Predator Success Ratio

[Jake_65_65]

I like a lot of people on here have gotten into predator hunting recently. Bought a couple mouth calls and hit the woods and like many have not seen much success. Correction I have not seen a **** thing, but I have only been out around 5 or 6 times making one stand each time.

I was reading over at PredatorMasters and most of those guys who hunt them have a success ratio of 1 coyote : 4-8 stands, one of my videos confirms this also. Just curious what other people have experienced in terms of success rates?

The knik flats gets a lot of attention when dicussing predators. I have been out there twice in the last week rabbit hunting and have seen two rabbit kills and tons of tracks of what I think are fox and coyote and maybe even a wolf (big tracks). I guess I am really wondering what else you could ask for in terms of an area with predator and prey populations, with the exception of the hunting pressure the area gets?

Anyway just thought I would ask how everyone else was doing and how many stands they were putting in.

[Water_Gremlin]

hunting coyotes for about a year now I still have to take one of these animals. Sometimes I hear them return my call, and sometimes I dont. I called in a double one evening, thats my claim to fame so far.

According to the tracks Knik has a decent coyote population, but you never see them. Night hunting it will be....

[Western]

I've done a lot of predator hunting in Montana and Wyoming. In Montana I was hunting in areas that had a lot of coyotes and few callers. I was very successful. Called in a coyote almost every time I went hunting. I missed a few, but had action almost every trip. In Wyoming I was hunting an area that had a lot of coyotes and a lot of callers. I shot more coyotes driving between set ups then I did calling. I was not successful at calling in Wyoming, but I did shoot a fair number of coyotes. Actually shot the most coyotes deer, antelope, and prairie dog hunting. Too many callers can educate coyotes real quick. Inexperienced (or lazy) callers not paying attention to the wind, sitting out in the open, having their pickup 50 yards behind them, etc. really mess things up.

I don't know anything about predator calling in Alaska, but if the population density of the predators is as low as the rest of the game, you will need to put in a lot of time and a lot of stands to call one in. You would be better off hiking around looking for sign one weekend and then calling in that area the next weekend. If there is no sign you are probably wasting your time. Also make sure to spend enough time on stand. I'm not very patient and had a hard time waiting over 15 minutes unless it was a great stand I had confidence in. You also need to match your call to the available coyote prey and the season. Electronic calls make a big difference. I like the Fox Pros. The setup is also very important. You need to be able to remain motionless and still be able to see the coyotes coming in. I always wonder how many coyotes snuck in on me and left without me knowing it.

Good luck and remember that most of the videos you see are in places like Texas or ranches out West where the coyote populations are high and the hunting access is probably limited. Not a fair comparison to the far North.

[AlleninAlaska]

If the places you are calling at have already had callers in there it will be real hard to call in predators that are already wise to the call.

[fold308]

welcome to predator hunting, i took me a year or so to somewhat figure it out, and it seems every year you find out that there still is alot more to learn, they are smarter than most people think

[Water_Gremlin]

Here are a few things I have learned about predator hunting.

Early mourning and late evenings is when I have seen, heard, and called in a good majority of these animals. I almost never see anything during the day, and actually I am begining to think its a waste of time calling when the sun is out.

Most of the predator signs I see are either in heavily wooded areas that are practically impossible to hunt and the rest are on defined trails. ie frozen creeks, atv/truck trails, and beaten paths. My next trip I plan to setup stands on the edge of a creek and hope they come trotting from upwind.

Silence and a motionlessness is the name of the game. A successful coyote hunter once told me in a summed up version, calling is the least important aspect of predator hunting. Approaching your stand in a quiet manner, and remaining motionless is key. The predators will come to just about any call or noise to satisfy their curiosity. I strictly use handcalls. Why? Because I have a hard time swallowing a $300-500 bill for an ecaller. One day I might buy one though, considering using a handcall requires some hand moment to a degree. Using an ecaller might increase my patience too, after awhile blowing on a handcall gets tiring.

This weekend I hunted an area that was blanketed with crusted over granular snow. Silence was not an option, and with every foot step I could hear the crunch echo throughout the area I wanted to call. A fresh coat of snow will be in order to remain silent.

When I hunt in cold weather I rarely see fresh tracks, and I spent more time trying to keep warm than hunting. I'll be waiting for warmer days.

Yesterday I spent most of the day hunting. I planned to make my first stand at 7am, but my atv was frozen solid and the stuborn ole hag took two hours to fire up. At 10am I made my first stand, three hours too late if you ask me and about 30 degrees cooler than I would have liked. I am hoping to make another trip next weekend while everyone is out shopping.

I am hoping, one day, everything will come together and I actually begin to have successful hunts. So far its been tough.

[AlleninAlaska]

When I hunt in cold weather I rarely see fresh tracks, and I spent more time trying to keep warm than hunting. I'll be waiting for warmer days.

Ambient temprature has little effect on predators. I hunt out here in -10 to -20 temps all the time during the winter. The weather that will have an effect is a storm. Critters will hole up during a storm but will be on a feeding binge right afterwards.

[TWB]

Those of you that do hunt the Knik valley how far in are you going? Ive been in and out of there for 14 years and have seen higher numbers of predators in certain areas of the valley rather than spread out. PM me if youd like.

[ak_powder_monkey]

I've lived in AK for 19 years and I've seen one wolf and one dead coyote plus one coyote in the yukon territory, total.

[Bearbait 1]

Most of what you need to know has allready been posted in this thread. Hunt where others don't and most predators are easy to call, if you want to hunt educated critters you'd better really know what you are doing. My sucess ratios vary greatly according to whether I am calling fox or lynx (I don't target coyotes), day or night, how accesible the area is, and time of year.

[Water_Gremlin]

Bearbait 1 what is different between calling fox and lynx? I thought a rabbit in distress would bring just about anything in for a look see.

[Brian M]

I don't know about lynx, but as for fox my brother only calls them at night by moonlight. His success rates are far higher at night, so he doesn't even bother during the day. I haven't tried it yet, but I just traded for a predator gun, so as long as I have some time during the next lunar cycle I plan on hitting the woods.

-Brian

[Bearbait 1]

A distress call will bring in most predators however you should decide what you want to call and set up accordingly. To start with, figure out what critter tracks are around and try to call who made them. I try to set up for fox in an area where I can see at least 200 yds day or night. For lynx I like much less visibility, cats prefer to stay in or near cover, maybe because of their hunting strategy or maybe because they taste good. For fox I'd not stay longer than 15 minutes. For cats of any kind I stay 30-45 minutes. If calling cats during the day, a decoy is very helpful, I usually don't bother for canines. You certainly may call any predator at any time but you'll do best if you figure out what's around, what you want to kill, and set up for them.

[Jake_65_65]

Hey guys thanks for the reponses. I had already made my mind up to get into night hunting, but now it really sounds like it might be the way to go. Heres a couple more questions.

Would baiting like you would for black bears be successful?

The knik valley is a large area, is the whole area under too much pressure or just select areas that are easy to access and near major roadways? Are all the animals in the area educated or can a person still get to uneduated animals?

[martyv]

predator calling blues...

I haven't had much success calling. I've tried off and on over the years, likely not more than 2X per winter on the average, but that's over 30 years!!

So far, I've gotten one lynx...thats it. I think I'll give it up.