Take Advantage of Hunting Early Season Coyotes

Late October & early November can be one of the best time periods to call coyotes, but many hunters fail to take advantage of this prime opportunity. Whether it's having big game tags to fill or migrating birds to chase, calling coyotes gets put on the back burner this time of year by many. Let's take a look at why early fall can be so productive if you're willing to make time for a coyote hunt. 

It's all about the coyote numbers! We only get 1 crop of coyotes each year and callable coyote densities will be the greatest early in the fall as pup coyotes start scattering out from den sites they spent all summer at.  During this time, upwards of 70% of the total coyote population can be made up of these young, inexperienced coyotes now having to hunt on their own.  So essentially, you have the greatest density of coyotes you'll have all season with a large percentage of those coyotes being unpressured and new to the game.  This combination of factors gives hunters a successful edge if they're willing to take advantage of it. 

Several other factors that play an important role in Oct/Nov success are diminishing food sources and cover.  As the days turn colder, many easy food sources like bugs and certain plants start to vanish which leaves coyotes having to hunt harder.  With food becoming scarcer, many coyotes will be more responsive to a distant crying rabbit or bird distress in hopes of snagging up an easy meal. Fall also brings the changing of the landscape in many parts of the country with crop harvest.   Farmland full of vegetation is now gone which forces coyotes into smaller, more predictable areas.  This creates more openness for setups and helps concentrate coyotes into areas of non-farmland like sections of timber or cattle pastures.