Fall Coyotes.

In a previous thread I had documented my first coyote kill during my first intentional hunt for them and not a random encounter. Since then, after the hot weather broke, I have made a couple long shots with my AR15 in the high grass of summer and though I saw both go down, could not find them. Then a buddy shot one at 300 yards with a .25-06 and it hit the dirt but came up running and got away. So it was not just me I guess.
This last Saturday, I was out from sunup to a little after noon. Setting up and calling for about half an hour every 1/4 mile or so on the ranch. Just as I was leaving one setup, about 11:30am, stowed the caller in the jeep and started down the hill, I saw a yote that had been coming in to the call. I stopped, and got the scope on her as quickly as possible, had time for a steadying breath for a 250 yard broadside shot. That one didn't run off, but she did drag herself about 30 feet. I finished her off then checked and it was a young female, no sign of ever having a litter. Her age and lack of experience may be why she didn't bolt and run when I stopped the Jeep.

By the way, yardages when quoted are measured out on Google Earth. Not guesstimates.

Joe B.

good shooting Joe!

ok...dumb question here.
what do you specifically do w/ the dead coyote & what do people generally do w/ the dead coyotes?

i know some will use the furs for something functional. does anyone eat the meat and if so, how does it taste?

I believe that you use them to feed the buzzards and other scavengers.

quangvang wrote:ok...dumb question here.
what do you specifically do w/ the dead coyote & what do people generally do w/ the dead coyotes?

i know some will use the furs for something functional. does anyone eat the meat and if so, how does it taste?

Except during prime fur time they are left laying or tossed in a dump. Or burned if they show any sign of rabies.

They have no natural enemies to control their population and wipe out the small animals until they themselves starve by the thousands. Hunting them provides sport, entertainment, and a means to conserve the smaller animal populations, including pets and newborn livestock such as calves and colts and also chickens and such around the farms. When the number of coyotes are in control, they provide a valuable scavenger function, to clear away dead animals and kill and eat the sick ones. But when over populated, they kill and eat everything and can get to the point where they will attack humans, especially kids.

None of us want to kill them all, just keep the packs small and healthy, not large and mostly mangy sick critters themselves. And if we don't hunt them, the farmers put out poison which is an indiscriminate killer. I pick my targets and know what I am about to kill before I pull the trigger. A farmer's poison kills everything it comes in contact with, even fish in a pond if rain runoff carries it in. And it kills the very same small animals I am trying to give the chance to live and flourish in their proper numbers too.

I used to hunt squirrels and rabbits for the stew pot. Not clean them out with daily limits, but just enough to make an occasional dinner, maybe once a week or so. Then it got to where you could hunt all day and not see a squirrel or rabbit. Snow fields barren of rabbit tracks is a sad sight to see. So are acorns and hickory nuts rotting on the ground because there is nothing left to eat them.


This is why I hunt coyotes. a very intelligent, wily varmint that has a fair chance to outsmart me and get away, but can not help itself as a species, so I help them stay balanced, well fed and healthy, and I contribute to the survival of the fittest and smartest. Wildlife conservation. Balance in nature, the best we can manage. It is too late to leave it to nature completely as the balance has been disturbed too much for too long. And when Mother Nature balances the books on her own, there is no mercy, for anyone or anything.
Joe B.

My latest kill today. One round from .223 NEF Single Shot
Joe B.

man, I'd skin that guy..he's got a good winter fur pelt!

Quang, I was drinking coffee when I saw your post...now I have to get the tuff stuff out for the carpet!
Joe has the right of it. Coyotes are scavengers with no real enemies. Wolves used to be their enemy but they've been pared down to nothing around this area..and I can understand why...still a few wolves wouldn't be a bad thing.
Coyotes are a danger when they get too numerous and around here you can still get money for ears because too few folks hunt them.
They DO make for an interesting hunt...the Indians called them "the trickster". Cartoons called them Wiley. they're both right...coyotes are a hard hunt for a slip hunter and a test of patience for a still hunter.
I flat out can't hunt em...deer are a walk in the park compared to coyotes.

towerclimber wrote:I flat out can't hunt em...deer are a walk in the park compared to coyotes.

I seldom saw any while hunting myself until I startedd hunting coyotes specifically. I could lay in bed at night and hear four or more packs sounding off in each direction from my house. Yet only three or four within shooting range in 30+ years of small game and deer hunting. Now I see themm almost every time I go out. Hit some, miss some. I can't connect on a running shot to save my life but it is fun to try on coyotes when carrying my AR15. Makes them run even faster I am more conservative with firing when packing the single shot. It must be a standing still shot within my range. Which gun I take depends on mood mostly. Both are deadly to 300 yards.
If you are in the habit of hunting dark thirty to breakfast time and after supper to dark for deer, you won't see many coyotes. Except in hot weather when they are active early and late and bed down in shade midday, (and either closed season or too hot to hunt them) they are out all during the midday to get warm, and hunting the small animals that are also trying to get warm. My best times are 10:00am to 4:00pm and I seldom bother to stay til dark.

Power coyote hunters will tell you to setup for 30 minutes, no longer, then move 1/2 a mile at least and set up again. Must be northerners because these southern coyotes don't get in any hurry. I find a likely looking spot, call for about 10-15 minutes off and on and then just sit and watch for 30-45 minutes, even an hour or more. And when I do move I watch carefully for that lazy straggler that is just now showing up. Popped several that way.

And I am not doing this from a ground blind with a ghillie suit and scent killers and camo. I am crippled up enough and like my comfort enough I do all my hunting from my jeep. Calling, scouting, sit backed into brush or even in the middle of a field. Slow cruise at idle when changing locations. Just another farm vehicle as far as they are concerned and I don't tear ass around or chase the animals with it. And I am doing quite well. My success rate might go up a bit if I did some blinds and camo but I doubt it. The only law concerning hunting from my vehicle in Arkansas is it must be on private land, not maintained roads, and must not be moving while shooting. Its the most comfortable portable box blind I have ever used. Second best is my two man camo box blind on a flatbed trailer. Very effective, and a new location anytime I need to move it. Set it up months in advance of deer season.

Thanks for the tips :)