Why coyote?

[kb4ns]

Okay, so I'm not a hunter. My dad wasn't a hunter, so I have no experience whatsoever (other than the half dozen or so deer I've had to shoot at work). I might have to talk a TGOer into taking me under their wing and learnin' me some stuff some day. Anyways, I know a lot of guys like hunting yotes. Why? I understand the other game that you eat, but what is the purpose of coyote hunting? Does it have to do with keeping the "predator" population down or what?

Keep in mind that I'm not being critical in any way, I'm just genuinely curious.

[Kenstaroni]

I'm no expert, but most people seem to hunt them to keep them from killing their farm animals.

[mikegideon]

'cause they need killin'

[Guest TargetShooter84]

'cause their fur is worth a grand per hair strand

[kb4ns]

Gotcha guys. I've actually been looking at the TWRA website, but it only offers limited info.

What do you do with them after you've shot them?

[DaveS]

Coyotes need controlled. In urban areas they are a threat to our children and pets. In the wilder areas, they kill deer, fawns, turkeys and any other desirable game animals. In farmland, they prey on calves, sheep, chickens and any thing else they take a notion to kill and eat. The coyote population is getting out of control. I do animal control (coyote and feral hog) on the side. Coyotes are getting out of hand, farmers complain about losing stock, but won't allow anyone to shoot them (don't allow hunting). Stop complaining then! Shoot everyone of them you see!

[DaveS]

I skin them, mount them, tan them and wind up giving the finished product to my friends! They sure look nice tanned out!

[Howler]

If you ever call one in you'll get it. It's like see a big buck during deer season, the heat starts pumping, the breathing picks up, etc. For me it's much more fun than deer hunting (just my 2cents). I also do some trapping for farmers that have sheep and goats. They can take a toll on farm animals and calling/trapping them can help make new friends (the farmer). Killing a few kiyotes can also help you pick up some deer hunting land!

[Guest BEARMAN]

Here's another reason they are a threat to human's.

This could just as easily have happened anywhere coyote's live. FWIW.

AP

Coyotes kill woman on hike in Canadian park

'Very unusual and is not likely to be repeated,' wildlife biologist says

LW Communications via / AP Taylor Mitchell, seen in a promotional photo for her singing career, was from Toronto, Canada.

TORONTO — Two coyotes attacked a Canadian woman while she was hiking alone in a national park in eastern Canada, and authorities said she died Wednesday of her injuries.

The victim was identified as Taylor Mitchell, 19, a singer-songwriter from Toronto who was touring in support of her new album on the East Coast.

She was hiking solo on a trail in Cape Breton Highlands National Park in Nova Scotia on Tuesday when the attack occurred. She was airlifted to a Halifax hospital in critical condition and died Wednesday morning, authorities said.

Coyotes, which also are known as prairie wolves, are found from Central American to the United States and Canada.

Wildlife biologist Bob Bancroft said coyote attacks are extremely rare because the animals are usually shy.

‘It's very unusual’

Bancroft, a retired biologist with Nova Scotia's Department of Natural Resources, said it's possible the coyotes thought Mitchell was a deer or other prey.

"It's very unusual and is not likely to repeated," Bancroft said. "We shouldn't assume that coyotes are suddenly going to become "the big bad wolf"

Royal Canadian Mounted Police spokeswoman Brigdit Leger said other hikers heard Mitchell's screams for help on Tuesday and called emergency police dispatchers.

Police who were in the area reached the scene quickly and shot one of the animals, apparently wounding it. But the wounded animal and a companion coyote managed to get away.

Paul Maynard of Emergency Health Services said Mitchell already was in critical condition when paramedics arrived on the scene and had multiple bite wounds over her entire body.

"She was losing a considerable amount of blood from the wounds," he said.

‘So excited about the future’

An official with Parks Canada said they blocked the entrance to the trail where Mitchell was attacked and were trying to find the animals to determine what prompted such an unusual attack.

"There's been some reports of aggressive animals, so it's not unknown," said Helene Robichaud, the park's superintendent. "But we certainly never have had anything so dramatic and tragic."

Mitchell was a folk and country musician who was nominated for a 2009 Canadian Folk Music Award in the Young Performer of the Year category.

"Words can't begin to express the sadness and tragedy of losing such a sweet, compassionate, vibrant, and phenomenally talented young woman," Lisa Weitz, Mitchell's manager, said in an e-mail. "She just turned 19 two months ago, and was so excited about the future."

[FIRERESCUEO2]

A great site with lots of info .............. predatormastersforums

[kb4ns]

Alright, you guys are really making me want to take up a new hobby. New question - who is in the west end of the state that wants to teach me how to hunt??

[Guest BEARMAN]

If I were closer KB, I would be more than happy to "show you the ropes" on some varmints.

Try this, too....Varmint Al's Eclectic Web Pages ...tis a very good site.

[kb4ns]

Thanks for the website links guys. I'm learning a great deal from them.

I've been looking at the Hunter Ed requirements on TWRA's site. I was happy to see that they now let you do most of the class online then attend a "field day" to complete it. However, in a fashion true to a government agency, I noticed that there are very few "field days" (only one listed anywhere in West TN - over an hour away from my tiny community called Memphis) and it's full. I swear they must have thought to themselves "This is convenient and people will like it! Let's just barely do it..." Ugh...

[Guest BRad704]

I took my Hunter Ed Class from Sam Murray at the TWRA office over on Brother Blvd... i think it was only a few nights during one week, and the shooting was done right there on the range.

I'd love to pick up coyote hunting as well, but dont know where to go around Mempho... got some research of my own to do...

[kb4ns]

When you figure where to go, lemme know

[Guest nozzle13]

KB, I second the TWRA over on Brother. I took it again, last fall with my stepson. It was a very well laid out class, and the instructor was excellent. They have a nice facility there also. The local IDPA guys are using the place on Tuesday nights now too. I've been meaning to go shoot with them, but my gun bag got jacked while at Pickwick over the 4th(didn't get my 34 though), and waiting to get my stuff back together.

Anyways, I used to hunt back in the day with my pop, but haven't been in about 8 or 9 yrs. My son's friends at school have him all jazzed up about going, and since his dad has no interest taking him, even though he hunts, I told him we would go this year. I'm a little worried, cause he was with women pretty much until his mom and I got together at age 9. He's a little squeamish. He won't even pick up a dead mouse out of a trap, but I'm trying to man him up. I was thinking maybe a dove hunt might be best for a first time, since he loves to bust clays. Plus I would hate for the first thing he kills to be "Bambi".

I too, would really like to go coyote, or pig hunting though. I don't really eat much deer beside the tenderloin. I give the rest to my inlaws or old people my pop knows. So it doesn't get wasted. So if you get any info on that give me a holler,

Overall, though check out the TWRA at Brother, and check out the WMA's. I always used to hunt the White Oak WMA, as my pop lives that way. The local ones can get a little congested as everyone from Memphis goes. The one up there isn't to bad unless your duck hunting, cause everyone up there already has private land to hunt.

Holler if I can help in anyway.

Marty

[kb4ns]

Thanks Marty. Surprisingly, I didn't see any classes listed at the TWRA range in the near future (hard to believe with such a nice facility). There is one coming up at a church on Walnut Grove that lasts a few hours on a Fri night and then all day Saturday. I'm off work then, and if I can get the wife & kid to work out the schedule with me, I might try to go to it.

[Cherokee Slim]

For one of my assignments I lived in Monterrey Mexico for 10 years. I joined a hunting club because it was the only way to legally buy guns. The club had a huge hunting preserve between Monterrey & McAllen Tx that for years had been know for large deer. But all of a sudden the deer population dropped. We finally realized that packs of coyotes were killing the deer. But we couldn't get the coyotes to come out of the brush to kill them. We hunted off of shooting towers that gave us 200-300 yard shooting lanes surrounded by thick brush. We also had hundreds of javelinas. You can't eat them, the meat is horrible. So we killed javelinas and hung the carcasses in the shooting lanes. The coyotes came out for the free meat and we shot them by the dozens. They never figured out where the shots came from because we could shoot from so far away. After 2-3 years the big deer population started to grow. Now the club controls the javelina & coyote population by pretty much having open season on them, and big deer are able to be hunted again. It was a win, win situation for a shooter like me.

Cherokee Slim

[Guest BRad704]

Thanks for rubbing that one in our faces Slim...

We passed one walking along the road on our way to Gold Strike last weekend, but I don't think I have EVER seen one personally in West TN... If I do find a hunting spot, I'll try it out and let you know if its any good before I pass it along. (I'd hate to give bad info )

As for the boy's first hunt.... If you want a good quail hunt, there is a place called Quail Walk out east of Memphis. I think its about $125 a person, but its a private land, planted bird hunt, so you are SURE to have some action and at least the young guys won't have a boring first experience.

[kb4ns]

As for the boy's first hunt.... If you want a good quail hunt, there is a place called Quail Walk out east of Memphis. I think its about $125 a person, but its a private land, planted bird hunt, so you are SURE to have some action and at least the young guys won't have a boring first experience.

Here's their website:

www.quailwalk.com

[Guest HvyMtl]

One thing not touched on: Coyote are not an indigenous species. The introduction of this foreign species upsets the balances found in nature. Coyote will kill and eat nearly anything it can find. And since the wolf population was removed from the area, and the ease of movement created by "paths" (roads, train tracks, etc.) removing the natural barriers in the land and making it easier to move place to place, the coyote have moved up here.

They are dangerous. And should be hunted.

I live in South East Nashville. And I have sighted Coyote in my neighborhood. I don't go out unarmed to the trash cans any more.

[Mark A]

I live in South East Nashville... I don't go out unarmed to the trash cans any more.

But that doesn't have anything to do with coyotes right?

hah!, Mark

[Sidewinder]

I'm no coyote hunting expert by any stretch of the imagination. But, I do know a few things about Tennessee game. Back in the 60s -70s there was plenty of quail to hunt in almost everyone's field. Now, the quail population is sparse... very sparse. I can't prove it, but I think two things mainly contributed to the demise of our quail population, coyotes and house cats. Outdoor house cats will do a number on quail, as will the coyotes. Seems the coyotes go against everything the hunters want to see get better.

[roverboy]

I use to keep my .223 busy hunting groundhogs. I don't even see very many anymore. The coyotes are hard on a lot of game.

[Guest mosinon]

I'm no coyote hunting expert by any stretch of the imagination. But, I do know a few things about Tennessee game. Back in the 60s -70s there was plenty of quail to hunt in almost everyone's field. Now, the quail population is sparse... very sparse. I can't prove it, but I think two things mainly contributed to the demise of our quail population, coyotes and house cats. Outdoor house cats will do a number on quail, as will the coyotes. Seems the coyotes go against everything the hunters want to see get better.

Predation is a big part of it. I found this article on the quail population interesting.