Hunting & Fishing Why shoot coyotes?

[normbal]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

When I was 20 I was a medic/pharmacy tech stationed at Ft. Hunter Liggett in California. I used to take off on weekends with a backpack/sleeping bag/pup tent and head out the west gate into the Santa Lucia National Forest to hike and camp. I had run-ins with a bull, a mountain lion (the bull chased me, I chased the mountain lion) and coming home one night I had this feeling I was being followed. I turned around with a flashlight and there were a half dozen coyotes standing and sitting about 20 feet behind me. I turned off the light and kept walking. It scared the crap out of me then and even now when I realize what naiveté I had as a kid. I only carried a bowie knife. I started camping with friends after that.

What's even MORE interesting is I see the same "doggies" here in Montgomery county where I live now, thousands of miles away. Not as many, and only sporadically. I'm happy they're here to keep the feral and "he's just out for the night" pet cat population down (I trap and kill a couple a year), but it's just a matter of time before young kids and/or adults are fair game.

Hunters I know tell me mountain lions are repopulating PA and WV. This will be interesting. Here kitty kitty...

 

[tminc]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

shoot them all, the dead ones don't make so much racket!

 

[John_in_WYO]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

SS85,

Thanks for explaining it a bit more. BS flag appropriately lowered.

With you, 36 hunters and Jered out there and no one killed or even heard or saw a coyote, I'm now convinced that there are no coyotes on your place. Although I am also convinced that Jered's reputation preceded him and they split as soon as he hit the county line.

Thanks for being a good steward. Blue tongue and anthrax would be the shits to add to our CWD problems up here.

I try to leave the coyotes alone up here between March 1 and October 1 so they can raise their pups. If there is a complaint about predation and request to help out with it, I go do that.


Yep, sometimes the 4 legged critters beat us to the big deer, like this one:

We found him buried last winter and the dogs were going crazy on the site. Most likely a lion kill, post rut. As some have pointed out, who's to know for sure? I believe it was a lion kill. Can I prove it? Asolutely not.

I know he would have been an awesome trophy to take. I would have enjoyed it!

Do you raise sheep/goats like the old timers did? How about Aoudads? They're pretty cool exotics.

Thanks to those who toned it down a bit. Much more enjoyable to read. Pissing matches belong on pms.

 

[Biscuit]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

Yotes vs hunters: Yotes usually only eat the week and the sick, while most hunters try to kill the biggest and the healthiest. Wonder which animal is better for the health of a herd?

 

[Tripwire]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Joel.B</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Yotes vs hunters: Yotes usually only eat the week and the sick, while most hunters try to kill the biggest and the healthiest. Wonder which animal is better for the health of a herd? </div></div>

That's fine and wonderful, in a utopian sort of F&S mind set far removed from certain aspects of the real world....

But, the other side of this equation is the interjection a predator like this, that multiplies exponetially, sometimes beyond any hope for control, into an agricultural setting where it hurts the bottom line of the farmer.....it's a much different story then.

So if you want to laud a viable population of coyotes as a good thing then don't bitch when the price of your beef and lamb, your leather and your wool, climbs higher than you want to pay because supply can't meet demand, or it simply becomes not worth it and the farmer quits. It's hard enough to make ends meet in farming without shit like this adding to the problem.

 

[Ankeny]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

Oddly enough, I went coyote hunting today. Love to call the song dogs. I usually shoot 30-40 each winter. My best winter was right around 75 coyotes. Why do I kill them? Just because they are fun to hunt. By contrast, a couple of my friends who work full time for a predator control board will kill around 800-900 coyotes a piece each year.

The accepted kill rate to maintain control of a coyote population is indeed 70%-75%. That can be a tough objective. Of course when they are horribly over populated and mange sets in, they die off by the hoards. I am just selfish enough that I'd rather shoot coyotes for "sport" than watch them waste away from mange.

 

[pyplynr]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

I love huntin yotes! All the fun and shooting and none of the cleaning. This year we've lost 4 calves and a full grown 8 year old cow to coyotes. She was sick and we couldn't get her to the barn, next day my grandpa said when he got out there he seen 4 yotes having a feast.

 

[DIBBS]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Joel.B</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Yotes vs hunters: Yotes usually only eat the week and the sick, while most hunters try to kill the biggest and the healthiest. Wonder which animal is better for the health of a herd? </div></div>

In a word, <span style="color: #FF0000"> <span style="font-weight: bold">BULLSHIT !</span> </span> Tree huggers would have you believe that they only kill the weak old and diseased, but wake up and smell the roses. That AINT da truth! And they do feast before their prey has expired.

 

[Smith44699]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Joel.B</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Yotes vs hunters: Yotes usually only eat the week and the sick, while most hunters try to kill the biggest and the healthiest. Wonder which animal is better for the health of a herd? </div></div>

Man I should tell my neighbors their calves ,lambs and dogs were all sick. That way they won't feel so bad when the coyotes killed them over the past several years.

 

[RGraff]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Joel.B</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Yotes vs hunters: Yotes usually only eat the week and the sick, while most hunters try to kill the biggest and the healthiest. Wonder which animal is better for the health of a herd? </div></div>

Joel, with respect, what magazine article did you get that from?

Out here in the real world fully grown, healthy big game animals, upland birds and livestock die at the jaws of predators every day. Spend some time in the hills or on a working ranch and you'll find plenty remnants of once healthy, mature animals about. Predators make no distinction between sickly and healthy animals. They take what they can get when the opportunities present themselves.

For me, this is about competition...us or them. I kill to eat just like they do. No more difficult than that. I am a predator as much as they are and I choose me.

 

[Rediculous]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

Anyone doubting the ability of a sucessful rear attack on an animal by a dog/pack o' dogs has some light bulbs out. I grew up on a farm in rural SC and here coyotes were not (until recently) previlant. I have seen their kills on goats and 6-8 month old cows, and "hamstringing" these animals is the method of choice. I have also watched a mixed pack of wild dogs take down a healthy 2 yrs old bull the same way. Once the legs are torn up the animal will laydown and thats that. Now SC isn't known for the bigger coyotes like the northwest, but this year I have killed a female weighing 47lbs and a male weighting nearly 60lbs in two different areas. The prey (deer,pigs,turkeys) in the south east are general smaller than the rest of the U.S. and it seems this makes the coyotes lives much easier.

 

[skinney_7]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Rediculous</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I grew up on a farm in rural SC and here coyotes were not (until recently) previlant. I have seen their kills on goats and 6-8 month old cows,</div></div>
if you grew up on a farm you should know 6-8 mo. old cows are called calves...LOL...

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Rediculous</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Now SC isn't known for the bigger coyotes like the northwest, but this year I have killed a female weighing 47lbs and a male weighting nearly 60lbs in two different areas. </div></div>
not sayin it didn't happen, BUT... if i killed a 60lbs eastern dog i would sure as hell be posting some pics!!!

 

[pyplynr]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: skinney</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Rediculous</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Now SC isn't known for the bigger coyotes like the northwest, but this year I have killed a female weighing 47lbs and a male weighting nearly 60lbs in two different areas. </div></div>
not sayin it didn't happen, BUT... if i killed a 60lbs eastern dog i would sure as hell be posting some pics!!! </div></div>

I'd have that big f&cker full body mounted!!

 

[Rediculous]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

6-8 months old calfs weight 300-600 lbs at which point I call them cows...have pics up of the female on another post on this site. The male I took was at anothers property and I was without a cam. Weight was determined with a feed scale so prolly not right on the money I said around 60, 50-60 wheel house but the biggest I've seen here. Biggest I had seen until last year was about 40lbs. SCDNR is going coo coo trying to get more hunters after them aswell.

 

[Mutt]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: skinney</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Rediculous</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I grew up on a farm in rural SC and here coyotes were not (until recently) previlant. I have seen their kills on goats and 6-8 month old cows,</div></div>
if you grew up on a farm you should know 6-8 mo. old cows are called calves...LOL...

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Rediculous</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Now SC isn't known for the bigger coyotes like the northwest, but this year I have killed a female weighing 47lbs and a male weighting nearly 60lbs in two different areas. </div></div>
not sayin it didn't happen, BUT... if i killed a 60lbs eastern dog i would sure as hell be posting some pics!!! </div></div>

I shot a 40lb+ bitch last year at the bottom of a steep gully filled with old logging slash. By the time I got to her and picked her up by the hind legs I estimated her at 45lbs Dragged her up to the logging road for bait....errr....photos and I swear she ate all the way back up. By the time I got back up top and over all that slash again that bastard had to have gained 25lbs at least!

OP. Great post!
I'm going to send those pics to my mom for mothers day. She's a tree huggin', granola eatin', green sh!ttin', wolf protecting, anti-hunter/gunner. This kind of stuff just doesn't happen with the blinders she wears. I only wish it was video'd so she could see AND hear the buck screaming as he's being eaten alive.

 

[Rediculous]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

Female shot ~75 yds 55g hornady V-max

 

[whitetailnut]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SingleShot85</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Pretty much calling Bullshit on the kill, especially on the whitetail. It would be 1-in a Million for two coyotes to attack and kill a healthy mature whitetail buck or mule deer for that matter.
</div></div>


20 or so years ago I was deer hunting here in Va. I nice 8pt came running down the ridge from above me. He had been running so much that he was panting like a worn out ,overheated horse.

Well I shot him , had walked up to him and was standing there admiring him when I heard something else coming down the ridge. Sure enough here comes a lone coyote down the hill, back then they weren't that common and to be honest by the time I realised what it was he busted me and was long gone.

I can tell you that the coyote was nowhere near as stressed chasing that buck as the buck was from trying to get away from him! It reminded me of PepeLePew chasing Penelope!

 

[Tripwire]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Rediculous</div><div class="ubbcode-body">6-8 months old calfs weight 300-600 lbs at which point I call them cows...</div></div>

Well around here we still call 'em calves at that size, at the sale they call 'em feeder calves. A calf over 300 lbs is a 3 weight, 400 a 4 weight, 500 a 5 weight, etc, etc. We send the majority of 'em to feeder lots in Texas, Oklahoma, and such places where they become prime rib, steak, and burger.

Cows are what's kept around the farm, in good health, for breeding purposes....

Never seen a healthy calf above 100 pounds taken by coyotes. The risk is new born, and I do mean NEW, born. Freshly dropped, or so new that it can't yet get past the wobbly legs.

Easy pickin's for a pack of 'yotes.........

 

[srtsam]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

Let me clarify
I should have said I would not have expected 2 coyotes were able to take a healthy male deer, or any larger animal for that matter. Cattle, horse etc.... I always thought of them as wild dogs and while I understand they are capable in packs but just 2 taking down a majestic deer was a bit shocking. If i'm not mistaken, I think they are now a presence in south Jersey.

 

[redirt78]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

Who gives a fuck what you call them, they're all cows. Nuts and horns... Still a cow. Tits, sorry udders and milk... Still a cow. 100 pounds... Yep, thats a cow too. Maybe packs of coyotes don't kill healthy animals, be it deer, goats, sheep, cows or pigs where you live but to argue that it doesn't happen is a waste of your time. Everywhere that coyotes are a problem, healthy animals are ran down, ganged up on and eaten. Notice I said problem, consider yourself lucky if you and all of your neighbors you know do not have this problem. Keep shooting them and maybe you will never have the problem. It exists, it happens almost every day. If they spread anything like the feral pigs we have around here then you'll eventually have this same problem. Unless your land is a baron wasteland like one of you mentioned earlier, then you might be safe.

Why shoot coyotes? They spread like rats, they eat other game and livestock that some of us depend on to make a living, they can be challenging and fun to hunt and you can hunt them year round, with no limit (wonder why that is)... I'd say thats enough reasons.

 

[skinney_7]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Mutt</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
I'm going to send those pics to my mom for mothers day. She's a tree huggin', granola eatin', green sh!ttin', wolf protecting, anti-hunter/gunner. This kind of stuff just doesn't happen with the blinders she wears. I only wish it was video'd so she could see AND hear the buck screaming as he's being eaten alive. </div></div>
be sure not to send em to her before Christmas, ya might end up gettin some coal

 

[redirt78]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

What he said ^ AND make sure you don't link the pics back to here somehow. We don't need another tree hugger/predator rights activist in this thread or on this website haha.

 

[Tripwire]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: redirt78</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Who gives a fuck what you call them, they're all cows. Nuts and horns... Still a cow. Tits, sorry udders and milk... Still a cow. 100 pounds... Yep, thats a cow too. Maybe packs of coyotes don't kill healthy animals, be it deer, goats, sheep, cows or pigs where you live but to argue that it doesn't happen is a waste of your time. Everywhere that coyotes are a problem, healthy animals are ran down, ganged up on and eaten. Notice I said problem, consider yourself lucky if you and all of your neighbors you know do not have this problem. Keep shooting them and maybe you will never have the problem. It exists, it happens almost every day. If they spread anything like the feral pigs we have around here then you'll eventually have this same problem. Unless your land is a baron wasteland like one of you mentioned earlier, then you might be safe.

Why shoot coyotes? They spread like rats, they eat other game and livestock that some of us depend on to make a living, they can be challenging and fun to hunt and you can hunt them year round, with no limit (wonder why that is)... I'd say thats enough reasons. </div></div>

Since you responded to me in the manner you have it's more than blatently obvious, among other things, that you've NOT read this entire thread, nor taken the opportunity to read what I've previously opined on this subject. Fucking clueless....

 

[nobody13]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

We see that problem in MT. all the time. Livestock are hit hard as well in the spring with the calves especially. What else are you going to shoot in the dead of winter. I heard the hides are finally worth something this year too.

 

[Rediculous]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

I know yall ranchers don't thank too highly of us small time cuntry farmers...But I was just stating that it does happen and the yote is capable of more than most people think and even more than the yote probably thinks of itself. Conditions matter of course, if you have 100 head of "cows" to rally up and protect the "calves" then you most likely won't see an attack on the mid sized animals. I just know, and as my picture shows, the scraggly, mangy eastern coyote of the past may be fading away. I have killed two that were in remarkable health and seen at least 20 between other peoples kills and just driving down the road, and none were thin or in poor health. And the pigs are getting worse around SC/GA area too. I'm just getting into calling up the dogs in the past I only shot them while deer or turkey hunting. The fact that the yote pop. is booming here is good for the hunting but worry-some for the ecosystem, and eastern pelts are a dime a dozen. Why shoot them isn't the question, the real question is why not? -P.S. Skinney's videos make me wanna get a 300 blackout with a can, maybe after I finish my 6.5 gredel...

 

[chadg]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

I own 600 acres in south central mo.that i inheriated after my grandparents passed....The farm was used exclusivy for dairy cattle all through the 70s and early 80s
Coyotes here are a major problem.I have personally seen coyotes take down calves just for the joy of killing,not eating them just killing them..Not to mention all the chickens,dogs,cats,rabbits,basically anything that that they are not afraid of....
So for me any coyote i see is a dead coyote..NO MERCY NO REMORSE...
Now call bullshit on that and i will invite you down and let you taste some milk from a stressed dairy cow that has been harrased all night by 4 or 5 coyotes biting and nipping at her hind quarters or wherever they can sink there teeth in....Beleive me the milk is not fit to drink...It is so bitter the only thing i can compare it to is when they get loose in some nasty yellow blosssom...

 

[redirt78]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Tripwire</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: redirt78</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><span style="color: #CC0000">Who gives a fuck what you call them, they're all cows. Nuts and horns... Still a cow. Tits, sorry udders and milk... Still a cow. 100 pounds... Yep, thats a cow too.</span> </div></div>

Since you responded to me in the manner you have it's more than blatently obvious, among other things, that you've NOT read this entire thread, nor taken the opportunity to read what I've previously opined on this subject. Fucking clueless.... </div></div>

Just the red part was for anyone worried about what someone called a cow. I thought it was funny, kind of like: "You don't know what you're talking about, you called that buck a deer and that jake a turkey". The rest of what I wrote was for anyone (not you) who thinks a few, or a pack of coyotes will not take down a healthy animal. I can see why you thought it was all meant for you, it wasn't. I also have never seen evidence of a healthy calf much bigger than a 100 pounds that was taken by coyotes but it wouldn't surprise me if it has happened.

Coyotes will eat mice and berries just like I'll microwave something or eat a salad but, every now and then I want a steak or feel like going hunting for something better and so do they. I think once they get accustomed to calf/cow meat or sheep etc, then it becomes something that is just a regular part of their menu and maybe the main course. I'm sure just like lions, wolves or any other pack animal, they get more efficient at it every time and that's when they become a real problem.

 

[Radar360]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

Good subject matter. Learned quite a bit reading everyone posts, especially those that live/work on farms/ranches.

To be sure, and it's be said before in other threads and here again, that the 'yotes will kill for the sake of killing. That's very interesting.

I'm not questioning that at all - I'll take your word for it. Just wondering, why would the coyote kill for what looks like for pleasure. Is it trying to rid food supply so that other predators don't inhabit the same 'hunting' grounds? Could it be something else that drives them to kill when they don't need to for food?

Just trying to reason what's going on with that.

 

[boudin]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Radar86</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Good subject matter. Learned quite a bit reading everyone posts, especially those that live/work on farms/ranches.

To be sure, and it's be said before in other threads and here again, that the 'yotes will kill for the sake of killing. That's very interesting.

I'm not questioning that at all - I'll take your word for it. Just wondering, why would the coyote kill for what looks like for pleasure. Is it trying to rid food supply so that other predators don't inhabit the same 'hunting' grounds? Could it be something else that drives them to kill when they don't need to for food?

Just trying to reason what's going on with that.

</div></div>
Thrill? Excitement? Hard to say for sure, but I imagine it has something to do with the fact that hunting, running down, and attacking, is their "thing". We dry fire, tinker, shoot targets, browse firearms-related forums... all for the sake of refining our shooting skills/increasing our familiarity with our system. I think chasing down and grounding prey is so instinctual to the 'yotes, that they probably just can't help themselves and when they see a potential target, instinct kicks in and the chase ensues whether they're hungry or not. While the experience may not always be nutritional, it is most certainly always educational. For every animal they run down and ground, skills are honed, muscles are strengthened, and they become more effective at what they do.

I think the coyote's reaction to a running animal is somewhat akin to how my wife's cat can hear me tearing pieces of jerky apart and will come running. She's as domestic as they come yet, something about the sound of meat tearing seems to spark a deep-seeded reaction in her, and she acts like a totally different cat.

I wanna thank folks for sharing their views/experiences on this topic. The discussion has teetered on the brink of inflamitory/non-productive a couple 'a times and I hope we can simma-don-nah just a skoosh, and keep it on an informative level.

I'm learning quite a bit from you folks who have exponentially more experience with coyotes than I or any of the people I hunt with, and that's what I was hoping for when I started this thread. I have been told for longer than I can remember, about how coyotes are a threat to deer/livestock and that I should "shoot on site, no questions asked". Well... that's all well and good, but I'm not really the "non-questioning" type and if I'm going to pull the trigger on an animal, I want to have a clear understanding of why. In all my years in the woods, I've never witnessed a coyote kill and have only found remains of what could be attributed to a coyote kill, a few times. So when I saw these images of a seemingly healthy buck being taken down, it was a pretty strong dose of reality.

Let's keep it rolling with the stories/experiences... both for and against coyote hunting. After all, a coin with only one side really doesn't have much value.

 

[1911fan]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Radar86</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Just wondering, why would the coyote kill for what looks like for pleasure.</div></div>

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: boudin</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Thrill? Excitement? Hard to say for sure, but I imagine it has something to do with the fact that hunting, running down, and attacking, is their "thing". </div></div>

It's called "prey drive". Wolves are more known for it; they'll get into a flock of sheep and kill them all, and not eat a bite. Yep, they're both dogs, and live by the hunt, and have a strong need to kill anything that runs.


1911fan

 

[Radar360]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

Every year I hear about coyotes that kill livestock w/out any good reason. Perhaps it is some sort of way for them to stay fit for the hunt, and perhaps there are also other reasons.

I'd like to learn more of it as I find it interesting. I used to think that most animals only killed to eat and survive. But they're not the only animals that kill without eating their prey. I've seen in the Discovery channel that sometimes Orcas also kill without an apparent reason.

Based on what I'm learning about the coyote, it seems reasonable to drop these animals in their tracks. Especially in areas where they threaten livestock or folk.

I live in the burb's of a big city and while we're not in a concrete jungle, there are good size parks and dedicated green areas, we have seen coyotes in the evening just blocks from our house. We have a couple of creeks that sort of surrounds my neighborhood and they have made those areas their home, coming out only in the evening to look for food (pets and trash).

We can not shoot them here (unless directly threaten) as we're within city limits but animal control can't make a dent against them. And they look well fed so I'm sure they are multiplying and it's only going to become dangerous.

I'm in North Texas and am willing to travel, within reason, to help get a few 'yotes (and feral hogs who cause crops damage annually) provided of course it's with the landowner's permission.

PM and I'll get my gear ready!

 

[Tripwire]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 1911fan</div><div class="ubbcode-body">It's called "prey drive". Wolves are more known for it; they'll get into a flock of sheep and kill them all, and not eat a bite. Yep, they're both dogs, and live by the hunt, and have a strong need to kill anything that runs.


1911fan </div></div>

Here, coyotes don't seem to kill for the thrill, or prey drive. They do eat on what they kill. Sometimes all you find on a fresh kill is a little bit of the hind quarters eaten. It's only a matter of days though before the carcass is reduced to mere bones and hide scraps. Now, the yotes here do have some competition when it comes to feeding on what they kill and leave; mainly from the black vulture, or turkey buzzard as most call 'em. The habit of the vulture though is to wait a good while after the animal is dead before they swoop in. Some of this is simply not being able to locate the carcass until then. I think they locate mostly by detecting the smell of rotting carcasses, which is something the coyotes don't seem to want unless times have gotten very hard for 'em; and some of it is the fact that buzzards are pretty timid to approach anything. They are very easily driven off of a carcass and I seriously doubt they would make any attempt to defend it from returning coyotes.

This basically boils down to the coyote having as much time as they care to take to come back later and feed on their kill, usually under the cover of darkness, and with the buzzards roosted. This is why bait piles work so well here.

Now, every once in a great while, here, we'll get a pack of feral dogs come through. Old timers will tell you all about 'em as that was the threat before coyotes became prevalent. Personally I've only ever witnessed two such packs. One bothered our livestock here years ago, and the other was harrassing hikers on a trail here in the county. My buddy and I had, um, "contact", with that pack once while scouting deer in the area. Per the livestock, it's these feral dogs, here, that will kill for no reason. They will just go through a sheep herd, kill as much as they can, and move on without attempting to feed on any of it. Pure blood lust, at a minimum.

 

[Busterstw]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

I like to feed the yotes too but only on the bait pile to give them a snow knap!!!

 

[Jered Joplin]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

Well not all coyotes are bad. Some are actually very good and I like to take the time to admire them when ever I see them in the wild. Here's what they look like so you know what to look for:

 

[blksno]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

HOLY SPIT BALLS JERED!

What did you decide to take the head shot with?
I assume the first picture was a head shot looking toward you, and the second picture was a similar shot, but looking away?

 

[coldboremiracle]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

Nice shooting!! Here is a similar one shot by my brother.
300WSM 180gr Hndy BTSP Savage 12

Right between the eyes at about 150 yds IIRC.

 

[redirt78]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

Haha, yep those are good coyotes.

 

[Tripwire]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

Finally, this thread is tracking.........

 

[Tripwire]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

Take no prisoners...even during late black powder season.

Damn thing musta thought I was a pile of snow or something, with my whites on...came a walking right up to me.

240 XTP via 110 grains of FFg, at 12 feet.....can you say lights out?

 

[pwc001]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

TAG

 

[jackh]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

i kill them because of the damage they do on our livestock. they eat kid goats and lambs like candy.

 

[pizzamanny]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

+ 1 on the goat damage.

 

[3hundredWM]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Joel.B</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Yotes vs hunters: Yotes usually only eat the week and the sick, while most hunters try to kill the biggest and the healthiest. Wonder which animal is better for the health of a herd? </div></div>


Why have we had so many human/coyote encounters here in Colorado. None of the attacked people were sick or week? Coyotes will strike a target of opportunity whenever they can. They are, after all.......a predator.

 

[threetrees]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> Why have we had so many human/coyote encounters here in Colorado. None of the attacked people were sick or week?</div></div>

Because humans are, from an unexperienced animals point of view, about as dangerous as sheep? when i walk our fields i see germans hiking around and being afraid of cows. i see netherlandish guys who are not able to push aside a few sheep blocking a mountain path. most of the townspeople have no idea how to deal with any stubborn herbivore blocking their way. if that thing has fangs, they turn and leave. because, at the end, humans traded 'natural means of defence' for fingers and tools.

do we have antlers? do we have a decent sized fang? claws and the appropriate muscle for it? if not for the 'tools' that we use, i fully understand that any predator out there will consider a human only a 'meal2go'.

hell - we use dogs to protect our homes/gardens/etc. so 85% are scared of a barking dog. and why? because their bite hurts tons more than what you can do to them unarmed (besides pressing your thumb into their eyes). and here we are talking about a domesticated animal that is (besides some special breeds) a significantly sized-down predator compared to any wolf you might encounter.

now tell me that we are - to real predators - nothing but (usually unarmed) animals that are easy to slay. compared to any decent sized deer with antlers - even a sick one - , and me being a wolf, i'd go for the human. weaker. less endurance. less risk of getting hurt. that's why your coyotes might prefer a human over a bull - because when the human (unarmed) is no match for the bull, why go for the bull yourself when you could have the healthy human?

well. besides those that actually use tools/weapons _and_ have the mindset to use them.

 

[Rediculous]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Joel.B</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Yotes vs hunters: Yotes usually only eat the week and the sick, while most hunters try to kill the biggest and the healthiest. Wonder which animal is better for the health of a herd? </div></div>

The reason a person see's a healthy animal as a better kill than a sickly one is pure instinct. It is fact that humans are very susceptible to disease and do not have the stomache to digest some forms of meat ie. spoiled, damaged, diseased. That said, a dog, yote, wolf, bear have the ability to eat these things. Instincts like these are seen throughout the animal kingdom where a bird "knows better" than to eat the pretty, brightly colored frogs and insects. They know this without trial and error. It is a knowlege of heredity. In the world we have made for ourselves much of our insticts are covered up, but they still exist. Same thing that drives you to kill and eat only the healthiest animals is the same as the one that tells you a female is "good looking" because a pretty woman is usually a healthy one.

 

[3hundredWM]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: threetrees</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> Why have we had so many human/coyote encounters here in Colorado. None of the attacked people were sick or week?</div></div>

Because humans are, from an unexperienced animals point of view, about as dangerous as sheep? when i walk our fields i see germans hiking around and being afraid of cows. i see netherlandish guys who are not able to push aside a few sheep blocking a mountain path. most of the townspeople have no idea how to deal with any stubborn herbivore blocking their way. if that thing has fangs, they turn and leave. because, at the end, humans traded 'natural means of defence' for fingers and tools.

do we have antlers? do we have a decent sized fang? claws and the appropriate muscle for it? if not for the 'tools' that we use, i fully understand that any predator out there will consider a human only a 'meal2go'.

hell - we use dogs to protect our homes/gardens/etc. so 85% are scared of a barking dog. and why? because their bite hurts tons more than what you can do to them unarmed (besides pressing your thumb into their eyes). and here we are talking about a domesticated animal that is (besides some special breeds) a significantly sized-down predator compared to any wolf you might encounter.

now tell me that we are - to real predators - nothing but (usually unarmed) animals that are easy to slay. compared to any decent sized deer with antlers - even a sick one - , and me being a wolf, i'd go for the human. weaker. less endurance. less risk of getting hurt. that's why your coyotes might prefer a human over a bull - because when the human (unarmed) is no match for the bull, why go for the bull yourself when you could have the healthy human?

well. besides those that actually use tools/weapons _and_ have the mindset to use them. </div></div>

Well put Sir. I understand your point of view. I was just meerly trying to say that the coyote is an animal of opportunity, no matter what the prey is. But yes I agree, we are an easy target.

 

[One-Eyed Jack]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

It depends on where they are. In NV cattle country, coyotes can attack livestock, especially newborn and young calves (who are weak and easier to kill). So killing coyotes makes sense to livestock ranchers. However, coyotes feed also on ground squirrels and other small animals that can be destructive to alfalfa and other crops in far northern CA. Here, coyotes can be beneficial and shooting them the wrong thing to do. Time for squirrel hunting instead -- just my experience.

Game animal hunting is well controlled by states and, while hunters often kill healthy, strong animals, it's part of the state wildlife management process. Permission is granted through the tag system, which is used to control animal populations and keep them in balance. Coyotes don't have tags in cattle country.

The above comparison of hunters and coyotes sounds catchy, but it's not a realistic view.

 

[Jered Joplin]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

The frontal shot was my 223 AI w/ 75g Amax and the rear shot was my 284 pushing a 162 Amax. I've carved more than one canoe in my day but that's the only one that looked like that.

 

[Phil1]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

The biggest impact that coyotes(and wolves) have on game populations is the predation upon calves, does, etc. In the first couple weeks after birth a coyote might make quick work of a moose calf.

I have personally seen whitetail does put the run on a mature coyote. So its not a done deal when a predator tries for a kill.

I find it somewhat amusing that when wild dogs(Africa, dingo's- Australia), lions, hyenas, etc. use pack hunting tactics on a single animal. That it frequently elicits a sympathetic response from people. When in fact that that is just the nature and technique of how those animals hunt.

Its counter to empathetic human feelings to not feel sorry for prey that gets eaten while the animal is still alive. But empathy is limited to [some(?)} most people. Not hungry predators.

IMO the best way to protect domestic livestock is to get a couple Llamas. I have never seen coyotes even close to livestock when Llamas are protecting their "herd". Coyotes who have experience with Llamas will not even go mousing in fields where Llamas are kept.

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/publications/pm1527.pdf

In the absence of a Llama a .22-250 works well.

 

[tiNdvenTFHwMdqKW]

Re: Why shoot coyotes?

After a long winter I saw two coyotes try to take down my neighbors BIG Grand Pyrennes. They booked before I could get a shot off but they were doing exactly what happened to the deer at the start of this thread. Circling around and biting at the rear end.

The coyotes out west are smaller than the east but they will kill what they can when they can.