Coyotes & Helping the Deer Herd
Got a call Saturday that the neighbor across the way had suspected coyote parents getting too close to their dogs even when accompanied by humans. Sure enough, they found a den near their house and dispatched some pups but were never able to get mom & pop. They called in me and Krueger to help out.
So Sunday morning at 0630, Krueger picks me up and we head S of the den location and call next to the South Fork of the Wildcat Creek. It was a gorgeous morning with deer, geese, the sunrise, no wind, and plenty of song birds. However, no coyotes responded to our calls.
We packed up and headed to Marshall's S Farm. We set up on the S side of the square woods and after kicking two deer and watching a turkey, one lone coyote came out of the swamp - about 500 yards away - and circled the call trying to catch some scent. It also kept one eye on the woods, but even when it got within 50 yards it never saw us. Chip shot, right? Not for Krueger. He shot over it's back and then fired two more shots as it ran back to the swamp. That one got away.
We came back to my place and walked to the creek where we had heard them howling Saturday night. We set up at two locations, but kept finding better ones - and then we saw a coyote walking NE, it stopped to relieve itself, and then continued on into the woods. We called to no avail. However, coyote howls produced a response. We closed within 200 yards and called again. Nothing until we howled - it howled back and had not moved. Now we suspected a den in the woods and had a pretty good location for exactly where.
We were tearing down and fixing to leave when a lone male coyote came out of the woods N of us and stopped broadside at maybe 150 yards - probably a bit less. It fell to my 300 Blackout. As we gathered our gear and laughed, another coyote came from the N but never stopped to offer a shot.
So we saw 3, shot 1 and let 2 get away. With the male the one succumbing to my precision shooting skills, we know the mama will feed the pups and they will survive.
While the old song dog has its place in society, so to speak, data suggests that NOW is the time to be thinning the herd. They are like cockroaches and will never be eradicated. Kill one and another moves in. Kill the young and they will just have another litter. However, if you knock them down now, then the fawns that are due to start dropping will have a better survival rate (this is true for locations that do not have other predators killing fawns - like bobcats, mt. lions, and bears). Because you can bet your house that the one we shot today will be replaced in another month, maybe two, by another coyote expanding its territory or growing up and claiming its own ground.
However, since it takes time for this coyote to be replaced, the fawns will have a month or two to learn how to outfox the ole song dog - or at least be able to run away. So coyote hunting now helps the deer population later. Good Plan. Glad to be doing my part.
So Sunday morning at 0630, Krueger picks me up and we head S of the den location and call next to the South Fork of the Wildcat Creek. It was a gorgeous morning with deer, geese, the sunrise, no wind, and plenty of song birds. However, no coyotes responded to our calls.
We packed up and headed to Marshall's S Farm. We set up on the S side of the square woods and after kicking two deer and watching a turkey, one lone coyote came out of the swamp - about 500 yards away - and circled the call trying to catch some scent. It also kept one eye on the woods, but even when it got within 50 yards it never saw us. Chip shot, right? Not for Krueger. He shot over it's back and then fired two more shots as it ran back to the swamp. That one got away.
Straight across this field, dead center of this photo is a deer.
It stood there so long I thought that maybe it was a DNR decoy deer.
It finally ran off and then returned when Krueger started the call.
Krueger with his long-range set-up is covering the open field.
Beautiful sunrise coming up over the Wildcat Creek
Krueger took this photo of me while I was making a video.
The video just captures the sounds of the creek & song birds. Very peaceful.
Click here for 28 seconds of relaxation: https://youtu.be/f-3i0Fwjl3M
We came back to my place and walked to the creek where we had heard them howling Saturday night. We set up at two locations, but kept finding better ones - and then we saw a coyote walking NE, it stopped to relieve itself, and then continued on into the woods. We called to no avail. However, coyote howls produced a response. We closed within 200 yards and called again. Nothing until we howled - it howled back and had not moved. Now we suspected a den in the woods and had a pretty good location for exactly where.
We were tearing down and fixing to leave when a lone male coyote came out of the woods N of us and stopped broadside at maybe 150 yards - probably a bit less. It fell to my 300 Blackout. As we gathered our gear and laughed, another coyote came from the N but never stopped to offer a shot.
So we saw 3, shot 1 and let 2 get away. With the male the one succumbing to my precision shooting skills, we know the mama will feed the pups and they will survive.
I told Krueger that I was going to post that this was a 1,200 yard shot on the run.
I was more than honest this time. 150 yards - no more.
Suppressed 300 Blackout. FoxPro call. Primos Trigger Sticks (Love those
things & Highly Recommend). Small male coyote - dead.
While the old song dog has its place in society, so to speak, data suggests that NOW is the time to be thinning the herd. They are like cockroaches and will never be eradicated. Kill one and another moves in. Kill the young and they will just have another litter. However, if you knock them down now, then the fawns that are due to start dropping will have a better survival rate (this is true for locations that do not have other predators killing fawns - like bobcats, mt. lions, and bears). Because you can bet your house that the one we shot today will be replaced in another month, maybe two, by another coyote expanding its territory or growing up and claiming its own ground.
However, since it takes time for this coyote to be replaced, the fawns will have a month or two to learn how to outfox the ole song dog - or at least be able to run away. So coyote hunting now helps the deer population later. Good Plan. Glad to be doing my part.
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