Den hunting should be systematic and thorough. Where the soil is sandy the movements of coyotes can be readily ascertained by means of tracks and other signs characteristic of the whelping season. The general location of a den may occasionally be learned by hearing the howling of the coyotes, but other means must be employed to actually find it. It may be located by tracking, by watching the movements of old coyotes, or by riding the range looking for holes, but systematic tracking insures the best results. A good time to hunt dens by tracking is just after a rain. Another good time is the day after a severe windstorm, as storms restrict the activity of the coyotes. Water holes and springs in the desert are excellent places from which to start in locating dens. It is best to circle the water hole, noting the direction of the tracks and giving special attention to those of pairs and to their relative freshness, for when fresh tracks of a pair are noted they are generally close to the den. When sign is found, it should be back-tracked to a point where there are tracks going both ways; the tracks begin to form a trail within a quarter of a mile from the dens. Near the den, unless the ground is too hard, many tracks will be found going and coming in every direction. Finding the den is then an easy matter. Sometimes, however, tracks lead to a den from only one direction. Loose hairs and distinctive tracks are often to be found in the mouth of a used coyote den. The coyote track is elongated, and not nearly so rounded as a dog track, and the coyote side-toe track is longer than that of a dog of the same size. The tracks of young coyotes, barren females, and those that have lost their pups can be distinguished from those of denning pairs, as the latter generally travel by a direct route, the tracks of the female usually being smaller and more pointed than those of the male. When the female leaves the den for water she almost always travels on a direct line, probably not deviating over a hundred yards from it in a distance of several miles. Coyotes do not always water at the same place each time, however, nor return to their den direct from the watering place unless the den is a long distance from water. Sometimes the male will remain near the den while the female is away, but more often the two travel together, the female holding a little more to a true course than the male. The tracks often indicate that they travel side by side for some distance, the male then wandering away several hundred yards but later returning to his mate. Coyotes with dens have regular hunting grounds to which they usually travel on a nearly straight course, whether near or several miles distant, but they do not travel back to the den on a direct line again until after they have made their kills.