i hunt in east texas... the piney woods... and calling coyotes isnt as easy in the thick cover... any one out there who can give me tips and tricks... should i set up on pastures? or in the thickest stuff i can find? or what calls sequences should i use and how long should i sit? by the way i have 3 hand calls... (the hot dog by primos, the double cottontail by primos, and the ki-yi by primos) any one have any good sequences i could make with these calls?

I've killed more with my ki-yi than any other call. I usually just start slow with a rabbit distress (on my ki-yi)and progress to more urgent screams. If you got one coming and he hangs up do soft lip kisses. Set up as close to where you think they are as possible without being detected. I like to be able to watch my down wind side at least a 100 yards out. If this isn't possible get as good of a clearing as you got (watch down wind). If its real thick get elevated as much as possible. I love calling from tower blinds,helps with scent control, and gives better view. If you bust a yote get on that ki-yi with yote distress, nothing beats callin in a yote like callin in 2 and getting a double. Good luck

Using a rifle or shotgun? Have a decoy set up?

Well there is no one correct answer to your question.
I have hunted in the thick stuff a great deal but in other states so I can only tell you what has worked for me.
What I will usually do is to find an opening in the brush or the woods that gives me at least some measure of visibility, with preferably a better view down wind.
Then I will use a foxpro out in the middle with a decoy of some sort.
I will then either sit down or sometimes backup into some cover and stand, but in either case I am using a shotgun with either #4 buck or copper coated lead BB in 3 " 12 gauge mag.

Then I will use my remote to turn it on no more than 1/2 volume and let it play.
I will absolutely not turn it off for the duration of the call, because it has been my experiance that the second you do they are going to for sure cut to the downwind.
I have seen them coming crosswind to me many times and either cut the volume or had someone else cut it and instantly watched them change course and circle.
You are going to have many of them circle you anyway, but in my experiance intemittent calling will almost assure you of it.
If this is not working I will then go to plan B.
Which is to set my call up and then walk downwind approx 100 yards and stand with my shotgun watching back towards the call even if I can't see it.
This will often times catch those dogs that are circling.
Does it always work? of course not, but calling is a game of odds and percentages, the more you can raise your odds the higher your kill percentages will go.
Look for the little things that you can do to raise your odds in various areas of your game.
I don't spend a lot of time nor effort on scent control, the best stuff on the markey will not mask your odor enough to make much difference to a coyotes nose.
If they get your downwind, they are gone plain and simple, so work the wind in your setups to your advantage the best that you can.
As for how long? I usually call for approx 15 minutes, but that varies.
If I am in a good cat area I may go 45 to an hour, they can be so darn slow to show.
And often times you will think nothing is coming and then when you glance back a cat will be sitting there watching you.
A little trick that will work on a cat but seldom does on a coyote is that if you go into super slow mode and veeerry smoooothly raise and sight your gun they will oftentimes just sit there and watch you until you give them a chest full of buckshot.
A coyote on the other hand is a different story, if he is looking at you you are busted, and your best hope and one that works quite often is to just pull a wyatt earp and quick draw the sucker.
You can often times catch him in the rear as he spins away and then a quick follow up shot will anchor him.
The last thing I can think of at the moment is to hold your shotgun at that ready.
Round in the chamber with safety on, butt into your shoulder with your trigger finger on the safety.
It usually happens in a flash in the bush.
When I am sitting I have a small piece of foam that I lay on top of my knee that I rest the forearm of my gun on with the butt into my shoulder.

I have killed far more than I can remember doing it this way, maybe something here can help.

whatever you do, just dont fart. they will either hear it or smell it and you wont get a shot at them.

Man, you took the words right out of my mouth. I would almost bet you were my hunting partner.

yep they will smell your farts, your burps, your pits, your hair, your breath, your gun oil, the bullets in your pocket, hell they will smell your blink.
Bottom line is watch and work with the wind, because if they smell any part of you or your equipment your busted buddy and they are gone.
The good news is that it is fairly easy to work with the wind.
On days with soft swirling breezes that can't make up their mind which way to blow stay home or go fishin.
Give me a good steady 5 to 10 mph wind day where I can count on knowing where my scent stream is goingto be and I will make their day perilous

I have the same call u have, plus a few others, and i go about calling a little different than the previous comments. It's not flawless, but works a lot for me. I start off with a couple of mautre coyote locator howls on the hot dog and if I don't get a reply within 20 seconds of the first howls I change to a higher pitch w/O the grey piece and answer myself. If i get a reply, i usually go to a challenge howl, but if no reply, wait 3 mins or so and try a female invitation howl. If nothing shows up, then I go to a rabbit distress on the kiyi for a while, then on to other calls later. I know some people don't howl, but howling brings in about half the yotes that we kill.

As far as setup, I like to find an open space with 200 yards of view that is backed up to thick brush. I think in the thick brush, we never see the skeptical yotes that want to stay 150 or 200 yards away and observe.

Lots of different ways to call yotes, but that's my favorite set and sequence.

Good info for east Texas thick stuff! Thanks wc

I don't hunt Coyotes so I can't help you with any calls but in 13 years of hunting heavy timber, about 99% of the Coyotes I saw were in small clearings. The biggest open space we had on the whole lease was about 3 acres but I saw a lot of Coyotes roaming those places. I assume they were looking for mice in the tall grass. The trick is knowing which way they'll be coming from I guess.