By Steve Rogers — Into the Outdoors from The Morris Daily Herald.comAs I was perusing the pages of the latest issue of Field and Stream magazine, one article caught my attention. It was entitled “The Other Deer Hunters.” In a nutshell it provided the reader with new research stating how truly detrimental coyotes are to a whitetail population. Being an avid whitetail hunter, I was naturally intrigued.
Most folks realize the coyotes are opportunistic predators that surely kill whitetail deer. I, like many thousands of others assumed that the total percentage of deer that coyotes eliminated from the herd was small and most likely insignificant.
The research that is documented in that article paints a much different picture though. It goes so far as to say that nearly 80% of whitetail fawn deaths are due to coyote predation. That is truly a staggering number when put into perspective. The researchers were able to tag 60 newborn fawns. Of those 60, 44 died within 2 months of birth — 35 of those deaths are believed to have been the direct result of coyotes.
The article goes on to state that with coyote populations on the rise in nearly every part of the U.S., this could present a major management problem for whitetail enthusiasts. A couple of possible management strategies include hunting these predators, not removing as many does from the herd and provide more suitable birthing habitat on your property.
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17 comments:
Yes Rick,
Those Coyotes are thick here in Cali. and I have personally seen them group up and attack wildlife here.
They are especially hard on the Cattle in the spring when the cows are calving.
A lot of the blame has been laid upon the Wild Hogs, but it is my belief that the Coyotes are the initial killers, and then the hogs just come in afterward to clean up what is left over.
native, they seem to be almost everywhere.
I have always hunted yotes a bit towards, the beginning of winter. They are a very hard animal to hunt.I was always taught, you see one, put it down, There are a lot more out there than one could belive.
Crackshot, how are you doing Nate.
The closest I ever came to a coyote was I was sitting in my truck before day break finishing a cup of coffee when I saw something stirring out front. I turned on the headlights and there he was standing right in front of me as big as my shepard/husky mix.
The 'yotes are thick here in Michigan as well. We have ran many coyotes off of fresh deer kills in my next of the woods, and I've witnessed coyotes chasing many deer as well.
We have started hunting them. Hopefully that helps, at least a little bit, because they are everywhere.
Arthur, good luck with hunting them. I know here in CT we having almost an open season on them and there is no minimum limit set.
There used to be a bounty on them here in North Texas, back in the 70's. You could take their ears to the courthouse and you would be paid for each set that you brought in. More recently there has been a bounty in Irion, Reagan, and Mason counties that pays up to $150 per coyote.
I personally had a neighbor a few years ago that ran cattle. He looked out his window one day and saw that one of his cows was calving and a group of coyotes were eating the calf as it was being born. That same year, I lost our family dog to coyotes.
They are prolific and I personally hunt them quite regularly.
Here in Texas that and livestock loss are why we go on coyote patrol besides it being fun. Heck, even the State sets out traps because there's so dang many of them, especially in central and south Texas (as to the deadly traps).
They spread rabies too. We used them for real world testing of everything from .17MHRs to .22-250s, but the main goal is to eradicate them. State uses cyanide traps that shoot it down their throat when they take the bait. If that doesn't say anything I don't know what does...
Everybody has a Mini-14, AR, SKS (cheaper ammo) or equivalent in all their trucks if they work at all on ranches. Kill on sight. It's not sporting and it isn't hunting, it's necessary.
Rick, our Max kill days have been significant on some days. On my friend's ranch by Del Rio, one a day to one a week by dang near every ranch hand is about normal without anybody particularly looking for them or actively hunting them. Just a byproduct of checking fences and gates.
I suppose some places you have to call them and work at it but I know a lot of places where all you have to do is drive around at the right times of day. There are that many of them.
On the ears trading, I had an unscrupulous friend who in his High School days would sell them ears and then dig them out of their trash that night and re-sell them ears. Heh, statue of limitations is up on that one for sure but I still won't name names or county.
Rob & Tom, I don't think we have them that bad here at least in my area but we do have them.
We lost a small dog to them in '79' and I did personally watch two of them work together on a fawn. I was baling hay about three in the morning, as thats the best time to do it in this neck of the woods. I first saw a coyote in my head lights then a doe following him trying to stomp on him. Behind the doe came a fawn. That first coyote stayed just ahead of the doe and led her right by where a second yote was hiding and took the fawn when it went by.
The boys call them, I usually get a couple off the back deck every winter.
gary, that's a shame that happened but it is nature.
We've lost lots of goats to these critters and until rececntly were able to use snares set along the fence line to help control them. Now they are increasing in numbers at an alarming rate.
RW
riverwalker, thanks for stopping by and happy coyote hunting.
Coyotes are a real problem in my area. The local farmers sometimes try to get rid of them-but it's hard since they are nocturnal mostly. A few years ago they killed one of our dogs-a sweet beagle that loved to hunt-and wasn't as good at paying attention to her surroundings as she was at trailing.
Tipper, that is a shame. I heard they will take cats and small dogs as well as a lot of other small animals.
Those statistics are on target and some are even more staggering that. Bobcats kill a good many deer also.
Being a trapper I know what the predator populations are as it is my buisness.Predator populations are real high right now and there only getting higher each year.
Trapper, thank you for stopping by. Where do you do most of your trapping?
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