Coyote Carnage

It's part of the circle of life, but it does suck when they get the deer!

Bisch

[Thumper Dunker]

I agree with K.S.TRAPPER.  And coyotes and other canines only use a den for a short time . They like to change dens often.

[Jakeemt]

yotes gotta eat too partner. that's just the circle of life man.

[Kevin Dill]

I remember when a snake was something to despise and kill. I remember when foxes were blamed for every season of bad rabbit, quail or pheasant hunting. I remember when crows were the baddest of outlaws and needed to be shot or poisoned. Currently the coyote is our Black Bart villain and is to be shot on sight for crimes against man...killing and eating fawns.

The cast of characters changes but the show must go on.

[Brock]

I think it is warranted here in southeast where we have not ever had coyotes until the past 10-15 years and especially in numbers that we have now.  They are definitely impacting not only fawn mortality rates but also making a huge dent on peoples cats and small dogs that are left out in the yards....

We dont have the large trapping heritage...nor the coyote predator hunting background.  Our forests are thick and sometimes impenetrable so you can have yotes within 50yds and never see them.  Shooting them is a chore....  I have only shot two and both where while deer hunting...not yote hunting.

wish they would have stayed west of Mississippi...

[Jim Wright]

I am in the southeast here in Louisiana and have been seeing Coyotes for over 30 years. There are plenty of them here and plenty of deer as well. Our deer "regions" archery season begin Oct. 1st and lasts through Jan. 31st with the exception of one that goes through Feb. 15th.

[K.S.TRAPPER]

Sorry Brock, coyotes have been in your state for over 30yrs, trapping is huge in SC and goes way, way back there's over 20k registered trappers in 2014 and a lot more out there that didn't trap last year.

You will get used to it and your just dealing with what everybody else has been dealing with for ever, they just didn't know it was coyotes. Foxes moved into town a long time ago and the coyotes finally figured that out, when they came in to catch them they found fido's and kitty's much easier to catch in there little fenced in yards and tied to poles.        

Tracy

[JimB]

I trap predators also and coyotes do take a lot of fawns.Antelope start fawning in late May and usually have one fawn each.Our bow season starts August 15th and by then it's not uncommon for most,if not all the antelope fawns to be gone.It's also not uncommon to see coyotes running them.This is a fawn that was killed in August.Right near this spot,I had a coyote run a fawn right past me when I was waiting for antelope with my bow.They came by so fast I couldn't even get a shot.
 

Now whitetails and mulies are fawning during the same time and I'm sure they get hit hard too but they are more in cover and just aren't as visible as the antelope,that time of year.

During the Winter,the coyotes get after the adult antelope and you'd be shocked at how often they kill one.I'm talking about healthy animals,some of which we watched feeding as it got dark and at daylight,that same animal was dead and completely consumed.

Here is another antelope,a yearling,that coyotes killed right in the main ranch lane.It was drug off to the side but was killed right in the road and the blood and tracks in the dust,told the story very clearly.Keep in mind,a one or two month old antelope can run almost twice as fast as an adult whitetail.
 

This one was a sad deal.When I got here,this adult doe was still alive but badly chewed up on both ends and in shock.The female coyote got caught in one of my traps,as they were trying to get the antelope down.I may have spooked off the male as I drove up.I tried to get the antelope to stand but it was just in shock.It died during the night.I did also catch the male coyote there,a couple days later.

 

Some where,I have a picture of 26 antelope and deer carcasses that were killed in one large field,about 1/2 mile,by 1 mile in size.Most were adult antelope,does and bucks but there were also 3 or 4 yearling mulies.This took place from late Nov to mid April.

I could go on but the point is,coyotes are extremely intelligent,efficient predators and kill a lot of game.It's more obvious here because much of the land is open country.In the thick woods of the East,it may be less visible but don't think it doesn't happen.Eastern coyotes are bigger and stronger than ours and just as smart.It isn't a right or wrong thing,just coyotes doing what they are programmed to do but if you want to manage the game that you hunt,taking out coyotes is a very important part of the equation.

[Jim Wright]

Let me correct something I just posted. There are 10 deer "areas" in LA. Two of them have archery seasons from Oct. 1st through Feb. 15th. The majority of the others are Oct. 1st through Jan. 31st with a couple running Sept. 19th through Feb 15th. Six deer a year may be legally taken. Again, though plenty of Coyotes here, there are plenty of deer here as well.

[Kevin Dill]

Natural predation is often unpleasant to witness, whether its a coyote-killed spotted fawn or a wolf-killed cow caribou. Grizzles prey on elk calves reliably. The main reason (I think) we manage predators is so we can maintain a deer (elk, moose, caribou, etc) population that nature disagrees with. We're trying to intentionally maintain ungulate numbers which nature would never allow, given her own hand. Anyway...it's management for our needs as much as for the animals.

I'm good with predator hunting and trapping. I believe in treating them as worthy game animals. Hunt them with the same respect I would a good deer. The fact that SO many are here...everywhere ...should be a clear signal that nature thinks they belong, even if we don't.

[Zbone]

"Natural predators will kill at every opportunity, unless they are so satiated they cannot drag their fat guts across the ground.

When a resident predator population wipes out their resident food source(and they will, it's a proven fact of nature), they will: 1)migrate to find new prey. 2)kill and eat other resident predators(including each other). 3)starve and die.

This cycle is natural, it's as old as time, and you learn the basics of it in your first semester of Wildlife Mgmt. Usually they use the lynx/hare cycle as the example."

[Sam McMichael]

All in all I'm pretty good with the "circle of life" and all that stuff, but not when it comes to coyotes. We now have many more coyotes and fewer deer. I think it is a direct correlation. On my small place I have seen many carcasses with coyote scat all around. They are not native to GA, so I want them gone - period! Problem is that they are very clever dudes.

[Izzy]

Sit back and watch if coyotes are new to you, but they will manage themselves with mange, rabies and distemper. After a pretty decent boom in yotes in my suburban neighborhood, I haven't heard them howl at night in two years and roadkills are way, way down from what they were when almost everyone I saw was nearly bald from mange. Its just how it is. Pretty sure they'll be back though.

[Kevin Dill]

We've had them where I live for going on 40 years, but the population seems to have peaked in the past 20 years. They are a common sight in my fields and around this region. More of them die on the highway than foxes these days. That said, they are not hammering deer here in any way, or suppressing the population. Lot of guys will disagree, but for me they (coyotes) are a net positive. I've got human neighbors that are more troublesome and far less desirable.

[K.S.TRAPPER]

Very well said Izzy and Kevin      

 

Tracy

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Tracy,  I believe that Dog wants to be your friend. Did you pet him? lol

I think in general most hunters get bent out of shape about Coyotes because they are Jealous the coyote is a far superior hunter.  When the human hunter cannot find deer they blame coyotes for killing them all.

I have no opinion on whether they are a problem but I am in awe of how well they can hunt compared to my dumb butt.

[K.S.TRAPPER]

Why yes I did get to pet him Charlie    

 

Tracy

[LC]

There is a very good article concerning this topic in the latest D & D hunting mag.
I've heard of a couple studies quoted from Wildlife agency that suggest fawn mortality is "only" 40%. I've often thought "only" was quite high. If a farmer lost 40% of his calves every year he'd be in a bad way. Evidently recent wild life studies are rethinking coyote damage.
In a nutshell one study suggests increased deer mortality from coyotes can be addressed from reduced hunting and harvesting of does.
Another study had implants in pregnant does to know when they dropped fawns. Four adult does were found dead killed by coyotes. They are not sure if they was giving birth at the time. Interesting read for sure.

[Whitetail Addict]

Thanks LC, I'll see if I can find the article.

As hunters, we probably understand the circle of life, life and death, better than most people, but it still bothers me to see the fawns killed.

Yeah, coyotes have to eat too. They're just trying to survive like the rest of us, and they're going to eat what's available to them.

Deer have survived a lot more than coyotes through the years, and I doubt they'll wipe them out any time soon.

Bob

[Babbling Bob]

Coyotes killed one of my friends dogs who lives down the road from me in a prairie area, then the same coyotes envited my scappy old yellow tom cat for dinner one cold winter night a while back.  They are definitely opportunists.