Walker's for Yotes

[Roost em 1st]

A friend of mine in PA is trying to train some coon dogs for coyote hunting. Said something about training em to chase the coyotes until the coyotes turn on them at which point the walkers are supposed to bring the coyotes back to get shot. Any of you all heard of this? This guy is looking for help on how to train these dogs. Any helpful advice will be appreciated.

[Salty]

Saw a video of dogs doing this put out by one of the call companies (don't remember which). The dogs would go out & the coyotes would chase them back to the hunter.........when he shot the yote, he would give a canine distress call & other yotes came in thinking the yote had the dog. A couple came closer than I want to be to 'em (within 10 yards of the hunter). I'll post the name of the call video when I find out.

[dthmack]

He's really thinking of two different kinds of coyote hunting with dogs. They use hounds to hunt coyotes out west and some in the north. They put a bunch of hounds in on the chase and run them like rabbits, trying to get a shot when the coyote crosses a road or field. Instead of a small circle though they might cover 4-5 miles in one circle. They also use greyhounds out west to sight chase them.
The other type of hunting is using dogs to toll or decoy coyotes in to a stationary hunter. The coyotes basically are looking at the smaller dog as a food item. Decoying seems to work the best this time of year, I normally use a small dog for this, put them on a 20 foot lead and let them attract the attention of the coyotes away from my position. When that little jack russel or dachshund bristles up and starts growling, you know that you got one coming in. The hardest part about this is getting the dog trained to stay moving at the end of the lead, not to come over and sit in your lap when you start calling. Be careful though, I borrowed a friends jack russel the first few times I tried this (without them knowing). If you aren't paying attention using this method, you could lose a dog.
You can also use a dog to toll or lure the coyotes back to your position. This works best in the late winter, spring and summer when the coyotes are denned up and feeling territorial. You don't want to use a small dog for this because the coyotes usually come in aggressive and if you aren't paying attention they can get streatched quick. My cur about got eaten up a couple of times before he learned that I would save him if he'd just run to me. Now if they come in aggressive he'll be in my lap in about 10 seconds and this is a 55 lb. black mouth cur. For this kind of calling you usually try to locate a denning area by challenge howling until you get an answer, then move closer to where you heard the howling and either let the dog loose or steak him out 20-50 yards from your position. If it is an aggressive dog, you'll need to steak them to keep them from chasing the coyotes off. A more submissive dog works best at this and you can let them loose without too much of a problem. I usually steak my cur loose enough that if 2-3 come at him at once he can get loose and get back to me or fight them off. A more aggressive dog will also track down cripples and dispatch them for you.
I don't know how walkers would work for tolling since hounds seem to have a mind of their own and would rather go right on chasing than to come running back to you. They would probably do OK if they were your buddy and had some basic training. You'd probably do better with a larger cur, airedale or even a bird dog that didn't make the cut. I have known people to user border collies and blue healers for this as well. Tolling is normally a predator control tool, using a good tolling dog in the spring you can get most of the coyotes in a family group. This may sound harsh to some but you have to remember that they aren't native to the east and they consume many thousands of fawns, and other small woodland creatures that I also like to consume. Plus some of the farms I hunt are sheep farms. They don't want ANY coyotes on their land. Understandable. If he needs more info there are several good coyote message boards available on the net that have info on coyote dogs. There are alot of guys out west using dog who have been doing it alot longer than I have. Hope this helps. Ted