractor trails, and even our own cross-country ski trails to make travel easier (coyote crap can ruin the wax job on your skis). They also obviously like to "mark" the trails with their own scat. The only reason we avoid roads is that we don't want someone driving down the road while we are trying to talk to an approaching coyote. I see no reason to think a road will bother your hunting, but traffic certainly will.

As far as clearcuts go, if you can get a coyote to hear your call from the other side of a clearcut, and he has no good route that will provide concealment to get to you, he will be quite willing to cross the open space to have a look. They all want to use cover if they can, but they all want an easy meal too.

The trick is to make sure your set up is undetected, that nothing makes the open crossing look/sound/smell dangerous, and that there is a coyote on the other side to hear your efforts.

I would look for a patch of trees that could be approached from downwind of the area you think holds the coyotes, and which you could use low spots and hollows to reach so you could avoid just wandering across the clearcut in plain view.

Clearcuts are often pretty messy. Can you just hunker down in the middle of one in some stumps or slash to break your outline and get a 360 degree view? With some appropriate clothing and a little "stuff" around you to break up your outline, it can take very little to make a successful set up.