February Coyote Calling

February Coyote Calling

By Troy Hoepker

When the calendar flips to November bowhunters in Iowa feel the magic in the air of the whitetail breeding season kicking into full swing. The majestic bucks that dreams are made of seem to be everywhere. For coyote hunters that magical time of year is late January into February. It means coyotes are more vocal, more receptive to a variety of calls and expose themselves more often.

In February coyotes are pairing up and multiple males are vying for a female’s attention. Procreation is first on their minds. Coyotes being more vocal this time of year make it one the most fun times to call them. They are responsive to territorial invasion of other coyotes as well as receptive females. When a transient coyote enters another’s area, they will defend their territory. Any scent left behind by another coyote or foreign vocalization within their area is examined and met with concern. Howls from coyotes vary in their meanings and intent. Understanding different coyote vocalizations is not easy however.

Sometimes Less is More
Many hunters increase the amount of coyote vocalizations they use in their calling this time of year, but it’s as easy to make things worse as it is to increase success while using them at times. Challenging a subordinate coyote out there, for example, won’t lead to calling in a coyote during your hunt. We never know what set of ears can hear our calling. The coyote listening could be a subordinate youngster uninterested in confrontation or it could be an alpha coyote of either sex willing and ready to defend their territory or ready to approach the sound of a new female in the area. The social hierarchy of the coyotes that hear our calling matters and we never know what vocalizations to use to begin with because we don’t know who is out there.

We can just as easily turn them off instead of turning them towards us.

Beginning a hunt with aggressive sounds such as challenge howls, interrogation howls or domain howls is a bit of a gamble. It can work if you’re lucky enough to call to coyotes willing to defend their terrain. I’ve begun sets in this fashion usually only when I’ve had good scouting of a pair of coyotes using a given area. Otherwise, it’s wise to take the temperature of the area by beginning with safer sounds. Those sounds can include distress, female invitation howls, whimpers, or a lonely howl. This time of year, beginning with these types of sounds can evolve the hunt into your favor.

People sometimes think distress sounds only trigger a coyote’s response because it is hungry. That is simply not true. Something has to be killing that rabbit that they hear and there are times they are more interested in the attacker than the prey being the source of a meal. I encountered a coyote years ago that demonstrated this clearly. After I had started with rabbit distress, my sounds were met with an interrogation howl from the cover. I immediately switched to challenging that coyote with my howler and then moved my gun to cover the downwind side of my location. Within a minute a bristled coyote appeared almost downwind and met his demise. He didn’t care at all about hunger. What he wanted to know was what coyote was in his territory eating his groceries. The interrogation howl was a question and once it was met with another coyote vocalization, he had his answer and was mad.

On another hunt during breeding season, I sat down and started off with a lonely long howl. I waited fifteen minutes and let out one more lonely long howl. It took another fifteen minutes before I spotted a lone coyote slowly trotting down a deer trail that led through the timber in front of me. After a quick lip squeak and a shot, the unsuspecting coyote was flattened and even though I only used two calls in a half hour of time, I still called a coyote. That young coyote was likely a subordinate coyote looking to find companionship. He approached slowly and cautiously taking his time to come. The long lonely howls being the only sounds he heard never gave him any false impressions about what he was approaching. Always remember that each and every sound we introduce can alter the attitude of a coyote.

While it’s hard to be that patient on every hunt and I certainly am not most of the time, the hunt illustrated that you don’t have to flood the area with all kinds of sounds to have success. In fact, sometimes that’s the worst thing you can do. Try not to show your whole hand at any one location. Keep something stored away for the next time you hunt the same spot. Coyotes are smart and they investigate the area even if it’s after we’ve left. Any association they may have with sound and smell educates them. Both of those hunts are examples of taking the temperature of the area. Sometimes, starting with distress or a friendly howl might initiate a vocal response from a coyote.

Leveraging Female Calls
Female invitation howls are friendly inviting howls that invite approach. But even female invitation howls can be construed as territorial. When an alpha female hears another female howling in her territory her attitude can change to aggressive. This can still get her to come to your calling but it illustrates how even sounds we define as friendly can still be territorial in their response. Similarly, that same alpha female when accompanied by a male suitor, may just lead her male away. While males are usually the aggressor in the mating process, females are still very dominant in the process once she has selected and paired up with a single male. She’s not always interested in introducing her suitor to another female.

This brings up the point of the higher likelihood of calling to doubles during the breeding season and how that affects their response. It’s a great time of year to call because of the likelihood of calling multiple coyotes at each set location. Remember that your sounds might interest one of the pair but the opposite sex of that pair may have no interest in approaching. In most cases the female dominates where the pair goes. The male is tagging along not wanting to lose sight of her. It might be harder to drag that male away if the female isn’t interested in coming to the call. Distress calls provide common interest, as do interrogation howls or domain howls. Female invitation howls, pup distress, lonely howls or whimpers might tend to favor a response from the female.

If you spot a pair headed your way try and determine which of the two is the female. If you can down her first, even if the male gets away, he may come back this time of year. Sometimes it requires sitting silent for a long while and listening. In February, the male may vocalize to try and locate the female even during the daylight. A female invitation howl or whines and whimpers after that vocalization can get the male headed your way once again. The same area may even be productive for a try a few hours later. The male badly wants to find his girlfriend once again.

Mind the Wind and the Weather
One key to remember is to always keep in mind that once you’ve given a coyote vocalization, the odds of a coyote coming downwind of your position increase. Coyotes are notorious for circling downwind anyway, but once they hear another coyote they want to smell that coyote to know who they are dealing with. Every decision a coyote makes is influenced by his sense of smell.

February can bring on some viscous weather in Iowa, and while those winter storms may keep coyotes closed down for a day or two, they still have two things on their mind; food and breeding. They will be out moving once conditions are better. When the snow covers the landscape, try driving around and doing some glassing. There’s no better time of year to try it.

Coyotes are out moving and they stand out against their white background. One of my favorite things to do is spot a coyote and then formulate a plan of how to sneak part way in and call them the rest of the way to me. You’re combining some spot and stalk skills with your calling abilities and it’s a deadly way to hunt coyotes.

If you want to hunt coyotes take advantage of the best time of year to do it during the Iowa February coyote rut!