I shot a youngster (deer) for the freezer late and couldn't find it- no problem, I'd find it in the morning... the coyotes found it first. Nothing left but a few ribs, the backbone, and a patch of hide. I'll never leave one in the dark again.
Been there 2 times before. Will never let it happen again. I started trapping coyotes after the last one to try and thin them out. I have a lot and I.mean a lot of respect for coyotes skills and cunning but I hate how they steel my food.
I don't leave deer orver night anymore. Even gut shot deer in the evening I will be back out there middle of the night rather than wait until morning because of the dang yotes. This winter I'm gonna hunt them as well, just bought a FoxPro caller.
I had one eat almost a whole der in texas once.
Sounds like a prime off season project. Predator control makes for some fine hunting.
Mike
I bowhunt, rifle hunt/call, bait, snare, trap and kill them any way possible! I hate them, we are covered up with them and bobcats. I have killed 53 yotes within 2 miles of my house in 3 years give or take. Wife ran off a huge bobcat coming thru the pasture towards my chickens in broad daylight last week.
Bummer!
I shot a big doe with "Hope" the other night. Liver hit. Waiting a bit, probably 2 hours total. All that was left was a head, neck and bones.
I am killing every one I see now. That is 3 deer in 5 years. I am going to trap them, shoot them whatever I can. My 80 is the thickest part of a whole section with farm ground all around. It is a great place to hunt but the bobcats and the 'yotes are hurting the team!
Just a FYI for guys with bobcats they are bringing huge numbers last couple years. Like 300-600 bucks per hide.
3-600 is on the low end for a good bobcat! That's our cheap lynx prices lol.
Sorry 'bout your deer but, I hate them 'yotes myself. Been thinking of taking after them with the bow during the off season.
Sorry to hear about your deer. I hunt coyotes, too, and have been fortunate enough to get two with traditional bows.
However, I don't hate them. In fact, I love 'em. I realize I'm not in an area covered up with them and that would probably make a difference. To me, the "woods" wouldn't be the "woods" without them.
Well, I admit hate was a pretty strong description. I don't much like them from some experiences when growing up but, they do have a place in the cycle of life as scavengers. Thanks Stan for inadvertently pointing that out to me! :D :thumbsup:
I've lost a few to coyotes and hate it but sometimes you have to wait them out and not push them. They get off on the wrong property and you might not be able to get them anyway so your out either way.
Lb_hntr is kinda right, furs are definetly doing better and worth thinning out given the chance and you can make some good money along the way if you take care of your fur the right way. You blow them full of holes or take them into the byer all covered with stick tights cockle burrs and blood you will get very little if anything. Even bobcats!
A good prime skinned coyote or green skin might bring you $20/$25 tops but if you take the time to flesh it properly stretch it properly and dry it right you might receive $50 to $75. Big difference, Those big numbers he is talking about are mostly western cats and they are nothing like our central and eastern cats but our cats are still worth taking too.
Here's a pick of finished furs so you no I'm not full of hot air!
(http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac248/TmPotter47/465053A1-372C-49F3-AE51-262D21305B6D-5389-00000E1BBDF30E7F_zps3e7872b6.jpg)
My son lost his first deer in Colorado to coyotes this year. They seem awful thick. Here in UT theres a bounty on em :-)
the last two years i have seen more coyotes than deer on the farm that i hunt, but did get a coyote with my bow a couple years ago
Bobcats went for average of $120.00 each at local fur auction in central KY last season. Even the whole frozen animal went for that much and more. I saw it myself first hand.
We have a lot of 'yotes around but I have yet to lose a deer to any of them. I've been fortunate to have trapped them and called them in before with a mouth call....very exciting! I've never even been able to draw an arrow on one yet though.
That's about what central and eastern cats are averaging, far cry from the $300- $600 you will here all the guys talking about. I was talking coyotes :thumbsup:
Tracy
That sucks, I'd be super disappointed.
Hunt them if you want, but don't hate them. They do what they do, and they're good at it. They've been doing it since before we were around and they'll be doing it long after we're gone. They're amazing, if frustrating, creatures.
K.S. Trapper you sure have the yotes out there I had a farm out there for 5 years and they were thick. I think they were putting a serious dent in the fawn crop every year.
K.S. thanks for clarification on the cat prices. We cant trap them here (well we can get one and only non private land) so all I had to go on is what I here from my friends that go to Texas to trap them. I wish my hangers looked like your at the end of the season!
But hunting and trapping yotes and cats (if you can) is a great way to bring their number down and save more venison!
I dont blame the coyotes for doing what any other predator who needs to eat would do.
I cant hate them because I am jealous they found Their deer before you. Sure, you may have killed it, but they ate it. I would say its theirs.
I agree when numbers get out of hand something has to happen. I know people who have found their deer 20 minutes after shooting and the coyotes had a good start on them already. Just have to figure out a way to be a better hunter all the way around.
why would any one waist time hunting coyotes?. :D
I'm living in an end-of-the-road cabin, and I hear them every night. I don't begrudge them a meal, but that was a prime young one... I'll have to make do with the huge doe I got Saturday.
This past Saturday morning my son and I witnessed a pack of coyotes actively pursue a healthy, uninjured spiked buck.
We were in open hardwoods, and were able to watch as the coyotes worked as a team. The buck was exhausted and had been fighting them off for quite a while. We snuck in and ruined the party.
That evening, we went back, equipped for some nighttime predator action and gave the little buck some redemption...and administered some much needed coyote population control!
Don,Sorry you lost your deer. I hunt for the experience but I cherish the meat of all the animals I am privileged to take. That hurts to lose one to a dang yote.
KS Trapper that is a cool pic and some beautiful hides.
Trapping and shooting them is an overlooked part of game management on private lands. We saw an increase in our deer herds as soon as we got those scoundrels in check. I am no trapper but find someone who is in your area. They will be happy to come in and help.
I recently shot a doe and left her over night and actually until 10 am the next morning when I got finished with my morning hunt and never once did I have a thought about her being consumed by those furry devils.