Summer is almost here. The temperatures are warming up throughout the days. Most people don’t do much hunting this time of year, unless they’re like me and think about hunting 24/7. The one type of hunting I do the most throughout the year is predator hunting.

Summer can actually be very beneficial when it comes to hunting coyotes, largely because their favorite food sources are the most plentiful this time of year. Whitetail deer are beginning to have their fawns, turkeys are having their poults as well, both of which are a coyotes’ favorite meal. Another easy meal that has been provided during the summer is all of the prey that gets left as farmers begin to cut hay. Farmers will many times run over a lot of prey, including mice, moles, snakes, and unfortunately an occasional fawn, which in turn, makes for an easy meal.

I love getting out early in the mornings, as well as a couple of hours before dark, to hunt coyotes. Coyotes are most active at this time because they don’t want to be out hunting when it is hot. A lot of times coyotes will lie in the shade for hours throughout the day. Early in the morning and in the evening as the sun goes down are the two times when it is a little cooler and you will see coyotes out mousing around. So, obviously this is the time to hunt.

The types of calls I use this time of year are pretty simple. A lot of animals have their young at this time of year, as well as the coyotes themselves, so I will use a baby cottontail-in-distress, fawn-in-distress and rodent-in-distress for my food source calls. I will then use a coyote pup-in-distress for my coyote vocals. These all seem to work really well this time of year, because it is true to what is going on in Mother Nature.

The one thing that can make coyote hunting in the heat of summer challenging is staying scent free. Since you are going to sweat more, your human scent can be a tip-off to a coyote that a hunter is in the area or that something just isn’t quite right. Coyotes can smell better than most animals. I am constantly checking the wind when I am coyote hunting, no matter what time of year. I really pay attention to all of my steps in the scent elimination system. I wash all of my clothes in Scent-A-Way Max laundry detergent, store them in a scent free storage bag and I wear lightweight clothing that breathes easy, dries quick, and keeps me cool. I will spray down several times with Scent-A-Way Max spray, going to and from different stands, plus I use a couple of extra Fresh Earth Scent Wafers.

However, in my opinion, the one thing that keeps me scent free, as well as a little cooler, is the Scent-A-Way Field Wipes. Each time I set up, I wipe my arms, face, and any other exposed skin down with the field wipes. These will cool you off, as well as get all of the human scent off of you. I was able to hunt longer and stay scent-free a lot more after I started using the field wipes. My success rate proved that.

During the summer months, I keep all the local farmers on speed dial. I want to know when they are haying and if they have seen coyotes. When they begin to hay, I will be there waiting. Get out and try hunting coyotes this summer.

– Heath Wood