Desert Hunter

Ambush hunting.

What is "this kind of hunting?"  It's uniquely coyote.   Pick any area with semi-thick vegetation in suitable habitat, where walking is possible but visibility is limited.   The bait is any sound, usually a prey distress, sometimes used in combination with a moving decoy or an accessory smell, that evokes some animal curiousity, some noise that an inquisitive animal will investigate.  The intention is to entice a coyote to make a running pass through a target area.  Don't expect a still target.  The coyote can run more than 40 mph, and it veers, hops, bounces and reverses course.  It may stop to take a better look at whatever noisemaker you're using, but the coyote never sticks around long and is usually gone in a second or two. 

Keep it simple.

This kind of hunting takes almost nothing. A call, a shotgun, and few shells. It's going to be hard for most hunters to understand. All that stuff that the magazines, videos, and manufacturers are telling you that you must have to be successful are generally unneeded, unwanted, and unnecessary. Leave it all at home.

Carry less.

Take a call, extra shells, and a shotgun. Leave everything else behind. If you're going to take anything extra, take ammo. If you don't carry enough ammo, after a few hits, a few misses, and a few in the gun, your pockets will be empty. Ten shells is not too many. One or two should be low-cost 2.75" ammo if you come up on a wounded animal so you don't have to use another $4 round of hevi-shot. Choking, stomping, clubbing, or knifing a wounded coyote is not fun. Losing a badly wounded coyote is not an option. Cats and claws are even worse. The last resort is to use a rock thrown at the top of the wounded animal's head. Nothing is as quick and lethal as an extra shot. I carry very little to a stand besides a gun, ammo, and a call. Add a glove for handling animals, a drag made of parachute cord, maybe a wind checker and a cheap squeaker in my shirt pocket, my wallet, licenses, and keys.  That's it. KIS. Carry less.

Forget the rest.

Leave the sticks, monopods, bipods, tripods, stools, packs, decoys (though the decoy has some good uses in more open country), chairs, ladders, pads, ghillies, nets, and Bowie knives in the truck.  Scent-lok suits, pistols, bandoliers, belly packs, and cameras - leave them all in the truck.  I won't carry a cell phone, an extra caller speaker, or even a tail cutter.  They do nothing but weigh you down and impede your stance, swing, and aim on the stand. They slow you down loading and unloading in and out of the truck, walking to the stand, and setting up. There is, however, one exception.

Plan S.

Every hunter should also have a stool in his kit - it's called a "dove" stool some of the time, or the taller model, the "duck" stool. Scanning from a stool is not easy and takes practice.  It's even harder to shoot.  But it's really good for tired, older, or less active hunters.  It's handy in more open territory with low cover where the stool lowers your visual profile, and lets you relax comfortably while hunting.   If you plan to carry a stool, buy the lightweight aluminum double rectangle frame type, not one with pointed legs that sink in. Be aware that some come with a carry strap and compartment under the seat, ideal storage for a cat tag, some tp, or a bit of foam padding, and that's the one you want to buy.

Camo

Soft-finish non-reflective street clothes, a hat, and a headnet or mask are enough. The fabric needs to be quiet; it should not rustle when you move or rub it. Harder finishes like some military fatigues with polyester or gore-tex can make noise when you move. Wal-Mart 6-pocket cargo pants and a $10 plaid shirt work really well in the desert. Khakis don't draw any attention to the hunter at the McDonald's either, an even bigger plus in the blue states. Try a boonie hat too.  It has a different profile from a baseball hat.  It also helps keep the sun off the ears and neck, and out of your eyes from the sides as well as the front. Boonie hats aren't swag like logo covered baseball hats, so they're harder to find, and even harder to find for free.

The combination of soft, quiet clothes, a face mask, and standing still in the shade with the shotgun at your side makes it difficult for game to identify a human form.  It's not unusual to have a coyote run by,  20 yards out, without seeing you.  It's more likely that it will stop and look straight at you from 10 yards away without recognizing the danger.  A 20-inch tall coyote coming through this thigh-high brush will surprise the hell out of both of you when it pops out a dozen yards away.  It will usually be within gun range as soon as you see it but that won't last.  You've got about a half second to identify targets and another half to shoot.  Does camo clothing fool a coyote?  Probably not. In the desert, there aren't many good reasons to pay extra for special purpose clothes. If you're already hitting coyotes at 25 yards, why is any camo necessary?  Soft finish, non-reflective cloth seems to work just as well as the best camo and is available for one-fifth of the price at a Target or Wal-Mart near you. 

If a human believes he can fully decode what a coyote sees, it would be a mistake.  No one can accurately model the processing of motion, depth and color by that animal's brain.  Pretending to know what a coyote sees or thinks is leap of faith I won't make.  There are too many bizarre tales told of a countless hunters being thoroughly frustrated and spoofed by some dog to give the coyote less than its due.  A couple of things are certain.  The coyote sees what it sees, responds erratically and unpredictably, and is usually gone almost immediately. 

That's about it. You'll find more information about guns and calls elsewhere on the site. But if you've got your street clothes, a shotgun, hat, headnet, a call, and some shells in your pocket, you're fully equipped for hunting the thick stuff.