Coyote hunter experts???

[Raspy]

Scaring them off is likely a better tactic than shooting them. Often, if the dominant female is killed, the rest of the pack females produce litters and the population increases. You can actually increase the number of them by killing them.

We have a lot of them here too and I enjoy listening to their song and trying to spot them, or following the sound as they move through. It's a fascinating part of living in the high desert and away from town. But I'm careful to bring the cat and dog in at night.

I hope there is a better way to manage them than always reaching for the gun first. Spending my time pointing a rifle out of an open window at night, looking for something to shoot, would make my home seem like a fort under siege in a battle zone. Not my idea of a good time, or a peaceful home. And I do like to target shoot. I hope no neighbors happen to be coming over to bring you a sample of their fresh apple pie! Either way, anyone within a half mile, or more, is going to be listening to your gunfire in the night. Strange gunfire at night makes me nervous.

Coyotes are extremely intelligent and have a strong family structure. They can certainly be a problem, but they are adaptable and excellent survivors in a hostile environment. They are also a part of the system and cannot be simply done away with by shooting a few. If you lure them in, but don't see them, you are probably teaching them that there are injured rabbits at your place. Not a good way to teach them to stay away. As loud as they sometimes are, and as often as I hear them, I have never actually spotted one on our place. I even go out sometimes at night, as they approach, and wait for them. I'll flip on the light expecting to see one, but I never do. They'll stop yipping for a minute, and then resume their activities as they move through.

 

[Raspy]

They are also pretty smart (other than when a roadrunner is involved)

:laughing:

 

[3gunr]

I have many packs/herds/groupings??? of coyotes here. They will howl on clear nights. They mind their own business - I take care of mine. It's just a part of nature and I've learned to live with it.

Besides - take a guess - who was out here first? I think we are lucky that coyotes don't have scoped, high power rifles - right?

GImmie a break . Ten yrs ago all the game biologists were saying coyotes were not a problem for game species because they mostly lived on small game, Now its the opposite, They are devastating to fawn and poult populations.They are like any wild animal, they have to be controlled.

 

[RNeumann]

Be sure and check legal hunting hours and if baiting is legal for your location.

I use Hornsby superformance in my .22-250. I bet they would work well in your .243.
https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/rifle/243-win-95-gr-sst-superformance#!/

Good info- especially for a “non hunter”. He will probably need some type of license and hunting may be limited by dates and or time. A legal loophole can typically be had if the OP can show damage or loss. It would switch from a sporting license to a depredation type license.

 

[atsah]

Don't manage the predators because they were here before us.. LOL We have hunting seasons to manage deer and many other animals, you can't leave the coyote out of that, if you do you will have to many, (which has the been the case for years) just like wolves, they shoot wolves now in some of the states because they need to be managed..

There is good reason there is open season on coyote, there is way to many of them, each state spends a lot of our money examining habitat, predators and prey.

 

[Gov23]

In Virginia coyotes are a nuisance species and can be hunted at night. Use a call and get a spotlight with a red light so you don’t spook them. They are in close because of your cats. Cats are good eating to a coyote! I am 100 percent certain that if you didn’t secure your cats at night that you wouldn’t have any left. That goes for any other small animal. In our area we HAVE had calves injured/killed by packs of coyotes. They are also hard on fawns. I generally leave them alone but if they are in sight of my house they get taken out.

 

[Fuddy1952]

I've been around coyotes all my life. They often get a bad rap. What are the coyotes doing that's harmful to you?

A couple howling coyotes will make you think there's a dozen. And you'll swear you can feel their breath. When in fact they may be 100s of yards away.

I doubt your neighbor's calf was attacked by coyotes by the damage you describe.

With all that said, if you feel compelled to kill them, a call is the way to go about it.

If you shoot it, wounding it, plan on tracking it down and finishing the job. If you don't then you become the nuisance that needs controlled.

I agree with finishing it off. I never have wounded an animal to suffer. As I say, I've never hunted.
The next county over where I grew up pays $50 a head for coyote. They will kill and eat pets. We're getting horses within a year or so...I don't want them around. Same with wild dogs. I would only kill if they're a nuisance.
Groundhogs excavate under buildings, holes in pasture a horse could step in.

 

[Fuddy1952]

Good info- especially for a “non hunter”. He will probably need some type of license and hunting may be limited by dates and or time. A legal loophole can typically be had if the OP can show damage or loss. It would switch from a sporting license to a depredation type license.

Where I live it's like a war zone at times. People shoot all times day/night. We're used to it (also no robbers!).
Anything with rabies I kill, and we're had some! Mice, rats, groundhogs, I don't bother until they become a nuisance.

 

[Fuddy1952]

Thanks so much for replies. I've always believed there was a balance of nature, but sometimes things get out of hand.
The farm stores around here have these really nice camouflaged hunter sheds. That seems like a good thing too. Anyone have one?
Lots of good ideas here I can't wait to try.

 

[atsah]

Thanks so much for replies. I've always believed there was a balance of nature, but sometimes things get out of hand.
The farm stores around here have these really nice camouflaged hunter sheds. That seems like a good thing too. Anyone have one?
Lots of good ideas here I can't wait to try.

I do have one and it works well, we have a trip wire setup a certain distance that turns on the LED lights, then it's lights out for the coyotes.. Wounding one is hard to do unless your rifle sights are WAY off. I can't remember one time in the last 25 years that we shot and it didn't drop like a rock..