The use of coyote hunting dogs is only a relatively recent trend. The domesticated dog has a knack of attracting the coyote, or indeed other wild dogs, and luring them back to the Hunter. Hunting dogs have been bred over the years to achieve various skills. There are dogs that are bred for visible acuity and speed, others are bred primarily for scent. Others, such as retrievers, are bred to be able to work under the sound of gunfire, follow the specific commands of the Hunter, and as their name suggests retrieve the downed prey. Which are the best breeds for the use in coyote hunting? Following are three examples of coyote hunting�s best breeds.
The Walker hound is descended from the English foxhound. They are between 20 and 28 inches tall at the shoulder blades and weigh approximately 50 to 70 pounds. They are well tempered and, like most hounds, are very difficult to bring into aggression. They are an extremely intelligent dog but can be oblivious to any commands while trailing a scent. When you are searching out one of these hounds, make sure they come from a long line of outstanding hunters who have been specifically bred to track down and kill coyotes. These Walker Coyote hounds can be excellent cold trailers, even on snow.
Greyhounds are one of the best hunting dogs for coyote. This is because of the pure natural speed that they possess. Hunting in packs, these dogs can chase down the coyote at almost 50 miles an hour, and in some cases a single heavy greyhounds can catch and finish off the coyote before the rest of the pack arrives. This breed is also very gentle and can become very attached to their masters. A male can reach the hate of about 28 inches and can weigh up to 75 pounds. The light muscular build of a greyhound, is the key to its speed, and it has the largest heart of any breed. These dogs are sprinters, but they are often referred to as the “45 mile per hour couch potatoes”
Another breed for coyote hunting is the staghound. The American staghound is mostly used for hunting stag, but they show massive hunting capabilities when it comes to the coyote. This dog can reach a height of 30 inches and a weight of over 100 pounds. It is a mix between a Scottish deer hound and a greyhound. They have been bred for one purpose … hunting. They will instinctively go after something that moves, but particularly an animal which will fight back, such as the coyote. They have often been used in the past for hunting wolves and bobcats. But, they are not great trailers, they tend to follow only on sight. However, if they are in a pack with good scent dogs they will follow along with the others. It is not uncommon for a staghound pup which has been raised with trail hounds to learn the ability to of tracking a coyote with as much passion as any other hound.
These are three of the best coyote hunters. Others include the Blackmouth Cur and the Rhodesian Ridgeback. When hunting for coyotes, it is much better to have your dogs as large as possible, and it is best to have three or four dogs in the pack. It takes a strong breed to stand up to the requirements of being an effective coyote hunting dog.
July 8th, 2010 at 1:04 am
Choose a bullet that will expand quickly upon impact. You want the bullet to dump most of its energy into the animal. You do not want a bullet that completely flies to pieces upon impact, but one that releases enough energy or mushrooms efficiently to get the job done. You need to shoot several different brands of bullets through your rifle to determine the one that is the most accurate with your gun. For example a Winchester bullet may shoot different than a Remington or Federal bullet.
August 10th, 2010 at 10:18 pm
In the mornings you should definitely hunt in after them as they will be heading to a day time bedding area. Hopefully it’s not so thick that you have to crawl. A red deer will take the easiest route so stay on the deer trails. Wind in your face, take a few paces, stop look listen, then a few more paces, stop look listen. Don’t bother tippy toeing through rubbish bush, but do sneak through the good stuff. Relax; I reckon deer can almost hear tension! Once you get comfortable in the scrub you will start to notice things of interest, like the deer that is standing still watching you long before you’ve seen it. Fresh wind falls are hot spots but they also mean hard travel so skirt around them with your eyes peeled. Humans naturally head towards the light, in most bush this is a bad move as most of the time the open canopy will most probably mean thick regeneration and old wind fall, not a nice grassy clearing. It is easier travel under the big tree canopy. When climbing or descending bush covered hills stay on the spurs/ridges and poke off either edge for a look here and there especially if there is a nice deer trail and fresh sign. The little creek heads on the sides of the hill are day timehot spots, so are scrubby fringes of slips. Deer don’t often seem to bed down right next to grassy creek flats where they might feed at night, possibly because that is where most hunters look for them? They tend to move about 3/4 up the hill for the day. Here are some wind tips…. walk along any stream and watch the water, when water flows out of a narrow channel and into a wider pool the edges of the top end of the pool have the water flowing upstream and cycling back into the main current (eddy). Wind does the same thing in the hills; the leeward side of a hill will have a wind eddy. You can avoid the eddy by moving back to the main wind current; towards the centre of the valley or up the side of the hill. In calm weather wind will flow down in the early mornings and up after the sun hits the valley floor (late morning). Warm air rises (anabatic wind). The wind will turn down again after the sun leaves the hills, sometimes not until the last hour of the day when it cools off (katabatic). So don’t go for an evening hunt too early or the wind change will catch you out. You can use the anabatic/katabatic winds to plan your whole day of hunting by circling through different country after the wind change.
February 16th, 2011 at 1:46 pm
Here is a link to a video that will show most of the tactics and use of walkers. This is a group of very good and dedicated hunters.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMSn_Mbp_2g
March 21st, 2011 at 7:56 pm
Hi, Do you know anyone who sells American Staghounds in any state? Looking for companion (not working) dog in California and finding it hard to locate this type of dog.
Any help will be gratefully received.
Ian Diery
October 25th, 2011 at 11:43 am
Hi Dan,
Those are some great deer hunting tips, but you do realize we’re talking about coyote hunting, right?