Coyote Calling in December

[204sniper]

I recently had someone tell me that coyotes won't respond to the call this time of year because they are not "desparate" yet. He said that they won't come to the call until atleast January when the snow is deeper. Is there any truth to this, or is this just another "opinion"? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[lyonch]

pure opinion!!!! Look at the results of the coal country coyote challenge.

[Tbush]

Just shot 2 on wed. Dec.9th

[Prairie Ghost]

December is a "weird" time of the year when it comes to coyotes they are just kind of wondering around. You can certainly still call coyotes in december though

[Coyotehunter]

December is a different than calling in Ocotober and/or February but you can certainly call them in. December, April and August are all tough months. April is heavy femals, August sage brush pups and December more times than notjust nervous coyotes from all the duck, goose, deer, pheasant.................hunters running around shooting at them. Other issues as well with December coyotes but mostly just to much pressure on them.

[Optimax90]

So if I'm understanding you guys, december sucks alittle???
I have noticed that some of the areas that I located all year long, that always seem to have coyotes around, have been sparce.....
Of course there is more traffic around those areas. I have been trying to stay away from any place that there are other hunters. But now with snow, and the pheasant numbers down, guys are chasing coyotes more. I have talked to a few guys that have waited all year for snow so they can "see them" road hunting idiots

[204sniper]

Thanks for all of the replies! I was kind of wondering about the pressure issue, as I have seen quite a few pheasant hunters around. I'm glad that muzzleloader season has just ended because that should ease some of the traffic in the woods. Plus I don't have to wear blaze orange anymore!

[LeviM]

I called a good part of Saturday, saw lots of tracks, but no responders! We were dealing with deer hunters, and pheasant hunters, and first snow road hunters! Really tough!!

[Jeff Rheborg]

I think allot dogs have already heard the whistle. Don't be afraid to change things up. Sit a little longer if need be. We held our contest this past weekend and had 142 dogs checked in. For a one day contest that is not to bad.

Jeff.

[lyonch]

Jeff how many teams is that?

[LeviM]

I think allot dogs have already heard the whistle. Don't be afraid to change things up. Sit a little longer if need be. We held our contest this past weekend and had 142 dogs checked in. For a one day contest that is not to bad.

Jeff.

Thats a Pile

[Jeff Rheborg]

I don't mean to hi-jack this thread...We had 52 teams enter with only 12 coming in with zero. I will post the results on the tournament page.

Jeff.

[204sniper]

That's an average of 3.5 dogs per team (not counting the teams that got nothing)! I might have to move back to SoDak.....

[barebackjack]

Early December is my favorite time to call. When the first snow hits it seems to "confuse" or "rile up" the youngsters. Right after the first snow is one of favorite specific times of year to call, especially if it gets unusually cold (sometimes this is in November though). Seems to be a few days following where their up and really active, wondering what that cold white stuff is. Fur is at its best, coyotes show up well, and they havent been called at ALL season yet (at least, traditionaly they havent, but now more and more guys are calling earlier and earlier). Not to mention, usually in early December, the damn snowmobiles haven't been out long yet. Snowmobiles......

Bad thing about December is your still dealing with lots of other hunters out and about. Upland guys, still some waterfowlers out there, Muzzleloader hunters, bow hunters, etc. But with the number of guys out there calling these days, theres hardly a "quiet" month from October thru March anymore.

Ive always had very good success in the early part of the month, than it tapers off until later on in January time frame, after the prolonged FRIGID cold when they start to get "desperate".

[Dcoy]

Ditto to what Bareback said-especially the tapering off thing.And 'pressure' is relative.In my area,lots of it til about January.30 miles away is different.150 miles(Missouri R) is totally different.We have one very different factor going here this year.Lots of water and lots of unharvested corn.HUGE fields of it.That has changed things a great deal.It concentrates damn near everything which sounds good until you try call them in it or tougher,call them out of it.Huge blocks of 'pasture'/range land which traditionally are easy pickings in December(pressure has actually helped push things there) are barren of wildlife and yotes.It took the new snow and lots of miles driving bad roads and walking to realize that.THEN,the 'pressure' comes back into play cause everyone from pheasant hunters to muzzle loaders are after something concentrated in the corn as well.Kind of a double whammy.Another downside to 'gold fever'(ethanol).In fact with over 300,000 acres of CRP gone up here in the NE-so far,more going out daily-lots of things are changing.Wiley coyote will survive of course but the quality of hunting will not.
More phony,temporary,politically expedient 'progress'.
Good hunting!