Coyotes: A Factor

[Altjaeger]

According to two recent studies coyoyes may be a much bigger factor in deer predation than previously believed. That is true in regions where they are a fairly recent arrivals like the South, Mid-West and suburban Northeast where they are fairly new arrivals.

The first study in South Carolina by John Kilgo of the USDA involved implanting vaginal transmitters in pregnant does. When the does gave birth the researchers located the fawn and attached the ejected transmitter. When dead fawns were located DNA was used to identify the predator.

Out of 60 fawns 44 died in eight weeks. Causes were abandonment (1), unknown predators (2), bobcats (6) and coyotes (28 confirmed and 7 probables). In other words if you include the probables coyotes accounted for 80% of all deaths.

The second study was conducted by Brent Howze and Robert Warren of the University of Georgia. Taking a 29,000 acre block with a low fawn to doe ratio they removed 23 coyotes from a 11,000 acre block from January to August 2008. Using a 7,000 acre block as a control they removed no predators there. Last fall camera surveys showed a meager .07 to 1 ratio in the control block. In the zone where coyotes were trapped the ratio was a vastly better .72 to 1.

Recommendations include maintaining a balanced buck to doe ratio so that breeding is accomplished quickly, resulting in a short burst of births in the spring. This narrows the window of opportunity for predation of young deer. Second is encourage grassy, brushy young growth so does can drop in relatively predator-safe cover. Third is if you notice an upswing in coyote populations you may want to decrease the doe harvest. Finally become a coyote hunter and have fun.

Source: "The Other Deer Hunters" page 25 of the June 2000 Field and Stream.

[southtexas]

alt: Interesting info. Since one of the recommendations was to get the doe/buck ratio in line, would that imply that the deer population was too high for the area? If so, maybe the coyotes were doing the right thing by helping to get the population down.


I have also read research that concluded that shooting/hunting coyotes has very little impact on their population or on their impact on the deer herd.

Don't get me wrong, I shoot every one I see. I just think they are impressive critters and may play a positive roll in nature's plan as well as a potential negative roll.

Another thought: I find it interesting how often one of the recommendations of a wildlife study involving deer is to get the population balanced and within the carrying capacity of the area. Must be a message in there somewhere!:)

[venado]

I hope that TexasM comes in here on this subject. He has a lot of experience in controlling predation. (BTW, Mike has and is suffering from some serious health issues and I hope he is still active in following threads.)

If I recall correctly, the coyotes react very strongly to an attempt to reduce their numbers by greatly increasing their own production. Hence the reduction of coyotes is only effective for saving fawns if that reduction is timed so that there are fewer coyotes at the time of the drop of the fawns. If the coyote program is not maintained throughout the year the range may actually see an increase in predation the following fawning season.

ST, in my management efforts at our place, we felt that the coyotes were working in out behalf to keep the herd down. With the situation with one of continued drought and very low recruitment, my thinking is now moving toward your approach of banging every one I see.

Yes ST that message is running through virtually any management plan that one wishes to look at. A healthy deer herd needs to fit their environment no matter how difficult and painful it might be in making hunting more difficult when numbers are lower.

[Altjaeger]

alt: Interesting info. Since one of the recommendations was to get the doe/buck ratio in line, would that imply that the deer population was too high for the area? If so, maybe the coyotes were doing the right thing by helping to get the population down.


I have also read research that concluded that shooting/hunting coyotes has very little impact on their population or on their impact on the deer herd.

Don't get me wrong, I shoot every one I see. I just think they are impressive critters and may play a positive roll in nature's plan as well as a potential negative roll.

Another thought: I find it interesting how often one of the recommendations of a wildlife study involving deer is to get the population balanced and within the carrying capacity of the area. Must be a message in there somewhere!:)

The article did not address the gender ratio or population. It also clearly spoke of areas where coyotes have not been traditionally found, but had expanded their range too. Both studies were limited to the Southeast so even the Midwest and Urbanized Northeast is speculation. It may or may not apply to Texas and the Western United States.

I agree that balanced to environment and gender ratios are important. As outlined in the recommendations rapid breeding results in a short fawning season limiting windows of opportunity for predators. Ratios that are maintained as near balanced as possible means a higher percentage of bucks can be in the herd population in relation to carrying capacity. It does little good to "leave the does to breed" if you are near capacity if you have 80%-90% does and shooting bucks only. In that situation the coyotes may be doing you a favor by doing the job hunters have not done. The number of bucks will just decline further.

Venado I have heard of the study second hand here and would be curious where it was conducted. Your right in that it seems predator removal needs to be done on an ongoing basis. In this study it was done spring and summer with the study done the same fall. If the program did not continue I am sure the coyote population would increase and ravage the herd again the next year or two.

[Laturkeyhtr]

I have also read research that concluded that shooting/hunting coyotes has very little impact on their population or on their impact on the deer herd.

It seems that there was also an adverse affect to the population dynamics of the coyote herd.

But not to matter to me, I will still shoot everyone I see. I think I have killed about 4 in the past six years or so and if anything am seeing more than I used to. :o

[GF.]

Funny thing... Having a good buck:doe ratio intensifies competition for breeding rights (which should improve buck 'quality') and shortens up the breeding period. That not only makes hunting the peak rut period more productive, on account of all that chasing around, but it causes a more synchronized fawn drop, which cuts down on losses to predators.

And having a lighter herd to begin with only helps, because the bucks have to roam farther and wider in search of does to breed, but they don't have to do it for as long a period of time, so they can get some weight back on before the winter hits. And having scattered fawns dropping at about the same time makes it that much harder for the coyotes to clean 'em out, so that should trim down the coyote stocks as well.

About the only fly in the ointment is that because hunting for bucks becomes somewhat easier during that short, intense rut, that can screw up the buck:doe ratio that triggered the upward spiral to begin with :confused:


I'm just looking forward to a good, clean shot on a nice, big coyote, because we've got some big daddies up here, and I'd love to have a few hides tanned up. I don't honestly believe that opportunistic coyote-popping by deer hunters is going to affect the coyote density much one way or the other. Sure, they might somehow be able to drop more pups when mortality is high, but they can still only raise as many as they can feed, so if the deer herd is in reasonably good check, I don't see how the coyotes are going to going to be able to pick up a whole lot of slack just out of nowhere....

And if there's a concerted coyote-reduction effort going on in an area, then more coyotes are going to get 'reduced'. The survivors may have reduced competition and the females might be in good enough condition to deliver a few more pups, but it's not as if 2 adults can feed 8 pups as readily as 2 pair of adults can feed 4 pups each...

[venado]

GF., since coyotes are very opportunistic feeders, I'm not sure how the fawn crop actually effects the number of coyotes in an area since they certainly feed as available on rodents, birds, rabbits, ground squirrels, etc. Since the fawning period is short lived, the number of coyotes can not be based on deer numbers. Healthy mature deer aren't in much danger to coyotes with the exception of the run down bucks following the rut.

[Herne]

We don't have coyotes - but we do have foxes. Not in the same league, but good fun to hunt. Actually they are pretty good at getting fawns. Mum can usually defend a pair of twins, but 3, no. Usually the foxes with get the third.

If you let them.

We do it at night. A great big million candlepower light and a call. You keep squeaking (fawn squeak is pretty good, but an injured hare or rabbit call is ok too) and you move slowly and quietly into wind. You need to know your ground because hopefully you'll come to the interesting bit and oyu are going to need a backstop. - you see those big marmalade eyes glowing in the dark. That's when you quieten the call to whisper, kill the light and set up. Then light him up, keeping him on the edge of the beam, not in the middle, and let rip with a 270 with a 90g TNT Speer. Bit overkill really, since a 223 will do, but it is absolutely terminal.

You only get one shot because of the muzzle flash - but it IS going to cut him in half.

Good fun - no seasons, other than darkness!

[Altjaeger]

Funny thing... Having a good buck:doe ratio intensifies competition for breeding rights (which should improve buck 'quality') and shortens up the breeding period. That not only makes hunting the peak rut period more productive, on account of all that chasing around, but it causes a more synchronized fawn drop, which cuts down on losses to predators.

And having a lighter herd to begin with only helps, because the bucks have to roam farther and wider in search of does to breed, but they don't have to do it for as long a period of time, so they can get some weight back on before the winter hits. And having scattered fawns dropping at about the same time makes it that much harder for the coyotes to clean 'em out, so that should trim down the coyote stocks as well.

About the only fly in the ointment is that because hunting for bucks becomes somewhat easier during that short, intense rut, that can screw up the buck:doe ratio that triggered the upward spiral to begin with :confused:


I'm just looking forward to a good, clean shot on a nice, big coyote, because we've got some big daddies up here, and I'd love to have a few hides tanned up. I don't honestly believe that opportunistic coyote-popping by deer hunters is going to affect the coyote density much one way or the other. Sure, they might somehow be able to drop more pups when mortality is high, but they can still only raise as many as they can feed, so if the deer herd is in reasonably good check, I don't see how the coyotes are going to going to be able to pick up a whole lot of slack just out of nowhere....

And if there's a concerted coyote-reduction effort going on in an area, then more coyotes are going to get 'reduced'. The survivors may have reduced competition and the females might be in good enough condition to deliver a few more pups, but it's not as if 2 adults can feed 8 pups as readily as 2 pair of adults can feed 4 pups each...

I think you pretty well wrapped it. But I would not worry about killing the bucks IF you shoot does. A herd that is balanced and has good food can loss 1/3its bucks, 1/3 the does and 1/3 the fawns a year and still start the next year with the same size herd.

[Altjaeger]

We don't have coyotes - but we do have foxes. Not in the same league, but good fun to hunt. Actually they are pretty good at getting fawns. Mum can usually defend a pair of twins, but 3, no. Usually the foxes with get the third.

If you let them.

We do it at night. A great big million candlepower light and a call. You keep squeaking (fawn squeak is pretty good, but an injured hare or rabbit call is ok too) and you move slowly and quietly into wind. You need to know your ground because hopefully you'll come to the interesting bit and oyu are going to need a backstop. - you see those big marmalade eyes glowing in the dark. That's when you quieten the call to whisper, kill the light and set up. Then light him up, keeping him on the edge of the beam, not in the middle, and let rip with a 270 with a 90g TNT Speer. Bit overkill really, since a 223 will do, but it is absolutely terminal.

You only get one shot because of the muzzle flash - but it IS going to cut him in half.

Good fun - no seasons, other than darkness!

Many coyotes are shot when the odd opportunity arises. However the serious hunters call them from hides with a variety of calls. The last five years or so decoys of small mammals seems to have come into practice as well.

[Laturkeyhtr]

About the only fly in the ointment is that because hunting for bucks becomes somewhat easier during that short, intense rut, that can screw up the buck:doe ratio that triggered the upward spiral to begin with


I am not sure that it is any easier. Sure with more of them in the population, but mature bucks just don't run around during daylight waiting to get shot. The keyword where is mature bucks. Sure there are a lot of 1.5 adn 2.5 yo running around but that is not what a good QDM program is geared to. Besides some of the research indicates that not near as many does are bred by one buck that was once thought. Research indicates that a buck might breed 1-3 does per season. And before you ask for, I can't produce the research, but I think Venado is familar with it.

[Herne]

You can lose 30 % of your bucks - so long as they are not mature bucks. If you include any male fawns and yearlings and other culls for management reasons.

The proportion of mature bucks you can afford to lose is not more than about 20% of the total buck cull. If you wish to maintain an age structure.

[Altjaeger]

You can lose 30 % of your bucks - so long as they are not mature bucks. If you include any male fawns and yearlings and other culls for management reasons.

The proportion of mature bucks you can afford to lose is not more than about 20% of the total buck cull. If you wish to maintain an age structure.

The system I learned in Germany they took 1/3 of fawns. 1/3 of does and 1/3 bucks of by age class dividing into 3 classes.

[dave-t.]

GF- With a lack of predators, the small game and non game flourish, multiply, and could easily more than double the previous population, compared to when predators were on a high population cycle. End result, it may be just as easy for 2 adults to feed 8 pup, vrs 4 adults feeding 8 in a lower prey populated area.

Back in the times of great small game hunting (50's-80's), around here anyway, quail were everywhere, rabbits practically a nuisance, water fowl was also plentiful. The reason was that trapping was also much more popular and profitable, fox, bobcat, and coon were trapped or hunted, and coyotes were a thing of the past, back then. Hawks, owls, and big raptors were not under federal protection to the extent that they are today, or were struggling to recover from the chemicals. Deer and turkey also made a comeback in many states under these conditions.

Now, with predators back and moving practically into town, raptors under heavy protection and in good numbers, stray cats all over, rabbit hunting is mediocre and hunting wild quail is not even considered.

For a land managers point of view, predators work like a trap, everyday they are in place, at work, and ready. By taking out a couple coyotes, the hole in predator coverage that is left can let that one set of twins skate by, or two sets of twins. In an area of 20 deer per square mile, you've just gained 10-20% in population.

Whether gaining 10-20% is a good thing or not is a different topic, but from a land managers stand point it gives you more options and control than letting predators take what they find indiscriminately.

I think it is possible that shooting even one coyote out of a breeding pair can have this kind of change in the spring. Nature is that fickle.

[GF.]

Since the fawning period is short lived, the number of coyotes can not be based on deer numbers.


I'm going to agree with you before I make a finer distinction and set about disagreeing agin ;)

The thing the fawn drop is that it comes at a pretty opportune time for the coyotes, so while it certainly won't drive the coyote density, having a drawn-out fawning period with decent numbers of large, easily captured meals around sure doesn't do the 'yotes any harm when they're nursing and feeding the pups...

The other interesting thing here is the coyote behavior in deer-dense areas.... Up here, where we have a lot of deer, we also have poor densities of small game such as rabbits and ground-mesting birds. Plus, we have a lot of roadkilled bambies... And where the coyotes depend on the larger, more scattered food sources, they tend to run in packs, vs. their more 'natural' tendency to live as isolated breeding pairs. Herne's foxes--operating as singles or pairs-- can't begin to compare with 4-6 or more coyotes (at 2-3 or even more times the size of a fox) as regards thinning out the fawn crop... And just a thought--it may well be that twins or triplets could even decrease the chances of an individual doe getting through the summer with a fawn or more in tow, just by making the family unit easier to detect.... That would have to be looked at pretty closely, though...

One other thought... Since the drawn-out rut/fawning periods mean that there will be younger/smaller deer in the mix throughout the year, it stands to reason that the packs of coyotes would do better in those areas, because the smaller animals should be easier for them to drag down. And since younger animals are more likely to end up as roadkill, they could feed the coyotes better via that route as well...

So while the abundant protein availability during the fawn drop isn't going to be the main driver of coyote densities, it might well be the case that there are a lot of consequences of the drawn-out breeding period which do in fact make life easier for the carnivores year-round, and which will invariably increase their numbers....

[dave-t.]

When the coyote takes a fawn or roadkill deer, 5+ rabbits, birds, frogs, etc live to breed and grow....for later.

[GF.]

I'm going to hide behind a disclaimer that I was talking about 2 adults & 8 pups vs. 4 adults & 8 pups under comparable conditions... But again, it depends on the food sources--small game densities have to get high enough for the coyotes to switch over from a pack eating a lot of roadkill and running down their own deer to a number of breeding pairs out there scrounging for rabbits, mice & so forth....

And to your point, with housecats, raptors and even some of the naturally-occurring smaller predators being as common as they are these days, the coyotes are rapidly moving into the niche formerly occupied by wolves, lions & bears...

And heck, yeah... I'm not certain that they actually do this, but let's say that a pack of coyotes does what a wolfpack will do, and only the 'alpha' pair breeds... As you get closer to a 1 adult : 1 pup ratio, your odds for any given pup's survival have got to improve really quickly--right up to the point where the pack will split because they're capable of raising more pups than the one female can produce.

On the other hand, you pick off the one pregnant or nursing bitch in the bunch, and you've wiped out the entire pack's reproductive output for the year with a single bullet.... And even if a non-breeder is killed, then you're reducing the ratio of adults to pups, and that (even in a pack situation) is going to cut into pup survival... Definitely, because (as with every other critter), they're always running a razor-thin margin. If they didn't always lose some pups to starvation, they'd quickly get outnumbered by a competitor that did...

[Herne]

Alt =- we don't separate fawns which they do in Germany.

What we do is try to work out the numbers to get to an even sex ratio (Ha!), an then take bucks 20% old 20% mature, 60% yearlings. Probably comes to much the same thing, since much of our base thinking emanated form Germany.

But, if you over shoot the old - make a mistake and take an additional mature buck in error - then you stop shooting ALL mature bucks including the old, for that season.

For commercial reasons I modified that by only shooting such obvious culls out of the yearlings, which gave me more latitude and trophy value amongst the matures. Also when you are looking at a small lease of say 750- 1000 acres you re bounded by one rule, and if you are looking at 15-20,000 in close proximity, even if not all contiguous exactly, the odd one here or there is a bit less critical! Even so, i was very careful, and even on our top grade land (North Dorset really does grow the best roe in Europe, I culled no more than one adult buck per 500 acres per year. That land is still being used by two good friends using that system and thats where the 5-60 g gold medals came form. They got another the other day at 630 dry weight. Hell of a buck.

You have to be very very careful with adult bucks IMO>

[txm]

A few notes about coyotes.
Coyotes are compensatory breeders, the smaller the population the larger the litters are.
In the south, west and south west coyotes don’t run in true packs.
They stay in family groups until the next litter is born.
If a food supply is abundant in a given area some overlap is noted with various family groups, but after feeding they go separate ways until time to feed once more.
Hunting has little effect as far as a control method for coyotes.
The only method that I know of and have used is to kill as many as possible by shooting from the air, trapping, and the use of poison.
This is done at the same time and just before fawn birth.
It must be done in a fairly large area.
We worked on a minimum of 1000 acres and more is better.
This gives the fawns about 90 days to grow and be able to survive.
After 90 days the vacuum is filled and coyotes are back.
This method works but is very expensive in both man hours and money.
Until the early 1950’s we used cyanide traps and could eliminate coyotes from large areas.
Those are no longer legal because of death of non target animals.

[MOGC]

In order to control coyote populations you must kill 70% of the total population for at least FIVE CONSECUTIVE YEARS to see a long term definable low in the population. This cannot be done by sport hunting or recreational trapping. They are amazing animals and a true challenge to hunt.

[txm]

You would have to work on a very large area and have lots of money and manpower to eleminate coyotes for five years and even then I don't think that it would work for very long.
We eleminated 90% of the deer on a 10,000 acre ranch for three years and had an over population in ten years.
Deer dont have near the birth rate of coyotes and coyotes will move a greater distance.

[Herne]

I wonder if this isn't a case of the best being the enemy of the good.

Obviously it makes sense to shoot predators. The more the better. Will it have a huge effect -probably not, but better has to be better.

There are also other effects. Most dogs do produce bigger litters when circumstances permit, but bigger litters force parents to range more and therefore make them more vulnerable (assuming you are out often enough).

Next a constant purge forces average age down, so intrinsically, breeding success is reduced, and hopefully once they have gained experience they are dead.(or very clever which is a PITA).

So its not all bad.

My only comments, talking well out of his depth, but based on experience with foxes (which are not half as crafty as coyotes) would be these:

Learn to shoot well at the absolute limit of visibility (use binos and good scopes).
I'd never shoot at one unless I was certain of a good fatal hit. Bastard things, miss them once and they never come into a call again.
Best of all, get them very young - just after they leave the den and are still inexperienced, and before they wise up.

In the absence of any other better guidance, that would be how i would start, until told otherwise.

[venado]

Bob Zaiglin, who some Texans will recognize reported on a ranch that is famous in TX white-tailed deer hunting and their plan which involved no predator control. The ranch was the Pilloncillo and the report was in 1983, the ranch is 107,000 acres and is not high fenced. It is hunted but at a very restricted level, no supplemental feed was provided but the goal was the harvest of older superior antlered bucks. Coyotes were numerous and unprotected. Hunting related doe harvest is something that was less common then than it is today. He concluded that predation by coyotes in conjunction with low density doe harvests can control deer numbers on large non high-fenced management areas. When land owners are unwilling to allow adequate hunters on land to reduce doe numbers, the coyote represents a tool to be used to manage deer numbers.

I read this years ago and when I was in charge of a place where the landowner would not permit an adequate doe harvest and it was obvious that the deer were overpopulated, I chose to forego coyote hunting. As I mentioned earlier, the landowner has now allowed me freedom to take significant doe and we have done a good job for 3 years now. A reduced herd and a low recruitment has put me back in a whack-a-yote mode...!!:D

[txm]

You can shot and trap all that you want and never have much effect as to control.
Lots of fun and practice.
As far a Q.D.M. is concerned it is best to just figure coyote loss into the management plan.

[MOGC]

You would have to work on a very large area and have lots of money and manpower to eleminate coyotes for five years and even then I don't think that it would work for very long...

That is my point... Sport/recreational hunting and trapping do very little to control coyotes. Hell, the gov't spends multi millions of dollars on coyote control and actually don't do all that much good either.

[Herne]

You can shot and trap all that you want and never have much effect as to control.
Lots of fun and practice.

Thats certainly true of foxes, unless as MOGC says you can be really dedicated over a very big area. Pro rata, smaller deer the effects would be very similar. (foxes don't really affect fallow or reds which are big deer and only have one fawn).

Still it can't do any harm, and it should do some good.

[txm]

We do know that a dead coyote eats nothing.
And that for the most part is a good thing.

[Herne]

BTW, I never said nice to hear from you again Mike. You've been very quiet for a while. I knew you had been in the tender hands of the medics, so I hope you are repaired.

[venado]

Good timing by the QDMA. I just got the June edition of Quality Whitetails this afternoon and there are 3 articles on coyotes. Should be some good reading and just another reason to join the QDMA.

[Altjaeger]

Good timing by the QDMA. I just got the June edition of Quality Whitetails this afternoon and there are 3 articles on coyotes. Should be some good reading and just another reason to join the QDMA.

Maybe you can summarize those for us.

[southtexas]

txm: good to see you back. hope you are well!

[Laturkeyhtr]

Maybe you can summarize those for us.

Altj, maybe you could spend $30 and get you a membership, I am sure you would get your monies worth. :D And QDMA would continue to grow.

[venado]

Here is the 2 cent version of the articles. (The $30 version is much better...!:D).

As it has been discussed here in detail the result of formal studies reported confirms that reduction of coyotes and bobcats in February has a dramatic effect on spring fawn survival. Bobcats were not the primary fawn predator in the study area, but in areas where high coyote numbers are not present the bobcats take increases and the bobcats have a tendency to prey on older fawns.

They point out that if your deer herd is above the carrying capacity that the coyote works for you and that the crucial and accurate record is the fawn:doe ratios before a serious predator program is instituted. One of the most effective fawn survival things that you can do is to provide cover for the fawns. Though not practical for areas where I hunt, it is easy for me to see that due to our drought and absence of ground cover that this single element effects my place in an extreme manner. Removing an occasional coyote will not have any measureable beneficial effect.

One item that really hit my efforts personally was a statement that : "Certainly, a heavy doe harvest can result in a temporary decrease in observed fawn recruitment because it can increase the proportion of yearling does in the following year's adult population. These yearlings likely would have relatively few fawns, so the fawn recruitment rate would decline." I had not considered this after we started our doe removal program where we intentionally targeted mature does.

The other article concentrated on calling and decoying coyotes. Nothing really new there other than some discussion on the use of decoys which has been mentioned earlier in the thread and is something that I have not tried.

[dave-t.]

I can tell you that on my small property, after trapping coon, fox, bobcat and a truck load of possum this winter, that I have never had so many rabbits around.

Rabbits are a much different and faster reproducing animal than deer, but it has to be that if you take out predators, the prey will have a bump up in survival rates and over all population. Has to be.

If you take out a female, her partner is alone and just feeding himself (1 mouth to feed), which is a world away from 2 adults feeding 4+ offspring, 6 mouths to feed.

I believe the affects are very short term and localized, but there has to be a gain for game/prey species.