Your View on Coyote Hunting?

[Pahoo]

Obviously I don't have the answers to these questions,

The answer is simple; If you haven't worked this out for yourself, then don't hunt them. Killing of any animal, is a personal decision and one that all of us here have resolved a long time ago. This is exactly what we teach in class and hunting is not an obligation. However, hunting safely is a responsibility. ...

Be Safe !!!

[Brian Pfleuger]

My uncle has killed a couple of dozen coyotes off a single bait pile in under 2 years time. Other than the fact that he no longer here's then yipping at night there is no obvious effect on the population. He kills them at approximately the same rate now as he did two years ago.

I consider coyote to be vermin of the first order. They are like mice,wasps or woodchucks. I don't care how they end up dead, just as long as they do.

[Savage99]

The coyote is new to me in the NorthEast. I have hunted here since the early 1950's and we never saw one.

Then maybe ten years ago they came. The coyote has wiped out woodchuck hunting. The 'good' woochuck hunting was when the chucks were plentiful and made their burrow in the middle of a field.

That was great rifle hunting and shooting. My favorite. We have woodchuck rifles and scopes. We have no woodchucks now.

The hunting was on beautiful farms. We were welcomed by the farmer as we got rid of the chucks free. We are not needed these days. I miss that hunting.

I have shot a few coyotes. Lots of 'hunting' and very little shooting.

[Brian Pfleuger]

I agree on all counts, Savage.

[ColoBill]

When I came here to beautiful Colorado from back east in '78, there were no coyotes east of the Mississippi. Funny thing, that's just around the time when the whackos made in politically incorrect to own furs.

When there was a fur industry they could be harvested at will and there were still plenty left. There were also more baby pheasants, deer, antelope, rabbits, ducks, geese and other critters we hunted. And more groundhogs and woodchucks back east.

We are part of nature. We are predators. We compete with other predators including the coyote for meat and fur. Extinction is also part of nature. Species of animals go extinct for natural reasons and new species are discovered each year.

It would almost be impossible to eradicate coyotes through hunting. I shoot every one I see and leave it there. I have no desire to eat the damn thing and do not feel guilty about it. I would prefer to sell the fur. But the leftists have taken that from us. If anything should be eradicated, it's liberalism. That's where your guilt is coming from.

[green_MTman]

eastern coyotes are red wolves that mated with coyotes or other wild dogs.in a sense some people are right that there are no coyotes in the northeast.thats why there so big in new england and have a hint of red in there fur.

i have seen coyotes as close as 40 miles north of new york city and a couple years ago a coyote was stranded on the ice on the charles river in boston

there over running golf coarses in massachusetts and there infested in massachusetts in general.in vermont you occasionaly see coyotes,i saw a dead one on the interstate last week but its been a few years since i saw a coyote in the wild.when i lived in mass i saw or heard them every day

[Brian Pfleuger]

Eastern coyotes are not "wolves that mated with coyotes". They average 82% coyote, 9% wolf and 9% domestic dog.

[jmr40]

I've not seen the numbers Brian posted before, but it is my understanding that there is some red wolf bloodlines in there. Sometimes you find some eastern specimens that look more wolf than coyote because of this.

[Rmart30]

Coyotes arent a native species down here ... we made it plenty of years with out them. I shoot everyone I see and also run traps.

[Brian Pfleuger]

I've not seen the numbers Brian posted before,

Here's the link:

http://artdaily.com/news/47591/New-Y...olves--Coyotes

[huntinaz]

9% wolf and 9% dog... I bet you guys grow some big coyotes up there huh?

Our little desert coyotes average like 15-25 lbs. I bet they have very little wolf in them. Speculation, of course.

[psalm7]

It's varmit hunting . If it makes you feel better or you need another reason take time to skin them and sale the pealt to help buy ammo . I try to make use of anything I shoot but some times it's just just because something is destructive or dangerous and happend to be at the wrong place at the wrong time .

[CC268]

Interesting to hear all the commentary. Thanks!

[Brotherbadger]

Personally i don't hunt Coyotes here, as they are not a bother around me. I have no issue with people hunting them, it's just not an issue for me right now. As for ethics.....meh. I don't see it as unethical to hunt a creature that is making it harder for you or your livestock/pets to survive. If a neighbor was having yotes attack his chickens, i'd be out there with my rifle waiting the next day. Will i go out and kill them just to kill them? Nope, that's not my style. No judgement on those who do, it's just not what i do.

[leadcounsel]

I have very little respect for people who kill without purpose.

It's environmentally irresponsible. It's unethical. It's bad for gun rights (shines a negative view on gun rights). It's inhumane. It's selfish. It's simply uncool.

It's akin to polluting - like the jerk who poors his used motor oil on the ground, or dumps his trash in the woods, etc.

It contributes to ruining the environment and nature for future generations.

Lot's of irresponsible people in prior generations killed and wasted animals that we can't enjoy today.

As for the comments about it being "fun" - I'm educated enough to know that I would have grave concern for the demented person and the mentality of taking actual pleasure in the pain and suffering and killing for sport. Tell 100 people that you take pleasure in killing any living creature, and 99 of them are going to shun you and for good reason. It's twisted.

Of course, some vermin need to be killed but I wouldn't even take any pleasure in killing a rat or a mouse. It may be a task that needs doing, but there's no pleasure or 'fun' in it.

[603Country]

Data from the state of Texas (and SC mirrors it) says that 60% of fawns born in the springtime will be dead by fall, with most of that due to coyotes. I do not want the coyotes eating the fawns on our place, so I have all the justification I need to hunt coyotes, not that I even needed that much justification.

[John828]

http://www.agfc.com/resources/public...r2010-2011.pdf

"The harvesting of furbearing animals is important both recreationally and economically to many Arkansans....Fur+takers are an effective and vital tool for managing this renewable resource."

[huntinaz]

As for the comments about it being "fun" - I'm educated enough to know that I would have grave concern for the demented person and the mentality of taking actual pleasure in the pain and suffering and killing for sport. Tell 100 people that you take pleasure in killing any living creature, and 99 of them are going to shun you and for good reason. It's twisted.

Who's talking about reveling in the pain and suffering, aside from you?

If it wasn't fun to hunt, people wouldn't do it. It isn't shameful. Or is it, Leadcounsel? Since almost everyone could buy 100% of their meat and leather goods from the store, doesn't that mean that anyone who hunts these days is twisted?

The take home message guys, is you should stop having fun on your hunts. You are abnormal if you like it. It's ok to do it, so long as it's a chore.

[John828]

Hahaha. Agreed. Ever wonder why there is an adrenaline rush when you're about to pull the trigger? There is something innate in our consciousness that is deeply attached to harvesting animals whether for food and/or sport.

[Brian Pfleuger]

Originally Posted by leadcounsel

I have very little respect for people who kill without purpose.

Very much injected into your post that does not exist in the posts of those you deride.

1)"without purpose". There is a purpose. Coyote are over-populated, genetically altered (doesn't matter if it's "natural"), disease carrying, game population destroying, vermin. They are killed with all kinds of purpose.

2)"Polluting". It's nature, sir, and you know it. A dead coyote is not "pollution". In fact, it's beneficial to the environment, if anything. All sorts of critters eat dead coyotes, including other coyotes. Dead animals do not go to waste nor pollute the environment.

3)How many species were hunted to extinction by American hunters? How many species were BROUGHT BACK from the brink of extinction by American hunters? I bet the balance would shock you.

4)Hunting IS fun. I don't know what world you live in but the number of folks who get any kind of benefit from hunting besides fun, pest elimination and/or tasty meat are in the tiny minority. The vast, vast majority lose far more money on their hunting than it would ever cost them to simply buy the meat. It's not the "quality" of the meat either. For what hunting costs, we could buy the cleanest, purest, best fed and raised, most perfectly "organic" game meat ever conceived... and be far ahead on the finances.

5)I don't care if you "enjoy" killing mice and rats or you don't. You do it, don't you? If the folks who are killing coyotes are doing it without purpose, so are you, because the purposes are identical. They are either real, or made up to make you feel better.

What's bad for gun rights and hunting rights is adopting the psuedo-animal rights mentality and trying to pass it off as a moral imperative. That's how they win. "Nobody needs an assault rifle to hunt deer." "Nobody should enjoy hunting." Nobody should kill without purpose." Purpose and need which only the anti is allowed to define.

Divide and concur. It works.

[John828]

Originally Posted by CC268

I just started coyote hunting about 6 months ago and I like it (although I haven't got one yet). Every once in a while I wonder how "ethical" it is to kill them though? You don't eat them, so is it appropriate to kill them?

Deer and elk you can eat, but coyote...not so much.

Obviously I don't have the answers to these questions, but I though I would see what you guys thought about the subject.

Back to the original question.

I applaud you for working out your hunting ethics. Too often we accept our father's opinions as our own when it comes to hunting or not hunting, but once you wrestle with them and decide what you believe because you looked at different sides of the issue, then, they are your beliefs.

That being said, coyotes can be hunted without any feelings of guilt or remorse. Due to the amount of land that has been developed in some areas, hunting is the number one conservation tool for many species. Without it, disease and starvation would be the "conservation" tool that limits overpopulation.

[buck460XVR]

Originally posted by huntinaz:

Coyote populations need managed just like deer, elk etc.

Yep...and as with deer and elk, different folks have different opinions on the ethics of managing them. Coyotes are considered fur-bearers and as such, in many areas are taken by traps, which are seen as many as less ethical than shooting them. 'Yotes for years were poisoned, as it was an easy method of controlling them. Many questioned the ethics of this. What it comes down to is.... what is legal in your area. That is what you must be concerned about first. Then, use the ethics that you are comfortable with, and don't worry about what others think.

[Sierra280]

Coyotes are varmints, not game animals. They are a threat to our livestock (goats) and our house pets. Others have already mentioned the adverse affects coyotes have on deer populations.

By the numbers the earth is currently undergoing another mass extinction, not caused by a meteor or ice age, caused by human over population. As our towns and cities spread farther into natural lands, by necessity we displace the creatures that live there. Some creatures (coyotes and most other predators) do not fit in with humans or our livestock or lifestyles, thus it's necessary to remove said creatures.

Is it right? That's debatable, but if you have children, you have already put yourself on the anti-wildlife side of the fence. I don't mean to be harsh, but as the human population grows eradicating predators and pushing species to extinction is inevitable and necessary.

BTW I know lots of people take coyote pelts but here in NV we are allowed to shoot as many coyotes as we want any day of the year, but the NV Dept of Wildlife says to leave them were they lay (I assume for all the other scavengers).

[Art Eatman]

Back forty or fifty yeas ago, some scientist said that after an all-out nuclear holocaust, all that would be left alive would be cockroaches.

Baloney. A coyote will easily make a living off of eating cockroaches.

[John828]

If memory serves me right you can hunt coyotes in 48 of 50 states (none in Hawaii and not sure about Delaware).

Only one of those has any type of limit, the rest are unlimited. That ought to say something about how the various department of natural resources biologists think about coyote population survival chances versus hunting pressure.

By the way, the least developed state, Alaska, is the only state with bag limits.