The California Varmint Callers Association
DEDICATED TO THE SPORT OF VARMINT CALLING.

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Mission and Objectives

As most everyone who hunts already knows, predators use their ears, eyes and nose to survive in the wild. This is especially true with Mr. Coyote. From my own personal experience, I would say the coyote is probably one of the smartest of all predators in North America.

Of the coyotes three senses, his sense of smell is probably the hardest to fool. He makes his living with it so I'm sure that it's highly developed. If he hears what is suppose to be a rabbit in distress from your varmint call, the coyote will usually go towards the source of the sound by heading towards it in the downwind direction. When hunting the coyote, if you haven't taken him by the time he gets downwind, he'll probably be heading for the next county as soon as he scents you. That is often the case with many inexperienced varmint callers. If you would like to change those circumstances and improve your odds, then listen up carefully.

• #1. Put yourself in the coyotes position. If you sound like a rabbit you should smell like a rabbit. If you smell like a rabbit then you probably are a rabbit - correct? If so, you have just fooled two out of the coyotes three senses. His other two senses are easier to deal with and having said that will leave this subject to another article.

• #2. Get yourself some rabbit urine and put it into a spray bottle. Make sure the spray bottle has a fine spray setting. Mix it 50/50 with water to make it easier to spray. Pure urine is a little thicker than water and will eventually clog the sprayer. Although hard to find, with a little effort , rabbit urine can be found.

• #3. The next time you are making a stand and you see a coyote heading downwind, lets say 40 or 50 Yds before getting downwind of you, start spraying the scent. Temper your judgment here by spraying sooner or later based on the wind speed. You may want to think about spraying a little at the start of your stand.

• #4. Once Mr. Coyote gets a whiff of the rabbit, he'll come knocking at your front door. You may also want to add one quarter coyote urine to the rabbit scent mixture. This seems to work a little better than just rabbit scent alone.

• #5. Try to think as the coyote thinks. If you heard a rabbit and got downwind of the sound and you smelled a skunk or fox or anything other than a rabbit, what would you do if you were a coyote? Remember, they are one of the smartest of the predators and as such they deserve our respect.

  Good hunting pilgrims!

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