doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com I hate coyotes- 2 barrels 2 triggers close enough?

Hi Joe, I�ve heard the same thing in terms of research and coyote being beneficial in regards to quail. However, I wonder how beneficial they are to the cattle business specifically the calves in west Texas? Below the cap rock in cattle country, the ranchers I know hire trappers mainly to get rid of coyote and bobcats too because they believe they take a high toll on their calves.

I can completely understand cattlemens' disdain for coyotes. I have seen what they do to calves. OTOH, as Jon mentioned, what's good for one type of farm (or species) isn't always good for another. Almost all cattlemen here are row crop farmers, too. You can ask any one of them what costs them the most ......... an occasional calf lost to coyotes, or deer. They will emphatically reply ......... those deer!

Fawns are very heavily preyed upon by coyotes here. I know of one instance where a turkey hunter found a den, placed a trail cam on it, and left it all spring. The female brought eight fawns home to her pups that one spring.

I will never argue with another person about whether coyotes should be killed on sight, but I can control what guests on my lands do. They all know now that if they kill a coyote and I know about it, they won't be back.

On top of that, there is now solid evidence that deer eat quail eggs, and even chicks! I try not to hate any creature that God created, but I'll admit to struggling with that when it comes to deer.

Great story and pics, Mark.

Everyone has an opinion and some of us have seen more than others, and read more than others. I don�t think I am At the top of either of those lists, but I will pay attention. I know the world is symbiotic and no one thing works alone and all things benefit something somewhere. Except poison ivy ( I refuse to acknowledge that some critters will eat it as a benefit. ) I live in western Virginia ( not WV) I haven�t seen a quail since 1993. I saw my first coyote in about 97, probably seen about a 50 since- rarely with a gun in hand. I wouldn�t kill a fox or bobcat, but I have no remorse for coyotes. Conversely, I don�t put much of a dent in the population at 2 a decade.
And to clarify the story and photos, stillborn, vultures or coyotes, that was two calves in two days no a leg from the first one !
Stan, I would unequivocally respect a landowners wishes if you need more deer hunters in Ga !
That Kansas picture is insane- how many people over how much area?

A new spin on the varmint control issue. I grew up in the 1950's-- we shot barn pigeons in flight with our shotguns, and went to the township dump on Saturday afternoons (closed at noon back then) with our .22's and about 100 shells each-- and shot rats until Hell wouldn't have it- Not today, that's for sure.

My Dad loved to shoot woodchucks in the summer evenings in the rolling farm hills in Southern MI- and at age 12, I went with him, and got "hooked", now-a-days, my son-in-law are still carrying on that tradition.
But I understand what my friend Stan is saying-deer are more of a threat to the P&L column to a row crop farmer than coyotes or fox--

About 25 years ago, a now deceased hunting partner and I went after fox and coyote in the Winter months--I had a Johnny Stewart electronic game caller- one of us carried a shotgun (12
gauge) for running shots, the other a scoped varmint rifle (.220 Swift)-- but we curtailed killing the fox, as one of our landowner friends was big into Christmas trees-- Now here's the logic-- the mainstay of a fox's diet is field mice- and field mice tend to "girdle" the stem of a planted spruce tree, the bark has some appeal I hear- that either kills the tree, or stunts the growth- so, the equation was that more fox un-shot - in theory, the fewer field mice extant to do "crop damage"--

So, in conclusion, although I like to kill varmints- I will always abide by my host's wishes as to which critters he prefers not be shot on his lands. That's just common courtesy, nothing more, nothing less. RWTF

You didn't mention deer as host of black-legged ticks, Stan. Climate change and over-populated deer has made coyotes more than a predator here. Two friends have had their lives ruined by Lyme disease. We shoot coyotes year-round and I'd like to do the same with deer to get their numbers under control.

Old timers here when I was a kid said they eradicated the deer to keep the ticks and screw-worms off the cattle. Even now I will find an old dipping tank out in the woods where pastures or open range used to be...Geo

blaming deer for declining game bird populations sounds bizarre...

please provide link to studies that confirm such...

Jeez ed, even I have read those articles...

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Deer+eat+eggs

Used to have a lot of fun on our coyote/fox drives. Shotguns only except for the outside guys that would try for the escapees.
We sometimes got a half dozen per section, but there are a lot of sections out there! I used lead BBs in my Nitro Special.

If deer were a major threat to game bird populations, then I'd think the decline in bird numbers would have coincided with past years when the deer population was much higher in my state. Not saying deer don't eat eggs, but other predators are much more likely to eat both the birds and their eggs and offspring. And coyotes are much more likely to affect small game populations than deer. As for ticks, mice are the primary host for them now in their nymph stage, and just about any warm blooded mammal will do nicely for an adult female tick's blood meal.

If climate change was causing the spread of Lyme disease,perhaps King can tell us why Lyme emerged in chilly New England rather than warmer areas? A recent article I read blamed the proliferation of ticks on the ever expanding amount of multiflora rose. The claim was that this invasive plant provided a near perfect habitat for ticks. I kill my share with the brush hog, and a little help from Monsanto. But I've seen no convincing explanation for either the spread of ticks, or the general declines in some species of game birds.

I do agree with those who feel that every coyote needs an injection of high velocity lead.