Coyote question......

B

bswiv

New member
In the last couple of years we've finally got not just a few but a BUNCH of coyotes in the woods of NE Florida. It's almost as if the population has exploded. In fact this morning, for the first time ever, I heard a couple houling while I was sitting in my stand waiting for it to get light.

So my question is for those of you in parts of the country with some history with coyotes. Give me some idea as to how they will impact the deer/hog/turkey population.

And while you're at it tell me if bobcat populations are negatively effected by the arrival of coyotes.

From what I've seen in the sand the last couple of years it seems that the cat population is down some and that the turkey population is off too. Hard to tell with the hogs and deer.

Insight appreciated.

And yes we are working on learning how to hunt them but as we have to do it during the day without the help of electric calls in the area we hunt I think it will be hard.
 
Bobcats and yotes are both hard on turkey populations. I am sure yotes get a few fawns as well. I feel ferral domestic style cats are harder on turkeys as they do not seem to self limit their population as bobcats and yotes do.
It will be hard calling them in with out electronic calls. Boartuff outdoors forum...
http://www.boartuffoutdoors.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl
Has quite a few yote hunters that often offer help to those that ask... feel free to tell them hogdogs sent you.
Brent
 
While I was stationed in northern Calf. I stopped at a forrest service station for national forrest maps. The rangers there asked me to start hunting coyotes saying that they were taking 90% of the new born fawns within 2 weeks of being born in that forrest. I hunted for them while stationed in Calf. and again in OR. I started out calling at night but found I could call them during the day just as well. If they are hungry they will come. They just tend to be moving greater distances at night. I used hand calls tuned to rabbits and fawns. The main thing was to cover your sent well, good camo, keep movement to a min. and to put a lot of panic into the calling. I whore just a bit of orange to keep hawks from swooping down at me, the yootes did not seem to see it, might be color blind to some degree. Don't over call as they will pin point you to an inch. Amagin a hurt rabbit. Each cry or scream on the call should be short and fast as you are imatating animals with a small lung capasity so it can not be long drawn out screams to be natural sounding. Keep the screems to around 2 to 3 seconds. The length of the screams is the main difference between a rabbit or a fawn. A fawn screem being just a bit longer and tuned just a bit deeped more like a jack rabbit. They will kill and eat anything that is competing with them for food, including dogs and cats. I saw a pack corner and take down a full grown cow elk in OR. It blew my mind. Match your gun to the range. Number 4 shot or bigger works great in close. With rifle or pistol I like rapidly exspanding bullets. Sorry this is so long but hope it helps you. Good luck.
 
On my way from Orlando, FL bvack to Jacksonville, FL I saw a yote dead on I-4 just before you get to I-95. I've seen tracks in the WMA's (Blanding, Osceola, Guana and 12 Mile) where I hunt, but have never actually laid eyes on one. He was huge, must have been 60lbs unless they are a lot lighter than house dogs.
 
I appreciate the replies.

It will be hard to assess the impact here. When we were kids, 35 years ago, our area of Florida was coyote free. But back then we also had darn few turkeys and a deer population that was not much better. How the much improved game populations will be effected by the introduction of a new predator is a big question.

And what impact coyotes will have on non-game animals, you know the ones we don't really notice, is another question.
 
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