Ramblings and Such From Hunting Coyote

[nealm66]

He was trying to explain what he thought the two we saw were doing and why but I honestly can't remember exactly what he said. It's highly possible he was right.I probably could have jumped out and dusted the one I saw if I'd have been a little more on the ball even though it was scrambling for cover. Or at least made it a little more scared of pickup trucks. Kyle said he found a den in one of the draws but I'm not sure if it was something he ran into during hunting season or what. I did get some practice ranging and setting up. Not super quick but but could work I think. I found I could range a darker sage bush and guesstimate from it and was good out to 1 mile if there was something to range off of

 

[DSheetz]

It takes time doing something to build mussel memory . Slow is fast because you do it correctly time after time modify things to work better then cut the correct things from your movements to speed things up as well as get to the point where you are doing it with out having to put as much thought into getting it done it more or less then becomes a reflex action

 

[DSheetz]

Around 30 years ago I was up visiting my Grandma . We had finished lunch and the dishes were done so we were setting and having a coffee watching the timber across the creek . On the far side of the creek a mountain rises up a thousand feet higher then the creek which is at 7500 feet . There is a narrow meadow that the hay hasn't been mowed on in probably 50 years then it turns to timber with a trail running just inside the timber before the mountain abruptly rises . As we watched and visited I saw motion down stream . A doe mule deer with a fawn was coming up the trail but the doe was behind the fawn instead of leading . then farther down I saw a coyote trotting up the trail . The doe stopped turned to face the coyote as it caught up with them . It circled the doe as she kept herself between it and the fawn . The coyote made a few charges then the doe turned as the coyote made a dash for her again she kicked at the coyote caught it with a back foot . The coyote screamed a hunt coyote scream went flying down the hill into a short brushy draw . The doe and fawn ran . The coyote didn't follow them . An hour or so latter I went over and there laying in the draw was the coyote dead .

 

[nealm66]

I've been told they're front hooves are pretty dangerous. I live pretty close to northwest trek and the deer would hover around the parking lot and people would feed them popcorn and such until someone got hurt lol

 

[nealm66]

I've been told they're front hooves are pretty dangerous. I live pretty close to northwest trek and years ago, the deer would hover around the parking lot and people would feed them popcorn and such until someone got hurt lol

 

[DSheetz]

When my son was studying biology in college they said that around 80 people a year are killed by deer in the United States because people feed them and some during the rut . People think they are doing them a favor by feeding them but they aren't for the most part we don't study what we are feeding them to know that it really doesn't have the nutrition they really need to be eating . People have good intentions but just don't really study enough to know better . My Granddad and Granma had a lot of old sayings ( they were old school Baptists and had lived in sparsely populated Wyoming most of their lives ) one of Grandads favorite sayings was the road to hell is paved with good intentions . He would tell me things like that then after awhile if I didn't explain it to him he would explain it's meaning to me it might be a day or two latter . He had his way of teaching me right and wrong as he saw it . He thought that I should study and learn the truth of how things were then make up my mind as to what I should or shouldn't do , like feeding the deer as an example . He would be 121 years old now so a different time and thoughts but still a lot of good advice even for todays world .

 

[DSheetz]

Over the years I don't know how many times in May and mid way through June I have had coyote sit and just watch me when I was calling . They may be up to a mile out just sitting there and watching as I howled . When I would see them and watch them they would watch me for awhile then they would turn their head in one direction and look that way for a few seconds it was nearly always one direction that they were looking . After a couple of times of this happening early in my career and then finally getting the coyote to find that it mostly was a female that had , had pups then finding the den with the pups only to be able to see where she and sometimes the male had been sitting looking at me I would walk over to where they had been , set and have my line of vision at their level it became obvious what they were doing . They were watching the den the whole time as well as making sure that the howling intruder wasn't getting too close to their pups . They weren't being confrontational or trying to get into a fight they were just watching out for their pups well being . I also found that if I was to slip in towards them , not letting them see me as a human , and get pretty close to their location and howl at them they would go farther out away from me and then start to bark and display giving me short howls and barks doing kick backs and making a show of themselves the same way that a killdeer bird does when you are too close to it's nest . Yes then the puppy distress sounds worked to get them to charge in because I then knew where the pups were and could take them as well as the adults . So many times I have been called to come get the pups that someone had used the puppy sounds and only killed one of the adults using it , then the other adult would kill more lambs as well as often find another partner to help raise the pups so for me I learned to us those sounds with discretion because my role was to save livestock not just go out and kill coyote to be killing coyote . Actual coyote control work is pretty complex it's about getting the coyote that are doing the killing not about just killing coyote for higher numbers of dead coyote . Control is about being able to figure out as fast as you can where the problem is coming from and then stopping that problem and the reason that those animals were being a problem . The most common reason for coyote to be a problem is they are trying to raise pups , they are teaching the years pups to hunt and kill in the fall , then as they have become older and less capable of hunting other animals they begin to take the easier prey animals . It works the same for most other animals as well . but as with humans there exceptions where you will have some that just want to take the easiest way .

 

[DSheetz]

14 years ago my old southern black mouth cur , Buckwheat , died . My daughter worked with a girl that had a dog she didn't treat very well she would leave it in it's crate for up to two days at a time . She was telling my daughter that she was going to take the dog to a shelter and turn it over to them but it was a shelter that put dogs down after a couple of weeks if they weren't adopted . So my daughter being the big hearted kid she is told my wife dad needs a new dog because his died . I didn't want another dog but my wife and daughter went up and picked this little guy up any way it was a pug cuhuwawa mix a little over a year old , skin and bones and just cowered when ever I even looked side ways at him ,her ex boyfriend used to beat it . It came with the name of Odin . With time he and I became buddies he was my little companion I had no problem teaching him what I expected of him and he just wanted to do what I wanted him to do . It got to where I would tell him get in the truck and he would go to the door set and wait till I opened the door then he would go set at the truck and wait for me to put him in he couldn't jump that high to get in it . A year ago in January he got sick and was vomiting so I called and took him to the vet's . They kept him for a day and didn't feed him saying it was an upset stomach from something he ate . As time went on he would get sick again and do the something so I took him to another vet . She took him did an ultrasound and came back with him then told me I'm sorry I wish I could tell you some good news but I can't . Odin had liver cancer and he died in August . So then my wife's sister in law had some pups that she had bred to sell to pay for a trip and she had one that nobody wanted to buy , another rescue dog , it was only 5 months old hadn't been named but was house trained . We said okay we will take him instead of you putting him down or dropping him off at a shelter . He is a rough coat Jack Russell terroir . I've been around them and found them to be smart but hipper and bouncy . yup that's what showed up at my door from Texas . I gave him a bath trimmed his nails and named him Walt . Now all of my other dogs haven't been any thing like this one , he's got a hard head and it took a little doing to teach him that I am the alpha . He's been a learning experience for me . He was a year old in May and has since then became a different dog . He is now wanting to learn and has decided that it's his job to please me and my wife by doing what we have taught him that we expect him to do for us . He has a long way to go as do I but it was kind of like flipping a switch one day almost paying no attention and the next being attentive and wanting to please . I learned how to so then he learned that I can be his alpha leader . Boy I sure hope that I never stop learning and decide that I already know it all lol . Tone in the voice , body posture , paying attention to the small details pretty much the same as hunting coyote . Wait a minute that's what I like about using my hand calls I can change all of that in half a second and I never learned how to on my e-caller I'm sure it can be done I just never learned what buttons to push on it to get there with it because I was comfortable with my hand calls . Am I like the pot calling the kittle black in that instance ?

 

[Brother Buckwheat]

You old softy.
Ah, the dogs in our lives, Oprah is laying on the cool floor right now and your post reminded me to fix her 5 o'clock dinner. Homemade bone broth and dry kibble mixed up and warmed on the stove.
You are right, dogs just want to please you, but you have to be the leader, the teacher, their rock.

 

[DSheetz]

It's the time of the year when it is getting harder to get the problem coyote taken care of . The young of the year are out and traveling with the adults and are even more hungry now . They should be about 3/4 grown now hanging out in the shade of some sage brush or along a cut bank in the cool dirt out of sight of us humans . Now is the time when sitting and listening in the early morning world come to life pays with more then mosquito bites . We get to hear the morning sunrise serenade of the group . Sitting in the evenings will let us hear them visiting with each other as they get together for the evening hunt , trip to the watering hole and just socialize with each other . There is so much to see , do , smell and hear out there that we can get a sensory over load just kidding it's all there for us to enjoy by just allowing ourselves the quiet moments at the start of our new adventure every day as well as slowing down and reflecting on the closing of todays events and getting prepared to regenerate ourselves for the upcoming adventure of what tomorrow will bring our way . I am wishing all a good , healthy and safe 4th of July weekend full of family and friends take care and enjoy Dave

 

[DSheetz]

In the past it didn't take me long to realize that doing coyote control in some places during the holiday week end as well as the week before and after wasn't going to be very productive as there were way to many others out there enjoying themselves in these areas that are normally not very populated during the week , spring and late summer . Hunting season was another story all of it's own when you want to pretty much have your work done and stay back out of the other peoples way and just let them do what it is they think is their fun time with their kids and friends . I had the rest of the year to get my work done and enjoy the quiet times out there . I went around 60 miles out to do some coyote work one 4th of July . A lot of the ranchers took that time to go places with their familied and it was pretty much set in stone that it would be pretty quiet in those areas that far out . I came down the two track road from one pasture to another it had been a slow morning I had 1 fox so far . I got to the gate which was in a corner of the fence and there it was . 4 wheeler tracks , sheep tracks and truck and trailer tracks . So I made a call to the land owner apologized for bothering him on a holiday then asked him if he had been moving sheep from that pasture . No he hadn't . He called me the next week after he got home and checked that pasture he was 40 pairs short in it . I said well that's not good but if it were me I would move that gate out of the corner I know it's been there for probably 100 years but it's set up perfect to back a trailer up and fill it with your stock just like a set of corrals . He looked at me shook his head then said I never thought about that . The next week there was a new gate 300 yards up hill with a new section of road going to it and a solid fence in the corner . If you haven't had problems in the past you don't think about what will be a problem in the future . If you grew up being able to trush every one then it's a real shock to find out that not every one can be trusted .

 

[nealm66]

Sad but true

 

[DSheetz]

All animals make a wide range of vocalizations , they talk a lot during the course of their day . We tend to say that we are using an injured rabbit sound , which isn't always correct it often is the sound a rabbit makes if it is startled . I often have used a lot of different antelope and deer fawn sounds . A fawn blats because it is hurt , it is looking for it's mom , it is afraid or maybe it is just hungry and looking to have a suckle from mom . Coyotes have a large vocabulary as well , most of us just aren't out there with them enough to be aware of it . When we are able to listen to the animals we can hear that just a subtle change in the tone , the length of the vocalization the pitch of the sound higher or lower means a different thing to the one giving the sound as well as to the others listening to it . As an example a coyote gives a high pitched almost a scream it might be angry at an intruder , it also could be startled by a snake striking it the situation dictates the sound . A coyote gives a long low howl saying hello is my litter there , or they give some short half length but higher pitched howls then a couple of barks asking where are you guys , you guys aren't where I left you , or it may do the same howls and barks but in a very high pitch , I'm mad about something , who are you and what are you doing in my area , go away you aren't welcome here still two short howls and two barks repeated but at a different tone . Deer antelope , rabbits and other animals have similar subtle changes in their voices to say different things , sometimes it is not so subtle it's there we just have to take the time to listen and then figure out the changes then apply them to our calling at the correct time in the situation we are in for them to make sense to the animals we are calling . Darn that sound is familiar but it's not the sound I'm used to hearing given my limited experience with it , oh I remember now the last time I heard that sound there was a really loud sound then I felt a sting and smelled a human . I think I'll stay here just in case . Or oh I know that sound last time I heard it I got to eat a meal it was nearly the same situation . Calling is so similar to training your dog or raising your family it's a lot of reptation but it's a lot of making subtle changes to fit each and every different situation . What do you mean I can't do that right now because it's not when I am used to doing it , we all know people that can't make a change in their routine I try my best not to be that person .

 

[74honker]

Very well put DSheetz. One sound or note can mean 10 different things just depends on the volume, tone, speed, or even time of day sometimes. It is fascinating.