Spring is quickly approaching, I hope anyway! A true sign of spring in the kick-off of turkey season which runs April 4th & 5th for youth and April 20th – May 10th for all hunters.

The turkey population in Missouri is still strong but poor nesting and weather over the past several years has reduced wild turkey numbers in some parts of the state. A few consecutive years of drier, warmer spring weather will be critical for our turkey numbers to bounce back. In the meantime, turkey hunting will be more challenging in certain areas. Spring poult production is the primary factor in determining wild turkey numbers each year. Wild turkeys need several years of a good hatch and poult survival to increase numbers. Cold, wet conditions during the nesting and early brood-rearing period of April through June have limited wild turkey reproduction in three of the past four years. The 2006 hatch was relatively strong, but cool, wet weather in 2005, a late freeze in 2007, and prolonged flooding in 2008 resulted in several of the worst years for turkey production on record. Given a couple years of favorable spring weather conditions, our wild turkey numbers will bounce back. Turkey numbers vary from county to county and region to region. In some areas, especially north of the Missouri River, hunting will be more challenging as poor hatches over the past several years have led to localized population declines.
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A coyote is staring at me. Fortunately, it’s on the wall in my office, peering out from the January page of Missouri Conservation Department’s Natural Events Calendar. I wonder how many Missourians have seen a coyote face to face or caught a glimpse as it darts across a field or road. As furbearers, their winter pelts are pretty thick now so they appear bigger, bushier than in late summer. I’ve read stories in the newspaper about their boldness around people, but most of those are from California where they seem to be more common.

I know they’re all over Missouri, but I’ve felt lucky when I’ve seen them since they’re usually so wary here. One of our urban biologists near St. Louis noted that coyotes are the animals that generate the most questions/calls to our staff. People are unfamiliar with them and a little wary themselves—and unsure what to do when they see one in their backyards.

What impressions I had early on of them were not from reality, though, but from Wily Coyote cartoons, and from old Native American stories which called the coyote the “Trickster.” I didn’t realize firsthand, though, how truly clever they were until in my early career with the Conservation Department. We used to have young wild animals at our exhibit at the state fair (which was not a good idea for the longterm well being of the animals and would no longer be acceptable). But given that times were different 23 years ago, I ended up taking one of the coyotes “home” to release after the fair at our place in the country, hoping it could adapt to the wild. Although it eventually did make its way off into the fields and woods, at first it hung around our house. One day I saw the coyote approach one of our doors, put both paws on the round knob and try to turn it. I realized it had seen people doing this in the large walk-in exhibits cages at the fairs. (Fortunately the knob was too smooth and it didn’t get a good grasp!). Then a few days later  I was upstairs and suddenly heard water running somewhere. I ran downstairs and found the outdoor faucet gushing. And there stood the coyote. (That knob had ridges so gave a grip, I guess.) I turned it off, made sure there was a bowl of water outside from then on, and was lucky it didn’t happen again when I was off at work. I was relieved when it went back to the wild where it truly belonged.

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Source of information Missouri Dept. of Conservation

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Even when called in close, coyotes are tough to kill with a shotgun. Stout loads are required.

“They’ve never been called on this ranch,” was the music-to-my-ears answer I got from the foreman of a ranch down in Old Mexico when I asked him about the local coyote population. Our primary mission there was to hunt Gould’s turkey, and since I had already bagged my gobbler, I was looking for something else to keep me busy for the next several days. It just so happened that I had brought along a mouth call that does a realistic job of imitating a terrified cottontail rabbit.

I had also brought along a supply of predator loads for my shotgun. When calling coyotes, I more often have a rifle in my hands, but since a rifle is not always available on shotgun hunts, I make sure my duffel bag contains something more potent than a load best suited for turkey, pheasant or quail. Twist my arm long enough and I’ll confess to the shotgun actually being more fun as a coyote gun because its limited range makes you wait until the incoming target is up close and personal before you can pull the trigger.

I don’t recall how many times we set up to call that day, but I do remember that at least one coyote came in on all except one setup. What really made it fun was that the fellow who was with me had never in his life called in coyotes. To say that he was beside himself with excitement is rather an understatement. One time a dog came in from behind us and was just about in our laps before we knew it was there. Another time I had a trio coming in together, loping along shoulder-to-shoulder across an open field.

“Wait until they are inside twenty yards, and take all three,” I whispered in my friend’s ear. But his first shot failed to drop the first one in its tracks, so while he was busy finishing the job he started, I bumped off the other two with a couple of shots from my pump gun.

The 12-gauge ammunition I used in Mexico was from Environ-Metal and called, appropriately enough, Dead Coyote. Loaded with No. T Hevi-Shot (about .20 caliber), the stuff works quite well for its intended purpose. The longest shot I attempted with it was just shy of fifty yards, and at that range I got complete broadside penetration with the dozen or so pellets that struck the shoulder/lung area of the coyote.

Nominal pellet counts for the three Environ-Metal loads are forty-two for the 23/4-inch shell, fifty for the 3-inch shell and fifty-four for the 31/2-inch shell. Remington’s new Wingmaster HD Predator load also contains T-size shot and is available in 3-inch and 31/2-inch loadings.

Choose the right load and lead shot is just as effective on coyotes as the nontoxic heavyweights and less expensive to boot. In my experience, BB (.18 caliber) is the smallest size to use, but larger shot sizes such as BBB (.19 caliber), T (.20 caliber) and No. 4 Buck (.24 caliber), with their higher energy levels, are better so long as pellet count and therefore pattern density is high enough to deliver multiple strikes to the relatively small vital area of a coyote out to forty yards or so. Getting a coyote in to forty yards, well, that’s a whole other story.

Calling coyotes into shotgun range takes attention to detail, from proper camouflage to stand location.

Choosing A Call:
Like other predators, the coyote can be brought into shooting range by imitating the distress calls of various small animals, and for obvious reasons you will have to coax them a bit closer when using a shotgun than when you’re using a rifle. I’ve used a C-3 Long Range Fox Call from Burnham Brothers for the past forty years, and it pulls coyotes in like a magnet by imitating the scream of a cottontail rabbit as it is being torn to pieces. During the past few months I’ve also been using with great success the new CompuCaller II, a digital call from the same company. I find my old mouth call to be just as effective at bringing in the yodel dogs, but I’ll have to admit the electronic caller does have its advantages. Pushing a button on a battery-powered remote controller is not as tiring as blowing a call for hours on end, and there’s the tactical edge as well. Like a turkey gobbler, a coyote is quite good at pinpointing the precise location of a call, and having the sound originate some distance away from the shooter is a definite advantage. Gary Roberson, owner of Burnham Brothers, recommends setting the caller fifty yards away when hunting with a rifle, and I find half that to be about ideal when using a shotgun. His unit has the best sound of any electronic caller I’ve ever used, and I’m sure the dozens of coyotes that have come to mine would agree if they were still around. You can see first-hand how effective it is by ordering the DVD “Eyes Front III.”

Getting The Shot:
Setting up to shotgun a coyote is a lot like setting up to call in a turkey gobbler, with one exception. Whereas a gobbler depends mostly on its excellent eyesight to keep it out of the roasting pan, the coyote has that plus a very sensitive nose that can sniff you out long before it’s within range. So, Rule No. 1 is to set up with the wind or breeze cooling your face as you look in the direction from which you expect a coyote to approach. Turkeys and coyotes are about even when it comes to detecting movement, but the eyes of a coyote are much more capable of separating the form of a hunter from his surroundings, even when that hunter is sitting absolutely motionless. This is why a camo pattern that makes you appear to be a natural part of the coyote’s home turf is so important.

By Layne Simpson

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Attention Deer Hunters….

“You’re About To Learn The
‘Secrets’ That Most Hunters
WILL NEVER Know About
How To Take BIG Bucks…”

Learn More Tactics, See More Deer and
Harvest Trophy Bucks Like You Never
Thought Possible Before
To: All Deer Hunters

If you’re like me and love to talk about deer, deer hunting and ways to harvest big bucks then keep reading…. this might be one of the most important letters you could read this year!

Do you:

* Day dream and think about hunting deer all the time?
* Looking for ways to harvest that trophy buck?
* Want to earn the bragging rights with your buddies?
* Shop for new huntin’ gear all the time?
* Can’t wait to get out to the field to scout and hunt deer?

Read on… there’s valuable information here just for you!

Here’s what this is all about:

Taking a BIG buck, a trophy buck, is a dream to most hunters. To be able to do it consistently is what separates the experts from the wanna-bees.

Knowing deer habits, how and where they spend their time, what they do under varying conditions, and then discovering all the secrets to get into the right position to harvest them is what deer hunting is all about. Click Here For The Book

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Come Share My Obsession and Passion For Hunting

As a man who is absolutely obsessed with hunting and who interprets the world through the lens of hunting, I see the entire hunting world based upon 3 types of people:

*

#1: The Consistently Successful Hunter
*

#2: The Hunter Who Relies on Luck
*

#3: The Hunters Who Just Don’t Know What To Do But Would Like To Improve

For all the #1 folks, how would you like to ramp up your skills a notch and be known as a legend?

For all the #2 folks, did you know you can learn just a small handful of tips and fundamentals that will turn the tide towards success right away?

For the #3 folks, taking control requires an organized and systematic education of the fundamentals. How would you like to lay the groundwork for a lifetime of success starting now? Click Here For The Secrets

Well, let me tell you right now, all of the above is possible, a lifetime of hunting success is available right now.

It doesn’t matter what group you fall into. What matters is that you have an insatiable desire to harvest the type of deer you dream of.

• Why hunters from southern states make a mistake when they go north in search of deer pg. 8

• A complete chapter for the novice hunter with detailed but easy-to-read information about state regulations, the tagging system, limits on types of weapons, and in and outs of the differences of hunting early in the season or late. – Ch. 2

• The thing almost all hunters do to try to avoid being sensed by a deer that actually repels them twice as fast. I bet you your are already making this mistake. Click Here For The Secrets

• A review of other resources for hunting and how to make your continuing education in hunting a constant and fun endeavor – pg. 12-14
  

• Why a guided hunt can ramp up your skills, how to pick a guided hunt, and other resources to tap into to get the secrets of incredibly experienced hunters – pg 14-15

• 7 things you need to know about whitetail anatomy and why it is important for all further undertanding about shot placement– pgs. 18-23

• What whitetail deer do most of the day in a secluded spot– pg. 18

• The 4 essential secrets about arrow and bullet placement and why understanding these secrets is like getting a Ph.D. in deer anatomy – pg. 19

• The absolute low down on what you need to know about deer senses so that you can understand why that regal buck is so hard to find and how to start looking at your environment with a new appreciation for deer and the natural world (If you only read one thing in this book, make sure it’s this) – pg. 21-22

• The 6 things inexperienced hunters do that instantly tell a deer they are being hunted (Here’s what to do instead) –

• I read all the books and tried everything. It wasn’t until I did THIS ONE THING that it all started to happen for me. I’ll share the single most powerful thing you can do to become more successful at hunting, and why almost no hunters do it. Click Here For The Secrets

• How to find and meet the hunters who are the true masters and get them to share their closely guarded secrets with you

• How to pinpoint and strengthen your senses so that you can start to become a hunter who is constantly taking in subtle clues and making progress – pg. 32

• 5 things you can do before you leave the house that can make the difference between success and failure – pg. 45

• The deadly mistakes too many hunters make about deer and color vision, this section is another myth busting section and may save your life.

• What you wanted to know about antlers but were afraid to ask, you’ll start to be known as an authority or maybe just a trivia master by the end of this section, packed with myth busting information – pg. 22-24
  

• What you need to know about deer bedding areas and why thermal currents are important– pgs. 37-40

• Why you don’t need a salt block and how to avoid using baiting – pg. 31
  

• How to take advantage of weather reports and changing weather patterns to find deer – pg. 32

• The 4 laws of rutting behavior and how to use the knowledge you gained on early season scouting to lead to incredible success– pg. 32

• The low down on recommended crops and what to do with corn stalks in winter to lead deer right to you. pg 31

• The right clothing is essential, I will explain why with complete suggestions and I am not talking about camouflage patterns! – pg.34
  

• Why you need to try on your hunting boots in late afternoon, believe it or not it could mean the difference between success and failure– pgs.36

• The absolute best way avoid spending a fortune on binoculars and how to ensure you get top notch quality, this tip will make up for this book and then some! – pg. 38
  

• An 11 item checkist for your day pack, believe me you won’t want to be without these 11 things when you really need them – pg. 39-40

• 15 secrets about firearms and 11 pages of detailed easily readable information about shotguns, rifles, suitable cartridges, high quality optics, firearms training and safety and how to practice efficiently, hunters all too often practice in a setting that will provide absolutely NO training for what will be necessary in the field, are you making this mistake?

• I have devoted a full chapter to hunting from a deer stand because hunters all too often don’t know state regulations, the latest trends in use for both firearm and bow, how to assess wind currents and how they may change, weapon consideration (you would be amazed at the stupid things that hunters do, don’t be one of them), and know how to use your knowledge of anatomy to make the right choices when choosing location.

• The 4 things you absolutely MUST do before leaving your house to avoid being sensed by deer (Most hunters miss this entirely) Click Here For The Secrets
  

• Why you should never use artificial antlers for rattling and how to obtain antlers and the secret about the ratio of does to bucks that make his successful– pg. 53

• The 7 secrets of rattling and how moisture, location, and the weather can make all the difference – pg. 63

• Do you know the 5 basic deer sound categories, you will now, plus the low down on digital deer calls, how and when to use the different categories, and the mistake most hunters make when use the aggressive grunt– pgs. 64-67

• Too many reasons to count why early scouting of an area will put you way ahead of the overwhelming majority of hunters and what you need to be looking for when you are scouting an area.
  

• 23, yes 23 secrets on stalking, glassing, using a canoe, and scrape hunting, despite all the advantages in hunting technology, the oldest and most traditional hunting methods remain effective and are often the most exhilarating- pg. 69-75

• 4 secrets about hunting in warm weather and essential information you need to know about ticks. pgs. 87-88
  

• An explanation of the unique challenges of windy days and how to overcome them as well as the challenges brought on by an approaching cold front, extended rain, first snows, and how all these weather patterns affect deer behavior pg. 78-82

• Once you land your prize buck a step by step guide to field dressing with special attention to avoiding most of the mistakes that hunters make. pg. 64

• A special section on putting all the knowledge you have gained together so that you are ready to go out into the field!

• And much, much, much more…

That’s just a small sample of what you’ll find. There are 12 sections in this hunting course… each designed to short-cut your education. And give you the exact super-detailed roadmap you need to start hunting with your own earth-shaking style and have, at last, your own ridiculously-successful hunts. Click Here For The Secrets

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A coyote is staring at me. Fortunately, it’s on the wall in my office, peering out from the January page of Missouri Conservation Department’s Natural Events Calendar. I wonder how many Missourians have seen a coyote face to face or caught a glimpse as it darts across a field or road. As furbearers, their winter pelts are pretty thick now so they appear bigger, bushier than in late summer. I’ve read stories in the newspaper about their boldness around people, but most of those are from California where they seem to be more common.

I know they’re all over Missouri, but I’ve felt lucky when I’ve seen them since they’re usually so wary here. One of our urban biologists near St. Louis noted that coyotes are the animals that generate the most questions/calls to our staff. People are unfamiliar with them and a little wary themselves—and unsure what to do when they see one in their backyards.

What impressions I had early on of them were not from reality, though, but from Wily Coyote cartoons, and from old Native American stories which called the coyote the “Trickster.” I didn’t realize firsthand, though, how truly clever they were until in my early career with the Conservation Department. We used to have young wild animals at our exhibit at the state fair (which was not a good idea for the longterm well being of the animals and would no longer be acceptable). But given that times were different 23 years ago, I ended up taking one of the coyotes “home” to release after the fair at our place in the country, hoping it could adapt to the wild. Although it eventually did make its way off into the fields and woods, at first it hung around our house. One day I saw the coyote approach one of our doors, put both paws on the round knob and try to turn it. I realized it had seen people doing this in the large walk-in exhibits cages at the fairs. (Fortunately the knob was too smooth and it didn’t get a good grasp!). Then a few days later  I was upstairs and suddenly heard water running somewhere. I ran downstairs and found the outdoor faucet gushing. And there stood the coyote. (That knob had ridges so gave a grip, I guess.) I turned it off, made sure there was a bowl of water outside from then on, and was lucky it didn’t happen again when I was off at work. I was relieved when it went back to the wild where it truly belonged.

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Conservation Agent, Eric Heuring recently received a call regarding someone shooting several times in the woods during the night in Dunklin Co. Upon further investigation, Agent Heuring determined that two individuals were spotlighting and shooting rabbits. Consequently, both men were charged with “Taking Wildlife with the Aid of Artificial Light” and “Hunting Rabbits during Closed Hours.” Agent Heuring reported that shooting in the dark is a serious safety concern; additionally using this illegal method to take rabbits can have a real impact on local rabbit populations.

Once again conservation minded citizen curtailed illegal and unsafe activities by taking the initiative to report a violation to a Conservation Agent. The suspects in this case were found guilty and ultimately paid $958 in fines and court cost, which we hope will make them think twice before partaking in this illegal activity in the future.
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Bowhunters checked 44,434 deer during the 2008-09 archery deer season, setting a record and boosting the combined firearms and archery deer kill to 283,253. Missouri’s archery deer season begins Sept. 15 and runs through Jan. 15, with an 11-day hiatus during the November Portion of Firearms Deer Season. Archers checked approximately 400 deer per day during the 111 days of bowhunting season. Slightly more than half the deer taken by archers (22,409) were does. Mature bucks made up 37 percent (16,434) of the archery harvest, and button bucks accounted for 13 percent (5,591) of archery kills. The previous archery deer harvest record, set in 2006-07, was 42,322. Top archery deer harvest counties were Jefferson with 976, Jackson with 913 and St. Louis with 909.

Bowhunters also checked 2,484 wild turkeys during the archery season. That is down 339 from the previous year. Top archery turkey-harvest counties were Texas with 54 turkeys checked, Franklin with 52 and Wright with 51.

-Jim Low-MDC News Service Coordinator
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Johnny Stewart Wildlife Calls Coyote Hooker Predator Call Lightweight, internal reed design imitates all known coyote vocalizations. Pushing down on the molded membrane allows you to easily increase pitch for different calling effects.

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