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coyote hunters

I didn't want to derail the other moon thread, and have a question for you yote hunters. Is bright moon night a good time to be out yote hunting? I have seriously been thinking of doing some yote hunting this year. I will wait till after gun season and need to do a lot of research before I get started. Any pointers would be appreciated.

I've done it a few times and yes, a bright full moon night is best for seeing them. Now, when your blinded by the muzzle flash, hopefully you don't need a second shot!!! My trapper buddy is up to 40 yotes this year and said there are more he missed. Lots of yotes around.

Thanks L2H, That is the reason I am seriously wanting to hunt them. There are more than ever passing through behind the house. They have always been around but nothing like this. No one around here hunts or traps them.

If you have local coyotes by your house. My experience with calling is you will have one shot in your yard, so you better make sure you capitalize and play your wind and don't let them get downwind. I say that because most of my succesfull sets are playing the wind to their advantage, meaning letting them get downwind but ready for the shot.

Bright nights like Live said but get 2 red-lights. Makes the night more enjoyable

That's why they call the full moon in January the Wolf moon. Breeding. Totes too

Thanks Noc, I have about 16 acres to set up on, four 4 acre parcels, but its only about 800' deep unless I could talk the guy behind me in being able to shoot into his property. He has a logging road that runs paralell and is about 20 yrds off my property. It would be nice if he gave me access to that road. He has an 80 and does not live here and is very protective of his property ( which I understand). There is also a couple other options in the immediate area if I can contact the right people. The yotes are not coming by the house but definetly are pushing though the whole area very often, as in "any given night."

Snares. Depending on the terrain you can set multiple sets and check them with binos from the roadway eliminating your sent and intrusion.

Don’t need a moon when you get yourself one of these. :)

This ones good.

Trout have you given any thought to snares or foothold?

Yes I have noc, I really would just like to get rid of some around here. Doubt if it will do any good though, as no one else seems to care. I don't want to invest a bunch of $ or time in it. Basically, a do it when you feel like it type of thing. I figure a caller and some kind of lights is about all I need. I think :). I have the clothes and guns. My old neighbor is interested for a sit or two if I get set up. If the farmer on the corner will let me set up there it could be some fun shooting.

I have 2 of these but they were pricy

Personally I enjoy calling more too.. Hope to hear a success story of this and I still think we should make a predator thread after deer season.

Thanks. I sure you will hear from me before I get going, If you don't mind.

They make a nice thermal scope for the crossbow too, don’t have one yet but they look awesome.

Agree with what all the guys have said so far. Calling them in is fun and just like Nocturnal said, you will get one chance only so make it count. Snares will be your cheapest route to go and thermal will be your most expensive. I have 7k wrapped up in my thermal setup but in my honest opinion it is worth every penny!! I hate coyotes even worse then a blood sucking mosquitoe!! The only good one is a dead one. The thing I don't understand about most deer hunters is they are willing to spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars a year on food plots, water tanks and tubs, doing chainsaw work to improve their hunting grounds but there is not a single peep from those same hunters about predator control. I'm here to tell you the coyotes are the biggest problem we as hunters face when it comes to deer numbers. What they do to the fawn recruitment is unbelievable. So many guys on websites complaining about the lack of deer numbers. Very few attribute it to the coyotes. Here is a first hand example of coyotes and just how many of them there are. In 2020 I personally killed 16 coyotes within a one mile radius of my property. I'm thinking damn, that should put a dent in the coyote population. Guess what? I'm up to 17 coyotes for this year in the same area!! You will NEVER eliminate the bastards, ever! All you can do is try and keep their numbers in check but remember one thing. It is a yearly ritual. You will not make a bit of difference only hunting coyotes a few times a year. I hunt them year round. I have not seen a set of twin fawns around my property in I'd say 7-8 years. Get out and get after them Xtrout, just don't stop. Hunt them, trap them, snare them....whatever it takes or you won't see near the fawns (and the trophy bucks in a few years). Here is a picture of my best night so far, 5 coyotes in one night of hunting this spring! People would be shocked at how many coyotes there are or how bold they are under cover of darkness.....

Of course trout. I enjoy hearing of what worked and what didn't.

If any of you guys are on the west side of WI and want to try thermal some night let me know. I hunt LaCrosse and Buffalo County mainly. Another pic from a few weeks ago. Pack of 5 came in and 3 didn't run away!

Nice setup madman.

One more thing... if looking for a great caller I'd recommend Icotec. They come with about 200 different calls downloaded on them and you can download more yourself if you wish. They have a remote control that is easy to use and has a range of a couple hundred yards as long as there isn't a hill or other objects in between you and the call. Pulsar is a great thermal Always Right. Some other brands do a phenomenal job as well. I'm really impressed with the thermals from Hogster. A little cheaper and I'd say just as clear as Pulsar.

Madman, is it true what I've read, that if you don't remove at least 75%, you could literally be doing more harm than good? I believe it goes something like this? Kill an alpha female, and every subordinate female comes into heat. Kill an alpha male, and every subordinate male breeds everything in sight? It might be a ploy by antis to deter hunting, but just like you said, you can literally never keep up. I wonder why that is? That said, I'm dedicating my winter time to killing as many as possible. I read there are as many as 65% of every fawn born Nationwide, killed and eaten by coyotes. I want to kill them all, throw them in a pile and burn them to see what sort of BTU's a rotten coyote puts off. I'll be hunting them with a friend who has two guns and the hardware this year. I have another who is going to show me the snaring game. I'm in total agreement, that we owe it to all the whining and sniveling that takes place. 100% predators including man, is to blame for declining deer numbers, especially fawns. Thank you for your dedication. It is admirable.

Pete.... I have heard about every angle there is when it comes to coyotes and I still have a ton to learn! As far as how many you need to kill, I'd say it doesn't matter, kill them all!! I know of a farmer out in S Dakota who was putting in his crops last year and as he was rolling over a den the female ran out. The farmers kids came out and dug up the den and to their surprise there were twelve, you read that right, TWELVE pups in that den. There is your answer as to why we can never keep up!! A doe may have twin fawns and a coyote is having 6-12 pups a year. It's not a wonder at all in my world as to why the fawns aren't as prevalent as they once were. My personal experience is really all I can go on. What my hunting was 20 years ago when I bought my property was so much better then it is today. Me, my neighbors to both sides of me are seeing fewer and fewer deer every single year and shooting less deer also. In 2001 when I bought you never heard or saw a coyote. Then they started showing up on cameras at night, then in daylight and now it's every single night a pack on this ridge and then another pack in the valley. It's downright spooky listening to all of them light up at night but also thrilling walking into the commotion with a thermal. They don't stand a chance of me not seeing them with that thermal. (I can see a mouse running across a field at 50yds with that thing!) They have pissed off the wrong deer hunter in my neck of the woods!! Haha Get out and smoke a few this year Pete and bring a few more of your friends with you. The more lead flying at a coyote hauling tail across a field the better!

I'm gonna research this but from little I know about the coyote life cycle is this. They do not form packs like wolves do as far as alpha pairs. Yes they do pack up and work some hunting together but they do not form pack bonds like wolves do. Coyotes pair up and breed but those are not lifelong bondings like wolves. Many Coyote bitches raise their litters alone. No pack, mate or relatives to hunt and return with food like wolves. Males do contribute to his litters and pups but just as many do not. The bitch many times fends for herself. This is probably a 50/50 occurrence. Fox are much more devoted to their offspring than male coyotes are. There really is no Alpha pair. All female Coyotes in good health breed. Males may breed several females each year. Wolves do not have to travel hither nither to find a mate they already know who is breeding that gets sorted out long before breeding season. There are no Alpha Coyotes and a pack to serve them. Many people get confused calling a group of Coyotes a "pack". In reality most groups are litters raised together and usually don't seperate until breeding season. Killing what was stated a alpha female causes more breeding just ain't how it works. Sure there are dominant individuals but this mostly rates for territory controlled not breeding rights. Coyotes also do not claim and mark territory like wolves do. They are vagabonds moving over all areas not a claimed territory. There is no pair that does the breeding they all breed. No healthy female takes a year or two off because there is a dominant Alpha. That is not their lifecycle. They all breed or attempt to breed. In high population areas like I said earlier most females are left to do the housework alone. The only thing coyotes and wolves have in common is they are both canines just as your pet dog is and it ends there. What determines coyote populations is available food resources and habitat either suburban areas,grasslands or wilderness areas. Well fed healthy Coyotes breed like rabbits. Any area low in caloric intake see much less breeding and population density

That is the plan! Good luck. Shoot straight!

Agree with most everything you said Trickle. I do think coyotes have territories however. That is the main reason for them howling at dusk or soon thereafter. They are letting each other know where they are. I have personally seen coyotes at night not cross roads and come to the call. They will stay on the other side and howl back but they will not cross. I believe they know they are not welcome. During breeding season is the exception. The males are running everywhere. Something else I've noticed, like mother nature knowing there will be more buck fawns dying each year then doe fawns, hence the reason there is a slightly higher percentage of buck fawns born. I think it works the same way in coyotes only on steroids. Out of those 16 I killed last year 14 were males! The numbers are a little closer this year but I was shocked at the percentage of males vs females I killed. Once the pups are out on their own they are looking for a new territory to take up residence. I've seen coyotes chasing smaller coyotes out of areas. Matter of fact one night I shot a big male who chased a pup into a cornfield. A few minutes later the pup came out of the corn and I shot him too. The key to helping the deer in your immediate area is killing the coyotes right before they have their pups and immediately after. Those are dogs that own that area and they will fight to defend it. Kill the local dogs and you are helping save the deer in that area until a new pair take up residence. And speaking of taking up residence, many believe if you take out one coyote, two will move into the area. I honestly don't know if that's true BUT, if I killed 16 one year ago and have already surpassed that number this year it would certainly seem there is some validity to that. In WI you want to kill every coyote you can in your hunting area between February to April. That will help your local deer herd more then any other time of year.

November, seems like quite the set up you have. Thanks for all the info.

Like I mentioned I shall research more into the Coyote. I am not well versed on the actual makeup of their status of territory etc. You got me thinking when you talked about reluctant to cross roads. In the not too distant past I hunted every winter with a group of Coyote hunters. This is how we did it. After a fresh snowfall we would drive the roads looking for tracks crossing them. We would always find them. So for Instance we have two in this section just crossed or a single in this section. Let's go after the two. We would put a runner in each track and the rest of us would block that section while the runners dogged the track. Literally runners. No sneaking but walking and trotting right in that track really hauling ass as fast as possible. Rarely would the runners see them often they did not even carry a gun to impede the speed they could push them. Lightly dressed light boots no gear literally running them down. The blockers usually positioned near open fields, creeks or fence lines. We use 12 guage #2 buckshot 30 inch barrels and 3" magnums. Many times we rolled them up to 100 yards. Rifles were a no no due to the carry of the cartridge and safety concerns for us and landowners, farmers etc. Now the Coyote is the easiest critter to kill. Hit them with a pellet or two game over they die. I recall killing one once that had only one pellet in the hind quarter. Cowards they get hit and expire. One thing they would never do is cross the interstate highway. We would purposely push them toward that knowing they would stop and come back thru. Another reason for shotgun was pushing them hard like that they were always running full tilt. Permission from farmers was always easy to obtain too ahead of time. One chap had two good dogs and when they would get in the frozen cattails the dogs would be loosed. They never wanted to leave those cattails even the dogs had trouble pushing them out. One year I think it was 2011 we killed 91 using this method.

That sounds like a way for the youngsters to kill a coyote Trickle. I'm too old for that kind of exercise now!! Lol. One thing I have never done is hunt them with hounds. I think that would be a lot of fun! See what other kind of info you can dig up in your research and please do share. I'm always interested in learning more about them and I'm sure other guys on here are too. I'm concerned the yote numbers are going to skyrocket this year and beyond. If you aren't aware one of the largest pelt buyers in Canada is no longer buying pelts. PETA put the pressure on them, the main supplier of fur lined parkas so there will be no more parkas with real coyote fur. That company bought 150,000 pelts a year. So basically there is no incentive for guys to trap or hunt them any more with hopes of making a few dollars. Now it's a matter of how much you like seeing deer while you hunt. If nobody is trapping them because they aren't worth anything the coyote numbers are going to go from bad to worse in no time at all. SHOOT EVERY COYOTE YOU CAN FELLAS!!

“Madman, is it true what I've read, that if you don't remove at least 75%, you could literally be doing more harm than good?”

That’s has to be one of the dumbest statements I’ve ever heard on here.

We always had the younger guys pound the ground. One kid wore tennies. I can move on them at a fast pace but the younger is best. Pushing them like that mixes them up and can get them right into shotgun laps. I'll research more and share. Yes the trapping is basically non existent cause no $. The peta people change their tunes when Aunt Martha's little house dogs gets snatched out of her backyard hey. I know a guy that makes coyote hats flaps and all and sells them online for $150 and can't keep up with demand. He told me he will pay $35 for whole un skinned yotes this year after January. He has a home tanning set up and has 2 women to sew on a old industrial leather sewing machine. He has backorders for over 30 as of now. What started as a retired cottage industry has grown. I'm gonna buy one and place a order before his prices go up. I'll see if I can figure out how to post a pic of one. I'm sure it will be sideways. I am not techy one iota

I did it! All by in meself! And not crooked or sideways either. Wow I impressed meself!

Lol.... those are cool hats. Where is he out of? I could keep the nicer coyotes I kill and get to him. The others will be used for fertilizer! I have a few buddies down near LaCrosse that are into thermal. We could probably get this guy 100 yotes a year between the 4 of us. Good job posting the picture you computer nerd!!! Lolol

November, I did some searching, and I feel like this idea of killing coyotes, but never enough, is not a ploy by the anti hunting orgs. There are several studies and documented cases saying the same thing. Mostly related to the alpha female and her ability to fend off competition in her territory. I would imagine those roads you talk about is very similar to what I hear here. I live next to a major highway. My hunting land is comprised of 5 pieces of land divided by rural roads. I'd absolutely agree that there are separate packs on each divided parcel of land, heard and observed by me. The land I hunt is next door. I found several articles that were very similar. Some of them using research by Dr. Kilgo, who is an advocate for hunters and deer populations. His education is wildlife management. He is a hunter as well. Now that doesn't mean we shouldn't shoot them, it just means it has very little affect. Killing them at the wrong time can actually hurt according to some articles. As the alpha female, which is likely the one we trap, snare, or shoot, is replaced by subordinate females who will come into her territory to replace her. Problem is, more than one can try and replace her, and they will all get bred. I literally thought it may be a story to try and stop people from killing coyotes, but it is in fact scientifically based.

He lives in delafield by Milwaukee. I will e mail him or call soon. Been awhile since I talked to him. But will do

All that said, some of the PETA orgs and humane society quote the articles as well, which makes me a skeptic, but the information seems to be backed by wildlife researchers as well. All told, I kill them at every opportunity, and I will be making an even better attempt by trapping and actually hunting them this year. Good luck.

Yes, PETA and there likes got into peoples heads with there dribble and tanked the fur market here and they keep trying to abroad. Some say this year there may be a sale in Russia. So, there may be a glimmer of hope. There is a lot that has been said I can agree with as it does make sense. Fact is, if we kill more and more, there populations would go down. Now, if we can kill that many, not sure? In WI, they are tough to hunt for what ever reason except for dogs. Calling is a blast, but not a numbers game. Trapping can take out high numbers also. I did trap and hope to again when I retire and have more time on my hands. I do and don't care about the fur market, I enjoy trapping and I know the benefits of trapping out way the prices. Plus, if people just quit, they win. I will never let that happen.

Thanks for that Pete... I am going to do a search on Dr Kilgo. There are multiple ways of keeping them in check and as I mentioned in an earlier post you will never eliminate them completely. You need to make it a practice to keep the predator numbers down in the area you hunt....not just for a year either, for every year. Coyotes are no different then anything else, if there's nothing to keep them in check they will just keep multiplying. Before you know it your land is nothing like it once was as far as holding deer. I used to see a dzn bucks a day during the height of the rut, this year I was doing all day sits until I tagged out and I averaged 3 bucks for the entire day. The coyotes sure lit up the valley every night on the walk out though..... thats the only thing that has changed on my place in the last twenty years. More coyotes and a lot less deer! It's not a coincidence......

Dealing with the same issue here. I see coyotes all the time. Hear them all the time. Cameras are full of them. I know deer numbers are affected by them here and everywhere. One thing I see, which is uncommon, is does and fawns "clumping". Meaning they are staying together like a flock, and utilizing all their eyes and ears, and noses to avoid coyotes in a safety by numbers sort of thing. I personally will not skin a coyote. I'll start a big fire and burn them. I'll then hope their canine cousins smell them cooking in the air!

November, do you use thermal binoculars for scanning as well? I was really hoping to buy a thermal scope for yotes & hogs last year…then life happened!

Some good and interesting information coming out.

I was told this was Bowsite, all about bows only.

I personally like this topic but all of a sudden the haters chime right in.

You can cut the hypocrisy with a knife it’s so thick.

It is about bows numb nuts. And deer and coyotes and predation and hunting and environment and fishing and sportsman and and and. You numb nuts make it about you and you and you. I've known alot of crazies like you. It's all the same. Me and me and me and how can I rabble rouser. You can't back up squat you spout.

Live2hunt said; "Stay somewhere you belong, we talk about shooting bows, setting up bows, tuning bows, and hunting with bows here

There you have it

I don't think that talking about shooting yotes with a gun or shooting deer with a rifle for 9 days is the same as talking about a weapon that destroyed archery seasons and have an impact on deer as a jokebow has. Don't dribble about "Oh,the DNR wants the deer heard thinned". A lot of us don't hunt Southern farm country where deer populations are out of control in spots like your back yard. They have a big impact on the Northern buck populations. Perhaps you should petition Pat about getting a Jokebow category and start advertising them. See where that goes.

If somebody doesn't agree with a thread is it that hard to just skip the thread? Anyway, to answer your question CRX32, I do not have the scanning binoculars. I do have a thermal monocular by Flir. It's nothing great and doesn't compare to a Pulsar or Hogster. I just use my scope to scan right now but my plan is to buy another thermal scope by Hogster and use that as my scanner. First off my rifle is heavy (15 lbs) and it's a pain. Secondly, if I get another scope instead of a scanner I can always use that new scope if my old one has problems. If any of you are thinking about buying a thermal my advice is DON'T go cheap. In the thermal world you definitely get what you pay for. I had a buddy get one, thought he'd save $600-$700 and get something a little cheaper then mine. The look on his face the first night we went was all I needed to see. The difference is like night and day. Spend a little extra to get a good scope.... you can justify it because you are getting only one and it should last you for years. If you guys deer hunt you already have the rifle so no added expenses there.

I don't know how to share videos to share with you guys. My scope has a built in DVR for recording video. So pics will have to do. 5 dogs down the last 3x out!!

Another great thread to read and alot of interesting thoughts relating to coyotes. We need more guys like Randy around here.

Thanks for the kind words Noc.... just trying to help out anybody who likes to coyote hunt!

Everything I've read says that the timing of predator control is the most important as far as fawn survival rate. The late winter or early spring being the best. Take out the adult yotes, fawns are born and pray to god other adult yotes don't move in before the fawn can defend itself. This timing also makes sense as you may take out a pregnant female or one with pups as I think they usually drop pups in April. No mom, no food, no future fawn killers. I too am just starting to dabble in the trapping game. Total rookie and will probably lose a finger or two. Totally worth it.

I was hoping more trappers would chime in on this thread. .....and just use that lost finger for bait Big8!!

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