Predators

KBell

KBell

New member
Hello All,

I am up to seven on coyotes since we experienced the blizzard. I encourage all of you to get out there and put the hurt on predators for the next month or so. Our pheasant pops. really do benefit from our assistance in eliminating these predators that harass them during snow cover.

Predation increases 10% or more for the hens when we experience 10 or more consistent days of snow cover.

I have located and gained permission for the following hunting season pockets of higher density pheasants by predator hunting in these areas the winter prior!:)

You too can do your part to increase our bird pops!:)
 
KBell said:
Hello All,

I am up to seven on coyotes since we experienced the blizzard. I encourage all of you to get out there and put the hurt on predators for the next month or so. Our pheasant pops. really do benefit from our assistance in eliminating these predators that harass them during snow cover.

Predation increases 10% or more for the hens when we experience 10 or more consistent days of snow cover.

I have located and gained permission for the following hunting season pockets of higher density pheasants by predator hunting in these areas the winter prior!:)

You too can do your part to increase our bird pops!:)
Click to expand...

Hoping to have my new AR varmint build done in a couple weeks so I can go. The old man is out every day. They have 8 or so now too I believe.
 
called in a yote today:thumbsup: came in like it was on a string. took less than 2 minutes. he wont be chasing any more roosters:cheers:
 
My nephew called in a nice one the other day too. Shot his first one. 243.:thumbsup: We dont have too many right by home, but right down the road there is places full of them. I just dont have any thing to shoot yet. Got some parts just waiting on the rest. BC did you use an electric call?
 
used foxpro on this one. tried calling river by home. yotes too well feed to respond to call. feeding on dead deer. cant believe how fast they can eat one. tracks every where we go. saw lots of deer today. trying to fill muzzle loader tag. have passed up lots of deer. waiting for a big buck.
 
Me and my neighbors have a good trapper working this Winter. He's covering a lot of acres. Last I've heard He's got 13 Yotes and about 20 fox.
We have to chuckle at the theory that yotes kill off foxes.:)
I've seen several pheasants along the dirt road lately, they have lots of good habitat in the area, predation has been the limiting factor.
 
Coyotes can and will run off fox. It happened right around where I live here in Indiana. Coyote population is at least double of the fox. I used see fox on a daily basis but since the coyotes moved in I haven't seen any in at least 5 years. The fur buyer getsup to 25 yotes a week and about 5 fox a week.
 
DU has some studies that show coyotes actually help duck numbers by reducing the populations of nest raiding predators such as skunks, opossums, raccoons and fox, thereby allowing better nesting success.

I would think the same rationale applies to upland game. Shooting Coyotes may not help pheasant populations and in fact may reduce them, by allowing nest raiding predators to increase.

Just a thought, If you want to help pheasant populations through predator reduction, trapping nest raiders would be a better way to accomplish your goal.

The biggest factors reducing pheasant populations are habitat and the weather. We can't control the weather but better habitat will help off set the dangers mother nature throws at pheasants. my .02
 
KBell said:
Hello All,

I am up to seven on coyotes since we experienced the blizzard. I encourage all of you to get out there and put the hurt on predators for the next month or so. Our pheasant pops. really do benefit from our assistance in eliminating these predators that harass them during snow cover.

Predation increases 10% or more for the hens when we experience 10 or more consistent days of snow cover.

I have located and gained permission for the following hunting season pockets of higher density pheasants by predator hunting in these areas the winter prior!:)

You too can do your part to increase our bird pops!:)
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's all well said:thumbsup:. There's way too many coyotes out there. It's go time!:D
 
Jack L said:
DU has some studies that show coyotes actually help duck numbers by reducing the populations of nest raiding predators such as skunks, opossums, raccoons and fox, thereby allowing better nesting success.

I would think the same rationale applies to upland game. Shooting Coyotes may not help pheasant populations and in fact may reduce them, by allowing nest raiding predators to increase.

Just a thought, If you want to help pheasant populations through predator reduction, trapping nest raiders would be a better way to accomplish your goal.

The biggest factors reducing pheasant populations are habitat and the weather. We can't control the weather but better habitat will help off set the dangers mother nature throws at pheasants. my .02
Click to expand...

Good points made here too;). The problem with coyotes is that we have way too many out there in way too many areas. In some areas I hunt, the coyotes have formed large packs. This is no good. One coyote alone can take out an entire clutch of chicks with ease.

Their numbers need to be brought down.:cheers:
 
Jack L said:
DU has some studies that show coyotes actually help duck numbers by reducing the populations of nest raiding predators such as skunks, opossums, raccoons and fox, thereby allowing better nesting success.

I would think the same rationale applies to upland game. Shooting Coyotes may not help pheasant populations and in fact may reduce them, by allowing nest raiding predators to increase.

Just a thought, If you want to help pheasant populations through predator reduction, trapping nest raiders would be a better way to accomplish your goal.

The biggest factors reducing pheasant populations are habitat and the weather. We can't control the weather but better habitat will help off set the dangers mother nature throws at pheasants. my .02
Click to expand...

Blasphamy! Obviously dreamed up by some tree hugging nut job (probably from california)!:D Sorry guys, I had to but really though these kinds of comments are frowned upon here.:(
 
Theory?

In pursuit of coyote and other predators of pheasant I have witnessed many things. Coyote can and do hunt cover and sloughs as good--better than any trained and disciplined hunting dog.

They are, afterall a member of the canine family. One I shot last week flushed pheasants and actively pursued them into an adjacent drainage ditch while I watched. They don't point but instead pounce when in pointing range of the birds. This is how they catch them. I have witnessed it before. I have heard similar arguments that coyote only prey/eat dead deer. Ridiculous! I shot two last year that had cornered a fawn-of-the-year in the back of my feedlot! As one, they worked as a team to distract momma and finally gained their opportunity to corner the fawn. Too bad the cattle alerted me to the situation. I took my time and dropped them both. The fawn got back with momma none the worse for wear!:)

They are smart, confident, and supreme hunting machines of all other meat-bearing creatures. To state otherwise is, in MHO, ridiculous.
 
A year ago we formed a predator control district in Edmunds County of South Dakota. Basiclly a group of livestock producers pitched in and we hire a plane to hunt on the land of the donors and what land we can get permission.
Last year we shot 176 for the year. This year so far we have shot 230 in about a month since it started snowing. One guy was losing his cats so the pilot went there and shot 18. A week later he shot 5 more there. His best day he shot 82. I do not know if you folks can do something like that where you are but it might be worth looking into.
 
Awesome

Hello Haymaker,

I would like to visit with some other fellow Iowans and learn what you South Dakota boys are up to!:) Sounds like Aporkcalypse now that Ted and the Pigman do on T.V.!:p

Would like to hear more on how you organize it and pay for it. I have a neighbor that had a group take 8 off of on Saturday.

Any more information you could share would be helpful. I would be willing to pay to even get in on such an event. Sounds like a helluva lot of fun to me!:)
 
Quail hound is right on. The nest robbing skunks, opossums and coons are by far the worse. Not saying they don't or won't eat a pheasant. Keep on killing them but also don't forget to thin out the others as well.

Also don't forget about the ultimate predator on earth. The ferrel house cat. They are natures ultimate killing machine. Very efficient at it. I kill them everytime I see one in the field. A 223 does amazing things to a cat.
 
KBell said:
In pursuit of coyote and other predators of pheasant I have witnessed many things. Coyote can and do hunt cover and sloughs as good--better than any trained and disciplined hunting dog.

They are, afterall a member of the canine family. One I shot last week flushed pheasants and actively pursued them into an adjacent drainage ditch while I watched. They don't point but instead pounce when in pointing range of the birds. This is how they catch them. I have witnessed it before. I have heard similar arguments that coyote only prey/eat dead deer. Ridiculous! I shot two last year that had cornered a fawn-of-the-year in the back of my feedlot! As one, they worked as a team to distract momma and finally gained their opportunity to corner the fawn. Too bad the cattle alerted me to the situation. I took my time and dropped them both. The fawn got back with momma none the worse for wear!:)

They are smart, confident, and supreme hunting machines of all other meat-bearing creatures. To state otherwise is, in MHO, ridiculous.
Click to expand...

No doubt that they're hunters, I don't believe anyone would argue otherwise but the fact is there is a relationship between predator and prey. High prey populations be them rabbits, pheasants or otherwise will support high predator populations. Low prey pops, low predator pops. Coyotes are a bit like quail, pheasants, or rabbits in that given the right circumstance they will super compensate buy dropping more litters. This may well be the case in Haymakers example. Happy hunting guys, I hope you all have more pheasants next year.

I'm sorry I am a nay sayer I guess I'm just sick of hearing the farmers around here blame the coyotes for the pheasants demise in my county when it was really the loss of habitat.

P.S. I love farmers. Many of my friends and family are farmers and I don't blame them at all for keeping up with the times. The dove hunting in the vines and orchards are second to none.:cheers:
 
KBell said:
Hello Haymaker,

I would like to visit with some other fellow Iowans and learn what you South Dakota boys are up to!:) Sounds like Aporkcalypse now that Ted and the Pigman do on T.V.!:p

Would like to hear more on how you organize it and pay for it. I have a neighbor that had a group take 8 off of on Saturday.

Any more information you could share would be helpful. I would be willing to pay to even get in on such an event. Sounds like a helluva lot of fun to me!:)
Click to expand...

Well the first thing I want to make clear is that only the pilot and or his gunner ever shoot coyotes. We livestock producers jumped through a lot of hoops with the state GFP and the state ag dept. to get this organized. It was an amazing excercise in red tape. Then we talked to a bunch of cattle guys to see if they would donate to support the cause. It is a voluntary donation of approximately $1 per cow. If you have questions I would be glad to answer them if I can. I think this is going to be a difference maker.
 
What would the bare minimum of gear be, if a guy wanted to get started yote hunting ? I do have the gun part covered !
 
One thing for sure there's got to be pheasants for coyotes to hunt/eat them.
Where the studies on coyote depredation have been done on pheasants ,the pheasants for the most part are gone or the population severely diminished. Studies are done by studying the yote shyt.
Coyotes learn to hunt pheasants year around, but Winter with heavy snow cover a few coyotes will wipe out a pheasant population, going from one cattail patch to the next. Other prey species become unavailable to the coyote. Mice are safe under snow pack, coons, skunks and others are holed up. Coyotes may take a fox if all other prey species are gone or if the yotes is in under starving conditions? Coyotes will seldom go after prey that will put up a fight.

The "save the coyote movement" is for the most part anti hunting. Most anti hunting groups argue that a healthy balance of predators will illiminate the need for hunting. Sad but that may be true.:(

States like parts of MN South and East have more problems as far as the future of wild pheasants and other upland birds then just the loss of habitat. Fact is if You have a coyote population you won't have much for pheasants.
Ask the SD, ND MT WY land owners where pheasants are plentiful, 100 percent will be controlling Coyotes. The number one predator on pheasants.

Only trying to help folks. :thumbsup:
 
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