Killing Coyotes

Yeah the dirt birds need to eat too I guess.

That's $1000 worth of fur on my barn that I called in last year. Paid for a new varmint rifle and part of the scope. Just my hobby I like to do in the dead of winter when there's not much else to do 'cept sit in front of the tv and drink. Just my views on keeping fur. Know a lot of guys that hunt deer and let the meat freezer burn cause they're too lazy to do anything with it too. Kinda sounds where this thread is heading.

ruger300

A nice lot of fur. What kind and cal. rifle and bullet type do you use? Where do you sell your fur? Do you get many fox?Seeing that pic of pelts and $ figure makes you wonder how much fur (and dollars)ends up rotting in the fields each year.

Robin down under

I like the one third from the left. very nice looking

that many dogs hangin round and the cat just sits and teases:lol
nice barn wrap you got on the go should stay warm but id fix the window for the breeze or the cat,ll get out:b
GOOD JOB ON THE DOG DUSTIN.
I LUV THAT STUFF.

Someone mentioned starlings. I'm going out to buddies farm once i get my 223 sighted in. What a blast, litterally. The 22 is enough fun but practice wise i think the bigger caliber will be worth the money in bullets. Will help all the other birds out come spring also, they sure clean out the bluebird boxes if the hole gets a bit big. They went out for coyotes today out their but could only find whitetails. Funny as i couldn't find them during rifle season. Oh well. The coyote fur should be getting pretty thick now, perfect wall hanging materials.

I personally don't have an issue with leaving them. I am however a miser and if you do a little asking in your area you will find someone who will take them "round" and will give you a couple of dollars as well. Provided they aren't cut in half or mangy. It pays for my shells or arrows which ever, some gas and it gives me an excuse to still get out. If your needed to sell it to a spouse etc.
I also think leaving carcusses all over doesn't do any group any positive publisity either so if they fall visiable moving to a less visual spot. Thats my two cents thanx.

P.S my buddy gets about 200 a year and averages 10-15 dollars a head. Not to bad a pass time. Everybody wins.

Thanks Duffy, I use centerfire .22's. 22-250, 223,and now .204. Use exculsively hrndy vmax bullets round the 50gr mark. Have yet to call in a red fox but am trying hard. All this snow is putting a damper on my calling season. Tough to get around where I usually set up and tough to convince the yotes its worth slugging through bellydeep snow to check out the noise they're hearing. Here's a couple that decided the growling in their bellies was worth the look.


Talk to ya later.

ruger300

Ive been looking at buying a varmint rifle and am unsure what caliber would be best.I am leaning towards .204 ruger or .223.What do you find more accurate for shots in the 400yd. range??Thanks in advance for any info!

At that distance better step up to a 22-250 or a 220. I dont think shooting all coyotes is right either as they eat small rodents and do a service for us farm folks by cleaning up a dead animal. I do take shot at them whenever they venture to close to yard. Never lost a calf to coyotes yet. What call would a person use to call coyotes in as i know a ranch on the edge of big grazing lease on the open prairie that needs coyote control?

"Yotes or my cattle". Yotes can take down cattle???? Not sure I believe that...it's my livestock (1000lbs) or the yote (40lbs). LOL.

But seeing as we've eradicated the wolves out here (Edm area) we do need something to control the coyote #'s.....lest they eat all our cows! LOL!

Use any sort of distress call. Jackrabbit, fawn bawl, cottontail, etc. The yotes will come into the screaming. Once it gets to late Jan early Feb, a bit of coyote vocals will bring them into gun range as well. Hell, coyote vocals work anytime of the year. They kinda get territorial. Good luck.

ruger300

Hey Ruger that 1st 1 in tne snow looks mangy. Do you bother with the mangy ones? Dad and I used to run a trapline near 3 Hills when I was younger. I can remember when we would skin out a mangy dog and still get $80-100 with no tail. Best we got for a single yote was $280 I believe but we averaged some where around $160 for years in the late 70's early 80's. Dad bought a brand new Rem model 700 BDL heavy barrel in .243 with one pelt in '77 give or take one year! So it seems like alot of work to go to to get $1000 for 26 yotes - only about $38-39 average. Got spoiled I guess. When you can sell them in the round for $25 that's only paying $10-15 to skin, flesh, and strech the pelts. All that said, I'm still tempted every year to get back into it 'cause I really enjoyed it.

99 they do impact cattle operations, a pack killed a calf as it was being born two years ago on our farm, we got there and they had eaten the head off the calf and the mother was so tired from fighting them off she would not get up, we helped her deliver the rest of the calf! luckily the cow was ok!
This is rare and I believe location is a factor.
I have also witnessed 12 coyotes take down a mature whitetail buck in early december(close to our farm), went back 10 hours later and all that was left was the skull and spine.
Just some info, to reduce the coyote population you have to remove more than 75% of the coyotes otherwise they will just replace that many more the following year. (a little research I did after they took that calf.)
I shoot them, sell the fur, the more I shoot, the more there seems to be??

I was reading some reasearch and there are some conditions that if you shoot some you end up with more. First off you need good habitat then you need a family group with a couple of female pups hanging around, generaly in a group like that only the alpha female breeds. But if she gets smoked then the remaining female pups will breed and if the habitiat is good enough they will split-up the apha pairs range and you end up with alot more pups the next spring.

I'll look for the references for that.

I was talking to a fellow hunter the other day and I said that I'd be interested in taking a coyote or 2 down with my 222 but I'd need to stop into the owner's place to get permission. He downplayed it somewhat & hinted that in the country if you see one in the field, the owner probably wouldn't mind if you just took it without asking for their approval. Interested to hear what you think.

He downplayed it somewhat & hinted that in the country if you see one in the field, the owner probably wouldn't mind if you just took it without asking for their approval. Interested to hear what you think.

The farmer owns the land....dont let some idiot convince you that just cause its a coyote, its not important. Get permission and get out there and have fun. You'll build relationships with the rancher/farmer, and you wont be breaking the law. Tell your friend he's an idiot if he figures he can just shoot em cause their pests without asking permission.

Well said Trev...

Look at it this way - It's not hard to take a little time out of your day to make contact with the farmer/rancher and build a relationship. If you can stay on his good side, he'll probably be more likely to grant you access in future hunting seasons when other game are wandering around his property.

It's the morons that don't ask permission that end up screwing everything up for the rest of us.

Around our farm there is a few that dont like coyotes being shot because they think they might eat a few gophers. Best ask save ur self some grief not gettin chewed out by landowner and possibly getting the land posted.

Yeah, feels much better shooting em from truck on land that you do have permission on...at least then you can run out and get a picture instead of just stepping on the gas.:lol

All kidding aside, i find its well worth asking...some places you go you figure forsure you'll have no trouble getting permission to coyote hunt but you then find the land owner likes coyotes for cleaning things up and killing gophers/mice etc.

Then you try a place you figure there's not much chance you'll get permission and it turns out they hate coyotes and they'll tell you exactly where they hang out and hear them howl every night etc. etc.

So its definitely worth asking permission....it should go without saying.

B

Hey BG, I leave the mangy ones for the ravens to eat, Mange is a skin disease that I do not want to recieve. (I figure I already got it on the top of my skull.) Seriously, the first year I got back into skinnin out yotes I ended up with some friggin itchy weird rash on my left arm right at the wrist. It stayed with me for months, went and seen the local doc and all he said was try some steroid cream on it. It worked eventually but it kinda freaked me out. I wore gloves when I skin but... Now any yote that is showing signs of full blown mange stays where it lies. I skin out the borderline ones but I believe they bring my average price per pelt down. Plus they stink even worse than the average yote. Still its good fun on a cold winter evening, reliving my childhood. And what the hell, I get enough pelts to cover the cost of a new varmint rifle the new year and I don't get grief from the wife for doing so. Win/win the way I figure it.
Hunt hard and shoot straight.

ruger300

Here's two that came to call on a windy morning today. Been huntin hard for the last 2 weekends have seen nothing. Was kinda reassuring to kill these 2. Was thinking I lost my touch. Best lookin fur yet. Will have a few hides to take to the Feb sale.


Hunt hard and shoot straight.

ruger300

Well I just got my 22-250 encore barrel from Sheephunter today so I'm kinda wanting to get her set up and shooting so I can get a few myself. Been years since I bothered to hunt them but I'm wanting to fill up some Sat in the next month or so. Happy hunting!

Hey ruger300,

I see you have some snow, where are you from if you don't mind me asking? I've been trying to get some in since the last storm we had but man they're not moving at all. It's going to be warm here for a few days, I hope that we get a good crust on top of that 3 feet of snow we already have. They'll be moving better then.

Nice shooting ruger300, keep'em coming.

Cabot.

Anybody here get out to blast the big bad wolf yet.

(Please no flames about the noble and holy wolf):rollin

I'm looking at getting a 308 Norma Magnum and using reloads with 165 gr. match bullets, should be good to 500 yards and beyond.

Any ideas?

Rubber Ducky

Very interesting posts to read. I usually take the hides and get them stretched, unless they are mangy.

Difference is I get to shoot them as part of my job, seeing that coyotes are listed under the Ag Pest Act, and I am appointed by my local council under the Ag pest Act. So happy shooting! And keep the pest numbers down.

Thanks Cabot, I call home round the Onoway area. It about 45min west of edmonton. Success has been slow here as well. I figure if your not right about on them before you start calling ... they ain't running 1/2 mile to see what's going on like other years. With all the snow its too much work and energy. I figured with all the snow to give more time at the sets but after the other day I'm refiguring. 15-20min at the max and git goin to the next set. Will see if I'm right.
Talk to y'all later.

ruger300

I have been known to leave a few coyotes where they lay in the past. And yes when I did it I felt guily about it. My father in law ranches by Cypress Hills, and there is alot of coyotes on his place. They dont really seem to bother cattle, yes we have found the odd calf dead that was ate by coyotes, but how many were accually killed by the coyotes who knows. Personally the places where I have seen the problems kinda seems like human fault. I have seen some pretty stinky dirty ranches were there was to many cows congested, with some pretty sick looking animals with them and the rancher says he has problems with coyotes. At my father in laws place when ever he has one die from whatever he drags it to his dead pile, keeps his place clean and all things seem fine. So do I still shoot coyotes and leave them now, my answer would be probally 1 out of 10. Sometimes in my mind I think I am controlling the population out there, but am I really. I found this interesting article on the net about the evolution of a hunter, and it seems pretty accurate to me.

Shooter Stage

A hunter that is in the Shooter Stage talks about satisfaction with hunting being closely tied to being able to "get in some shooting." Often the beginning duck hunter will relate he had an excellent day if he got in a lot of shooting. The beginning deer hunter will talk about the number of shooting opportunities. Missing game means little to hunters in this phase. A beginning hunter wants to pull the trigger and test the capability of his firearm. A hunter in this stage may be a dangerous hunting partner.

Limiting Out Stage

A hunter that is in the Limiting Out Stage still talks about satisfaction gained from shooting. But what seems more important is measuring success through the killing of game and the number of birds or animals shot. Limiting out, or filling a tag, is the absolute measure. Do not let your desire to limit out be stronger than the need for safe behavior at all times.

Trophy Stage

The satisfaction of a hunter in the Trophy stage is described in terms of selectivity of game. A duck hunter might take only greenheads. A deer hunter looks for one special deer. A hunter might travel far to find a real trophy animal. Shooting opportunity and skills become less important.

Method Stage

When a hunter has reached the Method Stage, he has accumulated all the special equipment that he could possibly need. Hunting has become one of the most important things in his life. Satisfaction comes from the method that enables the hunter to take game. Taking game is important, but second to how it is taken. This hunter will study long and hard how best to pick a blind site, lay out decoys, and call in waterfowl. A deer hunter will go one on one with a white-tailed deer, studying sign, tracking, and the life habits of the deer. Often, the hunter will handicap himself by hunting only with black powder firearms or bow and arrow. Bagging game, or limiting, still is understood as being a necessary part of the hunt during this phase.

Sportsman Stage

Finally, as a hunter ages and after many years of hunting, he tends to "mellow out." Satisfaction now can be found in the total hunting experience. Being in the field, enjoying the company of friends and family, and seeing nature outweigh the need for taking game.

Not all sport hunters go through all the stages, or go through them in that particular order. It is also possible for hunters who pursue several species of game to be in different stages with regard to each species. Some hunters feel that role models of good sportsmen, training, or reading books or magazines helped them pass more quickly through some stages.

Can you find one of these categories that fits you? Where are you in your hunting career now? Where would you like to be? We each have to make a decision as to what kind of hunter we want to be, and then be the best that we can.

Well, I snuffed one yesterday morning. Was sitting at the kitchen table, in my housecoat, having my wake up coffee, when my son told me there was a yote just behind the house, practically nose to nose with our useless watch dog. Went downstairs, donned my duckies and grabbed the .243. The coyote was so stunned by the scary apparition, coming out the back door, he just stood there, while I gunned him down.:rollin
Grizz

shoot at em all! if you miss reload! lol
i personally dont keep the yotes but if im with someone who does we will pick em up

I was looking through the guide to the regulations recently and it looks to me like there are some areas where it is legal to allow the pelt of a coyote to be wasted and some other areas where it is NOT LEGAL. Better check on it before you go out and shoot and leave them.

Robin in Rocky