coyote question

[tlbradford]

Couple of different points I want to comment on...

Im pretty sure mange is passed on to pups and they dont really have much of a chance either way.  Please correct me if Im wrong on this.  I have heard that as long as you dont shoot at them they dont get educated to calling.  Anyways I wont care if you keep hunting them through the spring its a personal choice.

Mange will infect the living space of the coyote, especially a den.  If a coyote that is not infected rubs up against the mange parasite it will most likely be infected as well.

You will educate coyotes by calling them and taking pictures.  Anytime you have a prey or vocalization sound that the coyote expects to find food or another coyote, and it turns out to be a human, you have taught them something.  They will be a little more wary when hearing that sound again.  It is very debateable on how much this will effect them in the long term.  You have to think that for every prey sound that turns out to be a human, that they hear 20-50 prey sounds that are actually food.  My belief is that it depends on each individual coyotes natural tendancies to be bold or cautious.  I don't think you can make a blanket statement and say that all coyotes will be more wary when they are called and associate that sound with a human.  That is just my opinion, since I have encountered every type of behavior, from both highly pressured coyotes and those that hardly ever encounter a human.

I read a study once that indicated you could kill 70% of the population year after year and have no ill effects on the overall number of coyotes in an area... but my personal experience confirm that is the case. I know I've over-hunted areas... and the population still hasn't rebounded... even after a couple of years. Some folks think that's a good thing... I don't.

You may be giving yourself a little too much credit here.  There might be several factors that come into play besides over hunting that may give you false conclusions.  They prey species may have decreased during this time, disease may have set in, maybe you just didn't see as many coyotes but they were still there and less vocal, their might have been something that affected pup survival or the litter size in that area...  There are probably too many factors involved to really draw the correct conclusion, and more than likely it is a combination of several things.

I agree with your basic philosophy though, give them a rest if you want to have more to call in the winter.  Of course, I will probably shoot a couple that respond to my turkey calling and if I get bored in the middle of summer I may get out a couple times too.

[JoshT]

Could be... but it seems to me that nothing else has really changed.

I don't think anyone will dissagree though, that killing a couple of dogs with pups in the den will do significant damage to that area's crop for the year... it's like killing 5-10 with one round.

[Kain]

tlbradford,

Good points there.  I think you cold probably get away with taking a picture or two without the coyote "seeing you as a human".  They will more likely get weary when they dont see anything and run off or get your scent and scram.  My camo is pretty good and I have coyotes, bobcats and deer stare right at me not know what I was and lots of times not even know I was there.  Im sure coyotes see a lot of different things when the respond to prey distress sounds, like you said.  They see bears, cougars, bobcats, other coyotes, birds of prey and others.  Most of these they dont get their share or will have to fight for it or scraps.  I dont think calling for coyotes, and then letting them go, would do much harm regarding making coyotes call shy.  But like you said it would really depend on the coyote and the other environmental conditions.  I was just throwing out a suggestion that allows you to get all the excitment of calling and hunting without the risk of killing females with pups in the den.

Again good points.

[deaddog]

Usually are...

[furbearer365]

If you must go then I recommend pup distress all the way, but i would rather see you let them go.  They are hunted all year round and to give it a couple of months wouldn't hurt.  If you kill a female when it is not pup season, technically you did prevent a new litter for next year without the cruel intentions of killing a packs mother.  What I have noticed in this argument is how different the opinions are.  I have found that people who have hunted coyotes religiously for a few years and have a true love for it believe that letting them breed is the way to go.  They don't believe this just to make more for them to shoot, but also for giving respect to that in which they hunt.  Those who haven't hunted them to that extent have the general idea that they are just coyotes and who gives a damn.  There are those few exceptions but this is the general rule that I have found.  At this point, just reading everyones post i can almost tell who falls into what category.  I am hard core for letting them go, because although they do kill deer and elk, they have just as much a part out in the woods as the ones they eat.  For those who are new to hunting them and have the idea that they are just coyotes, I give you a personal challenge to keep hunting them and tell me in 5 years if you still believe they are worthless.

[lamar_hunter]

i would think it would be more fun to call in 5 more mature coyotes next year than kill a den full of pups right now, unless coyotes are effecting business then by all means do what you have to. just my 

[shoot-em-dead]

Lately I've been giving them a rest although it wouldn't matter anyway because the little varmints seem to elude me year round.

[btlsoom]

Right now they are really looking for an easy meal.  Most / some have many mouths to feed so they hunt hard and often.  Use the distress sounds that fit your area.  Cottontail or Jack usually works well.  A fawn bleet is also good at times...these sounds can be made on a howler call if you got one or on most electronic calls.  Good luck..

Randy

[heavy hauler]

well i havent check back here in awhile.thanks for the advice

[deaddog]

Theres a great artical in preditor extream, april issue on this topic. The artical makes good points for both sides but in the end.....well you will have to read it.