Relentless Pursuit's Tim Wells talks with Ultimate Coyote Hunting
Tim Wells with a wolf he took with his bow.
Published: Jun. 10, 2009
UCH- How old were you when you first started coyote hunting, and how did you get started?
TW- I grew up in Illinois and the coyotes didn’t show up until about 1978-79 and that’s when the population started to emerge. I started hunting predators before that, I was big into fox hunting when I was a boy. My grandpa made calls onto a tape and I would take the tape player out into the timber and wait with my 20 gauge and shoot foxes. I then started using an old game call and started calling foxes. Around my freshman year in high school I heard my first coyote howl near my home and from there on it just took off.
I did a lot of deer hunting with a bow and was always seeing coyotes. I learned to howl like a coyote, call like a rabbit, do a mouse squeak, and use a turkey call. Next thing I knew I was done with college and started writing books and articles for outdoor magazines about whitetails. During that time I started to get into video a little bit, and finally I got into doing a T.V. show about 20 years ago. While doing this I started noticing that people really enjoyed anything on T.V. that had to do with predators.
One thing led to another and I was traveling all over the country killing bobcats, coyotes and foxes. I was bow hunting them from Florida to Arizona and here I am today; an old predator hunter like everybody else.
UCH- Talk about bow hunting. You don’t use a release aid or a sight for your bow. How did you get started with that?
TW- I got my first bow and it didn’t have sights on it, and I have never put sights on anything. I killed my first fox when I was about 14. I was deer hunting and could see him in the timber, so I squeaked to him a little bit; he put his head up and ran right into me. I pulled back my bow, took a shot at him and shot low about 8 inches, the arrow hit a log, bounced off the log and double lunged him. Ever since then, I have never looked back. I predator hunt with a bow and arrow as much as I can.
When I go to areas that have been hunted heavily I have found that a lot of predators, no matter how good of a caller you are, will come into about 50-75 yards and hold up until they can actually see what they are looking for. So I will take my .223 and my bow with and if they don’t come close enough then I will take them with the rifle.
UCH- When did you start shooting at moving animals and how do you practice for something like that?
UCH- What are some of your favorite calls and techniques that you use when you go coyote hunting?
TW- Recently I have had a lot of luck with the Knight and Hale products. The Hecklin’ Howler is a really good call, but I often use my natural voice for a rabbit squeal and a fawn in distress. Most of my distress calls are from my natural voice. I do this because they can’t be emulated by other hunters and I can walk in behind a group of other hunters and still be able to call a coyote into range.
UCH- What advice would you give to novice coyote hunters?
TW- Hunting in the evening is 5 times as hard as calling at first light in the morning. For every minute that passes when the sun comes up, your odds of calling a coyote decrease. Your first set in the morning will always be your best chance. Don’t call your good spots late in the day or late in the morning. Make sure you are there at first light. Never go to your good spots if the wind is wrong, a coyote will smell you long before you ever see him. Coyotes will always want to come in down wind of you. Even if they run with the wind at their tail the last 50 yards they will start circling down wind. Lots of times I will have an electronic call that I put up wind of me so when he comes in real close I can turn that call on and play some really soft squeaks. This way if he circles down wind of the sound, he’ll come right in, up wind of me.
UCH- What is your favorite hunt of all time?
TW- I can’t compare anything to my kids’ first hunts (kids are 10 &11). Emotionally they are my most exciting hunts. My favorite hunt personally is my Alaskan Grizzly bear hunt. I was able to close the distance within 15 yards of a big grizzly and shot him between the eyes and dropped him. We got it on film. That was a hunt that I will relish my whole life. Another couple of my favorites are the tahr that I shot in New Zealand and my first alligator gar.
Pictures and or video clips of Wells will be posted soon. In the meantime, videos and pictures can be seen on his website: www.worldhuntinggroup.com/
Relentless Pursuit can be seen on the following T.V. stations and at the following times:
THE SPORTSMAN CHANNEL on Tuesday (8:00 am EST), Friday (10:30 pm EST) and Saturday (6:00 am EST).
WILD TV CANADA on Thursday (3:30 am and 3:00 pm EST) and Sunday (7:30 pm EST)
Pursuit (Direct TV Ch. 608) on Tuesday (11:00 pm EST), Friday (2:30 pm EST) and Sunday (7:30 pm EST).
FOX 43 ILLINOIS, look for us this September before NFL Today.
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