Coyotes

Does anyone here really hunt coyotes? I see pics online of people killing large piles of them. We have a few on the place and we talk about trapping them to help the deer and turkeys... Though I know you need a pretty high attrition rate to do any good. Tgey breed fast and more move in. But does anyone have a lot and hunt them? I have thought it might be something I would like to try. What do you shoot them with? I have an AR that seems perfect for the task. When and how do you hunt them?

Of course I mean guns not traps.

There are several YouTube vids of people hunting them with from serious long range to shotguns. The train whistled just as we came in at 7:00 tonight and the yotes went off in the woods about 50 yds from our city home. I need to put a crossbow bolt in a few.

Guy that my daughter used to take pitching lessons from is a pretty serious coyote hunter. AR's, night vision gear, etc.

Now it s a good time to trap with fawns starting to hit the ground. But it's hot, got 4 sets in this afternoon and just about sweated down. IMO, coyotes are much of a threat to turkeys compared to Bobcats. If you seriously want to help your turkeys, trap and shoot every coon or possum possible.

I can't recall the guy's name or if he's on here (I think he may be), but someone over in southwest Alabama is a champion caller and hunter.

They're fun to hunt. They'll make you feel like a king one day and then kick you in the teeth the next.

Hunting definitely can be helpful on the population but you have to stay at it. Hardcore trapping is the best management tool, along with hunting, and if you commit to trapping you'll probably need to do it year-round to stay on top of it. The other thing is you should, if possible, try to get your neighbors to do the same.

Your comment about "more move in" is true. They're territorial, establish an area, and if you pop a few or trap a few but then quit, others will move in to fill the void. Breeding also may ramp up. This is why diehard trapping and getting your neighbors to try to trap can make a difference.

Good luck. If you want to find a trapper use this site to search -- http://www.atpca.org/

I have to somewhat disagree with part of your answer Clem……..I think all you really need to trap….and all that is really feasible for most folks to trap….. is the weeks leading up to fawn drop. You’re just trying to create a short term hole in the yote population while the fawns on your property are dropped and get on their feet good….I cleaned out our property several weeks ago. So far cameras have only caught one more stray passing through.


If you have the time to do so, I think it would probably still benefit you to keep yotes cleaned out continually due to the fact that it would lower the stress on your resident deer. Most folks just don’t have the time and/or they’re located too far from the property. Also, I think just the presence of yotes on a property likely has some effect on deer behavior. It would be interesting to see a study on deer movement with and without yotes being present.

You're all right that we need to trap more. My FIL has started but little success. They are smart! Haha.

I think for my own fun I need to find a friend with a lot of them to go help shoot! Haha

I have hunted coyotes and other predators for decade now. I absolutely love hunting coyotes because of the fact that I enjoy calling them in. Basically similar to how turkey guys like calling in turkeys etc. learning to hunt coyotes and become effective at calling them is not easy. Unless your wanting to educate tons of coyotes and learn things the hard way. I highly suggest learning from someone who has experience but to each there own.

I am always hunting coyotes. I would rather shoot a coyote than any other animal in this world

Every one I've ever killed died easy. Seems like if you can get a piece of lead into him, he's tits up. I've shot them with .22's, .308's, #8 birdshot, handguns of various calibers. Always seemed like if you hit them, they die.

This...

I have a friend in Athens that hunts them year round up there in the Tenn valley on those big ag fields. I don't think he even deer hunts much any more. Mouth caller, and he and a couple of his friends stack them up. Not sure what kind of temporary damage they are doing to the local pops, but it looks fun.

If you're wanting to create a population dip during fawn drop, that time may be now. In the last week, I've seen the annual parade of first-year bucks wandering the pastures mid-day with that sad, I'm lost, look. The momma's have kicked them out of the nest to make room for the new crop.

I shot two early this morning. One of them was missing a front leg, lol.

I kill a bunch each year with my thermals while out hog hunting.