I went out to locate for the plane one morning, in some pine ridges. I got there found a place to set up and let out a long howl waited a few minutes then did my locator howls and barks. The pair I was looking for answered me down in a valley, so I called in the plane. As it came in up the draw next to me came a heard of goats followed by a pair of coyotes. The plane came in I got them on the coyotes that had answered me got one on the first pass then came around a couple of times before they located the second one. Then they came over towards me and got on the two that had herded the goats my way. We got a dry pair that was bringing me the goats and a wet pair that had answered me plus the six pups from the den, the dry pair was a bonus. You get a call sometimes to go in and locate in areas that you haven't checked out and aren't sure what is there. That isn't the first or the last time that when I was calling that I have had coyotes bring animals toward me.
Ramblings and Such From Hunting Coyote
- Thread starter DSheetz
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I had a guy that kept asking me to take him with me to call coyotes. I was called to work on a sheep ranch about 16 miles north of town and had been out a couple of times and knew where there was a pair with pups so I told him I would take him with me. He was pretty quiet as we walked in and got set up, I put him to my left side and waited for several minutes before I let out a long lone howl, I had just finished it when out of the creek bottom a coyote charged at us and stopped out around fifty yards. I whispered to him shoot it, I can't I'm too excited, so I shot it. It was the male. Being about 8:30 I wasn't surprised by that. We hauled him back to the truck and as I had been told to, I cut his ears off so nobody else could bounty him when I left him at the gate coming into the pasture. We had a cup of coffee and a snack then headed out to try for the female. I had messed around till nearly 11:00 and was hoping that she had come back in by then. I found a sandy blowout that was a couple of feet deep, and we got set up in it, we were a couple of hundred yards from where we had called in the male, I let out with my locator howls and barks not a word was answered, I waited for a few minutes and did another set. I saw her moving toward us along the top of the creek bank she stopped out around two hundred yards and gave me a broad side shot. She wasn't happy about someone else being in her area near the den but didn't see her mate so was pretty cautious. I didn't even bother to ask if he could shoot her, she showed five pups. We drug her to the truck cut her ears off and dropped them at the gate, I went back that evening and took the pups after I dropped him at his truck. He thanked me several times and said that he was so excited to have coyotes come to the call that there was no way he could have shot them. That ranch had more coyotes on it than any I had worked before; I ended the first month with two coyotes a day average not counting the pups. That year the dens averaged five pups per den.
Getting some of your weather conditions here now DSheetz. VERY windy and dry. That big accident on I55 was just 40ish miles east of where I'm at. Mother Nature can be a fickle you know what sometimes and I feel for those affected by it.
I saw that on the news this morning and was wondering if you had been affected by it. It seems that the eastern part of the U.S. has been windy and cooler than normal like we were this winter. I am not a fan of high winds no matter what time of year they come, winter summer, spring or fall. Hot dry winds in the summer burn up the green grass and stunt the other crops. For the ranchers the grass is their crop the cattle and sheep are a byproduct of the grass. For the farmers the hot winds stunt their crops and don't let them grow well as well as drying out the moisture. Take care and stay safe.
windypants
Well-Known Member
I've been seeing a very pregnant female at last years den sight the last couple of days. I'll be able to watch them from the house, so they will be good teachers in Coyote U. It's about 2 miles away, but I can also see them from the road at about 1400 yards. There are four breeding pairs left in this area I hunted so hard that I know of.
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Doing any kind of control work in subdivisions or around where there are a lot of people isn't easy. A lot of people don't think that any animals should be removed from the locations even if it is being done with the animals not being harmed. I have found in most cases that it was people that were actually the cause of the animals being a problem and needing to be taken out of that environment. Racoons and ferial cats are the biggest offenders, then skunks, that I have been asked to get away from people. Most of the time it's that someone decided they needed to feed these animals then the animals become accustomed to being fed by humans and get to the point where they aren't fearful of humans anymore so then they become aggressive in their quest for food. Other people don't know how to react to an animal that normally is afraid of them not being afraid of them and approaching them. I have been asked to catch ferial cats and racoons at a power plant because of this several times and after repeatedly trying to explain to the people that were feeding the animals, that the animals don't need to be helped and that by feeding them they are making them become a problem and that they shouldn't feed them they almost always thought that I was a demon cold hearted s09 of a b0945 and could never comprehend that they might be the cause of the problem.
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Yes windypants; if the female you are watching isn't where she will cause any trouble there is no better teacher! That is one of the best teachers that I had of the way coyotes behave and what they do as well as the reason they are doing what they are. Today I got to watch a bald eagle grab a prairie dog, it's been a while since I saw an eagle catch something. It's interesting it saw it circled around slowed it flight and just glided down hit the dog and kept on flying with it in its left foot. We humans have become so accustomed to living and not seeing the everyday life and death in our world that there are so many people now living in towns and cities that really don't realize that is a common occurrence I think, so many people that have been born and raised in the U.S. have been exposed to the wonderful world of being sheltered from death. But if we venture out of our comfortable lives and visit the poorer third world nations where they are exposed on a daily basis to life and death struggles, unhealthy living styles, unclean water and filth everywhere it is a shock to our minds as to how those people are still surviving living nearly as our animals on farms here do when they are kept in feed lots. I remember when I would get sent overseas it would take me a couple of weeks to adjust to how they lived. I'm sure glad to live where I do, and I hope it never changes to a world like that of poverty and filth! I am so glad that we don't have to clean, dress and wrap our own family members for cremation or burial then bury them ourselves any longer as they do in so many places in the world!
That is a perfect location for them to have pups, a nice draw with trees and brush close by but also good visibility for them to lay up a way from it and just watch it and the surrounding countryside. You should be able to hear them and some of what they are saying to be able to get an understanding of what, why and when they are saying it as well as when they aren't saying anything and the reason for that as well. I got my knife scales fitted and the brass rivets made yesterday then used some two-part epoxy to bond them to the tang. This morning I set the rivets and sanded them down smooth with the scales then put my first coat of varnish on them. I did take pictures and will send them and others as I get more done. This is do some wait for things to set and dry then smooth it and put another coat on the next day time frame. So, then I am doing other things while that is taking place.
windypants
Well-Known Member
I look forward to seeing your finished knife! A taxidermist friend of mine just brought me a pattern for a fleshing knife he designed, so I'll take a run at making one for him.
I didn't know about that den last year until I saw the 2 adults and seven half-grown pups heading back to it from a little excursion. Then I could see where the grass around the den area was all wore down, partially hidden behind a chokecherry bush.
I didn't know about that den last year until I saw the 2 adults and seven half-grown pups heading back to it from a little excursion. Then I could see where the grass around the den area was all wore down, partially hidden behind a chokecherry bush.
I used to see them from the air that way too. I could smell red fox dens farther from them than the coyote dens. As I have said before coyote dens are usually cleaner than red fox dens, red fox have a kind of skunky smell to them, coyotes have a wet or dirty dog smell to them. If I were to need to guess, I would say that the female is a younger one probably from last year as she hasn't pupped yet, or she hasn't had good feeding this season. Some dens you go why would they put it such an obvious place, then the next one you wonder how did they do so well at hiding it. Is it a draw knife style or is it a one-handed knife with a good curve to it? It's fun to build them what type of steel will you use on it? I built a capeing knife for a friend of mine who guides hunters and capes them out for his hunters to take to the taxidermist. I used 52-100 bearing steel, it will rust but it also will take and hold an edge I used some 440C stainless steel on a few knives and some AEB-L stainless steel it took me a few tries to learn how to heat-treat the AEB-L so that it was hard took an edge and hold it okay then again it's about learning something and doing something that I can say I did well at. It needs to be at about 1950 F when you quench it in 125 F quenching oil, and it does well with a crio treat of near -210 F for twenty-four hours brought to room temperature then drawn back at 350 F for an hour and quenched in cold water. I enjoy denning for control work the adults are killing to feed the young, but you also can take out a large number of coyotes that do grow up to be adults, they will live most times if you only take one or both of the adults, often another pair will adopt them, but I have found them that were living on bugs and cow pies also. Several times when I didn't get the den the same day as I did the adults the pups would be out eating grass the next morning when I got back to them.
windypants
Well-Known Member
Im going to leave these coyotes alone until next fall when their fur is prime, and hopefully worth something. There aren't any sheep around here so they shouldn't bother any livestock now that calving is done. I've seen two females here recently that hadn't pupped yet. The other one didn't look even close.
I made him a mock-up of his knife design to see if it functioned the way he wanted, and he said it worked great for prepping hides for the tanner. I'm going to try that SV35 steel. The down side to that type of steel is that I'll have to send it away to get it hardened and tempered, as it requires more precision that I have the tools or ability to provide.
I made him a mock-up of his knife design to see if it functioned the way he wanted, and he said it worked great for prepping hides for the tanner. I'm going to try that SV35 steel. The down side to that type of steel is that I'll have to send it away to get it hardened and tempered, as it requires more precision that I have the tools or ability to provide.
Bucklowery
Well-Known Member
Same for alligators. Seems like a no brainer but happens every year. When I was trapping nuisance alligators there were some every year that had been fed and now a problem. The only benefit was they were easy to find and easy to catch
Thanks
Buck
windypants
Well-Known Member
Found the female near the house this morning. She looks like she has a bit to go before she has pups. Don't know where her den is yet.
Fortunately for us they don't all have pups every year. I have taken a lot of dry females over the years, but I have also taken wet yearlings also. The dry pairs that are killing are often hard to get taken care of because they don't have to return to a den full of pups every time and can, and often do just kind of wander around in their area. That looks like a good design for a fleshing knife it should have very good control. Yes that stainless steel takes around 1950 - 2000 held for around 20 minutes then quenched to refine the grain structure then crio treatment and drawn back so that it isn't brittle but hard and durable. It is pretty expensive for me but well worth the price for some projects.
