New question..old topic

[SteveCraig]

A little dead around here lately, so i am going to ask this question.

What do you callers consider the best times of the day to call

#1. Coyotes

#2 Bobcats

AND WHY?

[FWS]

Right now it's when they turn on the sprinklers in the avocado orchards ;D

The coyotes are laid up under the trees on the ranches bordering suburbia after a hard night of wandering the neighborhoods raiding trash cans and looking for house cats and small dogs.

Set up at the corner of an orchard where you can see down both roads bordering the brushy hillsides.

When one runs out you whack em' broadside with the Barnes Varmint Grenade out of the .222 ;D

[SteveCraig]

LOL ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

somehow John, I figured you would rise to the occasion! ;D

[lb]

First three hours of daylight, for coyotes. Depending on conditions, of course.

With a bobcat, they are most active during the night which is by far the best time to call them. Are they particularly responsive early morning? I don't think so, at least in my experience, and depending on your location. You need to hunt the bedroom because he's done for the day. I think smack dab in the middle of the day is your "best" calling on cats, which is to say, not real early and not real late.

Good hunting. LB

[SteveCraig]

Leonard said,
"With a bobcat, they are most active during the night which is by far the best time to call them. Are they particularly responsive early morning? I don't think so, at least in my experience, and depending on your location. You need to hunt the bedroom because he's done for the day. I think smack dab in the middle of the day is your "best" calling on cats, which is to say, not real early and not real late."

Leonard,
I have been advocating this very thing for bobcats for many years. It is amazing to me how may callers do not call in the middle of the day. As far as I am concerned, it is primetime for bobcats and LIONS. Mornings are the poorest time for calling cats. However, with that said, I also believe that in a dry climate, the last hour of daylight you should be set up on a water hole for a bobcat, as he needs a good drink after a long day of snoozing!
Excellent post!

[RShaw]

For cats, I like mid morning until mid afternoon. I hunt their bedrooms just like Leonard said. I will find an area that has potential for holding a cat. Usually a bunch of cedars and short brush that is just off the creek bottom. A big bunch of turkeys nearby is just a bonus. I park the truck and start walking. I work the entire area by zigzagging and moving about a quarter of a mile between stands. Most of the time, I stay on stand for 12 to 15 minutes and all the time listening for squirrels and bluejays. Sometimes the truck ends up 2 miles away.

I will shoot any coyote or fox that shows up while calling cats. If there is some coyote sign, I will howl at the beginning of the stand. I have had cats show-up after howls and gunfire.

Randy

[CrossJ]

Well, hard to add to that. So, I thought I might add a little twist.
What environmental factors do you feel changes those 'rules'?
For me , high wind is a poor cat day, but those 'grey' days(overcast and dreary) are good all day. Maintain

[RShaw]

Same here Geordie on the high winds and overcast days. In my part of the country, right after a snowfall is a real good time for coyotes. Just as soon as the last flake hits the ground. For cats it is different. I've seen cats lay-up for 3 to 5 days after a big storm. Can't find a track. Then boom, on the fourth or fifth day cat tracks everywhere.

My house cat is a good indication when the time is right for calling.

Randy

[lb]

I have seen cats active on windy days or nights. I think they hunt more protected cover, but sometimes they are active, although to be truthful, a lot of times they are picked up while doing a form of spotlighting, or more accurately called; a very slow "rolling stand". Note; too much info! Poor technique, so don't bother trying it.

The hunting is harder in wind, no doubt because they can't hear the call as well, and they might just be contrary, or lazy. I have seen them out in a snow, at night, if it's not a blizzard. Just like a coyote, hard to set limits with a cat, any cat.

Good hunting. LB

[Furhvstr]

Leonard that's a good way to meet the wrong guys. Happened to me fifteen years or so ago. Cost me a couple hundred and a day off work. First time and last I hope.

Most people think that early mornings are the best for coyotes and they probably are. The average hunter only goes out early morning so that is all he knows. My point being that the conclusion is flawed from a biased study group. Thousands of hunters for dozens of years calling till ten and getting home in time for the game. For me with my night calling I used to sit at home and wait for the "optimum" conditions according to what is generally accepted. Realizing that our trapping season is barely two months long I got of the couch and started going out whenever I had the chance. Been doing it several years now and have not been able to put together any single set of conditions I think is best. I used to think dark nights were best but that was the only time I used to go out so of course I thought it was best. Started going out on full and half moons and have had some great nights. I've killed them all hours of the night but most between 7 and 2 am so I think that is the best time.
Every time I think I know something about those spotted cats they seem to change what I thought were the rules.

Like you guys I have noticed quite a few early afternoon kitties. I think in cool weather cats are much more active during the daytime than many people think.

My favorite time for fur season coyotes is all day long.

[lb]

My take on the moon phase is, if you only get out once a month, like me, do your night hunting under a new moon. All things being equal, they can't see you as well.

But, hold it. I mean for everything cats, dogs, fox and badgers, maybe a lion, now and then. If you are hunting bobcat, it don't matter too much because they are very forgiving, but it sure helps if you keep them under the light. You should be able to hunt cats under any moon phase, if it's done right. The problem is not that they are stupid, it is that they are fearless in many ways. They don't bother going downwind, and even if they accidentally are downwind from you and they smell you, they are not afraid, at night, at least. And, I don't believe for a minute that a cat doesn't have a nose. They have an excellent sense of smell, but they don't use it in ways like a coyote does. LB

[trappnman]

With a bobcat, they are most active during the night which is by far the best time to call them. Are they particularly responsive early morning? I don't think so, at least in my experience, and depending on your location. You need to hunt the bedroom because he's done for the day. I think smack dab in the middle of the day is your "best" calling on cats, which is to say, not real early and not real late."

Am, I misisng something here? Or is your point that the best time to call is at night, but if you have to call during daylight, make it mid day?

Interesting if I read that right.

Care to elaborate?

[Furhvstr]

On dark nights my lights work better, I can hide myself on a stand easier and according to many trappers cats are most active on new moons. I have heard that they can see their prey but that it is more difficult for their prey to see them on dark nights. What? Do they starve the rest of the month? They hunt in the mornings and daytime when the sun is up. Splain it to me Lucy.
To think that I'm hiding my truck from a varmint on a dark night I think I'm kidding myself. Sure they can't see "as good" on dark nights but once their within a couple hundred yds I'm pretty sure they know its a truck making that squalling noise.

No cats don't do some of the things that we as humans percieve as smart. I have often wondered why a coyote was as "smart" as he is. He has only one natural enemy to speak of and we have only been chasing him for a hundred years or so. How and why did he get so smart?

I have noticed one thing on cats. Mature toms and some mature females come boldly to the call. Sometimes trotting in like a coyote. If I get one hanging up on a hillside or rock pile 200 yds out nine out of ten it's a juvenile and or female.
I would like to think( for our genders sake) that the toms charging in are tough and can handle any situation that may arise and not because they are stupid.

[Furhvstr]

T'man I can only speak to here in Cali. cause this is the only state I've hunted cats in. I do it at night cause I can. And it is an absolute advantage to do it at night.
Far as daytime cats the middle of the day theory is a tuff one to swallow. I picture a cat lounging around under a tree or in a rock pile during the day picking his teeth with a quail leg bone. You could wave a t-bone in front of his face and he may or may not get up. He's a CAT!. Getting a cat interested in your calling efforts is half the battle, I feel they are harder to get interested but easier to make dead than a coyote. Still I have hed several afternoon cats over the years but definately more early mornings. Of course I hunt many more days till ten than I do till four so not a very good sample.

[romans117]

I have never cared about the time of day. Evening has always been best for me, right before dark. The place is more important. I have called one cat in. Mid day. The yotes are more of how far to go in versus time of day, for me. The later in the day the more they are moving. IMHO

[FWS]

Far as daytime cats the middle of the day theory is a tuff one to swallow.

I think that's regional and habitat related. It's very common to see cats during the day along the coastal ranges. Daytime spot and stalk can be pretty effective.

[Furhvstr]

Good point FWS. I have had more than one bass fisherman tell me about all the bobcats they see while daytime fishing down in the San Diego lakes.

[SteveCraig]

"Far as daytime cats the middle of the day theory is a tuff one to swallow."

Mercer,
It is not a theoryy. You will find that if you get right into his bedroom, and use the right sound, not necessarily a prey sound, HE CAN NOT HELP HIMSELF. He HAS to come, and come he does. I have used this method in Montana, WY, Kansas, NM, and just about every inch of AZ. I am talking daytime calling here. Do not worry, your reaction to this "theory" is the norm. AND one of the main reasons darn few callers ever get good at calling lions and bobcats. They simply quit calling during "primetime". 10am to 2pm I can call 10 bobcats at that time to every one called in the morning. I can call 4 to every one in the evening stands. It is also my firm belief that you can call 10 at night to every one called in the daytime. Many callers will scoff at this and that is OK and their loss. It is something i have been dealing with for 20 years. It is much easier to teach a newbe than it is to unlearn someone and teach him some thing new to HIM!

[Furhvstr]

Maybe we could spend a couple days and nights in the truck this winter and you could learn me up some. In turn we could get in a little shinen. Border aint to far for me.

[SteveCraig]

You got a deal, man!
Course i might make FWS mad cause he has been wanting me to come and shoot bears and such there!