coyote questions

Well to start out, I wouldn't necessarily sit in my ground bline and I for sure wouldn't just go driving around, cause there is about a 98% chance you will not see one.  They are generally back in the hills and around sloughs and lake bottoms.  Coyotes are very skitish animals and even if you see one driving around, it will be 600 yards away before you even get your gun ready to shoot.

As far as buying a call, you can get one with little expense involved.  Spending
$15-$20 will get you a great call that you can either distress or make vocalizations with.  They are getting close to their mating seasons so howling and challenge barks are a good thing to get their attention.

Your best times of the day to call them in are probably from as soon as you can see in the morning until about 11:00.  Then the last 2 hours of the day are good again as well.  Get yourself back into some pasture land back in the hills.  Make sure that you stay in low areas walking in because you do not want to be sillouetted walking in.  Use the wind in your favor.  When you call, you want to walk into your area with the wind in your face and then also call into the wind or breeze.  Coyotes will always work down wind of you when they come in, so keep your eyes open down wind of yourself.  These things are sneaky and sometime will be 20 feet away from you when all of a sudden they appear.

One of the biggest things is "Sit Still"  Do not move around a lot, cause the second they detect some motion all you will see is ass end sprinting away from you.  I would start out with a series of light howls on your call for about 10-15 seconds.  Give it a rest for a minute or two and try it again.  If you are not seeing anything, then I would probably try a distress call.  Distress for about 20 30 seconds and then wait 5 minutes and then try it again.  IF you are not seeing anything after 20-25 minutes, pack up shop and hit another area.

Getting a coyote to come into a call is not easy, but if you do, it is as addicting as anything in hunting.  My 4 year old called one in with me a while back and I think he is hooked at 4 years old.  His comment after I popped him was "Daddy we really gave him a sleeping pill didn't we."   Do not get discouraged if you do not see much, in my area right now there is still no snow and they just plain aren't that hungry so are not really responding well.

Good luck, it takes some time to get good at it but fills the void from deer season to september.

Well if all you plan on doing is driving around for them my advice would be save the gas. Coyotes can be found everywhere and anywhere away from town. If you don't plan on at least calling you really are wasting your time. Also ditch the ground blind idea and buy some camo. Calling really isn't that hard whatsoever. New callers are always worried about how their calling sounds. Every guy with a call or dieing rabbit makes a different sound. Location and setup are key. Buy a video or two or hunt with a seasoned caller. I say this over and over but it really is the best way to learn.