Shooting coyotes.

[BlackRiverTaxidermy]

The bad news is the more you kill the more pups they have. 

That is what environmentalists tell us but it doesn't make any sense. Perhaps it is true that if you shoot the alpha female then the beta will have more pups. Well there isn't always another female and if you shoot both females then there won't be more pups. In some areas the packs are isolated and don't have access to other coyotes.

Environmentalists say the same thing about wolves but also tell us that hunting will reduce their numbers.

Not convinced.

I agree. How can killing them make more of them. We manage the deer population by killing a bunch of them every year. Does it not work the same with coyotes?
I would like to see the study that scientifically proves that they have more pups when the population is lower and how that will make the population of coyotes grow.
I shoot all of them that I can in my neighborhood. I feel like I am helping keep the population down. I know that every one that I kill will not be able to kill our little dog or any cats, or fawns.

I think that is a total coincidence of environmental situations when I hear about ‘the more you shoot the more pups they have’. Here’s what I mean....just like some of their primary food source (rabbits, voles/mice, etc) they is rotational population cycles for good years. Typically you get a rabbit boom every 3-5 years and it seems that either that year or definitely the following, the coyotes population is incredible. I’ve heard the ‘shoot some and more pop up’ and I think it’s due to more being shot because their numbers are already on a rise due to nutrition which then lays the groundwork for high litter numbers and frequency. Therefore more yotes getting shot due to raised population secondary to good nutrition appears as tho they produce more when their getting killed. Hope that makes sense. I agree, would like to see the scientific proof of more breeding secondary to yotes getting shot. I think it more lends to better conditions means more breeding this higher numbers and harvest kills appearing like they are breeding more when bullets fly. Lol

[nwwanderer]

Boat load of coyote research out there, might start with Guy Connolly.  Have read a fair bit but mostly have watched the dogs and research mostly agrees, when coyote numbers are down pup numbers go up.  Whether you shot them, mange wiped out a bunch, distemper killed them, parvo showed up or APHIS was involved coyotes are amazing at filling as void

[MHWASH]

The good news it is great fun trying.  The bad news is the more you kill the more pups they have.  Certainly worth keeping some fear in them.  Pelts are like hay prices, up and down and quality is everything.  Good luck!!

It’s called carrying capacity. If you kill 5, there will 5 more to replace them the following year. Same with deer/elk. It’s just a lot harder to do with coyotes. In order to make an impact on coyote populations, you need to over 10% of the population in their home range.

[konradcountry]

Boat load of coyote research out there, might start with Guy Connolly.  Have read a fair bit but mostly have watched the dogs and research mostly agrees, when coyote numbers are down pup numbers go up.  Whether you shot them, mange wiped out a bunch, distemper killed them, parvo showed up or APHIS was involved coyotes are amazing at filling as void

I honestly haven't seen any good research on this. The articles I have read source the same study from an anti-wolf hunting scientist and just assume it is true for coyotes.

The big problem I see is in assuming that coyotes are all in packs. That isn't the case. In urban areas there will sometimes only be a pair. If you shoot a female there is no guarantee that one is available to take its place and have more pups. If shooting them always increased their numbers then we would hear about farmers with hundreds of them.

Like I said before there is contradictory statement being made by environmentalists. There tell us that hunting almost wiped out wolves but that we shouldn't hunt them because it actually increases their numbers. That doesn't make any sense.

When Idaho reopened wolf hunting the environmentalists said that hunting could take them back to being endangered. In fact the pro-wolf side changed their justification for wanting to end hunting. First they said the numbers were too low and then later they said well the numbers look good on paper but a buffer is now needed because their population is so sensitive to hunting.

It all stinks to high heaven.

[ThomMedic]

Check out Michael Huff's book, Understanding Coyotes, written for hunters, photographers, and wild life observers. Just a few dollars cost for a download from Kindle.

[nwwanderer]

They do not just keep increasing, when the population is high they will have small litters, with a crash the remaining females may have double digit litters.  Coyotes never have true packs like wolves, no cooperation or hierarchy.  You will see them together for breeding season and when things are tough taking advantage of food sources.  Check APHIS kill numbers, high and fairly stable no matter how they kill them.  Wolves not so much in the old days when all tools were used.

[Jonathan_S]

I have coyote problems where small livestock, dogs and cats have been picked off over the years.

I shoot a LOT of them from my place and yes the numbers never really seem to go down much. However, I've noticed they seem less packed-up and confrontational after the mature males are shot. We had a pack that was taunting and luring our dogs and passing through our yard on a routine basis. I shot the big male that was deep chested and rounder of tooth and we never heard from them again. Other hand, once we had a taunting pack and I shot the decoy (male of the year - odd because it's usually a bitch). That pack kept coming around until I'd shot an older female a week later.

I think the pack dynamics depend on the mature animals and if I can keep it a revolving door of younger coyotes, so much the better for the deer and domestic dogs. They pack up pretty hard with the winter cold but after a few big ones get shot, it's more often that I seem them alone and mousing.

[JakeLand]

I have coyote problems where small livestock, dogs and cats have been picked off over the years.

I shoot a LOT of them from my place and yes the numbers never really seem to go down much. However, I've noticed they seem less packed-up and confrontational after the mature males are shot. We had a pack that was taunting and luring our dogs and passing through our yard on a routine basis. I shot the big male that was deep chested and rounder of tooth and we never heard from them again. Other hand, once we had a taunting pack and I shot the decoy (male of the year - odd because it's usually a bitch). That pack kept coming around until I'd shot an older female a week later.

I think the pack dynamics depend on the mature animals and if I can keep it a revolving door of younger coyotes, so much the better for the deer and domestic dogs. They pack up pretty hard with the winter cold but after a few big ones get shot, it's more often that I seem them alone and mousing.

thanks for the insight ! It makes sense to me take out the Alpha and scatters the rest

[WSU]

I shot a bunch at my place 3 or 4 years ago.  There will still some around, but they have become so cautious that I never, ever see them.  I'll hear them at night, but they will not show themselves in my pasture (even at night).  I've experimented by putting scraps from deer and elk in my pasture.  They won't go to the middle of the pasture (probably 50 yards from the tree line) but will grab it if I leave if close to the edge.  I've also watched them sit just inside the brush line at night for hours.  All I could see were the eyes through the brush.  The one was there for hours and work its way around to different parts of the woods surrounding my pasture.  During this time, they are still seen in the neighborhood, the neighbor's yard, etc.

They are smart cookies!

[konradcountry]

The anti-hunting argument is that they have more pups if you kill the alpha female.

Well how do know if you killed the alpha female? Odds are you didn't. This argument also makes a strange assumption that you just kill one female and then you are done hunting. Wouldn't the conclusion be that you need to either kill at least 2 females or not hunt them?

It just seems awfully convenient. Killing them increases their population? So doing nothing will reduce their population? How did their population expand in the first place?

The anti-hunting Humane Society makes this argument and they don't provide a source.
https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/why-killing-coyotes-doesnt-work

Smells like BS.

[idaho guy]

The anti-hunting argument is that they have more pups if you kill the alpha female.

Well how do know if you killed the alpha female? Odds are you didn't. This argument also makes a strange assumption that you just kill one female and then you are done hunting. Wouldn't the conclusion be that you need to either kill at least 2 females or not hunt them?

It just seems awfully convenient. Killing them increases their population? So doing nothing will reduce their population? How did their population expand in the first place?

The anti-hunting Humane Society makes this argument and they don't provide a source.
https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/why-killing-coyotes-doesnt-work

Smells like BS.

   
 

 Wow so killing coyotes increase there numbers ha ha that’s so ridiculous it gives me a headache  :chuckle I seen that same type of argument used on another predator. It’s kinda like their argument of hunting lions leads to more problem lions. It’s hard to believe they have the guts to say that stuff out loud much less print it.
An old freind of mine who ran a huge ranch in Idaho always told me if we shoot every coyote we see maybe we will keep their numbers the same as last year. Coyotes are just pretty amazing animals with their ability to adapt and survive. I have seen for a fact trapping coyotes you can reduce numbers to almost nothing but they always rebuild in a few years.

[Onewhohikes]

You can never kill enough coyotes

[Kain]

Killing more leads to more coyotes..,to a point.  In some cases that is true but its not so linear.  LOTS of coyotes in an area compete for resources.  That can lead to more stress and less food.  In turn leading to smaller litter sizes.  So you kill off a few coyotes in an area.  Well that means more resources for the ones that are left and litter sizes increase. More resources can lead to better pup survival rates and so on.

 At some point though the hunting pressure will outpace reproduction.  It would just take killing lots more than most areas get and would probably need trapping and hunting to reach that level of population control.  The argument from anti hunters is that is a reason to stop hunting them.  An unhunted population will mean more competition for resources, fighting, smaller litters, lower pup survival and disease spread.   Pretty *censored*ty to wish that on coyotes in my opinion.  Better to harvest the abundant resource leaving healthier more people weary coyotes behind. 

[KFhunter]

Meh, I dont buy it

You kill the adults and the pups get dumber, so you see more, so you think there are more.


Its like wolves, they enter an area then a few years later..."OMG there's more elk than ever!"  ya no, you're just seeing more.

 You wanna slaughter a herd of elk take out the lead cow and they all run around stupid letting you kill more.

The older yotes dominate areas and keep others out, you kill a few suddenly there's a vacuum.  You've upset the balance.

Just gotta keep at it, there were more than you thought all along

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[Alchase]

The anti-hunting argument is that they have more pups if you kill the alpha female.

Well how do know if you killed the alpha female? Odds are you didn't. This argument also makes a strange assumption that you just kill one female and then you are done hunting. Wouldn't the conclusion be that you need to either kill at least 2 females or not hunt them?

It just seems awfully convenient. Killing them increases their population? So doing nothing will reduce their population? How did their population expand in the first place?

The anti-hunting Humane Society makes this argument and they don't provide a source.
https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/why-killing-coyotes-doesnt-work

Smells like BS.

Causation without correlation!

Or just typical liberal BS or like the WDFW describing what it takes to acknowledge a pack of wolves.
 
So shoot 3 or 4  (even better all) females in the pack. Then no females left, to have litters.
Since I could not tell you how to identify the females, just shoot them all.
Problem solved even if it is temporary before another pack comes in, the deer, elk, and other critters will thank you!