Calling All Coyotes

Submitted by Keith Bridgman

Wildlife photography is probably the most difficult of photography endeavors to pursue. Wildlife in general can often be finicky and elusive. After all, they are wild. To be somewhat successful at it requires one to spend a great deal of time outdoors and to understand the ways of the wildlife being pursued.

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Over the years I’ve made various, mostly unsuccessful attempts to photograph wildlife, having captured a few lucky images from time to time, but nothing of real merit. I’ve even tried to photograph coyotes, unsuccessfully by the way, by calling them in using a hand-blown wounded rabbit call…which is a challenge to say the least.

Coyotes are fascinating, adaptable creatures. They can be found in all kinds of habitats and even though they are quite jumpy around people, they will readily take up residence in and around where people live. I recently heard that an estimated upwards to 20 million of them live in North America. That is incredible when you think about it, when so many animals are creeping toward extinction or have suffered dramatic reductions in their numbers thru habitat destruction, the coyote is thriving.

Prior to the 1940’s, coyotes were primarily a plains and western animal, but since have spread across the United States and can be found in every state. You’d think it would be an easy animal to photograph, but they are not as they are a wary and elusive animal.

As the new year 2020 approaches I’ve decided I want to capture some quality images of coyotes. As I live in the middle of farm country, there are no shortages of them around. I hear them all the time especially of an evening when a family unit begins their greeting yelping and howling. They often sound like they are in my backyard, but logic suggests they are farther away than they sound. I figure this will not be an easy task as they most often are not seen during the day but can be found late of an afternoon just before sundown and just after sunup.

I plan on using an electronic call…downloaded to my phone and played thru a speaker, along with a manually operated dyi decoy/attractor that waves around. The idea is to place the decoy and call some distance from where you set up so as to focus any curious coyote’s attention on the call and decoy instead of you. Camouflage is a must, from head to toe, and a blind is also a useful amenity. Any movement at all and a coyote will see it and be gone, so you must be hidden.

Camera equipment…well, you need a long lens something like 500mm preferably with a 1.4 teleconverter attached. A tripod for low light situations and shooting with a high ISO and fast shutter speeds along with rapid fire 8 to 10 frames per second shooting.

You gotta also place yourself with the wind in your face and be willing to brave the cold and early hours. Fortunately, I can just walk out my backdoor a few hundred yards and be in prime coyote country.

So, there you have it…my next challenge for 2020. Hopefully, the coyotes will cooperate. Even if they do not, the challenge of trying to do something like this carries its own just rewards. I’ve spent too much time sleeping in, too much time sitting around, and not nearly enough time doing the things I enjoy. Hopefully, that too will change for 2020.