A turkey call for coyotes

Coyotes run dry ground or snow in the winter. February is the breeding season.

HONOR, Mich. -- You've heard fingernails being dragged down a blackboard. Or chair legs scraping across a tile floor. Right?

The sound seems to rip through your ears and produces an instant headache. It wouldn't be any fun coyote hunting with Roger Kerby of Honor unless you wear ear plugs. His predator call will set your nerves teeth on edge. Just writing about it makes my skin crawl.

He uses a diaphragm call made for turkey hunting. Used in the manner for which it was designed, the call sounds like a turkey. Used how Kerby does it, it sounds like a rabbit being eaten alive by fire ants.

A nasty sound that many coyotes cannot ignore.

He and his wife, Nancy, were cruising the back roads near home recently. They came to a spot, and both jumped out of the car and quietly eased the car doors shut after he grabbed his .308 bolt-action rifle, and they walked silently into an area he had hunted many times before.

The wind was right for this location because downwind was fairly open. Coyotes, when coming to the call, often circle to the downwind side to check for danger.

They sat down, Roger with the rifle across his lap, and inserted the diaphragm call in his mouth. He moved it around to lubricate the latex reed with saliva, took a deep breath, and began calling.

He uses a great deal of force, and leans hard on the reed with his breath. It is pinned hard by his tongue  to the roof of his mouth, and air is forced hard over the reed. The resulting sound will make your ears hurt and keep your eyes moving in search of a coyote.

It is a high-pitched "e-e-e-e-e-ah" sound and was quickly followed by another ear-splitting call. He called steadily for a minute, lowered the volume by reducing the force of his breath over the reed, and then stopped and sat motionless.

His .308 was topped with a scope, and Kerby has excellent vision. He waited for several minutes, and ran through a shorter version of the same call with it ending in a blood-chilling gurgle.

Getting ready for a shot that can come at any time.

A second later he nudged Nancy, and they spotted a coyote a quarter-mile away streaking in their direction. He knew the animal would stop, but kept the scope on the big animal. It stopped about 100 yards away, and the crosshairs settled on its shoulder, and he gently squeezed the trigger.

The coyote swapped ends in mid-air, landed, thrashed once and died.

"I've been using a turkey call for many years," he said. "I have a Stewart electronic caller, and other commercially made hard plastic predator calls, and they work fine. Some days I used the electronic unit if I don't have to carry it far. If I have a long haul over rough terrain, I just carry my turkey diaphragm and my rifle."

A soft huff of air will produce a cluck or yelp like it is supposed to do but that doesn't work for him. It's when he leans heavily on the call, and forces the air hard over the reed that the grating noise comes out.

"Once I shoot," he said, "I keep calling because often other coyotes are around. I've shot three coyotes while hunting from one spot.

"Experience has taught me that too many hunters call a few times, get up and move to another area. Often an unseen coyote is coming, and is then spooked by the moving hunter. Give each spot a little bit of time, and then give it a few more minutes. Some coyotes come running on the first call, some move on the last call, and some coyotes never come.”

Keep moving and trying other locations.

They moved on to another spot where Kerby had killed a coyote the previous week, and tried it. It didn't produce, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't work the next time.

"Some coyotes show an unusual amount of caution, and the next one comes running in like it hasn't eaten in a week," he said. "Each coyote acts differently, and the trick is to be positioned so you can see a coyote coming before he picks up your scent."

Coyote hunting is a passion for Roger Kerby. He spent years guiding deer and turkey hunters, but when snow covers the ground, he gathers up his rifle and diaphragm or electronic call, and heads for the woods and open fields.

The screeching that comes from his diaphragm call will give you the heebie jeebies, but it sounds like the dinner bell ringing to a coyote. He admits that learning how to put the screech into the call and the other little nuances he uses when calling can only be learned by trial and error.

"I don't even remember why I first tried the diaphragm call, but it works just fine," he said. "Whenever I can call a coyote into rifle range, it is a good day. They are one of the most exciting animals there is to hunt on winter snow, and their caution level is always on red alert."

That caution has to be respected by the hunter, and they must make every attempt to avoid being winded. Kerby takes about 10-12 coyotes every year, and considers them one of the most difficult animals to hunt. That's why he likes to call these predators. in as close as possible.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors