Absolutely understand the need to thin these guys out.......but for some reason, seeing a "dog type species" go down always seems to bother me a little....

 

I can understand that. The first time I ever shot a coyote it yelped when I shot it, seconds before dying. For whatever reason I hadn't ever anticipated that, and I remember being a little bothered because the yelp sounded exactly like anyone's pet dog would have sounded. Between that hunting trip and the next time I shot a coytote, I had a friend of mine in Grant County who lost their family dog to a coyote attack. Knowing that made it much much easier to reconcile shooting more coyotes.

I can understand that. The first time I ever shot a coyote it yelped when I shot it, seconds before dying. For whatever reason I hadn't ever anticipated that, and I remember being a little bothered because the yelp sounded exactly like anyone's pet dog would have sounded. Between that hunting trip and the next time I shot a coytote, I had a friend of mine in Grant County who lost their family dog to a coyote attack. Knowing that made it much much easier to reconcile shooting more coyotes.

I watched 5 of them catch my neighbors cat and shred it. I managed to only get one of them in the process, but I have zero problem whacking every coyote I see. Not one ounce of angst. We have a responsibility to keep that balance in check in my opinion.

I watched 5 of them catch my neighbors cat and shred it. I managed to only get one of them in the process, but I have zero problem whacking every coyote I see. Not one ounce of angst. We have a responsibility to keep that balance in check in my opinion.

 

I agree they need to be balanced, I am not confident, yet, that anyone is really checking that. And, what is balanced? If there is no definition, and there is no one checking, it is possible (although not likely) we could end up with too few. Where are wolves, bears? At the rate we go, we will be left with mice and cockroaches. Hey...and as an idea, why not hunt and shoot those....a heck of a lot more challenging?

I worked with these two guys who were good friends and good at ribbing each other. This was in Colorado, so Elk Hunting was the big deal there, and one of the guys was an Elk hunter. The other guy, Noel, found an article which premised that hunters hunted and shot things that had larger male appendages than themselves. To follow up, Noel taped a gnat to a piece of paper with the title, "World Class Gnat Taken by Gary" (the other guy). It was quite humorous.

I watched 5 of them catch my neighbors cat and shred it. I managed to only get one of them in the process, but I have zero problem whacking every coyote I see. Not one ounce of angst. We have a responsibility to keep that balance in check in my opinion.

 

Just a note, a few years ago, there was a young cat that wandered up to my house. Unfortunately, the cat was outside when my old bird-dog mix was out. I was mortified to find the cat's body on my deck. And the dog wasn't hungry, it was just the prey drive. I didn't kill her for this, but I wasn't happy with her. I have a cat that lives in my garage now, and I am way more worried about my dogs going primitive on her than coyotes at this point.

I agree they need to be balanced, I am not confident, yet, that anyone is really checking that. And, what is balanced? If there is no definition, and there is no one checking, it is possible (although not likely) we could end up with too few. Where are wolves, bears? At the rate we go, we will be left with mice and cockroaches. Hey...and as an idea, why not hunt and shoot those....a heck of a lot more challenging?

 

I can't speak for wolves around Kentucky, but I know bears are being managed and are successfully coming back in number - thus the fact that Kentucky has had a state permitted bear hunt taking place in selected counties since 2009.

I shoot everyone I see along with several other types of varmints that eat eggs of turkey, quail, etc.. I went outside the other evening and it sounded like 50 of them from all sides going back and forth yelping. As soon as deer season ends I'm investing in better calls to hunt them. If nothing else it's more time in the woods where I could stay all day if given the chance. Nothing like being in the outdoors.

I know we're not supposed to be to nit-picky about each others' spelling, punctuation & grammar, but rephrasing this might not be a bad thing....

Originally Posted by hja1224

I shoot everyone I see along with several other types of varmints that eat eggs of turkey, quail, etc.. I went outside the other evening and it sounded like 50 of them from all sides going back and forth yelping. As soon as deer season ends I'm investing in better calls to hunt them. If nothing else it's more time in the woods where I could stay all day if given the chance. Nothing like being in the outdoors.

I know we're not supposed to be to nit-picky about each others' spelling, punctuation & grammar, but rephrasing this might not be a bad thing....

 

I am guessing these are supposed to be two words....but it's only a guess. :eek:

Just a note, a few years ago, there was a young cat that wandered up to my house. Unfortunately, the cat was outside when my old bird-dog mix was out. I was mortified to find the cat's body on my deck. And the dog wasn't hungry, it was just the prey drive. I didn't kill her for this, but I wasn't happy with her. I have a cat that lives in my garage now, and I am way more worried about my dogs going primitive on her than coyotes at this point.

 

I can't blame you one bit.

I agree they need to be balanced, I am not confident, yet, that anyone is really checking that. And, what is balanced? If there is no definition, and there is no one checking, it is possible (although not likely) we could end up with too few. Where are wolves, bears? At the rate we go, we will be left with mice and cockroaches. Hey...and as an idea, why not hunt and shoot those....a heck of a lot more challenging?

Bears are very tightly protected with very limited hunting season and range. Also not in the same category of predator at all in my opinion.

Something else to think about....

 

There are elk once again roaming free range in Kentucky because of hunters. Let that sink in for a minute. It wasn't PETA, or AHS, it was hunters responsible for restoring elk to Kentucky. Obviously there are bad individuals in every group, but hunters as a whole have no reason or intent to hunt any animal to extinction.

I agree they need to be balanced, I am not confident, yet, that anyone is really checking that. And, what is balanced? If there is no definition, and there is no one checking, it is possible (although not likely) we could end up with too few. Where are wolves, bears? At the rate we go, we will be left with mice and cockroaches. Hey...and as an idea, why not hunt and shoot those....a heck of a lot more challenging?

 

With the way Coyotes breed, I have to think it would take a much more concerted effort to over hunt them than just picking one off while deer/turkey/whatever hunting like is done now.

 

An animal that I don't think could be over hunted is ferral pigs. It would be wonderful if they could be erradicated for the sake of farmers but that too would take a very concerted, strategic and concerted effort to even approach doing so.

 

Someone I talk to online now gets all the dog food for his numerous dogs just from the ferral pigs he kills. I take it aside from the loins, wild pigs don't taste too great but dogs love dog food where they make up the base of the food.

With the way Coyotes breed, I have to think it would take a much more concerted effort to over hunt them than just picking one off while deer/turkey/whatever hunting like is done now.

 

An animal that I don't think could be over hunted is ferral pigs. It would be wonderful if they could be erradicated for the sake of farmers but that too would take a very concerted, strategic and concerted effort to even approach doing so.

 

Someone I talk to online now gets all the dog food for his numerous dogs just from the ferral pigs he kills. I take it aside from the loins, wild pigs don't taste too great but dogs love dog food where they make up the base of the food.

 

Feral hogs are an even bigger problem than coyotes...they just haven't had the time yet to expand into the problem that coyotes already have. Coyotes have one litter a year and average litters of 7 throughout the contiguous US. Feral hogs have TWO litters a year, and average litters of 6. Also, coyotes don't usually breed until they are at least 20 months of age, whereas a feral hog generally breeds at least once by 10 months of age, and sometime as early as 6 months of age.

 

Compating the two, coyotes' "only real damage" is to other animals, whereas the damage from the rooting that feral hogs do is absolutely devastating to the land that they move into, and they will also attack animals to boot. If I'm not mistaken, feral hogs are much more likely to attack a human, as well.

That is a honest question, and it is one I have thought about. I watch closely over my flock when they go out at night...never alone. I lock my cat up. I look at it for the price to pay to live in the middle of nature, and I take precautionary measures. I have asked my neighbors about this as well: one who raises chickens has a Great Pyrenees....has never lost a chicken, and another who raises cattle for 35 years has never lost a calf. If I raised sheep/cattle, I would get a jenny. It happens, and I have seen videos of coyotes stealing small animals....I don't see a reason to try to kill them all which is what will happen under the current laws.

 

I understand your feelings. My question is this. If the coyote problem does start to effect you, your pets, or your neighbors farm animals, or diseased animals start hanging around your home. Do you then try and take measures to check the coyote population. There are many areas of the country that have a bounty on them. They will pay you to take them out. (Google it) Coyotes have proven that if you wait until there is a problem with them, the problem then becomes,trying to get them in check.

As a bow hunter, this is pretty remarkable!