Ramblings and Such From Hunting Coyote

[DSheetz]

In the 1960's I was sure that more families were fed with the use of a 22 using longs and long rifles. Rabbits, squirrels and even deer were harvested with them. Some people used them to hunt jackrabbits that were then sold, to mink farms, and other food items bought in that manner providing for the family. Nearly every family that I knew grew a garden and canned food from it as well as had fresh vegetables during the season. In the 1970's things seemed to change, or maybe I just changed my location and wasn't exposed to it as much, but it seemed that people stopped raising a garden and more people started buying more food from the grocery stores, people started shooting more center fire cartridges, the 222, 223 and other rounds started being more popular. Then for a while the people I was exposed to got into the bigger the better line of thought and a lot of them got magnums that kicked as hard on the back end as they did at the muzzle. At this time, I am noticing a resurgence of smaller calibers becoming popular again. As long as shot placement and choosing when to and when not to shoot is well thought out I personally don't see where it is a problem. I have taken a few animals that were shot in the wrong place or at too long of a range for the power and or caliber. I got asked to help a guy skin and cut up his first deer one time, as I started skinning it I had to tell him his deer was not worth skinning any farther and it wasn't worth trying to eat it as it had a large abscess on its hind quarter, from a 22 round nose 36 grain bullet when I dug it out. Probably from someone chasing it out of their yard or some such thing. I've seen a lot of coyotes with a leg missing, flopping and skinned several with bullets in them from 22 long rifles or shot guns. I've seen a lot of game animals in the same conditions. As long as we take the time to learn what our limits are and what the limit of our equipment is and respect these things along with a little bit of common sense the trend for smaller calibers will be okay, in the 50's and 60's smaller calibers were used because that is what was readily available and cost effective to the average American beside the surplus military weapons. You could buy 22 short, long and long rifle rounds in most grocery stores for 25 cents a box of fifty. If you were going to get paid 25 cents to replace your ammo, you better be able to show that you hadn't just wasted your ammo, If you were sent out to get rid of prairie dogs or ground squirrels you needed 50 tails to show for your efforts so if you missed one you better be able to figure out how to get one to replace the one you missed. It doesn't take you carrying a bucket of water from the creek to a hole and flooding an animal out to figure you need to be sure of your shot.

 

[DSheetz]

I got called one day and asked if I could go in and kill a coyote then find the den as the helicopter had gotten a wet female but didn't get the male. I got out to the site the next morning, where they had gotten the female. I howled a few times with my locator series. I didn't get any howls, but two dry females showed up, they ran right up close to me stopped I shot one the other turned ran but stopped for some injured coyote screams. I loaded them up and moved to another set on a ridge a little over 1/4 mile out. got set up and did some long lone howls with close to a minute between the howls. After the second howl the pups started talking then the old dog barked, they shut up. I had a good location on them they were down in some rough draws 3/4 mile on out. I saw the old dog come off of a cut bank near where they were and pretty soon, I saw him come out of a draw closer to me. I gave him one more howl then got him in my scope and watched him work his way in. It took him a long time to me but was probably only maybe ten minutes, he stopped and looked toward me, and I would give him a short howl to get him started again, when he was about 150 yards out, I shot him then drug him back to the truck and went to take the pups there were six in the den. I took everyone back to the corrals where they were working some cows. The dad was there and said we didn't have any idea that there were any other coyotes in the area. I smiled and said they are smart to the helicopter now let me kill a few of them then the helicopter will be productive again. I put out three dozen snares over the next several days then said if they wanted to get the helicopter in and fly we would kill a few. Two days later they called and said they would fly in the morning. That afternoon I ran my snares there and took five coyotes the helicopter took two. After taking twenty coyotes from that place the helicopter started getting more as the surrounding ranches weren't doing any control work and fresh coyotes were filling in. I got to where I would ask the ranchers to let me know when they were going to fly so that I could get snares set to catch the squirters that were running from the helicopter or plane before they got to see them.

 

[74honker]

I can see where that tactic would be very effective. Setting a perimeter defense more or less knowing the smartest ones won't be seen but also knowing that thier concentration is on running away and not necessarily "looking" for a snare in the fence either.

 

[DSheetz]

Yes, sir 74honker, it worked well for me, I was out locating one morning for the helicopter, I had an old female talk the helicopter came in and couldn't find her till they flew over a fence line and called to tell me she was fighting a snare just a couple of hundred yards from me. But we went on to get several more that day.

 

[DSheetz]

Here it's close to the time of year that den hunting is nearly over. The pups are old enough now that some of them are out camping in the sagebrush with the adults or will run and scatter if you get close to the hole they are living in still. A lot of the pups will answer a siren but some of them will get scared and not talk to it especially if you are too close to them, tracking helps there so that you kind of know where they are. Being out and just setting to listen for them to talk on their own is what I preferer, but if I absolutely have to locate them now, I find that most all of them will howl at the puppy distress sounds if you are a way from them and run it at full volume for several seconds up to a minute. Just another trick I figured out by needing to find a den latter in the spring because mom and dad were killing lambs and had been well trained. I had been looking for the kids for a week had seen the old ones from a distance and set a few snares and leghold traps for the adults, the old ones would get up on a hill and watch from at least a thousand yards out, never the same place twice but close to it. I had saved the puppy distress sounds for just such a pair. I got set up on the downside of a ridge in a small juniper, glassed the area for probably twenty minutes, located a coyote out several hundred yards got ready and let loose with the puppy distress sounds, it stood up and just looked my way, then sat down and watched. I turned up the volume it laid down but then I heard the puppies start howling, it barked, and they stopped talking then I heard feet hitting the ground behind me as granny coyote ran by me, she dropped down the ridge to my front and disappeared into the junipers. Not one coyote was taken at that stand, but I did locate the pups. I took 6 from that hole latter in the day about noon after I had given them time to calm down and hole back up. The next week I decided to try it again just to see if it had been a fluke. I had taken an old male coyote with his tail looking like it had been shaved, so I figured it was around pups as it didn't look like mange. I got set up and glassed the area, then turned on the puppy distress sound at full volume, this time even mom chimed in. They were on the neighboring ranch, and mom decided to come in closer then got shot for her efforts. I called the rancher for permission and got it so the next morning I went in and found a den hole as I took the pups from the hole, I noticed they were all females six of them. I looked on top of the cut bank and could just barely see a slight trail crossing over it to another draw. On the side of the bank was a hole showing signs of use, what was going on here, I looked it over and decided to wire it and pulled a puppy out of it a male. I took seven males out of that hole. She had the males in one hole and the females in another hole. I talked to the guy that was doing the control there before me. He told me yes; he had a female in that area that had large litters that he left her and one or two of the female pups every year, for the last several years. He was coyote farming the ranchers in that area and had bragged about it and that is why he wasn't there now, and I had been called to work there.

 

[DSheetz]

For the majority of people calling or hunting coyotes it is probably done from October till the end of February. They are out doing it mostly for pleasure, a few of us do it year-round, I probably went at least 25 years that I had equipment out for coyotes as my main goal. I speak of keeping somethings in reserve for hard-to-get animals such as using the puppy distress sounds for special occasions, using the siren to locate at times and having lure or bait that I used sparingly. The reasons for that were that I needed to kill coyotes that had been hunted, called, trapped or snares for by others. I knew that I needed to be very cautious in coming and going from an area so that the only time a coyote knew I had been around was when it came across my tracks and scent that was fresh. In the above story I related I talked about granny coyote. I did get her caught with a foot hold trap by the end of that week just a few feet from where she did her run by. I used fox gland lure at that set, and it was well blended in with the surrounding area. The adults with the pups were gotten the next morning with the use of the helicopter. I showed the pilot where to find them and got him and the gunner on them as they laid and watched him fly over them. If it's your job to kill the troublemakers it doesn't take you long to figure out not to put all of your cards face up on the table or as my grandma said don't put all of your eggs in one basket.

 

[DSheetz]

Several years ago, I asked a guy if he would like to see my hooters calendar, he turned red and said no I'm married, and it wouldn't be right for me to look at that. It had twelve different owls pictured for each month of the year he finally saw the hummor in it.

 

[DSheetz]

And they said life would slow down when I retired! the only thing I've noticed is that I don't really have to be anyplace at a specific time (most of the time) I'm still as busy as I was just at different things. lol

 

[74honker]

And they said life would slow down when I retired! the only thing I've noticed is that I don't really have to be anyplace at a specific time (most of the time) I'm still as busy as I was just at different things. lol

They told me the same thing when our nest emptied lol. Still chasing our tails as much or more now lol.

 

[windypants]

I know. I'm so busy now that I'm retired, I don't know how I ever had time for a job.

 

[APDDSN0864]

My Dad warned me when I retired from my first career that I would be busier than I had been before.
I wasn't sure how that would be possible but he was right.
I'm now on my third career and thinking about switching to another one, this time working for myself.

 

[DSheetz]

I found that some types of people don't do well working for themselves because they don't know when to slow down and put in too much time working, not enough self, family or just down time, work acholics. One study I read said that today's working group of Americans will average five different careers in their lifetimes.

 

[APDDSN0864]

The fun part about this new adventure is that my lovely wife will be part of it and we will be living closer to our kids and grandkids.
I am richly blessed to be married to her and we work well together no matter what we are doing. We enjoy each other's company and we complement each other's skills and abilities.
I have also infected her with the predator hunting virus and she has a worse case of it than I do.
So, we can work together and play together.

Ed

 

[DSheetz]

Predator hunting, trapping, calling, snaring is an addiction no doubt about it. I fortunately don't have ferule swine here or I would most likely be addicted to doing the same for them. Family is to me the most important part of life and if you can be closer to where they live so that you get more time with them and their kids, the grandkids, your life will be richer for it.