Problem Coyotes

woodtick#2 · March 06, 2011, 10:05:11 PM

Here in Rhode Island we have a large population of coyotes. Lately it seems that the dogs are moving in on neighborhoods and wiping out the pet polulation cats dogs etc. In the woods hunting I had a really close call with a pack of dogs, we were muzzleloader hunting and a hunting buddy of mine shot a doe. Once it got dark we went to retrieve the dead deer, as we closed in about 20 yards from the deer a pack of roughly 15 coyotes moved in and took the deer right from in front of us. Does anyone else have problems like this?

Left Coast Chris · March 06, 2011, 10:08:19 PM

We have a few but not like that. Is'nt it legal to shoot the coyotes and why did'nt you blast a few of them? ???

woodtick#2 · March 06, 2011, 10:18:38 PM

Coyotes are open season all year round, if one crosses my path and there is a gun in my hand i can garuntee you it's going down. But the guy I was hunting with got spooked once he heard the coyotes and it was just after dark so we called the deer a loss and headed back to the truck.

fishpharmer · March 06, 2011, 10:32:26 PM

Around here if you don't find a hit deer, there won't be much left by the next morning. I've never seen large packs. I shoot them on sight too.

beenthere · March 06, 2011, 11:18:38 PM

Quote from: woodtick#2 on March 06, 2011, 10:05:11 PM
Here in Rhode Island we have a large population of coyotes. Lately it seems that the dogs are moving in on neighborhoods and wiping out the pet polulation cats dogs etc. In the woods hunting I had a really close call with a pack of dogs, we were muzzleloader hunting and a hunting buddy of mine shot a doe. Once it got dark we went to retrieve the dead deer, as we closed in about 20 yards from the deer a pack of roughly 15 coyotes moved in and took the deer right from in front of us. Does anyone else have problems like this?

Are you referring to coyotes as dogs?

Your coyotes act much different than ours, as ours are very shy of humans. They will move in on a down/dead deer and feast (although I did leave a buck in the woods knowing there were coyotes around last fall, and no problem over night). And I'd fear more from a pack of dogs (loose domestic dogs) running than a pack of coyotes. May just be me, but our coyotes howl up a storm most nights about this time but if there is one squeak from a door or window opening, they shut right up.

woodtick#2 · March 06, 2011, 11:21:46 PM

Around here we do not have wild dogs like you do. The coyotes are very used to humans and noise. Alot of coyotes in the neighborhoods in the cities roam during the day and are very comforatable where they are.

Coon · March 07, 2011, 02:25:12 AM

:D :D shoot every yodel dog you can find..... I like to use the crossbow or compound so as to to spook em all when you take a shot.

Ron Scott · February 07, 2013, 05:53:53 PM

Coyotes on the prowl in metro Detroit, police warn
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013130207054

red · February 07, 2013, 07:50:03 PM

www.Urbancoyoteresearch.com Chicago

Autocar · February 07, 2013, 08:14:46 PM

Same thing here in Ohio ,you shoot a deer the next morning it will be half eaten by coyotes. A friend of mine said yesturday there howling so much the last few nights that he has to put his dog in the barn to get any sleep he will bark all night.

dutchman · February 07, 2013, 11:06:40 PM

Feb. is mating season for coyotes,breeding continuing into Mar.
Now is a good time to call them in.

Axe Handle Hound · February 08, 2013, 09:05:46 AM

"May just be me, but our coyotes howl up a storm most nights about this time but if there is one squeak from a door or window opening, they shut right up."

That's because the next sound they hear is your gun blast!

If there were coyotes that aggressive around here I would definitely take it upon myself to reduce the population. I'm all for ecological balance and some coyotes in the area is not necessarily a bad thing, but that situation sounds dangerous.

Yoopersaw · February 10, 2013, 04:17:42 PM

If you shoot a deer around here, you better go after it now, or don't even bother since in a hour or so, you'll have nothing left. What a differance from the 70's when you could gut out a deer, throw it over some downed log and go back the next morning to drag it out.

Bill · February 15, 2013, 01:45:51 AM

Just something I found when looking for an interesting show one night . . .

There was a show on one of the cable channels not too long ago - apparently a lone female hiker was attacked and killed by a " small " coyote pack. What got the biologists going was that a Ranger came arunning and downed one with his shotgun. When they looked at the ' yote carcass they found it had interbred with wolves - explaining why the 'yote had stuck around to defend its kill when the Ranger showed up and also why the 'yotes behaved more like a pack of wolves to bring down a person rather than the typical sole 'yote taking out a rabbit.

The show said the new coyotes are also larger than their western kin because they've interbred with timberwolves from eastern Canada and working their way south on this ( east ) side of the Mississippi.

doctorb · February 15, 2013, 11:34:26 AM

I am curious why you would leave a dead deer out in the woods overnight, assuming that is a choice you might make. Too dark to move it or gut it? Down in an unsafe area to get to without daylight? Around here, all kinds of critters would be on that carcass before long. It's not just coyotes, but fox and buzzards (after sun-up) can find that kind of thing really fast. How long do most of you think its OK to leave a downed deer without some "peripheral damage" occurring?

LOGDOG · February 15, 2013, 02:27:03 PM

Doctorb,

One reason you may choose to leave a deer in the woods overnight is if you made a marginal hit on the animal. Maybe it's gutshot and not bleeding well. They'll go lay down somewhere if you let them, and they will die ... though slowly. But if you decide to try and track them after dark and you jump them before they've expired, you'll push them out of their bed and you may never find them because a gut shot deer doesn't leave a very good blood trail usually. Best thing you can do, if you don't have a heavy wolf population, is let the deer bed down and go back at first light the next morning. In the absence of a blood trail you start walking circles around the stand site if necessary with some friends and search visually working a grid. Best to make a lethal shot if you can. If something goes wrong though, next best thing is to pursue the animal in a way that gives you the best chance at recovery.

blackfoot griz · February 15, 2013, 03:12:58 PM

Doc,

I guided hunters for years in some remote areas here in MT. More often than not, you simply could not get an elk deer etc out the same day. We would cover a lot of county horseback...then hike for hours. A hunter pops an elk or deer in the toolies and you still have to backtrack to the horses then back to camp. It's amost dark by then.
Typically early the next morning we'd head out with pack animals go get the elk.

It was always "heads up" when retuning to retreive a downed animal. You never knew what might try to claim the kill!

beenthere · February 15, 2013, 05:08:03 PM

Like Logdog said, but even if you make a lethal shot you don't know that until you track down the deer.
A year ago, I made what I thought was a lethal shot to the heart/lung area with an arrow. The deer ran off as is typical. I waited for 30 minutes before looking for a blood trail. About 50 yards looking, I heard and saw a deer bust out of the brush another 30 yards away. Shucks I thought, I didn't get a lethal shot and so I must wait until morning to look for a trail away from where I pushed this deer out.

In the morning at first light, I retraced the track and found the dead deer, 1/2 eaten already. It was laying right where it should have dropped with a lethal heart/lung shot. Turns out, another deer must have been with it, and that is the one I heard busting out the night before.

But it is very disappointing to push out a wounded deer, and not be able to find the blood trail the following day. Three years ago, pushed a buck out and it traveled for 3/4 mile before dying. Neighbor hunter told about it 3 days later as it was stinking so bad, and the coyotes had it mostly eaten. Nice 10 pt buck. So the shot was lethal, just not immediate enough as it missed the heart/lung area. Then again, sometimes an arrow will sever a leg artery and the deer is down within 100 yds.

doctorb · February 15, 2013, 05:34:06 PM

My good friend who bow hunts my property calls me one morning from his cell phone and asks me to look outside to see if I had a deer down in my front yard. He had a good shot at the edge of my woods, and the deer bolted toward the house and out of his view. He was worried that my wife would see it and get upset. She doesn't mind hunting, but she doesn't want to watch the process, if you know what I mean. Anyway, the deer stopped just short of my barn, which blocked any view from my house. The distance to his pickup truck? About 40 yards of easy, mowed terrain. What luck!

DDDfarmer · February 15, 2013, 09:37:31 PM

Bumped into this one night ;D Had a really long slender nose but was very broad between the ears. I've seen the timber wolves and coyotes from this area and how they fit in the box of a pickup, and this was in between the size. The people I showed it to all think its a cross.

Yoopersaw · February 16, 2013, 10:43:20 AM

Quote from: doctorb on February 15, 2013, 11:34:26 AM
I am curious why you would leave a dead deer out in the woods overnight, assuming that is a choice you might make. Too dark to move it or gut it? Down in an unsafe area to get to without daylight? Around here, all kinds of critters would be on that carcass before long. It's not just coyotes, but fox and buzzards (after sun-up) can find that kind of thing really fast. How long do most of you think its OK to leave a downed deer without some "peripheral damage" occurring?

Since I hunt as far away from roads that I can get, and usually within the last 1/2 hour of legal hunting is when the deer move the best in bow season; and that's when I've killed the most deer. I've always tracked down my deer and gutted them prior to leaving them cooling overnight. Dragging them out in the dark through swamps and thickets is a pain in the daylight and almost impossible at night. A lot of times I'll just spend the night there and come out with it the next morning; but, back in the 70's, I went back the next morning for them several times. I never lost any meat to anything. Today, if you don't spend the night with it, there won't be anything to go to in the morning.

DaleK · February 17, 2013, 10:09:03 AM

Coyotes taking cats or dogs is a plus as far as I'm concerned, makes folks keep their pets at home instead of letting them roam. Different packs have different ways. Around here if you have a pack that sticks to eating stray pets, raccoons, deer, etc and doesn't bother livestock you leave it be. Once a pack starts hitting the livestock they'll never stop so you have to try to wipe them out. If you start bothering one of the first type you're taking a risk of them being replaced by the second.
I have at least 3 distinct packs on my place that I can hear singing to each other at night. None of them bother my cattle or my neighbours so they can stay as long as they want, wish they'd eat more coons though. Only time I shoot one is when they get the mange so bad you need to put them out of their misery.

shinnlinger · February 17, 2013, 08:50:00 PM

We have issues with coy dogs as well, where the coyotes have bred with feral dogs. Saw one with a nice coat of red in my yard a little while back. They can frequently be heard off in the woods as well and I see their tracks and scat in my yard all the time. I have also hear about how they interbred with wolves in Canada. Fortunately they respect my poultry netting and have not been a significant problem for my meat birds.

Dave

CJennings · February 17, 2013, 09:08:28 PM

I read once about a study done in Maine on the genetics of our Eastern coyotes, where some of the "coyotes" were up to 80 percent wolf (Eastern wolf that is). I think that explains a lot about their size and behavior. I had a pack of them following me out of the woods after bear hunting until dark last Fall. I enjoy their howling at night, but when they get that bold, I can't see any good coming of it. Some beaver guts brought them in back in December. They all had mange to varying degrees unfortunately, making the pelts pretty worthless.

Magicman · February 17, 2013, 09:41:00 PM

With my elk in October, we laid limbs across two downed trees. The four quarters plus the loins, etc. were laid across these limbs and then liberally dosed with black pepper. By this time it was totally dark. We packed out the cape and then went back in the next morning for the meat pack out. The meat was frozen, but untouched by bear or coyote.