Ramblings and Such From Hunting Coyote
- Thread starter DSheetz
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Bucklowery
Well-Known Member
It is gonna be 4 to 5 days in the teens in Florida that is going to bust the bark as they say
Thanks
Buck
Thanks
Buck
I was stationed in Orlando Fl in 1973 when it got cold there, I couldn't get warm with all of the humidity. When it gets that cold there, we lose a lot of fruit and vegetables that are grown in that part of the United States it's a hardship on the people raising these crops as well as driving the cost up for the people that consume them. I can remember how bright and shiny it was with all of the ice on everything as well as hearing loud cracks, like a rifle shot, from as you said the bark splitting. Power outages will be prevalent, people well be working out in the cold weather, as the power lines and other utilities run along the roadways, please be observant and watch for these workers, it's bad enough they are out in the cold away from their families during the holidays, but we don't want them to not make it back to them because of being hit by an automobile. When you think that you want to go out hunting predators in this weather, think about them and the way that they will be reacting to the harsh conditions. From what I have experienced in my part of the world they will be in a place out of the wind curled up with their tails over their nose and their feet all tucked up close, waiting out the bad weather as we humans should be as well. Yes, it's hard for us to say to ourselves that we need to stay home and not get out to try our luck at outsmarting the predators, but from my years of doing just that they are smarter than I was they stayed in out of it, while I was foolish enough to be out in it endangering myself, acting a fool and showing my back side, causing the family to be concerned about my well-being unduly.
Straight Shooter
Well-Known Member
Wii said, Dave. Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to All! I see where a lot of people talk of the coyote coming in too fast or from odd directions. We as hunters tend to become excited, then we don't really do as we should with our calling methods. Today's E-calls can be used directionally but most of what I have observed is them being used in a multi directional manner where we don't really have the control of causing the coyote to come toward us from the direction that we choose!!!. We tend to forget that we are the hunter out hunting the better hunter and that with time and experience we can learn to not only control the direction they come for the most part but also cause them to stop close to where we want them to for our shot by our actions as well. A way that works for me most often is to stop calling when they are near the range that I want them to be, then when they are where I would like them for a shot to bark loudly at them, ah somebody beat me there let me check this out, so I don't get torn up in a fight, type of thing. There are plenty of people around that can tell you their ways of doing it but that seems to be what works best for me, I didn't learn it in just a couple of hunts over the course of one or two years and I certainly didn't figure it all out on my own, I called people that had done far more then I had and even went and paid for their knowledge to be shared with me because I wanted to be the best that I could be at doing coyote control work, yup I took pride in a job well done, killing coyote that others didn't seem to be able to. I did it on a per coyote basis, no proof of purchase no pay.
nealm66
Well-Known Member
Merry Christmas!
With it being a La Nina year, it's been windy with gusts up to 90 mph at times here, not so much good for hunting coyote by any method. If you are trapping them with foot hold traps the wind can blow your covering off, bury your set-in dirt or snow and scatter your attractant scent. If you are out snaring them the wind can do the same things to the bottom of your loop, blow the loop closed, but I found that setting the lock at a slight up turned angle helped to keep it open, and when setting at a crawl under on a fence that I wanted to keep the bottom of the loop at least two inches off the ground any way for a good head catch instead of letting them get their front feet through the loop. If you are calling in the higher winds you will need to be where they are laying up out of the wind. here they will be in deep draws and in the juniper breaks. The wind can be your enemy, or you can use it to your advantage to an extent. It can cover some of your noise and movements, but at the same time they will be curled up out of the wind and be on higher alert because the wind doesn't allow them to hear things as well. You will need to get closer to them, stay a little longer on stand and probably play with your volume more then you normally would find yourself a good place out of the wind and use your eyes more than your ears and nose. It's advantageous to know your area well and the areas where they like to lay up in bad weather all in all I preferer to stay home and not try to call during this type of weather if I don't have a coyote that just has to be killed and that isn't a problem now that I have retired from it and it's just for fun now not a job. Please stay warm, dry, and safe enjoy your family and friends the weather will eventually improve
I found one of my old rough logbooks from 2008. I kept them and at the end of the month I would write my monthly smooth log report from them. I don't know why but the first month was missing. Feb./2/2008, had tracks from a pair of coyotes in the east brewer pasture. She circled the m-44 on the dyke and pulled it found the plug and vomit beside the m-44. Had a pair of coyotes working the merritt pasture and smith creek pasture they worked the m-44's but didn't pull them. Caught an old female coyote in snare between north flats and smith creek she had mange.Replaced a caked capsule in the bad lands. Had an m-44 pulled in carmins . I am impressed with the new m-44 bait from Craig and Dana. This is from one part of this ranch that is 30000 acres on this end and 35000 acres on the northern end. We have a 72 hour check on foot hold traps and snares with a 7 day check on m-44's but if you don't check them more often the eagles will eat anything that pulls one .
Feb. 8th, 2008, Checked the east brewer no sign of them. Checked the bird bait at the power plant, they said that they picked up 50 pounds of starlings. The starlings ate all of the DRC 1339 treated bait. We estimated there were around 200,000 starlings roosting there. I marked off three feet of handrail and then counted the birds that were roosting on it then multiplied that by the amount of handrails they were roosting on.
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Feb. 9/2008, had tracks of a pair in the merritt, found about 20 head of sheep ran through the fence into the smith creek pasture called the rancher. caught an old male coyote in snare between northeast and middle sand creek pastures.
Very detailed notes DSheetz. I've always kept mental logs but should've wrote more down. That sure is a bunch of blackbirds. Many years ago I knew a group that got a permit to thin some of those out. They used some kind of shotshell that once fired and out aways would explode sending shot everywhere. I wasn't part of that but sounded like they were HIGHLY effective lol.
I have used those shells they called them cracker shells; we used them in 12 gauge. They worked like a fragmentation grenade or HE round. Yes, the more detailed I kept them the better I could make my monthly reports and the more they would help me in the following years. I had Satellite maps made and marked the locations of all the dens that I took for future use as well. I may write down some of the more interesting entries from different dates latter. The Air Force flew and sprayed the roosted starlings with a detergent solution at one of their airfields because of the danger they posed for the jet turbine engines, it wet their feathers and the died from hypothermia.
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Keeping data is even more important now than even five years ago. With assaults on predator control and hunting in general, being able to document the nature of the work, species involved, depredations and damages incurred, health and body condition of animals taken, and watching for signs and symptoms of diseases is vitally important to keep up the fight.
Ed
Ed
