I am in the SW section and have recently got the itch to make an attempt to discourage the coyotes that recently(they have only been here 1-2 years) invaded entered my area of influence. I allready have my anti-varmit rifle, caller(tapes), and light is due tomorrow for delivery.
Just need to gt some camo and maybe look into some kind of bait.

So anybody in here hunt the little pests? Any tips, strageys, legal issues, gladly appreciated.

I'd like to,but we don't get many around here,and local farmers and landowners mostly handle them on their own.
The season is permanently open except on state/federal land. Several VA counties pay bounties on coyotes,which can go as high as $50 per head.

I don't hunt them yet, but I'd like to.  Unfortunately finding a place in NOVA to do it isn't easy.  


I'm sure there are a lot of coyotes down your way.  Best of luck!

I'll shoot anything that wont get me into trouble.  Never shot a yote though.  I've heard some people like to inform the game-warden/local LEOs beforehand so they will ignore any calls for afterdark poaching.  

Byron South has a cool section in his first coyote video where he used a teddy bear with some sort of shaking motor in it to make it wiggle.  He played rabbit squeels and got a good amount of interest in it.

I'm a wanna be also.  Looks like we need a support group for all of the Wanna-Be-Coyote hunters.  As a note some counties offer bounty on Coyote's (Buckingham and Cumberland offer $50 a head).

Rent or buy some videos and watch some of their techniques.  Just be sure that they are hunting in the east since calling them out west is different game. Looking for sign in your area and using the wind is more important than your camo.  If you hunt at night most of your shots will be less than 40 yards, so a good 3 1/2 mag 12 ga with 4 shot will be better than a scoped rifle.  For daytime, a turkey feather tied from a small tree branch or bush with some fishing line or a piece of toilet paper draped off a bush as a decoy will help keep the coyotes eyes off you.  I have had more luck in the early morning and late evening just before dark than at night.  I seem to call in more house cats and dogs at night than I do yotes.  You may want to try mouth calls too.  They are a lot easier to carry around than an electronic caller, although they are getting smaller.

I guess I'm a wanna-be too. I'm all set for them with a Foxpro FX-3 caller, jack in the box decoy, AR-15 set up for varmints, just no real huntable populations that I hae access to around here yet. But you can bet when they get plentiful around here I will be waiting!  

Oh, oops. I thought this thread was going to be on illegal immigrant smugglers sneaking across the border at night armed with AKs and night vision goggles...

As far as bait, try to find a farmer who has recently had a cow die. Most of the time the farmer will drag it some where distant from other livestock. Set up well concealed about 150 to 200 yards down wind in the evning. Check the carcass every so often with your light. Be sure to use a red lens. Good Luck

I grew up with some 'yote hunters (never got one though).

One technique I remember particularly was to set up a see-and-sniff-proof position downwind from a target area.  Place a pound of ground beef or any other cheap meat (having it a bit on the rotten side is supposed to work good), or a tethered (live) rabbit in the target area.  Then just wait for them to come....... [ooops, that's basically centralVAhunter's idea]

You may want to ask for other ideas in the "hunting" general forum too.

Well I tried my luck and came up empty handed.  Went coyote hunting last night climbed up a 35-40 foot tree to my deer stand(prememant) around 8:00 pulled all my gear(rifle first[unloaded of course], then my bag with my caller, mags, lights, backup pistol) well I settled in and waited for the sun to go down abit furthur.  Around 8:30 the sun settled behind the mountains at the horizon and dusk settled. Glancing around I hit play on the caller and the speaker connected to 50 feet of cable on the ground below me starts playing death of a cottentail bunny in C-minor.  Well I sat and scanned with the eye spotter light and about 10-15 minutes later I am drawn to the woods on my right by sounds of feet moving quickly if not quietly over dried leaves. I hang the spotter on a nail behind me and switch to the AR15 w/ scope mounted light(red lens of course) and watch the likely spot of exit for the approaching critter.

Here is the scene, me tensed and ready 35 feet in the air wind in my face round chambered, fingers posed on safety and burn spotlight switches prepared to nail whatever sharptoothed creature appears and lo and behold a pair of yearling deer jump the fence 40yds away and trot towards the speaker!

Needless to say when they stopped at the base of my tree staring about trying to determine the location of what I guess they thought was a distressed fawn and issueing aid to it after reflecting on my knowledge that does will come to help a fawn in trouble I flipped off the switch on the caller knowing that if a coyote did showup that the does would probablly chase it off before I could get a shot.

I switched out the tapes for coyote pup in distress and hit the paly button the does played little attention to it and continued grazing away from me about 50-60yds into the field.  I let the tape play to the end approxomittly 25 minutes then called it a night as I had no other stands ready that I could access in the dark. I think that I'll try to hunt an old saw mill tonight or tomorrow night better lines of sight and closer to the reported areas of activity.

ohh man, i can go out on the back porch and here them howling sometimes and my grand father has a lot of them on his property and w/ in calling distance, but every time i go a fox gets there before a coyote and i just cant pass it up and then theres no hope for a coyote. one day, two years ago this time of the year a friend of mine killed one on our land turkey hunting so i know they are here.  


Edit to add => speaking of the bountys its $50 here in Lunenburg and $75 in Nottaway ( where grandads is )  the last time i heard.

Quoted: ohh man, i can go out on the back porch and here them howling sometimes and my grand father has a lot of them on his property and w/ in calling distance, but every time i go a fox gets there before a coyote and i just cant pass it up and then theres no hope for a coyote. one day, two years ago this time of the year a friend of mine killed one on our land turkey hunting so i know they are here.   Edit to add => speaking of the bountys its $50 here in Lunenburg and $75 in Nottaway ( where grandads is )  the last time i heard.

If your Grandfather would let me hunt Yotes on his property,  I would gladly give him the bounty for each one just to hunt them.

Quoted: Edit to add => speaking of the bountys its $50 here in Lunenburg and $75 in Nottaway ( where grandads is )  the last time i heard.

Where in Lunenburg do you hunt? I do quite a bit of deer hunting up there but have yet to come across any yotes.

Im off of   138 on afton grove road between kenbridge and South Hill

im out on Afton grove rd. off of 138 b/w kenbridge and  South Hill    

dupe damn i hate it when i go back and look and the post isnt there then you re-do and then youve got 2

Quoted: Im off of   138 on afton grove road between kenbridge and South Hill

I hunt up in Victoria by the courthouse off Hardy Road.

ok im about 10-15 minutes from there

I had the same thing happen to me during fox season.  My first time hunting the critters and 2 deer come running to the caller.  Figured it was out of the ordinary but now I'm starting to wonder.