Vics Blog

As a professional wildlife photographer and former hunter I’ve been asked on numerous occasions what are my secrets for getting coyotes, red fox and other predators close enough to get great pictures. I don’t use predator calls or blinds and my images are taken almost entirely on public lands. Living in Fort Collins, Colorado, there are numerous places within a hundred miles to capture most large and small game in their natural environment. There are many prairie grasslands to the east and north including Wyoming and vast tracks of mountain valleys and canyons to the west of town. Using a Canon 7D digital camera and a 100-400 mm zoom lens, most of the predator images I take are within ten to twenty five yards or close enough to see the whites of their eyes.
One of the great secrets for finding predators is to know what they feed on and carrion is at the top of the list. Harsh winter conditions such as long weeks of subzero temperatures, deep snow and lack of feed kill larger animals. The trick is to find their remains and I let the raptors, magpies, crows and buzzards keep watch for me. Driving down long stretches of lonely county roads or hiking in the back country, I search the fields and sky for flocks of them which can be the giveaway of a frozen carcass. I believe that the predators do exactly the same thing and it’s usually a short wait before one of them shows up at the scene if there not there already. Last winter I saw a group of magpies in a field of sage in southern Wyoming twenty miles west of Cheyenne. At about two hundred yards a coyote was trying to chase them off for a piece of deer kill. Sneaking down a small gulch, I stalked to within thirty yards but he saw me first and split. I sat still and watched him retreat to a snowfield about a quarter of mile away a clean the blood from his face in a snow bank. I knelt behind some sage and after a half hour he snuck back slowly to within twenty feet. Staying downwind, dressing in warm camo and moving very, very slowly usually brings good success. Remember that a predator is an opportunist and drops his guard somewhat if the meal is already prepared.
Late spring and early summer is a wonderful time for finding dens. Hiking along small creeks, canyons and dry river beds, I look for the signs of them continually. Lots of fresh tracks, kill remains and matted grass near burrows can be a dead give that predators are in the vicinity. Early morning and late evening is a great time to sit patiently and wait for them to leave to hunt and bring home their prey. Recently I saw a coyote returning to the den with a dead badger in its jaws. It was so late in the evening that a photo was impossible but the sight was incredible. I’ve never hunted during these months, but found that as summer passes into fall these creatures never stray far from the area and winter brings beautiful coats and easy sightings. My most successful photographs have been taken when the temperature is below zero and hours after a snowstorm.
I spend about 300 days a year in the field. When photographing large animals such as deer and elk, I watch their eyes and body constantly which can give away the presence of a passing predator. Stay low, keep quiet, move at turtle speed and keep the camo on. Sometimes you’ll have a fox or coyote walk right next to you. The biggest secrets of finding predators are patience, knowing the habits of your prey, and sitting still in areas that they frequent for long periods of time. Sometimes boredom or the cold sets in and all you want to do is leave. On numerous occasions, after hours of sitting motionless, I’ve gotten up to call it quits and had to cuss myself as a startled coyote made for the next county.