Coyotes

[rouxroux]

"True men don't kill coyotes" -RHCP, (early 80's)?

[oldE]

It seems as coyotes migrated East, they morphed a bit. The ones we have around here range close to 50 lbs or so and their coloring has bits of tan, black and cream.
We live 1/4 mile off the road and have them running through the field in front of the house frequently. (A few weeks ago, one young one spent 3 hours hunting for mice in that field, totally ignoring our dogs.)
I have seen as many as 7 at one time on the river ice.
We don't let our cats out, as we try to keep from giving the coyotes snack food.

Les

[rcecale]

Meh...coyotes... Big deal!

You want something that will mess you up, scare the he!! outta you?

Try a coydog!

A coydog is the hybrid offspring of a male coyote (Canis latrans) and a female dog (Canis lupus familiaris). Together they are genetically capable of producing fertile young.

More info here...


Randy

[Jeff Higgins]

It's been too many years, but one of my favorite pastimes used to be being hunted by coyotes. Yes, I was actually hunting them, but to be successfull, one must fool them into hunting you.

Coyote hunting involves calling, just like ducks and geese. The idea is to make the little fellers come looking for you. It's best to have a partner that can cover your back, looking the other way, just in case (they usually approach from downwind, but not always). The idea is to sound like an injured or dying rabbit, either by blowing on a call much like a duck call, or by playing an electronic call. Decoys are also used - one of my most effective set-ups in an "over-called" area was a stuffed Snoopy doll (I'm not kidding...) and a dog yelper call. Set the stuffed animal about 20-30 yards away, staked to the gound, tie a string around its neck and pull on it to animate the dog. Then proceed to make noises like a dog with his tail slammed in a car door... Works like a charm...

Anyway, the excitement of being hunted by a coyote can be addictive. Talk about an adreneline rush when one pops up out of nowhere, that you didn't see working its way in. It's rather disconcerting at times. I would sit with my rifle in my lap, and a big bore revolver under it, at all times. The rifle (Ruger #1 in .220 Swift) was for the ones seen at a distance that stopped long enough to shoot. The revolver was for the ones that surprised us - sometimes at distances measured in feet, not yards. .44's and .45's are not necessary for coyotes, but that's what we packed nonetheless.

While we were calling specifically for coyotes, there are lots of other hungry opportunists out there. The areas I used to do this in are great black bear and mountain lion habitat as well. We've had to stand up and make enough of a ruckus to shoo off one or two of those over the years as well. Big revolvers were comforting when all we had were little rifles. Fun stuff...

[Rich Lambert]

There's coyotes everywhere around us. About once a month someone posts a lost small dog/cat sign on every pole in the neighborhood...they're usually named something like Precious or Cuddles. We've lost one cat. I've heard coyotes hunt cats by having one animal in some tall grass or bushes making rustling noises and when curious cat comes to investigate they're jumped by his friends. Pretty sly. I'm not sure I'd want to be hunted by a pack of 'em.

[vash]

i used to hunt them all the time.

my friend sold the furs. easy with an electronic caller and a varmit rifle. too easy. i quit doing it. i tried it with a bow recently, and that is way to un-nerving. they have to get very close, and the excitement of watching them stalk the dying rabbit (me and my friend with a mouth call) was enough fun. i didnt release the arrow. it got to 15 yards of me. i was mildly scared.

i have never had one actively chase me. maybe rabid.

[Hugh R]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

It's been too many years, but one of my favorite pastimes used to be being hunted by coyotes. Yes, I was actually hunting them, but to be successfull, one must fool them into hunting you. Fun stuff...

Yeah, in situations like that you're definitely not at the top of the food chain.

[GG Allin]

Originally Posted by ruf-porsche

A coyote was found in a restaurant in Chicago, made all the local news.

Coyotes have been around here for a while, downtown and in the burbs. The really strange one was the Mountain Lion that wondered into Wrigleyville a few months ago. They confirmed it did not escape from somewhere, it wondered along the southern Wisconsin border then south to Chicago.

[MT930]

Serious fun and adrenalin. Great fun when you happen across them with the right equipment.

[LeeH]

The bulletin board at our vet's office is filled with 'missing cat' notices. Outdoor cats in our neighborhood quickly become missing cats.

[911boost]

In the snowy range in Southern Wyoming we hear the coyotes all the time. Typically we have to put the dogs in the camper, especially my pug. I know for a fact that on more than one occasion they have been trying to lure the dogs out into the dark. When they get really close, I usually grab the Remington 870 and just prop it next to me. 00 Buck would stop em cold.

On a related note, I had a friend that would hunt them with his friends when he was younger. They would then sell the pelts to a local guy in Torrington, Wyoming. Anywhoo, the kid that drove had an older full sized Bronco. The shot a couple of em one night, and were driving back into town, when the guy driving slammed on the brakes and bailed. Yep, he looked in the rear view mirror and one of em was standing up. If I recall the sotry correctly, I think there were a couple of bullet holes in the truck when it was all said and done.

Bill

[vash]

that is why you skin them where they drop...hides dont stand up and attack.

[911boost]

Oh I agree, and I am more than positve there was some beer involved in that story.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by LeeH

The bulletin board at our vet's office is filled with 'missing cat' notices. Outdoor cats in our neighborhood quickly become missing cats.

Same here. I'm in what used to be rural Snohomish County, and have been for 22 years now. We have been engulfed by suburbia, but there is still a lot of open, undeveloped space around us. Some of it is protected wetland, so it never will be developed. It's great habitat for suburban coyotes, and the occasional mountain lion or black bear. I've seen coyotes around our place the whole time we have lived here. I've heard mountain lions crying in our woods behind our place. The WDFW trapped a black bear within two miles of us just a couple of years ago.

Some one in a neighborhood to the north of us, one of the new ones, has gone around and posted signs on the telephone poles. "Coyotes in Your Neighborhood" in big bold letters at the top, followed by admonitions to not leave pets or food outside (it doesn't say "pets" and "food" are more or less interchangeable. Maybe I'm the only one to pick up on that...). It goes on to explain what to do if confronted by one, but leaves out the obvious - shoot the little bastard. All this rot about "looking big", not making eye contact or running, etc. Oh well.

Maybe I should set up and call a few in my 'hood. I could use the old Snoopy doll very effectively, methinks. Of course lighting off the old .220 Swift in a residential neighborhood might not go unnoticed. I'd bet they would all know who, as well. Hmm... maybe time to put up some more of my "silent" .45-70 loads...

[pwd72s]

I spent my 15th summer on a cattle ranch in Northen Cal...near a town called Adin.
The owner had a dog that loved killing coyotes...a Russian Wolfhound and Greyhound mix. Coyote spotted, he'd jump from the back of a moving jeep in order to catch one...it was amazing to watch the distance between this dog and a Coyote shrink. The dog would bowl the coyote over with contact, go for the throat, then 2 shakes of his head, it would be all over.

My single shot .22 took a few coyotes that summer. Don't think I was ever stalked by one. In cattle country, Coyotes have a fear of man...for good reason.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

I spent my 15th summer on a cattle ranch in Northen Cal...near a town called Adin.
The owner had a dog that loved killing coyotes...a Russian Wolfhound and Greyhound mix. Coyote spotted, he'd jump from the back of a moving jeep in order to catch one...it was amazing to watch the distance between this dog and a Coyote shrink. The dog would bowl the coyote over with contact, go for the throat, then 2 shakes of his head, it would be all over.

My single shot .22 took a few coyotes that summer. Don't think I was ever stalked by one. In cattle country, Coyotes have a fear of man...for good reason.

Single shot .22, during your 15th summer? Didn't think the self-contained metalic cartridge went back that far...

One of my old duck hunting buddies had a big old black Lab that loved to kill coyotes as well. When he was young, he had the legs to run one down pretty easily. Amazing how fast a 90 pound Lab can take apart a 25 pound coyote. He was a big, lovable lug of a couch potato/duck fetcher other than that. Just amazing what he would turn into at the mere whiff of a yodel dog, though. Friendly as could be with other dogs.

[pwd72s]

Ditto this rancher's greyhound/wolfhound mix...just a cuddle bunny "please scritch me behind the ears and pat my chest" dog. Even got along well with the barn cats. But he sure had a thing for coyotes...

Really, I swear...the metallic cartridge came on the scene a few years before I entered my teens...

[dd74]

I normally see coyotes during my rides through the hills of Griffith Park, near Hollywood. The ones I see are not afraid of humans. They stand by the road, staring at traffic or passersby. I've seen one literally stake out a kids' outdoor b-day party in the park, and one time while I was climbing a hill, a coyote followed me the whole way up. I think the only thing that abated whatever it wanted to do, was the spinning of my legs and the sound of the chain over the gear teeth.

In the mountainous regions of L.A., coyotes (and owls and hawks) are why you don't let a puppy or small dog outside without a leash. And even then, I've heard of coyotes snatching little dogs right off the leash, in front of the owner.

The most stupid action I've seen involving coyotes were some guys who ran into the bushes and chased out a couple coyotes. If a pups' den had been in there, and the mother anywhere close, I'm certain those guys would have soon needed a trip to Emergency, a rabies shot being the least of their problems.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by dd74

I normally see coyotes during my rides through the hills of Griffith Park, near Hollywood. The ones I see are not afraid of humans. They stand by the road, staring at traffic or passersby. I've seen one literally stake out a kids' outdoor b-day party in the park, and one time while I was climbing a hill, a coyote followed me the whole way up. I think the only thing that abated whatever it wanted to do, was the spinning of my legs and the sound of the chain over the gear teeth.

In the mountainous regions of L.A., coyotes (and owls and hawks) are why you don't let a puppy or small dog outside without a leash. And even then, I've heard of coyotes snatching little dogs right off the leash, in front of the owner.

The most stupid action I've seen involving coyotes were some guys who ran into the bushes and chased out a couple coyotes. If a pups' den had been in there, and the mother anywhere close, I'm certain those guys would have soon needed a trip to Emergency, a rabies shot being the least of their problems.

Certain types of animals NEED to develop a fear of man...or they become a problem. This is why I think the ban of hunting cougars with dogs is stupid...
The day will come in Oregon when a human child will be killed by a Cougar...bank on it.

[JTO]

My father in law and I were camping and fishing near Hart Mountain in Southeast Oregon. One morning, the FIL left camp to relieve himself. I was packing up sleeping bags etc. and happened to look up. I saw a coyote slinking through the rocks, in the direction of where I thought my FIL was. I thought that was odd so I drew my 1911 and drove a Hydrashock through his chest. FIL stood up, pulling on his drawers and said, "thanks, he was stocking me and getting too close".

Always take a gun with you for your morning constitutional.
Troy