NY southern zone

[Tdog]

Thing is you need to kill over 70% of the coyotes before you can control them.People need to open there land to trappers and caller's.The other thing is to. Just don't let them lay if your gonna shoot them skin them out for sale or get them to someone to use them. They have there place. They do need to be controlled. Don't waste them..

[Ghost Dancer]

I have seen more deer this year than the past few, killed one meat doe, missed a good one, passed up many shots at other does and small bucks, and apparently others have been very successful too.  In addition, my friends have all killed one or more deer with their bows.  Yet still, the coyotes are blamed for killing all the deer despite the scientific evidence disputing anecdotal evidence.  

Two friends of mine work for Deer Search and they tell me how many deer are wounded and lost by hunters.  So, I am certain they fedding the yotes.

20 -25 years ago if I saw a deer after sitting all day I was happy, and there were few if any coyotes then. So, there are many variables at play.

Same thing on the water.  The dolphins show up this year for the first time in ages, and the bass fishermen blame them for killing all the stripers and bunker, and were even talking of shooting them.  I also had one of my best years there too.

Just my opinion, I am glad to see a healthy functioning ecosystem.

[ron w]

A friend of mine has already trapped 20 yotes this year in Scoharie county...their out there!

[Ghost Dancer]

No doubt they are out there. I am intimately familiar with Schoharie County.  

There is still some very good deer hunting there despite the yotes.  However, I have found hunters (poachers) to be more of a menace to a quality deer herd there than the sound dogs.

[Pegen]

I was hunting the upper shelf of a local mountain. saw a coyote at 7 AM .  too far to shoot. then I had 2 does milling around at 40 yards for about 10 min. I couldn't move closer, though.
It was cold and windy up there!!

[ronp]

Well, this morning I found part of the reason I haven't been seeing deer in my local area in Central Square.  Somebody has what looks like a very comfortable tree house back by the corner of my Mom's property.  About 6 or 7 yards over the border there is a big bait pile with quite a few fresh tracks.  The pile is in one of the shooting lanes they have cleared out.  I didn't get a close up look because it is posted.

[ron w]

I would report the bait pile to DEC. call this phone # 1-800-tipp-dec. Thats how you can stop this poacher. Put a stop to those who choose to break the law!!

[Izzy]

I would report that baiter as well.I bagged a poacher this year for baiting and and trespassing and after all he has gone through no one will have to orry about him repeating his bs.Law abiding hunters shouldnt have to tolerate that s---!

[Bob Macioch]

ronp....all you have to do is give the DEC the GPS coordinates and they will do the rest.

[Ghost Dancer]

I would report him.

I had a neighbor kill (jack) 7 deer and dump them on my side of the property line w/o tagging any or taking the meat just because I told them not to hunt my stands.  

I called DEC (couldn't prove it) but they made their life miserable.

[ishiwannabe]

Just had a loca;l poacher get busted with four deer, all does, none tagged. IMO, even worse than coyotes. LOL.
Had three within 15 yards this evening...wish the landowner let us shoot does.

[Shawn Leonard]

Jamie I have to agree the yotes are just doing there thing! These poachers know better and are hurting our herds as well. Between the two, they will wipe out most of our herd in a few more years if this continues!! Shawn

[Ghost Dancer]

I agree, two legged vermin are far worse than the yotes, and yes the sound doggies are just doing their thing.  I would rather share my land with them than a poacher.

I had a bunch of restauranteers nearby who owned a mere 2 acres of property and who would slaughter the deer herd and turkeys (all illegally with rifles in shotgun county at the time). The DEC was well aware of them and the Encon officer even caught them jacking, but they needed to find their restaurants to test their meat to really shut them down.

I go on ad infinitum with all poachers and game slobs in the woods and on the water that I have run across over the years ... and not one was ever starving.

These type of incidents in this have created far more damage locally to the deer herd, and has truly prevented the herd from growing larger with quality bucks.

Human greed ... leads to the Tragedy of the Commons for all of us.

[Guru]

Poachers have always been around....The coyotes in
the #'s we have now haven't...

You can't convince me it's the poachers that are decimating our herd.......

[Ghost Dancer]

Indeed, poachers have always been around, and coyotes are now fairly common.  However, I have never seen nor ever come across a fresh deer killed made by yotes in the woods ... ever.  

Moreover, collectively hunters, doe permits and venison donation programs (don't want to debate the venison programs) have done a terrific job of reducing the herd from the high levels we had at the turn of the century to levels the insurance lobby and the DEC have hoped for.  That is where I have seen whole herds decimated over the years. I have just started to see them rebuild a little at least in areas where I hunt.

Additionally, I am involved a program where bowhunters are invited and coyotes are not allowed to be killed - since it is a private park it is their rules.  The coyotes are there, but the hunters are the ones required to reduce the herd each year because it becomes overpopulated if hunting is not allowed, despite the coyotes. This organization is not pro-hunting, they just believe it is necessary to reduce the population of deer to levels that are more sustainable for their forests, and if predators could do it, I wouldn't be hunting there.

In addition, just by the numbers hunters kill over 250,000 deer a year in NY not including all the ones which are lost.  As friends in Deer Search tell me it is quite high.

Too many deer is a liability and a burden to the state, but I am not saying coyotes don't kill deer, they just don't kill as many as people may believe especially during the hunting season.  They can adequately find a fresh supply of vension hunters have lost or the gut piles.

Just my opinion, my rant is over.  To much snow and not enough to do.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

In Wi Hunters have been the sole cause of the deer decimation.  The DNR issued way too many tags for many years and doing population studies based on the kill.  In fact this is the first year they are actually asking about deer sightings and not just harvests.  I think NY could be headed in the same direction although not quite as severe.

They just busted a whole bunch of deer Jackers if you look at the DEC website.  Over 100!  In  a lot of areas of NY state you can talk to farmers, They say they hear gun shots every single night.  I'm sure a lot of deer are going this way.

I'll agree there are a lot of yotes around and they do contribute to deer populations, mostly on the fawns and elderly like in any predator prey situation. Even though they are not the soul cause of deer depreciation they are still fun to hunt.

I have a few calls if any one is interested in heading out.  If you think a nice buck is  thrill coming to a call you should see a coyote coming in on a dead run and stopping mere feet from where you are.

Thank you for all the generous offers on bows but realistically I should have my bow back in 3 weeks. Besides I still have Rons Mikuta and it shoots as good as any bow out there.  In fact I would buy it if it didn't have his name on it       J/K.


I will try one more time tomorrow afternoon.  Have not had any luck this late season seeing deer.  I have after 1 to get something done. Might dig out the BP but still want one for the freezer. (that being said if any one accidentally shoots an extra tomorrow   :rolleyes:   (serious)...)

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Good luck to everyone on the last day of deer!

[Izzy]

Charlie, if your in need of venison get me your phone number.Im good for coming up with a roadkill every couple of days and most of the fellas I usually call are jam packed with venison already.Shame to waste them.

[No-sage]

Izzy.... you need to drive more carefully.....

[Lone archer]

Charles it ends on Dec. 22 you have 2 and 1/2 days.