[Craig D.]

Recently, with the deep snow and difficult travel (for man and canine), I've been spending 10-15 minutes longer at each stand, than my normal ~30 minutes. For a while, till the snow set up a little I had no results, and last weekend I had animals come in to 20% of my stands. It seems that most of the animals came in, in the 15-25 minute timeframe, but I tried to hold out for late arrivals that didn't show in the final 10-15 minutes. There's not a huge predator population in the areas I hunt, and I'm wondering what your thoughts are on time @ a stand compared to increasing the number of stands called in a day. It would appear, that the majority of the coyotes are staying relatively close to the deer herds & cattle feedlots. I'm not finding much sign at higher elevations with limited food sources, and I'm still hoping to stumble across my first bobcat. Thoughts?

 

[DAA]

While keeping in mind that it's always important to stay flexible and adapt to whatever the current conditions dictate, and that there is no such things as "always" or "never" when dealing with coyotes... And, not talking about situations where I'm trying to coax a coyote or coyotes I know are there...

I do not often stay more than 15 minutes on a stand. I will, when it seems the smart play. Sometimes even making long stands all day long. But it's not common. And even when I make long stands, they are usually more like 20 - 25 minutes, virtually never over 30. It's actually much more common that I'll cut my stands short and only be on them for 10 -12 minutes and do that all day.

I'm sure that it sometimes does happen that a coyote who has already heard my sound just finally decides to come in late in the stand. But I think the late arrivers are more likely to have been traveling through and not heard the sound until late. How likely I am to stay on stand longer, depends largely on how likely I think it is that I'll have a coyote travel through my sound cone.

How well I think sound is travelling plays into how long I'll stay on stand too. It's conditions where I don't think it is travelling very far that I'll often cut my stands short.

Like I said, I try to stay flexible, and never think in terms of never or always. But, generally speaking, I'm an advocate of getting in lots of stands in a day, vs. making fewer, longer stands. I think that most of the time, in most conditions, you'll kill a lot more coyotes by making more stands.

- DAA

 

[BAM]

Right on Dave

as usual Dave pretty much sums it up, at least for me any way. Given the range of my call and how long it takes a coyote to travel said range I still never stay longer than 15 for the most part especially if i can see out there a ways. I would play the % and make more stands vs. staying longer. Brian

 

[PatR]

Dave did sum it nicley

The only time I will stay more than 20 minutes is when I am at a stand I know to be a good producer. Just get that gut feeling a cautious dog is lingering on the edge.

Pat

 

[keithcandler]

30 minutes is as long as I stay on a stand......

If I were specifically hunting Bob Cats or Mountain Lions, I would consider extending the stand to 45 minutes if I felt right about the area. Cats are just dumb as a sack of rocks and often they just loose interest in the call.

 

[PatR]

Keith,

You just bust my bubble, I have been trying for a Bobcat for some time now. It kills me to find out I have been outsmarted by a sack of rocks....
When you call cat's what are you looking for in a stand and what series of calls do you try for ?