Its the off season, not something we all look forward to. Well maybe some, but for most its begins a long drought before we are able to suspend ourselves in trees pursing whitetails again... Many people partake in several activites to pass the time until deer season.. Many plant food plots to help the deer in times of harsh weather, or to supplement native forage.. Others dump minerals with hopes of it making their deer recover from body and nutrient depletion during a harsh rut or winter.. Others hinge cut or mow or do whatever they believe is going to help their deer herd and better their odds for next year.. All these are great, and might help swing the odds in your favor. but....... I cant help but scratch my head though, and wonder why one of the single most important aspects of herd management is left out... Atleast left out of the public eye.. Predator management..... This day and age so many hunters are griping about not seeing the deer numbers they once did... Or they wanna blame the neighbors or their dnr for low deer numbers... How many of them are proactively pursing coyotes? You can call them, run them with dogs or trap them... Anything to get rid of them.. Methods of removing coyotes are not all equal IMO. Ya its fun to go with your buddies and call coyotes... But realistically, its not that effective.. Ya, you kill some occasionally, but not enough to actually make a difference. running coyotes with dogs is pretty effective on removing coyotes, but IMO comes with its own set a drawbacks. Remember, we are doing this to protect our deer, so why would we send a bunch of caustic hounds through our woods or sanctuaries to maybe run 1 or 2 coyotes out that we might or might not get a shot at... Not to mention the aspect of tresspassing or the possability of your dogs ending up on someone elses property you dont have permission to be on.. Which leads me to trapping.... Trapping, if done correctly, is probably the single most efective way to remove predators from your property. It involves little intrusion, most of which a lot of times can be done from the 4 wheeler or vehicle. It doesnt require you being out in the woods at prime deer movement times, and it allows you to cover multiple areas, at once time. It is also the most efficient way to catch a large percentage of predators efficiently. So with that said, does anyone here pick on the coyotes during or after deer season ends? Here are some of my most recent catches :
Great points. Would love to learn to trap them. Yotee hunting is a love / hate thing.......love to hunt them any time in the off season.....hate what they do to the deer .
Great post! We have mainly tried calling them, but have never got one calling, just dumb luck got our only one. We definitely need to start considering trapping! The populations in our area are growing rapidly.
I can't use leg hold traps where I live, to many pets around it would take just one getting injured to start a crap storm.
So what strategy do you use to know where you should set the leg traps? I have some traps but have never put them out due to my lack of knowledge.
Are they your pets? Or just random neighbors pets? I have incidental catches quite frequently. Cats, dogs, my hand... etc.... it doesn't do any damage to them at all... traps are meant to hold an animal comfortably until the trapper arrives to to catches. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
I run a lot of leg holds when the ground isn't freezing and thawing repeatedly in a weeks time. When that starts hoppening I switch over to snares, since a snare isn't affected by temperature at all. As far as locations, I set up on the main travel routes that the animals use the most. Four wheeler paths, gas roads, field edges etc... Coyotes don't really spend a lot of time in big timber, atleast around me... I rarely ever trap them in timber unless there's an access road or gas rd going through the timber.... Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
I am not anti trapping but have been on hand when more than one time pheasant hunting when a dog gets into a trap. I have never used the word comfortable to describe the dogs reaction when their foot is stuck in a trap.
Oh I believe it doesn't feel great. But I'm sure getting ripped apart by a pack of coyotes feels a lot worse. I've actually caught my dog a couple times. He has never been real happy about it, so I understand that.... Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
Trapping is one of the fastest dying sports.. If you like to hunt deer you should learn how to trap. I'm not a pro by any means but I caught 7 females last year. Haven't had the time to put any Traps in the ground yet but I will in a couple weeks
So I know in Illinois they are legal to hunt year round but I don't think they are legal to trap year round.
I agree. Not only is it beneficial to your deer herd, but it also helps hone your skills as a woodsman. So far I have trapped 8 off of just one of my properties.... one of which was this big nasty female...... if u notice her rough looks, it is because she had been prepping a den for her up coming litter... Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
Money for the pelts is a bonus but not my motovating factor. I skin and sell them green, I do not flesh and put them up. Last yesr I averaged $18, thisbyesr I averaged $7..... our eastern Midwest coyotes are trash in the fur market in comparison to western dogs. At best our coyotes get used for trim on coats.... so our coyotes don't have the demand for them as day the westerns. The female I posted above is literally worth nothing. No fur buyer in his rt mind would ever buy that coyote. So that coyote is worth nothing, other than the moral victory of removing a deer killer Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
Yeah i certainly agree that the money is just an added benefit of removing the stupid thing! Where are you located?
Rumor has it that coyotes were going for 40 bucks in our area of Illinois. No clue if there is any truth behind that or not
I'd have a hard time believing that. But I'm not gonna say it's impossible, because I don't know for sure. In The NAFA fur auction from July, eastern coyotes brought an average of $21.00, and section 3 coyotes brought an average of $8.00. Now also remember, that these are put up and dried. I sell mine green, which is basicly skinned and nothing else. The fur market is in the toilet right now..... last year at this time I averaged $18 dollars for green coyotes..... that's almost what they were bringing put up and dried this year... our eastern coyotes are trash compared to the westerns. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
