Shot one Saturday morning and wished I could have got more of them........ had 3 mess up my hunt. The best time to shoot a coyote is any time you have the chance!
Shoot them if you want but don't think for a minute that it will actually put a dent in the population, coyotes are here to stay. Just like the cockroach, they are masters of survival. If prey numbers are up and coyote populations are low, they have huge litters. Consequently, if prey numbers are low, they have small or no litters. These things have learned to live among us and have populations in just about every major city. If you like predator hunting, go for it, I've seen some real pretty tanned skins that have come from coyotes taken in the winter. Personally, I won't kill anything I won't eat so I'll just watch them go by.
I agree that 70% number sounds a bit off. Guess it depends on where that study was done as well. If I heard that number for turkey poults, I would have a harder time arguing it. Coyote numbers here in IL are out of control, and I would doubt the number would be that high even with a declining deer herd.
I was getting pictures of deer and coyotes regularly on my food plot and last I checked the deer have all but cleared out but the coyotes have stayed. Multiple pictures with a coyote chasing deer out. Idk if they've truly affected the deer movements or if they are just eating elsewhere, but after 2 pics of them chasing deer two days in a row, only one more deer showed up in the two weeks following (on that plot) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I think we hunters get overly emotional over predators...we've been sold the line that we are the only ones who can "manage" the game species. I love to hunt and don't ever want to stop, but we have been poor managers of our wild lands. Predators and prey have existed together long before we came along, it is a symbiotic relationship. Prey numbers go up and the predator numbers follow, prey numbers fall and so do the predators. To think that predators are going to completely eliminate a species is kind of crazy. I think a big part of why we believe this has to do with our history, we used to be a "take, take, take" species, no thought was given about conserving our natural resources. Along with that mentality, we aggressively targeted the predators that were our competition. What we were left with was a land that was largely devoid of any apex predators at all, we were the only game in town. Once we were able to rein ourselves in, the prey species rebounded in great numbers and we got used to having a plethora of game to hunt. Now it seems as though the predators have rebounded as well, and they're taking their fair share of the spoils as well and quite frankly, it makes some of us mad..."they're killing our deer (or elk, turkey, etc...)." Shoot them if you want, watch them if you don't. I have no issue with anyone who predator hunts...the only issue I have ever had involves the contests because I believe that it makes us look bad as a whole.
Choot em!!!!! My HHA site is good out to 80yds. I'd never shoot at a deer that far but I promise I'll fling one at a yote that far lol.
Any animal can become overpopultaed with negative effects. Not just the predators. Coyotes here are overpopulated. Their pelts are worth next to nothing so not sought after, being able to use a rifle is about the only "cool factor" for hunters to predator hunt here. Trappers don't trap them as they don't bring enough to make it worthwhile. Some areas you are not allowed to hunt them at all. They do serve their purpose, but their numbers are out of control. I don't think they have a bigger impact on the deer herd than EHD does here, but they compound the situation. I think their biggest impact is on the turkey, quail, pheasant, rabbit and other upland game populations which we don't have a lot of anyway. Rabbit is probably the highest populace if those I directly mentioned, but areas where I hunt you rarely see them. Think Christine mentioned Utah has a $50 bounty on coyotes, I would love to see IL do this, but the IDNR funds are already raped from this broke state and they could never afford to do it.
Bounties don't work, pretty much a typical government solution to the problem, throw money at it until it goes away. These things have been hunted, poisoned, trapped, aerial gunned and yet they not only survived they thrived and expanded their range. The only "control measure" that seems to keep their numbers down, is wolves...and I'm sure that no one wants them stocked to get rid of the coyote! LOL! One of the biologists I spoke to alluded to the fact that coyotes have stepped up to being the alpha predator in so many areas east of the Mississippi due to the void of apex predators.
Aside from some form of disease I agree, they are here to stay in high numbers. A bounty won't fix it but I'd bet if they did $25 a male and $35 a female a lot more would be taken than currently is. I'd hunt a heck of a lot more evenings if it weren't for the yotes. Bad shots happen all the time, I hold out in hopes for a good buck every year, but the m6eat is what I'm after. Just can't chance letting one lay over night in he event of a stray arrow. Heck, I let one lay for a few hours one morning in hopes of a double. Came back to a ripped belly and mangled rear quarter. Never again
There are plenty of coyotes in utah but not nearly as many as there are in the neighboring states. Why? Because there is a bounty on coyotes. Utahns aren't looking to exterminate coyotes, just keep the population low enough to minimize the impact on deer, turkeys and livestock. Wildlife management means you manage *all* the wildlife. Just letting populations boom and bust isn't management.
I see them I shoot. Simple as that. Try to keep the shots under 70 yards though. Sent from my arrow using Mathews
Here is where I read that number. Just to verify I Googled it and found similar numbers in a number of different sources, among them Outdoor Life and Georgia Outdoor News. http://www.petersenshunting.com/con...great-deer-decline-are-the-good-ol-days-over/
Archery season I'll take the shot. Firearm season I restrain myself unless my day has been horrible or exiting soon anyway. They're pretty heavily hunted in my area so we don't see too many anymore while sitting in stands/blinds.
