Fair Chase

quail hound said:
That's fine, I don't fault anyone who shoots yotes but I reject the idea that shooting coyotes helps game birds. Some of my best quail and pheasant spots have lots of yotes. Coyotes mean no foxes (a true gamebird predator), and they keep nest raiders (ground squirrels, opossums, raccoons etc) at bay. Now if a yote is killing live stock that is unacceptable.
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I don't know what things are like in CA. Up here and throughout the Pheasant belt there are both Coyotes and Foxes. At the ranch here in MN Yotes and fox are feeding on the same deer carcass, seem to get along just fine. A coyote hunting and killing a fox would be like the last resort, why would a Yote hunt something that will bite back, same thing for Yotes hunting Raccoons.
Coyotes are a threat to gamebirds year around, hunting nesting pheasants is common and a easy meal for Coyotes. However the biggest damage is to Wintering pheasants, holed up in heavy cover like cattails with snow cover. Coyotes hunt at night, pheasants have no night vision. A pair of Coyotes will clean out a area of Wintering Pheasants then move on to the next area.

Think about pointing dogs, Coyotes hunt the same way, only there is a meal involved. An easy meal.

I've read studies supporting Coyotes, easy to see through whats going on.:(
 
mnmthunting said:
I don't know what things are like in CA. Up here and throughout the Pheasant belt there are both Coyotes and Foxes.
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Here in the northern part of California, those two species co-exist just fine. More than once I've seen both on the same day.
 
quail hound said:
That's fine, I don't fault anyone who shoots yotes but I reject the idea that shooting coyotes helps game birds. Some of my best quail and pheasant spots have lots of yotes. Coyotes mean no foxes (a true gamebird predator), and they keep nest raiders (ground squirrels, opossums, raccoons etc) at bay. Now if a yote is killing live stock that is unacceptable.
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All coyotes kill sheep! So do your unsupervised bird dog. Believe me I had several hundred sheep. Only coyote who isn't hunting sheep, is the one you see not currently in a sheep pasture. Coyotes are mouths with an inexhaustable digestive tract. Not for pheasant management, and even for sheep, the coyotes are one problem, but if you get rid of coyotes, you have an explosion of foxes, they kill lambs and there are more! You can get rid of coyotes, introduce wolves! no problem with them and livestock:eek or your kids :, But mostly they leave the pheasants alone! Shooting large predators is not a long term solution for pheasant maanagement, in my opinion, the few they harvest, based on the good they do harvesting skunks, raccoons, possums, field mice, cotton rats, snakes, more than makes up for it.
 
mnmthunting said:
I don't know what things are like in CA. Up here and throughout the Pheasant belt there are both Coyotes and Foxes. At the ranch here in MN Yotes and fox are feeding on the same deer carcass, seem to get along just fine. A coyote hunting and killing a fox would be like the last resort, why would a Yote hunt something that will bite back, same thing for Yotes hunting Raccoons.
Coyotes are a threat to gamebirds year around, hunting nesting pheasants is common and a easy meal for Coyotes. However the biggest damage is to Wintering pheasants, holed up in heavy cover like cattails with snow cover. Coyotes hunt at night, pheasants have no night vision. A pair of Coyotes will clean out a area of Wintering Pheasants then move on to the next area.

Think about pointing dogs, Coyotes hunt the same way, only there is a meal involved. An easy meal.

I've read studies supporting Coyotes, easy to see through whats going on.:(
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Like I said, I have absolutely no problem with people shooting coyotes but it's just not my thing and I don't believe that it helps game birds, at least not here where I hunt. Yotes don't prey on foxes they just don't tolerate the competition that foxes present in their home range and run them out or kill them if they get the chance. I believe this not just because of studies but through personal observation as well. Sorry for getting off topic Zeb.
 
LoneRooster said:
I personally do not have a problem with road hunting..I will usually only harvest a bird off the road side if I have had a rough day in the fields without producing any results. Still..to me there is nothing better then getting a rooster hunting with your dog..that is what it is all about in my eyes. The road hunting aspect has lost its appeal to me but after a day of walking 30 miles and not getting any birds..I think I would pop one in a ditch if the opportunity presented itself...
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i would agree with this if the bird will flush and fly away it's fair game. i prefer hunting from the field also. :cheers:
 
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I have road hunted for many years going from one hunting spot to another. i think that i can be safe in saying that more birds have escaped unscathed then I have shot. I have tried just about every strategy that I can think of to try and pin them down in the ditch and it seems that most of the time I end up saying I should have done this instead of that.
 
Last two times out I walked for a couple hrs to get nothing, then walked back by the car and got birds up right next to the car, LOL. Swear to God. 1 got away 1 did not. I was dam happy to get that 1 bird for my dog after busting my hind end.:D
 
I don't have a problem with road hunting as long is bird is given to flight. If I am having a good day in the field I am far less apt to road hunt birds I see while driving around. If I am struggling, I might get out and hunt a couple spots. I don't have any problem with blocking fields.

As far as coyotes go, I go back and forth. I am fine with people hunting them, but I am kinda with QH on this one. Killing for the sake of killing doesn't do much for me anymore. Now if I did something with the hide it would be a different story. Or if I was a farmer.
 
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See, I would not classify what I do as road hunting. I just have good long stretches that I know. I will park and just walk for a couple miles, 1 out 1 back. I get some from time to time. I typicaly dont ever see them even. I just walk it. Not often, but I would say a couple good ole stand bys each year. been plenty of times it was just excersize,LOL
 
shooting fish in a barrel

I recently hunted during blizzard conditions. I have a young shorthair and felt the snow would be ideal for him as the pheasants would hold better.

upon entering the field he immediately flushed a couple roosters. then he got down to business. he pointed and retrieved a limit of birds. we continued working birds, moving a total of about forty birds.

After leaving the field, I got to wondering, was this fair chase? Kinda felt like I was shooting fish in a barrel.
 
feasantfever said:
I recently hunted during blizzard conditions. I have a young shorthair and felt the snow would be ideal for him as the pheasants would hold better.

upon entering the field he immediately flushed a couple roosters. then he got down to business. he pointed and retrieved a limit of birds. we continued working birds, moving a total of about forty birds.

After leaving the field, I got to wondering, was this fair chase? Kinda felt like I was shooting fish in a barrel.
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Heck yes! I think is fine, plus it worked your young dog at a time when he needed it and in circumstances that might not come for a long time. Besides if the roosters were after the first snow, with crusty ice, they would run, and not hesitate to leave you and your dog behind, slogging away in hip deep snow. I commend your though process though. remember the "snowing roosters", it will make the days where they fool you seem easier.
 
FCSpringer said:
Frozen snowy cattails are a way of life here. May as well plan on it or move,LOL:thumbsup: Off till Jan 5th guess where I will be.:D
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I love snowy cattails, I just wish we would get some snow. How do the pointies work in cattails? Sorry I could not resist.
 
FCSpringer said:
See, I would not classify what I do as road hunting. I just have good long stretches that I know. I will park and just walk for a couple miles, 1 out 1 back. I get some from time to time. I typicaly dont ever see them even. I just walk it. Not often, but I would say a couple good ole stand bys each year. been plenty of times it was just excersize,LOL
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Toad's dictionary defines road hunting as shooting from the vehicle or immediately after jumping out of the vehicle.

A road ditch is just a weedy draw in a more convenient location.:thumbsup:
 
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