West Virginia Wildlife from Eyewitness News

Cyote Calling

Just in time for the trout season, one of the state's most popular fishing spots gets a major facelift. See the improvements to the Sutton Lake tailwaters.

February 22, 2006
Reporter: Patrick McMurtry
Videographer: Brad Rice

EYEWITNESS ONLINE WEBCAST VIDEO
C L I C K T O P L A Y

Gary Roberson/Cyote Expert says:
"He's the best athlete on this continent, he has the keenest senses and highest IQ."

High praise from one of the top cyote hunters in the world. Gary Roberson has almost quit hunting anything else once he started calling in cyotes.

Cyotes have moved in to West Virginia and are here to stay.

That's sure to spark a lot of interest in cyote hunting. That's where the DNR comes in. They're hosting cyote hunting seminars in the state to help folks interested in hunting them.

"I hunt mule deer, elk, spring turkey.."

"He's the ultimate animal to call up on his home territory to kill or photograph."

However, the majority of our hunters are unfamiliar with the techniques and regulations involved.
Because of this lack of knowledge, the DNR has been hosting seminars around the state to provide our hunters a chance to meet firsthand with experts on coyotes and coyote hunting.

This will ultimately allow our hunters to become more successful. The last seminar the DNR held a couple of weeks ago in Fairmont had nearly 600 in attendance. The DNR is expecting the seminars in Mineral Wells and Beckley to receive just as much interest. Roberson says if you want to find a cyote, as with most animals, you need to follow the food trail.

Roberson says if you do plan to go after the wiley animal, do it right the first time because you probably won't get a second shot at it.

Gary Roberson/Cyote Expert says:
"Once you educate a cyote to a distress sound or to a call, the chances of you calling him back are not real good, so when I go into an area, I want to do a real good job of getting him when I go in there because I know that every time there after, my chances of killing him are less and less."

The DNR will be hosting free cyote calling seminars in Mineral Wells Friday at 6:00 p.m. and in Beckley Saturday at 3:00 p.m. You can call the DNR for more information.