Hi all, looking for some tips with predator calling. I am an experienced hunter but just got into this about 6-8 months ago and am having trouble calling anything in.

I hunt a little over 1000 acres in south Texas using an Icotec gc300 e caller, and haven’t had a single animal show up to my stands. I have hunted with and without thermal, and have seen and heard coyotes (not while calling of course) and coyote sign on the property so I know they are there, as are bobcats and foxes.

I have tried prey distress calls, a mixture of coyote vocals and prey distress, hunting at night, hunting in the morning, hunting over water sources, hunting close range thick brush and hunting cow pastures to no avail.

I also wear camo and hunt with cover behind me to avoid being spotted as much as I can, and don’t keep the caller next to me for the same reason. I also check wind often and try to stay downwind.

At first I think I was calling too loud, but have backed off the volume a bit since then and still nothing. I generally try to work a stand for 20 minutes or so before calling it quits. Anything else I might be missing?

I know how you feel. After watching a lot of you tube videos & reading a lot. The one thing I did learn is the videos make it look easy. What they don't tell you is they were in the field for a lot longer making those videos then the 10 minutes they show. It takes time. How is the hunting pressure in your area. A lot of coyotes are immune to the sound of electronic calls because they have heard them so much. With that said when you find the secret let me know.

Hunting pressure will dictate a lot, but from the sounds of it, I'm gathering you have the acreage to yourself.

Right now, it is PRIME TIME.  Pups are out of the den, on their own, and are stupid. 6-8 months ago, was tough, because all of the coyotes were smart from the fall/winter calling, breading and raising pups.

I won't say hunting at night is easier, but I like it more.  Easier to conceal yourself and you can get away with more movement than during the day.  Thermals help a ton in spotting a coyote as well.

With the caller you have, you're limited on the sounds you can play.  I'd stick with the cottontail or jackrabbit distress only.  The howls are too aggressive for this time of the year.  They'll work for locating/calling in Jan./Feb.

I'd strongly suggest getting a couple hand calls (open reed) that you can learn to make a lot more sounds with.  Closed reed callers are great too.  Other option is getting a caller with more variety of calls to play with.  Figure out what works in your area, even if they are over-pressured, there will be something they can't resist.

It took me a while to get pretty good. I called one in the first time I ever went but then took 2 years to call another
First thing is get a better call.  They will all call them but the more sounds to choose from the better. Get a better Icotec, Foxpro or Lucky Duck. Something with more options.
I really like coyote vocals. They work great all year. I called in 3 last week playing interrogation howls on an Icotec outlaw.
A mouth call can work wonders. The primos lil dog is good to start with. Mimic what you hear on the calls.
Right now pups are really curious. I hardly ever call anything in using rabbit distress.
Just because you hear coyotes sometimes and see sign doesn't mean they are there when you call. They might come through every night or once every couple of weeks. They have a core area but they have a home territory that can be 10 square miles. It's usually smaller depending on food. They bed in the thickest most inconvenient place for you to get in to.
On the other hand they might be there and you've been busted or know something is up.
Also play the wind. You don't want them to smell you.
I always try to set up where I'll be able to shoot when they go to circle down wind. It's usually within 100 yards. Not always but usually. And 90% of the time they will try to get down wind.
Make sure you aren't over hunting the land. I'm not sure how much you have but the more the better.  
I always see more in the morning up until 11 or so. They are on their way back to bed down for the day. After about 10 I'll go close to where I think they are going to be bedded down.
Good luck
Get on Predatormasters.com

In general, predators are way more wary than prey animals.

As I tell my deer hunting friends....On a scale of 1 to 10

Hunting deer is about a 4

Hunting mature bucks only is about a 7

Hunting coyotes is a 13

of course, thats what makes it fun

Make sure you keep the wind in mind when you set up, they usually will try to wind the caller. I use a FoxPro and try to keep the caller about 100-150 feet from me.

As to what call, it depends on what they're used to hunting and IF they've been called and shot at. An educated coyote is really difficult to call in.

I've had good luck with rabbit in distress or bird distress calls and when that fails a challenge bark will sometime get them to respond. If you're close to a farmstead and they've been killing cats a kitten in distress call works.

Days when it's not fit to be out work well here. When the temp drops to zero or below for a few days they come in more aggressively.

Calling during deer season usually doesn't work for me. I suspect they have enough gut piles and the occasional wounded deer to eat so they're not hungry.

Early in the season (right now) you should get the dumb ones to respond.

It's fun, a lot of people don't understand how you can go out time after time, not score and still go out but the challenge is what makes it fun.

This time of year, a pup yelper works well.

Another invaluable tool in my call arsenal is a mouse squeaker.

Mix up electronic calls with manual calls for different sounds and volumes.

You probably oughtta sit for 30 minutes at least. Call for 2 or 3, sit for 10, repeat as needed.

Try to get them to respond. If they do and you know what area they are in, you can move in closer.  The closer the better. Most coyotes here won't travel too far unless it's wide open terrain. They also don't like to climb large hills. I'm not saying they won't but I have a lot more success in the bottoms or if I'm on top they are close to the top already.
Depending on the area and how much food they have you might not have a lot of luck with prey distress.. if they aren't hungry they may not care.

Thanks everyone for the tips and tricks. Glad to know I’m not the only one that gets skunked.

I was able to get some responses last time I was out but they were clearly too far out (and likely off my hunting property).

I am going to keep at it and see if I can’t make something happen. The hunting pressure specific to coyotes and predators is relatively low, but hog hunting pressure is high and some of the hunters on the property have shot at coyotes before while hog hunting so they may be a bit skittish in general.

I still haven’t hunted some spots on the property that have very low hunting pressure (no leases in certain areas), but I probably won’t hunt there until after deer season.

I am not too upset though as I did manage to kill my first predator this year, which was a beautiful bobcat. While I am very happy about that, it was pure luck as I wasn’t even calling at the time.

A little different terrain and climate up here, but one of the key gear tips from a very elderly hunter, was that he uses squeaky toys for dogs when deer hunting. Claims it doesn’t really mess with the deer, but predators love it.

Grab some fresh road kill and string it up near one of your stands.

Gut your deer where you want to hunt coyote. Come back that night or the next morning. Gut piles don’t last 24hrs around here. They’ll nearly lick up all the blood too. Wouldn’t know there was a gut pile if you hadn’t seen it there yourself. Problem being of course that you don’t usually want that kind of party where you’re trying to hunt deer…

Good tips, thanks. I actually managed to get the bobcat this way (killed a couple rabbits and hunted over bait). I also killed a hog and the next morning the carcass was moved about 30’ and was half eaten with coyote scat next to it. I may see what I can do if I get a deer this season and try to get a deer + predator in the same day.

I’d consider the spot trashed for any further deer hunting this season, but I don’t know your property. Maybe they’ll allow it.

It would be fun to get a coyote over the pile though.

Naturally, the previously mentioned squeaky toy only works if they’re already there. Maybe 100yd call in the woods here, if it’s quiet. Not sure how far it would carry in the open.

Why would it be trashed for the season. Given all properties are different but our dump pit is 50ish yards from the feeder.

We have deer back at the feeder the same day we kill one and the coyotes got a meal that night.

Last year we even wired a skeleton to a tree in from of the stand as bait and it didn't effect the deer at all.

I’m impressed. The gut piles I’ve seen cleaned up resulted in no more fresh tracks within 50yds. In the woods here, that’s generally beyond max range, even in the dead of winter. Damn thorn junk and honeysuckle bushes everywhere. Even when you get up in a 12ft stand, the stuff is high enough that you can’t see through it.

Having shot and recovered one doesn’t seem to matter. They don’t seem to care about the blood.

Then you’d be looking to move a stand and potentially disturb them more. Takes a few days after moving a stand for them to come around.

I wouldn’t do it, but that’s just me. Of course I only hunt a couple areas.

Plan your sits based on wind and ease of access. Call for 5ish minutes, rest for a few. Call another 5, rest for a few. I usually end with a coupl3 minutes of pop distress. When prey souds don't bring them in sometimes a pup distress will. Alternate the calls you use and the spots you hit so you don't educate them. Try to get a spot with lots of visibility and some type of cover behind you. Up North we kill a lot of dogs standing in an empty field with no cover, snow and overwhites and you can get away with that. Good luck.

Thanks again everyone for the responses. I had a bit of luck last night and was able to call in what I assume were 2 coyotes.

I was using an older thermal and couldn’t PID them but I ran a fawn distress call and they both came running from 400+ yards away to about 150 or so before heading off. Looked like coyotes based on movement and response. I assume they winded me.

It was kind of an impromptu hunt and I was in the back of a truck bed running the call. Next time I am going to ensure I am downwind and away from the call a bit, in addition to walking in instead of driving. I am also going to bring the better thermal and a better light.

Will keep this updated as I find time to hunt in 2023

Thanks for the info. I have been twice and not seen a single coyote yet. Monday evening I did call in a hawk. He lit in the tree right above my Foxpro and I muted it right as he landed. I kicked it back on again (cottontail distress) a few minutes later and he immediately dropped down right beside my call.

I heard a pack in the next hollow two nights before so I am confident they are around. I think I am calling too much without pause and too loudly.

Locate and meet them halfway if possible.
They usually take the path of least resistance and if there's a trail, get in a good position to ambush them.
If their stopping out of range, you probably made some noise or they saw you move and will remember that, so you need to find a new stand location.
Try different call sounds.
Play every call you have at home, make a playlist and try the one's you think might interest a dog.
Dogs are very inquisitive and a new sound might trigger their interest.
Play sounds according to their hunting or mating season.
Distress and/or challenge calls.
Most hunters spend their money on a scope and forget that spotting a dog is just as important as shooting a dog.
Having a handheld thermal is key to hunting at night and glassing with a weapon mounted thermal takes a lot of movement, as they don't have the wide FOV a spotter has.
Coyote have great ears and eyesight, so the less movement and noise the better.
I've sat on stands for an hour before dogs came in, so they might be there, just out of sight, so play calls at all different volumes and intervals, just don't let it drone on, as wounded prey don't act that way.
If your caller sound sucks, buy a better caller and some mouth calls to mix it up.
If that doesn't work, book a hunt with a predator hunting guide to learn from a pro.
Good luck.

As an update, I was able to call in 2 more coyotes. Still haven’t had a good shot on them though.

One came in too close too quickly and slowly walked off (night hunting, no weapon mounted thermal). The other came in to about 100-125yd and wouldn’t come in any further and because there were cows in the field I didn’t want to risk the shot.

Will keep trying. So far, the new mouth call I bought seems to really work. I’ve been using it in conjunction with my ecaller and it seems to be a good combo. Also using calls for the time of year seems to work well so far so I will keep that up. Hoping to update this again this year with my first dead yote.

Lots of good stuff here. Great post. Agree 100% on the thermal scanner. If someone said I couldn't use a thermal scanner, I would quit nighttime coyote hunting. Learning to use the wind to your advantage is another huge key to success. Set up the stand so the coyote can take the path of least resistance and come downwind of the call. By doing this, they will come in relaxed as you aren't forcing them to do something against their nature. As said, then be in an ambush spot waiting for this to happen and you will be more successful.