Time to hunt New Hampshire Coyote’s |

A New Hampshire Coyote

Now is the time to hunt Coyotes here in the Northeast say the experts. I am not an expert Coyote hunter, just a ticked off deer hunter giving more venison to coyotes. The New Hampshire deer herd has been impacted to a measurable degree as deer sightings are few and far in between. If you got your deer, congrats! I let the two smaller deer in my sights go this fall. What was common however was to see Coyote scat and tracks on every trail this fall. This scat is territorial marking by Coyotes and often more than one was following a deer. Since deer are so scarce and the Coyotes so prevalent, it should be an opportunity to shoot your rifle even in Southern NH. I highly recommend you go onto you-tube on the internet and see as many Coyote hunting videos as you can. Especially eastern hunts for coyotes in the kind of terrain you will be hunting in. What I have gleaned from these videos and talks on hunting them, I will share here. Perhaps you can write back to me and share your thoughts with NH Rifleman readers too. Get you NH hunting license at www.NHFG.com and read up on Coyote hunting rules.

First, like deer,detection of movement and smell are of prime importance says one expert thus your positioning to the wind and to remain still is critical. Camo is important but these are first. Placing your stand downwind from where you expect to see coyotes is critical because coyotes often try to circle downwind to detect you and you can then detect their approach hopefully first. I use a face mask like I do for turkey hunting. If you want to go white to look like snow then you are going to blend but I think a poncho of simple white is cost effective and will not kill your check book. You can purchase white camo yardage for $ 5.99 a yard or less. You can also use an old white sheet or such for free.

Second, that your howling call, to call them in, needs to be practiced in accordance with what a real coyote will sound like, so listen to recordings and experts. See you-tube videos. Many callers will bark once and howl, followed by two barks and a howl. Better yet is to have two callers with different howls thus making the call series perhaps more enticing.

Electronic calls are excellent like the dying rabbit or a bird or a mouse etc. Hand held mouth calls for howling and dying animals are also excellent. Below is a you tube worth watching.

Third, that you are ready perhaps with a shooting stick to steady your rifle. Calibers can be the same you hunt deer but many choose smaller calibers such as a potent 22 caliber long rifle or the .223 in an AR like rifle or a .243 Winchester in your favorite manufacture like Savage model 110 or perhaps the Ruger American. Shoot the ammo you have for it unless you are all-in-full into the hunting of predators. I will use my Ruger American in .243 Winchester. It is sub-moa accurate and is very cost effective as a rifle and the ammo too. See my article on the Ruger American in the history part of NH Rifleman.

Here is another coyote video to get you excited by a young man called the Coyote Kid. He uses the Firestorm by Foxpro. About $200 for this electronic call. His rifle is a Weatherby in 243 Winchester with 65 grain heads.

If you are hunting in thicker woods use a 12 gauge with 00 buckshot too. I will check back in this winter. Not an easy thing but we CAN do it if we work at it!