Managing Predators on Your Land

I'm a whitetail fanatic and lease 240 acres of prime whitetail dirt along the Arkansas River Bottom in southeast Colorado.

My biggest two battles each year are drought and predators. We have too many coyotes in the farm country, and with ample cover along the river, CRP fields, crop fields, etc., thinning fur from the landscape is challenging.

I hunt coyotes a lot. One of the best times to pop pelts and help nursing mamas and newborn, white-spotted babies is in June, July, and August.

Challenges abound during the summer months, especially in farm country. The abundance of food in corn, milo, and alfalfa fields makes calling difficult. The torrid heat adds another layer of complexity. Yet, these challenges are what make the hunt thrilling. Coyotes are typically active until about an hour after daybreak and roughly an hour before the western sky swallows the sun, providing a narrow window for the hunt.

Despite the challenges, plenty of tactics work in your favor. Coyotes are raising their litter, which means more food is necessary. Youngsters start roaming further from the den to explore, especially in July and August. These youngsters lack experience and are often lured by a prey-in-distress sound. Adult coyotes, on the other hand, remain incredibly territorial and will come to investigate a pup-in-distress sound. If you hunt during the day, using a coyote dog plays heavily on a coyote's territorial instincts, and if you shoot suppressed, you can often kill multiple dogs on a single stand. These tactics are not just effective but also give you a sense of confidence and preparedness.

While all these daytime tips will help you save more deer, my favorite summertime coyote tactic is to hunt at night. However, it's crucial to remember that you must check your state's rules and regulations before doing this. This ensures that you're on the right side of the law and makes you a responsible hunter.

When darkness swallows the land, coyote activity increases, and even sage adults who've had .223 Remington lead slung at them a time or two, let their guard down.

You will need a few things for your night-hunting excursion beyond your caller, headlamp, rifle, ammo, etc. Topping your favorite predator rifle with a thermal scope would be best. A thermal monocular or binocular also helps tremendously, as staying in your scope and scanning terrain is tedious and uncomfortable. Before heading out for your first nighttime predator extravaganza, it's also essential to familiarize yourself with your thermal optics. It's much easier to test, tinker, and figure things out in the daytime.

My son and I have a solid system in place. There is one shooter and one scanner. While the shooter can occasionally help scan through the scope, the scanner's job is to work the landscape and inform the shooter of a coyote sighting. Yes, thermals are pricy, especially quality ones, but I promise you'll kill more song dogs and enjoy your night hunts more if you run a thermal monocular or binocular along with your thermal scope.

As for nighttime calling techniques, keep everything simple. If you're a serious land manager wanting to protect game animals on your property, chances are you're running game cameras—cellular or non-cellular. If you're not, you should be. Cameras tell where coyotes lurk, and you can learn much about their summertime habits. Use right-now trail cam intel to tell you when and where to strike.

Also, nobody knows your property like you do. Chances are good you've stumbled upon a den or two over the years. Dens are always excellent summertime locations to sneak close to and call. And, of course, pay attention while you're doing chores and the like to where you see coyotes.

Another factor you have working in your favor is because you know the landscape so well, you can operate more effectively at night. Try to get into your calling locations without using a lot of light. If you must click on the headlamp, use a green or red light. Also, try to get in and set up as quietly as possible.

You also know where to make your nighttime stands to keep things safe. Even small-caliber coyote rounds travel far; when unfamiliar with a property, it's difficult to say what's in front of your location. However, knowing the landscape like the back of your hand can eliminate this worry. This adds peace of mind and lets you focus on the task.

Regarding productive prey sounds to use, I first like to get set with the wind in my face or with a crosswind. While rabbit sounds are an easy go-to, I want to match the sound of my prey to the sound of actual prey animals in the area. For example, when calling on my lease, I use turkey distress, fawn distress, pheasant distress, and chicken distress sounds. The more realistic you make things, the better results you'll have.

I don't howl much during summertime night ventures. Coyotes aren't breeding, and I don't have a lot of luck, outside of pup-distress sounds, with coyote talk. I do, especially if I'm helping out an area farmer who can't tell me much about where coyotes are, drive around the farm's perimeter, use my e-caller, and use a group howl to pinpoint coyotes and give me a jumping-off point.

Use your daytime tactics and combine them with thermal optics to eliminate more predators on your favorite hunting land.