I haven't shot one yet but I have respect for the life of any animal that I decide to kill. I would track it (good practice) and make sure it is dead and not suffering. I'd take the hide also. My grandfather taught me if I am going to kill it I better have a use for it. We used to kill bobcats in the south for the same reason people kill coyotes, and we always made sure to find the body.
Coyotes are nuisances, plain and simple. I'll look for them to be sure they're dead, but they have no value to me. There is a reason(at least in IL) the DNR has basically no restrictions on the hunting of them. If and when feral pigs make an appearance in my neck of the woods it will be the same thing. I might eat one or two, but it will be a kill on sight approach. With IL's new won-ton waste law, I would have to look into the feral pig inclusion but I seriously doubt the DNR would prosecute in such an instance. If I can find a tanner locally that would buy the coyotes I might do it. But with as many of them as there are here in IL I doubt you see the high end prices. Like it or hate it, my viewpoint will not change on this. I process table fare, I discard trash.
If you want to be all lovey dovey with the coyotes I'm happy for you! I, on the other hand will still shoot them and not give a rats a** about it. When you kill the mouse that has gotten into your house do you you save it as well?
There's a clear difference between a game animal and a varmint. Coyotes are varmint. I respect them for the killers that they are. The population is completely out of control around my area, and I will do my best to thin them out a little. I will try and find them if I shoot them, but I'm not spending much time and effort to do so. I think you can get $20-$40 a hide without skinning them out, so I guess it's worth a little bit of my time to look though. I also have a personal vendetta to settle up. A few years back, coyotes tore into my mini-schnauzer, nearly killing him. He would have died if we had not found him as quickly as we did. That trip to the vet cost me a lot of cash, so It's going to take quite a few pelts to make up for what they cost me.
I might go look for my arrow. Probably not really looking for the Yote. I would not track long if at all. Why run all over your hunting land looking for something I just want dead anyway.
Where I lived in Wyoming the county had a paid coyote hunter.. People would call him when they had a coyote problem on there ranches. He would bring his airplane and shotgun and kill lots of coyotes, somedays upward of 200. Do you think he landed the plan to look for them? No they where all left where they lay.
Never said I was all lovey dovey with coyotes, reading comprehension must not be your strong suit. I just think its funny how a lot of you that are saying that coyotes are trash and don't bother even tracking them, are quick to slam someone for losing a deer, or shooting a chipmunk and letting it suffer. It's also funny how you talk about the coyotes killing calves which are your livelyhood, so they are scum on earth and don't deserve your time other than shooting on sight, however, the deer, that can decimate crops that could be a livelyhood of someone else, they're ok.
Deer destroying crops is one of the main reasons they are hunted, they just happen to be excellent table fare as well. Anything that I shoot that I plan on eating I search for. I don't plan on eating coyote regardless of what other people may do, therefore I don't have any other intention than to lower the population. I'm not a trapper and highly doubt the two coyotes I've killed over 6 years and let rot would have been financially beneficial to me. If I were to coyote hunt exclusively, I may or may not try to salvage the furs. That would depend on how many I got and cost vs return. I don't hunt coyote exclusively, if one should cross my path and offers a shot I take it. If I kill it great, if I don't oh well. I continue my hunt unless I need to get down and drag it out of the area.
So, if you knew someone that did the same thing with deer, would you think they are disrespectful to the kill? This is what I don't understand. If someone started a thread that said, "I hit a deer, and spent a few minutes tracking it, but I'm confident it lived." There would be 1000 pages of people bashing him, with many using the phrase, "Respect any animal you kill". Why doesn't coyote get the same treatment?
because its a coyote........... unless you want the pelt its of no use They are not protected and people are actually encouraged to shoot them. kind of like killing a mouse
For one, your comparison doesn't work with me. We're talking about a legitimate game mammal and a nuisance that is also trapped for fur. If a coyote hunter was to say they shot 5 and only wounded them or didn't bother to search then sure, I can see the argument. But coyotes are nothing more than a mouse/rat in the house or a mole in the yard. They're unwelcome especially when overpopulated. What about beaver infestations? Should explosives in dams be allowed, a lot of pelts get destroyed that way as well. Think all the ones shot in open water are retrieved? If you want to pass a coyote because you don't want to skin it, that's fine. If you are deer hunting and shoot a coyote and would rather get down, skin it, salt it or drag it out whole and be done with your hunt, more power to ya. Until I am ticketed or otherwise made aware by the DNR that my actions are illegal I am in no rush to change them and won't lose any sleep doing so. If you deem me unethical for it, I can live with that as well.
To make this more interesting we should throw in / discuss what people do with dogs they shoot ........HA
Quick search and all I can find is a DNR list of fur buyers. Not one close enough to where a single pelt would be worthwhile to take. I'm not in the tanning and storing business until I accumulate enough to sell. Going by the prices of the coffin creek furs website for buying from them, I doubt they are going to pay much. List of buyers http://www.dnr.illinois.gov/hunting/furbearer/documents/furbuyersinillinois.pdf Website I referenced Fly Tying Furs, Home of Coffins Creek Furs - We Buy, Sell, and Process Fly Tying Furs and Feathers
I don't waste a 25 dollar arrow on them...so I don't worry about looking for them. We shoot em after the season....22-250 and I don't do too much looking.
