I do respect my guys and gals in the wildlife biology field. But, I do believe there is a flaw in the process. It takes years to study a topic, more years to validate, more years to publish and by the time they have done all that the information is outdated because the topic has changed and no longer the same.

Example, I remember when I was a young adult going deer hunting and seeing 30-40 doe a day. Back then we had 3-5 doe days per county or something like that. But, they were held after Christmas and by then the deer had been hunted a couple of months and wary. Of course, this the same time the coyotes started showing up in these areas. After several years the doe days/seasons were changed. We started killing a lot more doe deer. Row cropping was declining and pine tree farming was increasing. Hunting clubs were becoming a lot more common. Land just wasn't as accessible as it used to be. More coyotes in the state.

Basically, what I am trying to demonstrate is that there were lots of variables in play and decisions were being made off of older data. There has to be some common sense applied in real time.

South Carolina had over 50% collared fawns killed by coyotes so there are other studies than the Auburn ones. Maybe you just have to much Bama in you to believe it. One study had cameras on a coyote den and the pair killed 60 fawns. That's enough for me. I hate them for killing my livestock and will go out of my way to kill them.

No, they are opportunists. SMDH.... if anyone ever asks if you were wrong about anything this would be it. Congratulations... you are an idiot on this topic.

Correct, " lots of variables in play".

I think having thick understory grasses and briars really makes a difference. Otis is a little shorter than a yote but not too far off from the size of one. By far the toughest habitat for him to “hunt” in are these areas with very thin pine over stories that get burned frequently. It’s almost a different kind of search because he isn’t able to use the same techniques of casting circles, etc nearly as effectively. I suspect yotes struggle with similar challenges. Hell, even AJ with his larger hounds doesn’t like tracking in that type habitat because its so tough on the dogs.

My problem with studies, is they often happen in a big pen environment.

I can be wrong. Have been many times. And never said coyotes don't ever kill, I just don't think they kill as often as they get blamed. That's based on my years of experience, watching coyotes interact with other wildlife. I have personally seen them kill a newborn calf. So I know they will, but they also take advantage of a carcass anytime they can. I reject the notion that they kill 70% of fawns anywhere.

Outback, the high fence place I managed 2005-2011 had a coyote problem ongoing...killing fawns. 2009 I estimated we had less than 6 fawns make it because of ONE big male coyote. He killed damn near every fawn born that year...better than 90% of the fawns born. Thats OVER 70%. I was on the place and IN the woods every day that summer trying to kill or trap that damn yote. Finally killed him. Next year we had a good fawn crop due to far fewer coyotes(one) alive on the place.

I found where he killed three fawns in a 30 yard area, and ate a bite or two out of each and left em laying. He rarely ate more than a few bites out of any he killed.

Now I know it was a dreded high fence place and don't count for chitt in the "real" world to some of ya'll, but yotes in poor fawning cover will kill the chitt out of fawns.

I personally have witnessed on 2 occasions, coyotes chasing and catching deer in my hunting career. One particular year, we had 4 different members witness coyotes catching and eating deer. I believe they do have a significant impact on the deer herd, especially since they hunt them year round. I also agree that the "brown its down" philosophy has a significant impact as well. I shoot every coyote I see, and am glad to do it.

We think we are so much more sophisticated and intelligent than we were even 50 years ago with all our "technology" and better means of research. I would disagree. We have lost a lot of valuable knowledge throughout the decades about real world topics. I'd put us intelligence wise about right around borderline dumbarse in 2017. We use to have people that could fly us to the moon with a pencil and paper. Today.. we couldn't make it in my opinion with all the computers in the world. People don't know how to think and use common sense anymore.


Coyotes catch and kill deer healthy or otherwise. Old books are fairly difficult to read at times, but I like to read old things that are out of print as far back as early 1800's. The topics suit me. Farming before fertilizers, hunting, homesteading, books on animals.

A good one is called The Clever Coyote. It is about painful to read because it is about animal behavior. In the wild and in a controlled environment like a lab where they test their intelligence. Originally published in 1951. I think the title is fitting and pretty much tell you all you need to know about them. I originally read it 30 years ago because I like to trap them. I still have it on my bookshelf.

I could also point you to countless references in books from the 1800's and early 1900's that talk about coyotes catching "deer" with no reference to winter or snow which typically I have taken to mean Mule Deer since the books were about hunting the Rockies before they were tame or from the writings of Mountain Men.

Somewhere along the line some Professor that lives in the city went out and did a couple studies and proclaimed they were scavengers. And that is what we were lead to believe.

Don't believe much of anything you've been taught or told. That's my advice on life in general.

I don't know how many deer coyotes kill, but I do know that one woke me up last night howling and barking about 30 yds from my window. I yelled at him to shut up and he mocked me by howling again. I despise those things.

They are one of the few animals who have a nose good enough to find fawns that have been bedded down by momma and left for a while.

The amount of fawns they predate in areas where they are common is mind blowing. The only other one to come close is black bears. Again - the nose. Fawns have very little smell for the first few months and that's part of the survival strategy. Any animal that can exploit that will do so.