Yotes in the rain?

[Calif. Hunter]

I almost cancelled out of a planned coyote huting trip this weekend due to the weather forecast. Then I recalled that I saw several coyotes out and about in the rain a couple of years ago, deer huting in NM. Also, the last time we went prairie dog shooting, we had a yote practically run into our kill zone right a little while after a rain storm. So a couple friends are heading out to AZ with my 10-year old to see if he can bag his first yote.

Normally having desert weather, I don't have much predator experience in the rain.... anyone have any suggestions or thoughts on it? I have a FoxPro FX3 caller with jackrabbit, cottontail, antelope fawn distress, etc.

 

[danr55]

CH where are you headed in AZ? There are some interesting places around Seligman and Ashfork.

 

[Calif. Hunter]

I am staying at the Caverns Motel on RT 66, west of Seligman. Got some spots to check out? You can PM any details.

 

[Calif. Hunter]

The weather cooperated, or at least it didn't rain on us while we were hunting. The wind blew like crazy, and we didn't call in a single yote. There was a bunch of us, so we split up into groups of 3 or 4. One other group managed to call in a couple, but missed them. We saw a couple running several hundred yards away and threw a couple Hail Mary shots, but only managed to get them to turn tail in the other direction...

Back at the motel Saturday night, it started to rain just as we pulled into the parking lot. It turned to snow in about 10 minutes, and we had a nice snowfall going all night long. It dropped about 2 - 3 inches. My son had a ball playing in it.

We all had fun, and it beat sitting around the house all day in the rain that So Cal got all weekend.

 

[KimLeeJung]

Coyotes still have to eat, whether it is raining or not. I would suspect that the only problem with rain is that the call will not carry out as far.

 

[Calif. Hunter]

Yeah, we saw coyotes - just not a lot and they were not responding to calls. The wind was more of a factor than the rain in blowing the sound away. It was really blowing! On the couple we saw way out there running, the call would stop them if they were downwind from us. The scent stream was pretty narrow and fast-moving.