Day vs. Night Coyote Hunting in Central Maine

When winter settles over central Maine, coyote hunting comes alive. The eastern coyotes we hunt around China and the greater Kennebec County area are smart, wary, and always on the move — which is exactly what makes chasing them so addictive. At Maine Guide Outfitter I run two kinds of coyote hunts, and they could not feel more different from one another. One is fast, loud, and spent on your feet. The other is quiet, patient, and spent in the dark. Here is how to think about each.

The daytime hunt is a hound hunt, and it is the one most people picture when they imagine chasing coyotes. We put trained hounds on a track and let them do what they were bred to do. You are on the move with me the whole time — reading the dogs, repositioning to cut the coyote off, and getting into position for a shot when the race comes your way.

This is a fully guided hunt. I am right beside you from the first track to the last, because a hound hunt is unpredictable and fast, and having a guide who knows the ground and the dogs is what turns a long run into a filled tag. It is an active, social, boots-on-the-ground way to hunt. If you like to cover country, stay busy, and feel the hunt unfold in real time, this is your style.

The night hunt is the opposite experience. Maine has a winter nighttime coyote season, and it is one of the most effective — and most underrated — ways to take a coyote. We bait a site ahead of time and let the coyotes get comfortable feeding on it. When conditions are right, you settle into a blind over that bait after dark and wait for them to come in.

This is a drop-off hunt. I handle the scouting and the baiting, get you set up at a stand that is already producing, and you hunt it on your own. It rewards patience and stillness rather than movement. The cold, the quiet, and that first set of eyes stepping into the bait in the dark — there is nothing else like it. If you would rather sit, stay hidden, and let the coyote come to you, the night hunt is the one.

Pick the daytime hound hunt if you want action, movement, and a hunt that plays out in front of you — and if you enjoy hunting shoulder-to-shoulder with a guide and a pack of good dogs.

Pick the night hunt over bait if you have patience, you can sit still in the cold, and you want the stealth-and-wait challenge of taking a coyote on its own terms.

Plenty of hunters do both across a season. They are different enough that doing one does not spoil the other — and together they are about the most complete coyote education you can get in central Maine.

Maine's coyote seasons and the rules around nighttime hunting change from year to year, so the simplest thing is to call and we will walk you through current dates, licensing, and what to bring for the hunt you want. With 44 years in the Maine woods — including a career as a Maine Game Warden — figuring out the legal, productive way to get you on coyotes is the part I enjoy most.

When you are ready, reach out and tell me which style sounds like you. We will get a hunt on the calendar.