How to Take Coyotes and Other Predators
What I’ve Learned Hunting in February with Al
Morris
 Editor’s
Note: Al Morris of Springville, Utah, one of the nation’s
leading competitive predator hunters, has hunted coyotes
for most of his life and has placed high in the World
Predator Calling Competition every year. We asked Morris
to tell us how to take coyotes in February.
Question: What have you learned from hunting in February?
Morris: In cold weather, Hunter’s Specialties’
Preymaster offers some real advantages. I love to use
mouth calls, but during cold weather, sucking in a lot
of cold air and blowing it out isn’t nearly as
much fun as turning a switch on and off. Like Gerald
Stewart, another Hunter’s Specialties’ pro,
I like to mix sounds. This year, I’ve found that
using the high-pitched cottontail as my prey sound and
the pup-in-distress for my dog sound is quite effective.
I’ve discovered that the coyote-pup-in-distress
call sounds are very like the sounds a female coyote
makes when two male coyotes are harassing her and trying
to breed her. I’ve learned that using the coyote
pup in distress and howling with the Mac Da ddy
Howler and the CYC1 really seems to turn-on the coyotes.
If the coyotes aren’t coming to the dog sounds,
they’ll come to that cottontail-in-distress sound.
Question: Tell me about your last hunt.
Morris: We were in Colorado, and I’d taken a coyote
at 10:00 am using the high-pitched cottontail-in-distress
sound. I decided to go back to this same stand right
before dark. Once again, I threw in that immature cottontail
sound, and I had two immature coyotes come running off
the top of a hill. The coyotes came in from my hard
left so quickly that I didn’t have a chance to
move to get my gun on them. My cameraman did a good
job of photographing the coyotes coming in, but I didn’t
do a good job of getting my gun on the coyotes before
they came in, saw us, spooked and took off running.
I changed the Preymaster from the rabbit-in-distress
to the coyote-pup-in-distress call. There was a big
dominant male on the ridge behind us howling, but he
couldn’t see us. When he heard that pup in distress,
he came running off the hill. Within 13 seconds, that
big male coyote was 30 yards in front of us, and I tipped
him over. Remember, if a coyote comes in, sees you and
spooks, don’t automatically assume that your hunt
is over, because many times, there are more than one
coyote coming to your call. You can be patient and often
change calls to get a second chance. 
Question: Al, what gun are you shooting?
Morris: This year, I started using the Thompson/Center
Pro Hunter .204 Ruger Caliber. This has been a phenomenal
caliber for me. I use the new Winchester Xtended Range
B-size Coyote Load pellets, and I shoot them with a
Benelli Super Black Eagle II with the Johnny Stewart
Undertaker Coyote Killer Choke Tube on it. Out to 40
yards, that shotgun with these shells will melt a coyote.
Most of the time, when I’m hunting, I’ll
take a rifle and a shotgun with me. Often, when I’m
competitive hunting, I’ll take a good number of
coyotes in thick cover where most coyote hunters won’t
hunt, and that’s where the shotgun really can
be effective. Traditional coyote hunters like to hunt
wide-open spaces where they can see coyotes coming from
a long distance. But these areas are usually the ones
that have been called to the most. The thick-cover regions
where you may only be able to see 40- or 50-yards out
get called to the least. So, I usually can find more
coyotes that have had less pressure in these sites than
any other places I hunt. If I’m not taking coyotes
in the wide-open spaces with my rifle, I adjust by moving
to the thick areas and using my shotgun. In competitive
coyote hunting, I’ve learned that you can take
more dogs if you hunt the spots that everyone else isn’t
hunting. Remember, when you’re scouting and you
find a great-looking spot where you can call to a lot
of area and see the dogs coming from a long way off,
more than likely, every other coyote hunter that has
passed by that same place has thought the same things
you have. You can bet that place has been called to
several times. But when you drive by an area with a
lot of thick cover where most coyote hunters won’t
call, you can bet that the dogs in that area haven’t
been pressured. 
We all know that the fewer calls a coyote hears, the
more likely it is to come to the call. Therefore, if
you’re hunting the areas that most hunters won’t
hunt, you have an excellent chance for taking coyotes
that most other predator callers haven’t called.
The less hunting pressure the coyotes feel, the more
likely they are to come to your calls. So, don’t
be afraid to hunt those trashy places where you don’t
have good visibility. Start using your shotgun more
in these areas and you’ll increase the number
of coyotes you take in a day. Also, try to learn what
calls most hunters are using. If most hunters are giving
the rabbit-in-distress call, then use bird calls, fawn-in-distress,
pup-in-distress or any other sound that most hunters
aren’t using. Remember that in most cases, the
calls the coyotes have heard the least are the ones
to which they’re most likely to respond. This
is one reason why I believe that using dog sounds like
howls and barks are the most-effective this month. During
February, most hunters know the food supply is short,
and the dog’s stomach is empty, so prey sounds
will be the most effective. However, don’t forget
that the coyotes are breeding. They’re protecting
their territory, and even though they may have empty
bellies, the need to breed and the need to protect their
domain will often supersede their need for food. Since
most hunters are using prey sounds, barks and howls
will generally be the most effective.
To learn more, check out www.hunterspec.com
Tomorrow: The Expert’s Squeak with David Hale
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