Home/Coyote & Predator Hunting/Stand Spacing and Sequencing

Stand Spacing and Sequencing

Stand CraftLevel 2 — Intermediate

What It Is

Stand spacing and sequencing is the logistical and strategic discipline of deciding how far apart to place consecutive stands, what route to run them in, and when it is valid to return to the same stand or area within a day or across days. The fundamental tension: too close and each stand contaminates the next; too far and you burn time driving rather than hunting. Al Morris provides the clearest data anchor: 1 to 1.5 miles between stands in calm conditions, shortening to 0.5–0.75 mile in 10+ mph wind. Sound can carry over 2 miles in still conditions — that fact determines the minimum safe spacing, not arbitrary convention.

Correct Execution

Before the hunt begins, the hunter plans a sequence of stands on a map, selecting stand locations in a loop or route that minimizes backtracking and keeps each stand at appropriate distance from the last. Stand spacing is recalculated every time wind conditions change. In calm conditions, stands are placed 1–1.5 miles apart. In 10+ mph wind, spacing shortens to 0.5–0.75 mile (sound doesn't carry as far, so contamination radius shrinks). After a kill or a coyote contact, hunter makes 2–3 additional stands in different directions within 400–600 yards before moving on — social coyotes often travel together. A high-value, productive stand can be revisited same-day on the evening hunt; coyotes in the territory are not identical to the one that appeared in the morning. After 3 consecutive blank stands in country that should hold coyotes, the hunter moves 5–10 miles to new country rather than grinding a depleted area.

Progression Levels

Diagnostic Tree

Coaching Cues

  • "One to one-and-a-half miles in calm. Half to three-quarters in wind. Know the number before you drive." — Al Morris's spacing formula for pre-hunt planning. (Al Morris — "2022-08-12 Ep 231")
  • "After a kill, don't drive — fan. Make two more stands within a quarter mile." — Post-kill sequencing protocol. (Les Johnson — "2017-02-10 - Competition Tips Part 2" / "2017-02-16 - Competition Tips Part 3")
  • "The morning stand and the evening stand are different coyotes." — Justification for revisiting the same terrain same-day. (Al Morris — "2025-01-14 MWW Classic Ep 245")
  • "Three blanks means the country changed. You haven't." — Trigger for geographic reset after area depletion. (Les Johnson — "2017-02-10 - Competition Tips")

Common Errors

  1. Spacing stands by time driven, not distance: Hunter drives 3 minutes between stands regardless of conditions. On a calm day, 3 minutes of driving might be 1.5 miles (good) or 0.3 miles (terrible) depending on speed and road. → Treating drive time as a proxy for distance. → Always check actual distance on a map before committing to a setup.
  2. Not executing kill-and-fan after a coyote: After killing a coyote, immediately moving on to the next planned stand a mile away. Missing the 2–3 stands within 400 yards that exploit the social cluster. → Momentum to the "next" planned stand. → After every kill, treat a 400-yard radius as the mandatory next hunting zone before moving on. (Les Johnson — "2017-02-10 - Competition Tips")
  3. Not accounting for wind shifts during the day: A spacing plan made at 6am in a 5 mph wind is invalid at 11am in a 20 mph wind. Spacing must decrease when wind increases. → Setting the day's plan and not updating it. → Recalculate spacing at each wind change. When wind picks up, shorten the gaps.
  4. Burning a productive stand too often: Calling the same spot every hunt day regardless of recovery time. Coyotes in the adjacent territory pattern the human-sound-human sequence and become educated. → Wanting to return to "the good spot." → Productive stands need rest. After a kill, Al Morris notes the territory refills within 1–2 weeks; productivehunting returns after that gap. Before the vacancy refills, the stand is dead.

Edges

💎 Elite-Only Behavior

Kill-and-Fan Protocol

After killing a coyote, the correct move is NOT to drive to the next planned stand a mile away — it is to immediately set up 2-3 additional stands within a 400-yard radius in different directions. Social coyotes often travel together; the killed animal's partner or neighboring pack member is already within hearing range and is now the highest-probability target in the area.

What most people do
Pack up after a kill and move to the next planned stand, missing the secondary animals that were drawn to the same area by the same calling sequence.
What the best do
Treat a 400-yard radius around every kill as a mandatory next hunting zone. Make 2-3 stands fanning out from the kill site before transitioning to new country.
Why it's an edge: A fresh kill site is the hottest calling zone in the area — the sounds that produced the first coyote are still ringing for every other coyote within earshot. Departing immediately abandons the highest-probability window in the day.
How to exploit: After every kill, before doing anything else, scan for secondary animals. If clear, note the kill location, move 150-200 yards in a new direction, and call again. Repeat twice. Only then pack out the first animal.
Les Johnson, Competition Tips Part 2 (2017-02-10) — "After a kill, don't drive — fan. Make two more stands within a quarter mile."

Sources

  • Al Morris, "2022-08-12 Ep 231" — Stand-to-stand distance formula (1–1.5 mile calm; 0.5–0.75 mile wind); sound carry up to 2+ miles in still conditions; stands-per-day numbers game.
  • Al Morris, "2025-01-14 MWW Classic Ep 245" — Coyote loop patterns; same-day revisit protocol; return stands produce when coyote loop brings animals back.
  • Les Johnson, "2017-02-10 - Coyote Calling Competition Tips! Part 2" — Wind-based spacing adjustment; area abandonment after 3 blank stands; kill-and-fan protocol.
  • Les Johnson, "2017-02-16 - Coyote Hunting Competition Tips! Part 3" — Adjacent stands after a kill; calling same spot morning and evening.
  • Randy Anderson, "2017-02-18 - My Coyote Calling Strategy!" — "Travelling extensively rather than burning out local spots" as the geographic diversification principle.
  • Tony Tebbe / O'Neill Ops, "2024-06-03 - S-2 EP-10 Predator Hunting with Tony Tebbe" — High-volume stand spacing for run-and-gun efficiency.
  • Tony Tebbe / O'Neill Ops, "2021-05-01 - O'Neill Ops Podcast 17 - So Many Sets" — Repeating productive stands; territorial refill timeline after a kill.