Coyote Density Poll Question

I recognize upfront that this answer will vary depending on the area and habitat. Everyone just answer for the area you hunt and the most familiar with.

How many yotes do you think you have per square mile (640 acres) where you live or hunt? Think about the number of deer per sq/mi in your area to help draw a comparison.

My answer is 3-5……I had previously told someone else 6-7 but I think that may be high. I’m not really sure though to be honest. If you have say 30-40 deer per sq/mi which is not too bad….I’m guessing 8 or 10 yotes in that same square would decimate that fawn crop depending on habitat. Even just 5 grown yotes would likely get their fair share if you only have say 20 of those deer being older breeding does.

Based on trapping figures I've got and I'm estimating a home range of 2 miles in Alabama's thick cover and target rich environment.

I'm say 4.5

I can post pics of 7-8 clearly different ones on 315 acres. No telling if they come and go or live there

One pic of 4 together

Probably 2-3 would be a safe bet. Depending on the time of year. There's a lot to factor in on that guess

We don't have a real dense deer population

Yea, It is subjective. I have caught 18 from 4 spots in 2 different sections since about his time last year.

In one of those sections outside on these 2 spots I believe there are no coyotes to speak of on the rest of it. I am on some intersections and they are just passing through.

But to just kinda deepen the argument I have caught bobcat and fox on other areas in that section which has less to do with coyotes killing deer but maybe Bobcats and Turkeys whatever the focus is.

In my opinion 1 group of coyotes on 640 acres can do some serious damage to your deer population. For that matter 1 could make a difference. How many times to you get hungry every day? Think about it he's out there killing something right now.

I saw a pack of 8 running together opening weekend of rifle season this year on our 900 acres. I figure there's atleast another pack that large running around out there so I'd say 15 yotes on my 1.5 sq miles.

I had a pack of 13 run a doe across a road one morning in Marengo, they were down to 10 in the pack by the time they hit the tree line. I'd guess there were probably 25-35 on that 3000 acre tract. Maybe more. You'd here them howling in 3-4 different areas every night. Scat everywhere in the roads. Got a smaller place in South Dallas County thats around 500 acres and I have never heard one on it or seen any coyote sign whatsoever. Deer densities are pretty similar between the two properties.

I saw 5-6 in one pack this year and I normally hear two packs around the house so 8-12.

That’s part of what I’m pondering over. I’ve always been on the fence about whether or not trapping can be effective. Lets just say I end up taking off 5 yotes off of 500 acres……I’m wondering if those 5 would be significant or not. If we think there’s only 4 or 5 per sq/mi then it seems like it should…..at least for a time period. If we agree that the density is anywhere near that low then it shouldn’t take huge numbers of yote catches to make an impact until more move in. If we start talking about larger properties of 1000 or 2000 acres and catches of 15-20+ yotes.....then that's a pretty decent size hole in the yote density of that area. Since yotes travel like they do, it doesn't seem like it would take very many people doing that in an area to have an impact. Let's just say you had 10 people trapping in one county and they each caught 10-20+ yotes in the months leading up to fawn drop....Would that make a difference?

We coyote trapped our club in Wilcox County last year. About 4,000 acres. We caught 43 off of it. Our fawn sightings doubled this fall compared to last fall.

3-4

CNC any kind of management "coop"erative that joins small track land owners to form a larger managed area would benefit everyone that hunted in that area. Think if you could get all your neighbors to manage their land like you do. It's doesnt take very many people to get thousands of acres on QDM

S O B!!!! 43??? That is a HUGE #!! Hell yea y'all made a difference. Even if you saved just 1 fawn per 2 coyotes that's BIG!! But that ratio is going to be closer to 2 fawns to 1 coyote I'd guess.

The problem is its a never ending process. You won't continue you catching those big #s but you can't quit or else in a few short years you're right back.

Would need to get Nighthunter on here to give the exact numbers - but I believe we had a trapper catch 70 on a 7000 acre block about 5 or 6 years ago.

And I've hunted and worked on tracts that have more coyote sign than that 7000 acre block had before that summer. I believe some of y'all are way too low on your estimates.

I think the AVERAGE number of coyotes per square mile is lower than most people think. Coyotes concentrate in areas of abundant food, meaning that a well managed hunting property that has high game numbers is going to draw coyotes from all around. It does NOT mean they stay there all the time. There are certain land features that coyotes use to travel long distances. Learn to identify these and you can catch huge numbers in small areas. When you catch 40 or 50 coyotes from one area you are catching coyotes from 0 to 10 or 12 miles out. I caught 67 coyotes in 18 days on a 200 acre cattle farm in Pike county. It all had to do with a land feature that all the coyotes for many miles around used as a travelway and the time of the year.

It was big no doubt. We are getting Chris King (shooters I think) to come back again this year. He is a beast when it comes to coyotes. Everyone wants to have their place trapped right before fawning season. We try to do spring and fawning season.

I like the spring trapping time just as much if not more than the fawning season. My theory is I had rather catch those females before they give birth or right after they do. Fewer pups being born. I start seeing pups all over the place in July each year. I kill a bunch with the thermals. No doubt a female feeding pups will kill more fawns than one simply feeding herself.

No doubt we are still learning about the impact coyotes have on game animals.

I try to explain trapping to folks this way. Deer and turkey reproduce at a much slower pace than predators and hogs. You can't put off addressing these pests because it takes years for your game animals to recover. That fawn you save this summer won't be a mature buck for 4+ years. You can't put it off until next year. Just like liming your fields. It is a management practice that pays dividends. Yes, it cost money. But, the reward is worth the effort.

I'm starting back trapping this weekend and will probably run all summer to bow season, take a brake, hit them in February and early March, brake then start back in May again. That's my schedule.

I'll never get rid of them. There is no way.

However I shot a couple 2 years ago, I was seeing them in the daylight.... and the first couple weeks this time last year the line was hot. I caught a lot quick. I caught what I believe to be both the Alphas first week and that threw the rest of them into a downward death spiral. I only caught 1 of 18 plus a couple stray dogs which are also a problem this past February and March.

I saw more fawns last year than I had seen in several previous years via camera survey. We'll see what happens this year, but based on my very limited case it made an impact year 1 IMO.

I'm just guessing, but I'd say Redstone Arsenal (RSA) probably has 7-8 per sq. mile. Reason being, they don't ever get hunted. RSA is a breeding ground for coyotes. Same goes for deer, but (of course) the uncontrolled coyote population is killing the deer population, and will most likely totally wreck the deer population on RSA within the next 5-7 years. Maybe sooner than that.

One thing is for certain, hunters need to shoot EVERY coyote they see, EVERY time they see them. Like others have said, we'll never totally contain them, but you can bet they'll overrun your deer population if you don't take some measure to control them when you can.

I agree…..but here’s the thing. Every single one of us will plant food plots this fall come hell or high water. Damn near everyone will put out feeders and check cameras, etc…..If predator trapping is ever gonna make any difference then it’s gonna need to be a management practice that becomes the norm for the whole group. I know not every property will do it….but if more and more folks will begin to participate, then it’ll damn sure knock ‘em back a little.

I’m having a PM conversation now with one of my neighbors a few miles away about them participating in trapping too. Even though they're 4-5 miles to my south…..if they hammer their property hard….then that’s less immigrants that I have to worry about. What if I had another property owner hammering ‘em 4-5 miles to my north???…..and another 4-5 miles to my west??? It would just take getting enough folks participating to checkerboard the map with properties being trapped. Yotes travel enough that it wouldn’t take all properties participating.

What do you do with stray dogs you catch?

relocate them to a ditch...

Did you use the jager trap?

**like**

What trap set up did yall use to catch that many...........

Foot hold traps (flat jaws).

I've trapped with folks from several states now and Chris (shooters) is the best I know that still consistently traps in AL. No disrespect to anyone out there because there are some great trappers out there. I'm glad he took time to teach me some of what he knows, I'm a far better trapper for it.

Well, tell him to get back on here and teach us all his secrets!!

I am officially MAD at yotes.......so, they gotta go!

^^^^ This!

The Russians kidnapped them.

IMO - there is no exact way to catch them when you are dealing with foothold traps. You can't really say... do it just like this and you'll catch more or this is the right way or only way. That is just not how it works. If you go buy $200 dollars worth of trapping books they are all different and they are all the same. Go read Hoof Beats of a Wolfer and then go read something by Mark June or Charles Dobbins they are all going to tell you the same exact stuff across the board right up until you think here comes the secret that is going to make 1,000 catches. After 10 books you realize there is no secret. They have just found something that works for them and that's how they do it. Valuable information because what you realize is you just have to take the gloves off so to speak (not literally) and get creative once you are at the spot you have decided to place your trap. Have some ideas on how to make the set either from books or maybe a little instruction. From there just make it up as you go. Every set is going to be different. There is no exact answer for that exact spot. You just have to start and you'll learn from your own experience what works for you.

Hope that makes sense.

There is nothing scientific or hard about trapping. Running a dozen traps and just having fun with it.... that IS a lot of fun. I would encourage anyone that is interested to give it a shot. The trapping forum on this board is a good enough source of information to get ANYONE started. Honestly being a member of some sites like Trapperman myself you can get everything you need to know right here on ALDeer.

This makes me want to go drop a yote!

I think this is the time of year they respond to calling more?
Something to do with mating season?

I think they mate in late Feb.

http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-1413/index2.tmpl

2-4.

Chris Kang not Chris King

Thanks for the reference.
That kind of toggles my memory a little bit.

I think I remember reading something here on Aldeer about when the pups are born in the late Spring that coyotes become easier to hunt and kill. Something like they respond to pup distress calls easier, or something like that? Or maybe it was the pups respond easier, or all of them?

I'm not sure what our density is, but we see a lot of coyote poop.