Re: Who here hunts coyote?
I have hunted varmints and enjoy it.
Last night just after dusk, a train went by and my wife and I heard several of them across the creek just behind the tree line howling when the train blew its' horn. I could easily pick out 3-4 different ones. My wife was surprised at how close to the house they were and how many of them there were in such close proximity of each other and I explained to her that they would hunt in packs. So she wants the kids to play closer to the house and I have a free pass for a while to do some callin' : )
They can have litters of a dozen at a time, and it takes a lot to sustain that many predators, so if you get a chance to drop one, please do everyone a favor and do it. They'll destroy turkey and deer and grouse populations as well as plenty of other things.
Last year I built a 5.56/223 AR15 expressly for varmint hunting.
I've seen more than one documentary on it, and the scientists swear that is rare to impossible, and they also say the pack never accepts them blah blah blah.
But stranger things have happened around here.
Well this probably isn't the best place to start, but i hope the mods will forgive me here. I have been predator hunting for a very long time and gave up deer and elk because where i live i do run across deer and elk, (mostly fawns and calves) at least once or more a season killed and sometimes half eaten alive from predators such as you saw in the above photos. We are overrun in this area with black bears that range from 300-350+ lbs and almost every winter mountain lions are killed here in town. You can add to that coyotes which hunt here in town all year and now a large surplus of wolves because of three counties on the "left" side of the state.
The coyotes here have gained their P.H.D's on staying alive by the end of the first season or they are dead, it's one or the other. As has been written by others here, predator hunting will make you a better hunter for any other type of hunting you try. Those coyotes you see while driving around are a lot smarter than you may think, you may get lucky at first but you will end up working for most of them and that will make you better at all your hunting.
Another thing to consider is that when you ring that dinner bell to those predators you are calling ALL the types of predators that live in your area, if you have 300 lb bears or 150-200 lb moutain lions or 150 lb wolves it would be very good idea to have enough rifle and sidearm to protect yourself. One of the first rules of predator hunting, (here) is always have something at your back,( tree, bush etc.) so you can't be taken from behind. Predators will always try to wind you and flank you from behind, it's the difference between staying alive and being something elses dinner for them. And last but not least, if you have large or pack predators in your area, they are hunting you just as you are hunting them.
Another thing to consider is that when you ring that dinner bell to those predators you are calling ALL the types of predators that live in your area, if you have 300 lb bears or 150-200 lb moutain lions or 150 lb wolves it would be very good idea to have enough rifle and sidearm to protect yourself. One of the first rules of predator hunting, (here) is always have something at your back,( tree, bush etc.) so you can't be taken from behind. Predators will always try to wind you and flank you from behind, it's the difference between staying alive and being something elses dinner for them. And last but not least, if you have large or pack predators in your area, they are hunting you just as you are hunting them.
I live in Mesquite, Tx and am having the hardest time finding a place to go varmint hunting. None of my friends hunt. But i damn sure have EVERYTHING to do it with. LOL
Lights, calls (ecall and mouth calls), lights, mossy .223, maverick 88.
Never thought it would be this tough when i bought everything. Lol
Any kind of hunting is challenging.
Varmint hunting is extremely challenging. They're smart.
Very smart.
And they have better sense of smell, vision, and hearing than you do too.