No Deer all Coyotes :(

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CarJunkieLS1

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This deer season is my second year of deer hunting as an adult. I deer hunted as a young teen (12-16) but I've since got back into as an adult (28). I've learned a lot from people that have been kind enough to take me hunting. And this year I've been taking my wife.

She has been using her crossbow as its not rifle season yet and the only thing we've managed to see is coyotes. Haven't been able to get a shot at one with the crossbow but come rifle season that all changes.

I'm guessing if I need to ask a question it would be. Do I need to give up on the deer hunting and just kill the coyotes? Do coyotes "scare" deer out of an area? The landowners around our hunting property have been saying they hear coyotes every night and haven't seen any deer.
 
I've hunted some areas that were pretty thick with coyotes and I don't think it had any impact at all on the deer population. We used to hunt a place in central IL an every evening you could sit in your stand and hear the most vocal groups of coyotes...I had never heard any dogs as active as these were...and we saw and shot plenty of deer...it was a trophy producing farm.

I hunt mostly the south-eastern part of the US. I've never seen a coyote hassle a deer and i've never heard from another hunter that he saw one hassle a deer. Might be different in other places...but where i hunt it's no big deal.
 
I have seen coyote chase deer but really it just seemed to be looking for a weak animal. The deer saw the coyote before I did and he never got anywhere near them before I shot him.
In Alabama where I hunt the coyote population seems cyclical. For a while we have lots of them and then suddenly they seem to disappear. I have noticed no reduction in the deer population on my property.
 
Thanks GSPN I'm not sure what to do I mean I will kill a coyote if I get a shot on one, but its not exactly what I'm hunting. I suppose we will just keep trying I mean its called hunting not shooting. LOL

I'm just afraid that she will get discouraged if we don't see any deer, the silver lining was she did get pumped up when we saw the coyotes coming toward us. they just never got in range, but they didn't act like they knew we were there.
 
CarJunkieLS1 said:
I'm just afraid that she will get discouraged if we don't see any deer
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I totally understand that. Have you thought about doing some scouting and then only taking her once you have a good handle on where they are?

I know you don't want to get her burned out by going on a bunch of hunts with no activity...so maybe have her stay back at the house, nice and comfy until you find a target rich environment for her.

Find the food, bedding areas, and travel corridors and you will find your deer.
 
Coyotes

You can shoot all the coyotes you want but it won't effect the population. Studies have found that when there is plenty of food available female coyotes will have large litters of pups. On years with little food they'll have a small litter or none at all. In the west bounties on coyotes have proven to be ineffective on controlling coyote populations.
 
Thanks for the input guys I actually thought about getting a coyote call and seeing if I can clear the area out some. I may just have to do that.

I did some scouting a several months ago and found where the deer are walking through. The area I'm hunting is heavily wooded and there isn't a food source in the area, its more of a travel corridor for deer traveling to a water and food source. They were bedding in the woods late at night though.

All my camera has picked up in recent months has been a whole lot of nothing and I've been seeing no deer and all coyote's.

About becoming a coyote hunter you may be right...
Last year I only shot one deer (opening weekend) and on the last day I shot a coyote. The coyote was waayyy more exciting and I felt more accomplished after killing the coyote than I did the deer...so who knows. I did kill the deer with a partner, my hunting mentor, vs. being by myself with the coyote kill.
IMG_20140130_173215_1721.jpg
 
Coyote hunting is a blast. plus you can hunt as many coyotes as you want, plus you won't need to "clean" the animal after the kill.

Once the deer hunting season is over, I start my coyote hunting season.

Duck hunter (Patocazador), that sure is one hungry looking famished coyote...
 
I'm interested in coyote hunting myself but admittedly know next to nothing about it. Is it generally good for the ecosystem to kill them like with hogs? And does anyone here eat them or use any parts of the animal like the hide? They've been real pests around my parts killing dogs and cats.
 
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I don't get too disappointed if I take a coyote when I'm deer hunting. I actually love coyote hunting, more so than deer hunting. Who knows, you may actually introduce your wife to a type of hunting that she likes more ;)

Keeping their population in check is important. If they are killing pets, then they are getting way too close to homes, IMO. Hunt them, keep them away from pets and fawns... but don't eat them.

You can always use the pelts, though.
 
Coyotes will kill fawns in the spring if they get a chance. Where I hunt, the rule is...if you see a coyote....you kill it!
 
Last winter when the snow was deep i heard a pack take down a little 6 pt buck one night. It was crusty enough that they could run on top while the buck was post-holing...
They made a real ruckus. The next morning there were hundreds of yote tracks and one stripped deer skeleton...
 
I'm not 100% sure but I have been told that in my state that if you kill a coyote and turn in the tail they pay you a bounty. I'd rather have deer meat in my freezer, but I will not hesitate to shoot Mr. Wile E himself. About the pelt there isn't much use for me.
 
Here in SD, we have healthy populations of whitetail, mule deer, and yes, coyotes. I don't believe for a moment that coyotes "chase away" deer, or that deer won't inhabit an area with coyotes. I base this this on seeing, multiple times, coyotes and deer come out of the exact same draws/drainages when they are "pushed" while hunting. I've seen multiple coyotes and several deer come out of the same 1/4 mile long shelter belts and the like on more than occasion. Coyotes seem to have zero effect on the deer population here, and rarely bother cattle. I wemnt from thinking every coyote I see needed to be shot to taking the shot only if I feel it won't have an effect on my deer hunting. I actually let a couple of them pass on opening weekend that I could have shot pretty easily.
 
If there is a high concentration of predators, there must be a high concentration of food in the area. That's how it works. Yote's don't have a permanent address and Mother Nature don't give them little ones if there ain't enough food. Thing is, deer do not have to be on the menu. Most adult deer do not fear coyotes, because in most cases a 'yote is not much of a threat to a healthy adult deer. I have seen 'yotes enter a field where deer are feeding and the deer have only a slight curiosity to them until they disappear. Many times, the deer will actually walk towards the 'yotes, almost as if they're letting them know they see them.

The landowners around our hunting property have been saying they hear coyotes every night and haven't seen any deer.
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Hearing coyotes at night is as easy as opening your window or just being outside. Seeing deer can take more effort. Can be that there just are not many deer in the area, but it probably doesn't have anything to do with the coyotes. Probably has more to do with habitat, availability of preferred food or hunting pressure, just as it does in areas where there are no coyotes. Sometimes when hunters are unsuccessful, blaming predators like coyotes is easy to do. Most of the time, the coyotes aren't to blame.

As for hunting them, if you have the opportunity, go for it. Most times it will ingratiate you to the landowner and other hunters in the area.
 
In Texas, examination of coyote stomachs by wildlife biologists indicate that the primary food intake is field mice and cottontail rabbits. Add some fawns, lambs and kids in spring. Quail are also on the menu.

It is believed by some that the yipping and yapping is to startle the near-odorless cottontail into motion, betraying its presence.
 
I hear coyotes every night but Friday, I was surrounded by deer. I really don't think one has anything to do with the other. I'm sure that there is limited predation on deer by coyotes but not enough to affect the population. I'll sometimes shoot possums, coons, bobcats, armadillos, foxes, skunks, etc. while deer hunting (watched three coons move through yesterday evening) but coyotes never get a pass.
 
Eat a coyote...that's right in the mixon my to do list with licking a skunk. No thanks. The hides are valuable. Lots of nice fur products use coyote furs. Look up the coyote hat which is a hat made from a single coyote. Very warm.
 
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