How loud? I really dont think that I can blow mine too loud but I like to start the calling on a more subtle note "maybe a third volume" and sometimes get something close by to show up in a couple min.
I really dont think that I can blow mine too loud
Keep in mind that you are not blowing into the thing like you are blowing out a candle but rather tapping the air sorce from your lower diaphram. If I get the call going too loud or too fast, it is easy to build up back pressure on the call itself and I know to back off a bit. Calling from your diaphram also lets you add quaver or change those notes easily.
Time can vary between constant or intermittant and I use them both. I usually start with the intermittant blowing just a couple of sequences every five min. It doesnt take too long and helpers will arrive in the form of birds that gather nearby and start to raise a chatter. This natural chatter can be heard from a long ways off and by that time you may have a Great Horned Owl in a nearby perch that will bear some watching. What I really pay attention to is the Crows. If they show up, the Coyotes are not too far behind them.
Sometimes those birds will be "tucked away" against the cold or perhaps I am laying flat on my belly in the wide open stubble. Intermittant can still work but if I have a good feeling about the area, I may start pouring it on hard & fast...especially if the daylight is fading.
Patience and setup can be the key. An older wary Coyote might take up to 40min to come in and I like to be subtle enough to let them hunt for me. It really does not want to cross the wide open areas so I like to be near a drainage, wooded finger, or such to give them a way to close in on me.
Lots of variables as you can see and we have not even touched on the howler calls. I have over ten distress calls and all of them work. I will say that the Coyote likes the ones with the more raspy reeds but yet I have had them come in to the ones with clean, high, notes. It is an investment of time and that right sound but the best part is that you can start out simple. This years pup's are the first to come in and a lot of them could probably be called in with a rusty screen door!
Practice is good and there is many MP3 sounds out there to help you with sequence and timing. Calling at the same location with the same call too often is bad.