Are Eastern Coyotes Smarter Than Western Coyotes?

This story is written by a man who both he and his father are known around the country as predator calling experts. A huge amount of today’s calling technology started with Gerald and his father Johnny Steward many years ago. I admire their renowned knowledge and respect Gerald’s viewpoints which is why I’ve chosen to put this article on my blog. Gerald, I hope you don’t mind sharing some of your wonderful knowledge.

By Gerald Stewart



How many times have you heard that Eastern Coyotes are smarter than Western Coyotes? I don't want to unfairly judge the motives of a writer for promoting this thought. So at the risk of being perceived as "picky" or having a bad case of "sour grapes", I will try to offer a different interpretation of the same results we all experience while calling coyotes.

If those writers promoting the East-West difference had channeled their emphasis towards the greater challenge of calling the average eastern coyote for more logical reasons, I would agree with them whole heatedly.

Those reasons are more a function of terrain, predator population and hunting pressure. Coyotes are new to the East and their numbers are not so dense as we might experience in some areas of the West. Because there may be fewer coyotes hunted by a larger hunter population in terrain that is generally harder to hunt, thus the misconception that coyotes are harder to hunt, therefore, the assumption they must be smarter in the East is understandable but not valid in my opinion.

Believe me, I can put you in areas of Texas where coyotes are thick but you'll beat your brains out to get one in close enough to harvest him. I am open to listen to anyone who can show me scientific proof that Eastern coyotes which are descendents of Western coyotes somehow became genetically superior over the course of less than 200 years. It is my general understanding that genetic evolution takes a little longer than it took coyotes to migrate from Central America, up and around the Mississippi to Canada and down the East Coast. I really would like to learn more about coyotes so if any wildlife biologists just read this and want to share their knowledge, I'm all ears.

The "Eastern is smarter than the Western" theory may foster the false impressions that the techniques used by Western hunters may be invalid for Eastern hunters. It would be a tragedy for anyone to close a deaf ear to experienced hunters like Johnny Stewart, Rick Jamison, Gerry Blair, Murray Burnham, and many others.

The evolution of predator calling as an art has recently seen the use of decoys become a very good way of tricking those smart ones in close. As time goes by, I'm sure we will see new ways to deal with the "educated" coyote be developed. In the beginning predator callers appealed only to the coyotes sense of hearing to lure him in. Then came the use of scents to attract them closer by appealing to their sense of smell. Now with the use of decoys, we can appeal to their sense of sight.

These techniques used properly will bring even the smartest coyote within gun or camera range. There isn't any magic about being able to call coyotes. It does take knowledge of some simple basics that apply anywhere, East or West. To be an effective coyote caller, you need to read, read, read and then put what you read to work in practice, practice, practice. Your best teacher will be experience in the field. If you give up after only two or three tries, you are only cheating yourself. Even the best coyote callers can "strike out" for ten or twenty stands on any given day or days.

Many people falsely assume that because nothing showed up it must have been because of something they did wrong. People doubt themselves or their equipment, which may have not had anything to do with it. Nobody has a handle on why Mother Nature sometimes makes it so unpredictable calling coyotes.

Folks don't give up so easy. You're going to keep yourselves from having a heck of a lot of fun and doing something constructive for good wildlife management.

Seven tips to calling more coyotes

1)  Most predators will take the path of least resistance, or take the quickest route, to approach any calling sound. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line most of the time. But remember that may not always hold true when a predator must consider the terrain when coming to your selected spot. As an example during daytime calling choose your stands to take advantage of some of these type characteristic. Set up to call at the intersections of trails, pipelines, power or phone lines, or if in a wooded area you might want to consider logging roads, over cuts etc.. This will permit you to see more than one approach route the animals might choose to come in on.

2)  Occasionally daytime calling can be more productive by first scouting the area in the pre-dawn hours and stopping to howl occasionally. When a coyote is located by his howling back or a barking response, mark the spot on a map or GPS and return at sun-up to call within one half mile or so that same spot.

3) Calling into the wind has several advantages when trying to bring in coyotes. Many times you can even approach an area undetected and set up within a short distance of their position if you use the wind right. Calling through an area by moving into the wind will also help you predict the general area they will be coming from. Always check the wind! Try and keep it in your face if possible.

4)  Use the predator's nose to his disadvantage. Many older, wiser coyotes will circle downwind to smell what he can’t see. Mr. Coyote always wants to hear what he can’t see too, so be as quiet as you possibly can. If at all possible try and use a natural opening for you shooting lane like a road or field that will expose the predator that’s determined to get downwind. Sometimes Coyotes will choose not to expose themselves in their attempt to get downwind of you. They may try and approach along a hillside, fence line or other coverage to get as close as possible without being detected. Keep your eyes open in all directions!

5) Placing a hunting partner in the downwind position out of shotgun range can be an effective way to land one of those "call smart" coyote. Sometimes they will simple circle but not fully approach you call. Focusing their attention on the sound that may be remote sometimes distracts them from detecting your presence or that of your second hunter. Once in a while your number two guy can then make that surprise shot.

6)  Switching sounds during a calling stand can on occasion entice a reluctant critter to continue his approach. Realistic combinations of sounds can evoke territorial behavior from a coyote that’s not necessarily bent on getting a meal, but could be determined not to let a competitor intrude on his stomping grounds. Combining the sounds of maybe a fox or weaker coyote with some type of food source sound can be a winning combination to lure that hesitant predator in. It just may even call in a different animal than you were expecting. As an example, I thought, I would call in a coyote but ended up with this very nice gray fox.


If you like using hand calls try some those made by and sold at RedHunter LLC. I use their calls quite often and have always had good success. Give them a try like their Dymondwood series.


7)  One of the most important facets of successful calling is having a good knowledge of the area you are calling in. If they don’t live there you’ll never call them no matter how hard you work. You should first search for coyote sign, look for the freshness of tracks and/or droppings. A set of straight-line tracks may be telling you that Mr. Coyote may be far from that area and was merely passing through. He may have simply been moving through the area with some other destination in mind. Meandering tracks on the other hand, may indicate a coyote searching for food. Now that guy could very possibly be still hanging around. He the one you’re looking for.  Coyote hunting is always challenging but fun!

Predator Calling Tips

Predator hunting for coyote, fox and bobcat has not yet begun this season so I thought this might be a good time to reflect back on some good predator calling tips and techniques. Here are some of my thoughts on three of the predators I hunt the most; coyote, bobcat and fox.

Coyotes - Coyotes will respond best to the sounds of rabbits, woodpeckers, canine pups, gray fox in distress and rodents in distress. For best results, you may want to wait 10-20 minutes at a stand. If coyotes howl at you during your stand, pack your bags and head to the next stand. The coyotes usually won't come in when they’re having a howling party. Now, if you’re a coyote howler yourself, grab your coyote howler and let it rip. Some coyote hunters seem to do OK with howling. Who knows, you just might get lucky.

Coyotes are scent driven so they usually like to come in downwind of you. Skunk scent is a good cover scent to use. I have had good success using the two-part type that was made by Isabel. I can’t find it anymore, so if anyone out there knows of a good source, please let me know and I’ll buy the store out.

Coyotes will usually leave quickly if they see the slightest movement or if they hear any unusual sound. They do however, respond well to a hand kiss or lip squeak for close range calling. I have stopped many a coyote just long enough for me to take that last standing shot using a lip squeak or hand kiss. If you use a hand kiss or lip squeak, coyotes will sometimes come back even after being spooked.

Gray Fox - Grays respond extremely well to gray fox in-distress calls. They will also come in quickly to woodpeckers, puppies and rodent calls. The “Nut Cracker” squirrel call from RedHunterLLC is excellent for calling fox. If they are around, they’ll usually respond in about 10 minutes or less.

Ordinarily gray or red fox won't spook quite as easily as coyotes will. Don’t forget that fox have a good sense of smell too. Once I had a nice size gray fox come in after switching the type of calling sound in the middle of the stand. I switched from a rodent or rabbit squeal to a squirrel bark. Zap! He was there in less then one minute. Generally, gray fox are found in wooded or rocky terrain. Your stands can be a bit closer than what you would normally do when hunting coyotes. When hunting out West, you may only need to move only about 1/4 to 1/3 mile between stands. Back East, due to sound absorption of the dense woods, in thicker cover or forested areas, you need not even move that far.

Bobcats - Cats respond best to woodpeckers, rabbits and rodent calls. They can take up to 30 minutes or longer to respond. Usually, they are very deliberate and methodical in their approach. Cats respond poorly to excessively high volume so try and keep it low once you think you’re working a cat. They will not use their noses as effectively as coyote or fox. Skunk scent is again a good cover scent here. They travel brushy bottoms, creeks and other low areas. They will go from tree to tree and bush to bush on their approach. Bobcats tend to hesitate when crossing large open areas. As I said, give bobcat some available cover and they will stalk you from bush to bush until they’re right on top of you. You should call bobcats from fence rows, back country fields, rocky areas and creek bottoms. Again, your distance between stands can be a bit shorter depending upon the type of terrain you are hunting in. If you’re in heavy or bushy cover one-half to one-quarter mile or less between stands should do the trick.

Don’t forget to check out RedHunterLLC for field proven calls and your other predator hunting needs. They have engineered a lot of our equipment and they field test all of the products before they sell them. Good luck and I hope to see you in the field sometime….Coyote Jake