florida coyote hunters?

[coopershooter]

anyone hunt coyote,s in central florida? i live in citris county, and have lots of wma to hunt on. are there enough yotes here to call them in?
   thanks!

[TennSquire]

There are plenty of them in Lake County.  I use a Western Rivers Decoy Stake with the rabbit decoy, and a Circe rabbit squealer call.  It does the trick late in the afternoon.  I'm hunting 1,500 acres that is an Upland Bird Hunting Club.  I think the released quail, chukar, huns, and phesant are the main attractants to the property.  Plenty of bobcats and coyotes eating the released birds.  I'm finding dens all over the place.  Around an hour before sunset you can hear the coyotes starting to howl.  Sounds like I'll have a lifetime supply of varmints when they all start calling!

TennSquire

[coopershooter]

i,m hunting wma. i have to use rimfire or shotgun.  do i sit up or down wind of an open field? i,m using a squeeler that i dont know how to use.  how long do i call?  and any other advice would be great! i know there are lots of yotes here. if i could only get them to come to me at the call.
  thanks!
  coopershooter.

[TennSquire]

Given the choice, I think I'd go with the shotgun over a rimfire, unless it's a 22Mag.  I use a 12 gauge with #1 buckshot.  It's a little smaller than the 00 buck, but there's more pellets and they're large enough to do the job within 40+ yards or so.  I try to sit with the wind blowing across the field that I'm hunting.  If you sit upwind, it will blow your scent out into the field.  They will smell you and shy away.  Sitting downwind sometimes works, unless the coyote approaches from behind you.  The sound of the rabbit call with carry downwind more than upwind, so sometimes a varmint will sneak in from behind you.  I picked up a small bottle of fox urine at a hunting store and will put a drop or two on the ground downwind of where I'm sitting.  Don't know if that does any good, but I feel it helps to hide my scent from blowing around in the woods.

I scout the field the day before and locate places for the decoy and where I can hide.  I put the decoy out early in the morning when it's still dark, and then settle down for a long, boring wait.  I hunt mostly early morning and late afternoon.  Sometimes you can hear the coyotes howling to each other.  That will give you an idea of what direction they might approach from.  After I'm settled down in the bushes, I won't call on the rabbit screamer for at least 1/2 hour.  Then I'll repeat about once or twice every 15 minutes.  Get comfortable as you have to remain motionless.  Move only your eyes to look around, not your head.  Try not to fidget around, moving your arms, legs, or whatever.  Don't smoke.  I try to sit at the base of a tree that has bushes near its base.  That way I can hide in the bushes and lean against the tree.  I have a camo stadium seat that I place on the ground to sit on.  Most of the time the ground is wet from  fog or dew, so it's nice not to have to sit on the wet ground.  Listen for birds making a commotion.  Sometimes Blue Jays will go crazy and alert you to the approach of a coyote, or bobcat.  I wear all camo, including gloves, and my shotgun is also all camo.  If you get into varmint hunting you may want to purchase a lightweight, camo head netting of some kind, like they use for turkey hunting.  Especially if you wear glasses.  Reflections from eyeglasses can spook off a wary varmint.  I've seen audio cassettes in stores that will give you ideas and variations on calling with a predator call.  There's every kind of call in the world out there.  Have you ever heard a rabbit in distress?  It's not a noise that you think a cute little bunny would make!  It's a real loud scream!  Just blow the call a couple times and then wait 15 minutes before doing it again.

That's about all I can think of right now.  Don't get discouraged if you don't get any activity.  Just don't give up.  It may take months to get a coyote to come to the call.

TennSquire

[whodowl]

I'm new to Florida , Marion county, and wanted to hunt some yotes and bobcat in the Ocala Nat'l.  Do I understand correctly that I can not use a centerfire?  I am especially after bobcat.  Also, what kind of license will I need?  Thanks.

[TennSquire]

I hunt on private land, so I can use whatever gun suits my needs, as long as the caliber is legal.  When hunting in state and federal designated areas, you have to follow the rules specific to that area.

In Ocala, and other state wildlife management areas, they have a "Small Game Season" during which you cannot possess a centerfire rifle while in that forest.  You can only hunt small game with rimfire or shotgun.  

In Ocala, coyotes can be taken during "General Gun Season" from November 14th to January 9th, and bobcats from Nov. 20th to January 9th, all with centerfire rifle.  Then "small game season" starts January 10th and runs until March 6th.  That's when you can only use rimfire or shotgun.  There is an "extended fox, bobcat, rabbit, & raccoon" season starting March 7th and running until April 17th.  You can hunt only in the Pipeline Unit west of hiway 19, and south of hiway 40.  One other rule applies during the extended season - possession of guns is prohibited.  So I don't really know what you use to hunt with during that season, maybe dogs.

You'll need your regular resident hunting license, and the wildlife management area stamp.  You'll also need a lot of bravery and luck if you go into Ocala during general gun season.  I stopped going during that season back in the early 1970's.  I only go during small game season.  Still, during the 2002 small game season, when 3 of us returned to our trucks after a day in the woods, one of the guys trucks had a centerfire rifle round stuck in the top of the cab.  Someone had fired their rifle in the air, perhaps a mile away, and the bullet came down and stuck in the top of his truck, going halfway throuh the metal.  I read in the news each year about people being shot off their deer stands, or mistaken for turkey or squirrels in Ocala during general gun season.  Make sure you buy camo hankerchiefs!  I'm serious - never take a white hankie out and blow your nose with it in Ocala.  You'll be shot for a deer!

Good luck!

TennSquire

[whodowl]

Thanks for the info TennSquire, I appreciate that.  I've not had much luck getting hunting info here.  Picked up a copy of the state hunting regulations but little if any info on the Ocala Nat'l.  Drove over to the ranger station on 40 and the gal there more or less referred me back to the state regs.  She gave me a miniature copy of the map of the forrest and said I could hunt deer and hogs up till Jan 14th.  Couldn't read the map.  She said everybody hunts the pipeline in northeast Marion and thought maybe I should try that.
 
I left there no better informed than when I arrived and drove on in to Half Moon lake to look for a place to set up a camp.  No campgrounds there that I could find and wooly as all getout.  Side roads (dirt) going every which direction that require a 4-wheel drive and room for only 1 vehicle at a time.  Found some old camps and a few deer skulls laying around, but no evidence of anyone actively hunting the area (middle of deer season too), odd.  Anyways, the area didn't look real safe for someone camping alone and I decided against it.  Looking at the Lake Delancy area now.  I had intended to pick up a new Rem 223 this week for the yotes and cats, but if season goes out Jan. 9th maybe I should wait.  

If you had not responded I probably would have had a new gun I could only use for 9 or 10 days till next season.  Thank'y.  And BTW, appreciate the tips on the lack of hunter safety in the Ocala, sounds like a bunch of citified hotheads huntin that place.  

By the way, do you know anyone in this area that stocks Burris rings and bases.  None in Marion county that I could find, be willing to drive to G'ville tho. :-)  

[TennSquire]

whodowl,

Just got back on-line after a week in the woods.  

Ocala is a nice place.  I had friends back in highschool that their families owned camps up there.  I spent almost every weekend there during hunting seasons back in the late 1960's.  Today, there just seems to be too many people shooting at movement or noise to suit me!  There's also a lot of "locals" that, having been born and raised in the forest, believe it belongs to them and is there so they can do as they please.  There are tons of small roads that will fit only one vehicle, and they go for miles and miles.  Lots of them will have deer stands just off those roads.  There's two kinds of dirt roads in Ocala.  Numbered and un-numbered.  There's a bunch of rules about what you can do on either type road.  All those rules will be in the Ocala Wildlife Management Area Regulations Summary and Area Map brochure. (see the link below)

You used to be able to purchase large Ocala Forest maps at the ranger station on 19 just North of Altoona.  They're 3X3 feet and have great detail.  I've had my old one since the mid-1970's, and finally bought a new one a couple years ago.

Try going to this website and clicking on the link for Ocala.  You will need Acrobat Reader installed on your computer as it is a PDF.  That link will download the Ocala hunting regulations brochure.  It may be the same thing they gave you at that ranger station.

http://www.wildflorida.org/hunting/wma/NorthEast.htm

There's a gun and pawn shop in Ocala, just off 441 that has a lot of stuff.  Haven't been there in a couple years so don't know if they carry Burris.  I think it's called "Jerry's Gun and Pawn" or something like that.

Well, so much for your new gun.  I just bought one last week.  A Remington 700 BDL in .223 Remington.  Mounted a Leupold VXII, 6-18X40 AO scope on Leupold base and rings.  It's a shooter!  I took it out to the range at our hunt club and tried 5 or 6 different types of ammo through it.  It shoots best with Hornady 55 gr V-MAX Molly.  I shot 4, 3-shot groups with each type ammo at 100 yards, and the Hornady averaged .75, with the best group at .5!  All groups were under 1-MOA.  Absolutely excellent for an out-of-the-box production gun!  I'm headed back out tomorrow to set up for coyotes.  Usually on the weekend there's a lot of activity at the hunt club, dog training, clay pigeon shooting, etc., and the coyotes stay hidden.  Hopefully it will be quiet there mid-week and they will be out moving around.

TennSquire

[coopershooter]

thanks for the info guy,s!

[Grunthunter]

Just thought I'd toss this out.  All you Florida hunters probably already know this but in case it was missed in reading the 'regs', If you're using an electronic caller and a Bob Cat comes into it, it's illegal to shoot it.  You have to use manual calls (non-electronic) for Bob Cats only.  You can use anything for Coyotes.  I hunt on private land here in Central Fla and we have plenty of Coyotes.  I want to buy a new gun, or new barrel for my Encore, in a SS .22-250 bull barrel but don't know what to buy yet.  I already have a Rem 700 BDL in -06 that's accurate as all get out!  I'd like to get something different, maybe a Sako, Ruger or just a new barrel for my Encore.

Any Comments or suggestion ?