Advice needed with coyotes.

I'm gonna shoot every yote I see for the very reason this whole thread (in part) was started for. Attacking turkeys.

Yotes in this area as well as many other areas are just simply out of hand. The turkey, as well as the deer and rabbit population has drastically decreased. Nobody's trapping anymore and there just isn't a natural predator around to keep them in check.

I'll do my best to make the yote DRT but if I know I got a good hit on a yote and it still runs off, I won't loose any sleep. And I sure as heck won't hesitate at slinging an arrow at one.
 
I would shoot at a coyote (if legal in your state) with whatever I happened to have on hand. If you are bow hunting, then so be it. If you have a shotgun, even better. Heck, I have even taken my CCW weapon out and shot one while out squirrel hunting with a 22 lr.
 
No mention of distance between you two. But having a full choke or tighter I really don't think it makes much of a difference what you shoot at a dog. A turkey load or #4 buck. The shot string is going to be pretty tight. The yote may run off but won't go far with all that amount of shot concentrated in its rib and front shoulder area. Very damaging wound.
 
Shoot in the chest cavity, heart and lungs. This will result in a sure and certain death within a short time, assuming one shot is all you get.

A head shot with a turkey load may just cripple his jaws, throat, and eyes, ensuring a slow death and some possible danger to the next person or animal it encounters. The skull is tougher bone than the soft chest and may be turned at an angle that precludes immediate killing by penetrating to the brain.
 
In some states the game warden may take a dim view of having buckshot in your gun while turkey hunting.
 
Brian , have you ever met a coyote/wolf in your neighborhood ? remember that 20 % of NY and PA coyotes have wolf genes .They are the 70 + pound ones !!:eek:
In Brooklyn we knew a fellow who had a rare carry permit . He ALWAYS carried when he walked his dog in Owl's Head [Bliss] Park because of the large number of feral dogs there .
Feral dogs here in the Catskill Mtns have been taken care of by the coyotes.
 
Let's don't go huntin' boogers, okay? If you're shot-gunning for turkeys and Ol' Wily shows up, just shoot him and don't worry about anything but the sight picture.

Fewer coyotes = More turkeys, deer and quail. Better for the folks with sheep, goats and chickens, also.
 
AdamSean, you would definitely get a rush from say,
calf elk calling and turning to stare into the steely eyes of a huge grey wolf at 14 paces!

But a non-rabid yote (he was hunting, so no rabies), perhaps a little skittish?
 
If this comment applies.
In some states the game warden may take a dim view of having buckshot in your gun while turkey hunting.
Click to expand...

If that's the case.
Consider a (cut shot-shell) for immediate elimination of such animals. Just don't shoot your turkey with one as you will have little left to eat.
 
mete said:
Brian , have you ever met a coyote/wolf in your neighborhood ? remember that 20 % of NY and PA coyotes have wolf genes .They are the 70 + pound ones !!:eek:

In Brooklyn we knew a fellow who had a rare carry permit . He ALWAYS carried when he walked his dog in Owl's Head [Bliss] Park because of the large number of feral dogs there .

Feral dogs here in the Catskill Mtns have been taken care of by the coyotes.
Click to expand...


I know guys who have killed hundreds of coyotes and my uncle has killed 29 from a single bait pile. I've never heard of a single one being over 65lbs and that was ONE and it won a contest in which over 100 animals were entered. My uncle killed one that was exactly 60lbs and it was by far the largest he's killed.

I know that studies have shown that some coyotes in the NE do indeed have red wolf genes but I've never heard a %.

Most of what people "know" about NY coyotes is urban legend mixed with old wive's tales.
 
I've got to chime in on this one. I, and more importantly, my kids had some scary encounters with coyotes on the edges of the Denver metro area (Parker Colorado) back a few years ago. There was a greenbelt with a stream running through it that was in between where we were and where their friends lived.

While on foot they were actively trailed by coyotes at dusk repeatedly, one even attempted to keep up with them while they were on their bikes. This was not their imagination, they called us on their buddies cell phone to pick them up and we were able to see the coyotes trailing them first hand!

I contacted all the usual gov't authorities only to have them tell me that yes, they had gotten reports of "unusually aggressive" coyotes in the area, and that livestock and pets were missing, but in wasn't their responsibility because somehow this greenbelt was in the middle of some sort of boundary limbo and no one knew who actually was responsible for it.

Yes the OP might very well have been in danger. I'll give him the same advice I gave my kids, who at that point I trained in my old standby, the wrist rocket (I figured it was better than nothing). Aim for the head. I would think that any sort of shotgun round to the face would at least blind it.
 
Most are like tall chihuahuas lol

Their fur can make an illusion of size but I've killed many, and they are dainty compared to dogs
 
Most Texas coyotes are around 30 to 35 pounds. As with deer and cougars, the farther north you go, the larger the animal. I am not all surprised by reports from up north about coyotes weighing fifty pounds or even more.

But I really doubt that a hostile coyote will advance after receiving a face full of even small birdshot, much less a turkey load.
 
Brian, I'm talking about a proper study of PA and NY. Photos of skulls ,DNA stuff etc. I lost a lot of things from my computer last year including that . I'll try to google it.
 
I haven't been a hunter for quite a few years now. That said, if I'm armed and spot a coyote, I'll shoot it with whatever I have at hand. They're becoming a real problem in many areas.
 
That study shows that NY coyotes are about 9% wolf, the second lowest % of any they listed, and identical to the domestic dog %. They have no mention of the weight, that I saw. Hundreds of dead coyotes all being weighed constitutes science to me. When the winning animal is 65lbs and folks who see it are amazed, I can't find a single person who's ever seen one 70lbs with their own eyes (though there are "my cousins, friends, neighbors, best friend...." kind of stories and of 29 that my uncle has shot the FAR and away largest is 50lbs, I have a real hard time believing there's any number of uber-large ones out there. (I just texted him to verify... It was *50* lbs, NOT 60)

Only a few of the 29 my uncle has shot have been over 40lbs and only 2 over 45.

NY DEC says they run 35-45lbs... http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/9359.html

A study by Cornell says the average male is 35, female 32.
 
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I like blasting yotes with my 25-06 but I've killed several with .22's including 1 with a cb cap with a head shot .
 
Missouri closes the coyote season during spring turkey season. Guess they had too many "varmint hunters" poaching turkeys. Also, no shot bigger than #4. I don't know what dufus regs other states have in place but better study up before going afield.
In the past, I've had 3 coyotes tackle my decoy while I was calling. All failed to get away after receiving a load of #4 although one ran about 200 yards before toppling over. BB or #2 seems to work better on coyote but I wouldn't mess around trying to swap loads with a yote within 20-30 yards.
 
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