Shoot or don't shoot?

[niceshot]

Does shooting coyotes do more harm than good for pheasants? There is a game biologist from SE Minnesota doing research trying to say that coyotes keep the fox and coon population down thereby benefiting pheasants. I am skeptical that any research grant money would be biased to preserving all cute furry creatures. What do you guys think?

 

[Dakotazeb]

I think there is some truth to what the biologist said. I think fox are much harder on pheasants than coyotes. And I know for fact that in the past 30+ years that I have lived in this area of South Dakota as the coyotes became more plentiful, the fox disappeared. I used to see and hunt a lot of fox but now it's a rarity to see a fox or even a fox track. So this guy's research makes sense to me. However, I don't know if you can shoot enough coyotes to put a dent in their population.

 

[donnie_19]

Shoot all of them.

 

[moellermd]

Yotes due limit the fox populations. I do not know how they affect coons. I would be willing to bet that coons and skunks hurt the pheasant population more by their nest raiding. I will skill shoot'em however.

 

[BleuBijou]

When everything else on this planet is gone , the coyote will still be here. When their numbers are low they produce a larger litter. When their numbers are high, they have small litters. Hard to put a dent into a system like that. As far as the skunks and coons go, they reek havoc on nests. One time I had a critter getting into a 75 by 25 pen of pheasants. All I had was a bunch of headless birds, no visible entry holes into the pen. Turns out a skunk was digging a hole underneath the pen and then covering the hole back up when it left. Once I figured it out, I trained that skunk on 12 gauge.:thumbsup:

 

[pheasantaddict]

Skunks, possum, and raccoons do more damage to bird #'s than anything else. Yotes help to control these nest raiders, It won't hurt to shoot some yotes.

 

[drewswhips]

I'm sure if a 'yote came across eggs or chicks it wouldn't pass up that free meal.

 

[mnmthunting]

IMO, money would be much better spent on other stuff.

For sure, NO doubt the results when a hunting coyote comes across a pheasant nest. AND yotes in pheasant country will learn to hunt nests and night roosting pheasants. Yotes see very good in the dark and not so for pheasants.. Not just pheasants but all ground nesting birds. AND if an area has a high yote population there won't be many game birds. Yotes are very good survivors and the more you kill the more they multiply. As far as killing fox? We have both on the ranch I have no experience of Coyote hurting the fox populations.

 

[bobeyerite]

Any animal when hungry which is always will NEVER pass up a easy meal. I say kill all yotes as you see them. I wish it was leagal to kill hawks and other birds of prey. They kill more young game birds than anything.........Bob

 

[Uncle Buck]

While a coyote will not pass up an easy meal, they prefer rabbit and do keep the fox down. I also saw a coon caught in a small culvert and the way the back end was eaten, he was had by a coyote who chased him in there. Whatever keeps the coon down works for me, but we have plenty of coyotes and coon both. I do see the occasional fox in my neighborhood, tho not like the old days.
________
Apv

 

[moellermd]

I wish it was leagal to kill hawks and other birds of prey. They kill more young game birds than anything.........Bob

Very true. They should let people shoot hawks. I hear they are good eating and taste like Bald Eagle.

 

[Tpharkman]

I love seeing bald eagles and have great respect for that awesome bird... that being said your post still has me ROFLMAO!!

 

[kiotehntr]

I say shoot all the coyotes that you can.....:thumbsup:

 

[Prairie Drifter]

Your bio is correct. Research on coyotes finds that they are hard on those mesopredators like coon, fox, and skunks. They are also big predators on rodents which often can attract more harmful predators like snakes, possums, and skunks into thatchy nesting habitat. Keeping the coyotes is better for the birds.

 

[mnmthunting]

I'm very lucky that I can spend every day in the outdoors. And have as long as I can remember.
Lot of things to witness over the years. Walking the trails year around and observation. Wish I could tell you how many times Pheasant feathers and coyote tracks, you follow the tracks in the snow and the story is clear. Coyotes are very good at finding ground roosting pheasants. Coyotes do very well killing pheasants in cat tails.

I can't understand how anyone that has done coyotes studies in pheasant county to say coyotes are good for the pheasants. I have to think these studies are funded by special interest groups where as the results have been determined in advance.

 

[drewswhips]

I'm very lucky that I can spend every day in the outdoors. And have as long as I can remember.
Lot of things to witness over the years. Walking the trails year around and observation. Wish I could tell you how many times Pheasant feathers and coyote tracks, you follow the tracks in the snow and the story is clear. Coyotes are very good at finding ground roosting pheasants. Coyotes do very well killing pheasants in cat tails.

I can't understand how anyone that has done coyotes studies in pheasant county to say coyotes are good for the pheasants. I have to think these studies are funded by special interest groups where as the results have been determined in advance.

I second that.

 

[swellcat]

I have to think these studies are funded by special interest groups where as the results have been determined in advance.

Yes â?? the all-powerful Coyote Conspiracy which secretly rules the world and pulls the strings on the puppet scientists who do their bidding.

 

[KsHusker]

I'm very lucky that I can spend every day in the outdoors. And have as long as I can remember.
Lot of things to witness over the years. Walking the trails year around and observation. Wish I could tell you how many times Pheasant feathers and coyote tracks, you follow the tracks in the snow and the story is clear. Coyotes are very good at finding ground roosting pheasants. Coyotes do very well killing pheasants in cat tails.

I can't understand how anyone that has done coyotes studies in pheasant county to say coyotes are good for the pheasants. I have to think these studies are funded by special interest groups where as the results have been determined in advance.

I think on a micro ecological scale if you will, yes I agree, coyotes kill pheasants, but on a macro ecological scale where everything is taken into consideration Troy (Prairie Drifter) has a valid point. Makes sense that coyotes would prey on coons, fox, etc or even provide competition for the same prey those predators are after therefore keeping them in check too.

I would think coyotes would get more mice and rabbits than anything else.

I think it all boils down to habitat, not predators. Eliminating predators all together may increase an areas carrying capacity a little bit but I dont think it will increase the carrying capacity as much as weather that cooperates and the proper habitat.

 

[mnmthunting]

Coyotes love hunting mice for sure, spend a lot of time in the high grass. A pheasant nest is the real prize. NEVER pass up a nest for a mouse, or tasty young mouth size chicks.

Coyotes also take a lot of young Cottontails.
By Winter the dumb Cotton tails are gone, the survivors are yote wise and the thing a bout rabbits, they can do pretty well in the dark.

Winter and heavy snow cover makes the mice mostly safe from the Coyote. Mice will be under the snow with their little borrows leading in every direction to safety from the digging yote.

Pheasants on the other hand are readily available, roost above the snow, can't to much to escape in the darkness. And the coyote is about 3 times a big as a fox with three times the appetite.

Coons and skunks are nest destroyers for sure. Yotes to. Skunks and coons aren't a major threat to Wintering hens, Yotes very much are.

 

[winchester21]

Shoot all of them.

I concur! Here in Colorado, we have a shitload of yote's and I always have my Sako 22-250 in the truck cab. While I don't necessarily go out of my way to "hunt" them, rest assured that if I see one, I'm flooring it to get a good shot and there's gonna be a 55 gr. Ballistic Tip headed downrange!

This thread does touch on an interesting paradox though, that being birds of prey. Call me a bigot, but I don't think I could ever shoot one. I've always thought they are too smart and beautiful to shoot but I guess the same could be said for the coyote/fox which I have no problem greasing. I agree that raptors probably have a much greater impact on bird numbers than anything else, probably combined, yet I would be very hesitant to pull the trigger on one of the bazillion that I see each time I'm out....