Coyote hunting and rabbits?

[Omega blood]

Will hunting song dogs increas rabbit populations and if so how long would it take to see the increase?
Also what should I do with it after words?

[fisherman66]

Maybe in theory, but they are packed so deep where I hunt I doubt the impact could ever be noticed. They (along with the drought) have decimated the quail population in near west Texas. I won't shoot one in the middle of a deer hunt, but if one shows up right before I head in for the morning or evening I will gladly give the dirt nap. I have just drug the carcase to the hog wallows. It rarely lasts a night, and on occasion might give one a shot a pork dinner. In cooler climates I might try to save a pelt, but the fur is usually poor shape 'round here. I'll admit to enjoying their songs late at night. Lower 48 style call of the wild.

[Double Naught Spy]

It depends on how many coyotes you hunt relative to the population of coyotes and relative to the population cycles of leporids (rabbits and hares). Both cottontail rabbits and jackrabbits (hairs) can have population explosions and population crashes that come with the availability of resources and predation. If you remove the coyote predation and if there are not other sufficient predators in the area to take up the slap, the leporid population will grow to the limits of the food resources available, over eat the resources, and subsequently crash.

If you slaughter coyotes, the population increase in leporids can take months as gestation runs about 6 weeks for leporids and litters are 1-6, usually 3-4, and can reproduce themselves at 3-4 months (as I recall).

[Trapper L]

Like everybody has stated it depends on where and the circumstances. I have an airport that was having issues with coyotes on the runways. Between the blown tires on jets and the coyotes getting sucked into the engines it was a miracle that there wasn't a major crash. I got rid of the coyotes via trapping. I'm now hunting rabbits every 4 months for the same reason. We hunt them at night with spotlight and 12 ga from a police vehicle. Usually the body count is close to 100. I don't see the same effect in the pastures though.

[john1911]

In my area, feral house cats are more of a strain on the rabbit population than coyotes. That, and the changes in farming practices in the area, have lead to the almost total absence of a hunt able rabbit population.

I still shoot coyotes whenever the opportunity arises. They raid my garden, harass livestock, carry disease and like to eat small pets. Depending on the area, there is some demand for pelts. Northern 'yotes bring a better price at auction than southern types. There may be some demand locally for taxidermy use or for sale to craftsmen (rendezvous "mountain men").

[fisherman66]

I have an airport that was having issues with coyotes on the runways. Between the blown tires on jets and the coyotes getting sucked into the engines it was a miracle that there wasn't a major crash.

[SavageSniper]

Fisherman66 I feel your pain with the yotes killing all the quail. A friend and I saw a covey about two weeks ago and commented about not seeing quail in a long time. The dogs are soo thick here too that the are a real problem. I do believe they breed faster than rabbits lol

[Omega blood]

Interesting that you should bring up quail. The area that I have gone for rabbit also has quail. Never seen the quail or the 'yotes but I have seen quail tracks and hear them. I got pics of the 'yotes with my crappy walmart game cam.
Did you know they like rabbit food?! The coyotes that is.

A few more questions from the wannabe hunter.

What is the best way to hunt jackrabbit. Those suckers are fast, they should call them lightning rabbit. I have only seen two in the four or five times I have gone hunting for them. Both time by accident.
The first time I was headed back to my car. I had set up the aforementioned game cam. I had made my weapon safe and unloaded. It was late in the morning almost noon, I didn't think I was going to see anything.
Walking down the trail when I saw him(or her). I thought to my self "oooo a rabbit, oh S***, S***" by the time I had reloaded my rifle he was goooooone. The second time I was driving in to the parking spot, nuff said.

Second when hunting with a shot gun how do you deal with all the pellets in the meat? I kind of Leary to put a bunch of lead pellets into something I plan on eating.

P.S. Added pic of rabbit food eating 'yote.

[fisherman66]

I rarely get 7 1/2 shot in quail meat. I just spit them out, but I suppose you could back off to 8 shot. You are loosing some effective range with 8, but not much. Bird lightning. If you don't have dog you are going to have a hard time dealing with quail. When I walk up a covey my heart just about pops. By the time my shotgun hits the shoulder they are in another county.

[Art Eatman]

Coyote populations recover quickly from a drawdown, whether it's from hunting them or from a decline in the food supply.

I haven't read the Texas Wildlife Association's magazine article yet, but a graph in the article shows that on 10,000 acres in LaSalle County, Texas, 132 coyotes were killed in the first three months of 1987. Then, 163 were killed in the first six months of 1988. This was followed by 106 killed in the first three months of 1989.

Lead in an animal? Don't worry about it. Just pick out the shot, because the biggest hazard is to your fillings. Gazillions of people have been eating critters shot with lead for several hundred years. Hey, maybe eating all those dove and quail, and the lead, is why my father only made it to 94. Or my grandfather to 96.

Art

[Omega blood]

But Art they keep telling me lead is bad for you. That why they banned lead paint.
I guess your right though.

[oldironman]

Second when hunting with a shot gun how do you deal with all the pellets in the meat? I kind of Leary to put a bunch of lead pellets into something I plan on eating.

I use 6 shot when shotgunning (4 shot if hunting for swamp bunnies). After you skin it, you can readily see where the pellets hit, then pop them out with your fingers or a pocket knife, and cut out the bloodmeat with it.

Or you can use the shot pattern like I do. I hit them just right so that the center of the pattern hits the bunny in the vitals, and the outside of the pattern clips all the vegetation around him so it falls in a pile under him. That way he falls on it and it keeps the meat from bruising.

[Scorch]

What is the best way to hunt jackrabbit.

Well, when they start to run, don't chase them and they will stop and look back to see what they were running from.

When I lived in Nevada, we used to hunt them one of two ways:
1- walk across the flats driving them in front of you and shoot them as they go up the hills, OR
2- come down from above onto the flats and shoot them as they move away from you and into the open.

Both of these techniques work really well with an accurate bolt rifle, as many of your shots will be 200 yds or so. My 22-250 would literally turn a jackrabbit into mist and floating hair, and my deer rifle would dismantle it. We got so we would carry our 22s so it was more sporting (less damage to the population). It also worked so we had more shots since the rabbits weren't scared by all the shooting.

[Art Eatman]

Back around 1981, there was a gigantic explosive jump in the jackrabbit population in northern Nevada and SW Idaho. Incredible!

A buddy of mine got bored in using a rifle. Now, this guy was a 5.0-second El Presidente shooter back before race guns, speed holsters and squib loads. He'd walk through the sagebrush country around Winnemucca and draw-and-fire when he jumped a jackrabbit. He was doing about one out of three...

Art

[Fat White Boy]

A .22 auto-loader and Jack Rabbits is a ton of fun...

ALso- It is tough to shoot all the coyotes out of an area. They can be prolific breeders with good water and a good food source.

[Scorch]

He was doing about one out of three...

Wow! I tried it with my Colt Commander a few times, and I would connect about 1 in 5 or 6.

Now slow, aimed I could hit anything out to 75 yds with a handgun pretty much every time, but quick draw is tougher. I tried quick draw once with my Python with 125 gr bullets over full load of WW296. Bunny jumped at about 5 yds, and I fired all 6 shots in about 2 seconds without a hit. The bunny ran about 20 yds and sat down. Probably stunned him with the concussion, I guess. I'm trying to reload, and the guy hunting with me pulled out his Ruger Bearcat and popped him. Looks at me and says "what was that?" After that, I learned to just wait a minute and they will stop.

[FirstFreedom]

Weird question brought to mind by trapping yotes - anyone ever tried to make one into a pet?

[Scorch]

anyone ever tried to make one into a pet?

No personal experience on this, but people I have met over the years say you can turn a skunk into a pet, you can turn a bobcat into a pet, but coyotes, wolves, mountain lions, etc are wired to be wild. You can tame them, but they always act a little wild (skittish, aggressive), and one day they just take off and don't come home any more. I knew an old rancher in Baker, Oregon who had raised just about every kind of animal you can imagine from newly born to adulthood. He had tame weasels, skunks, deer, hawks, bobcats, you name it. He was adamant about coyotes being one of the wildest of them all.