This One’s for Timmons

In my last post, I told of my recent hunting escapades of the midwestern coyote (ky-yoat, as pronounced by most midwestern hillbillies). He posed some valuable questions in his comments of my post as you will see quoted below. So valid in fact, I’ve chosen to answer him.

Dude,
Isn’t that Coyote pretty small? I don’t know much about hunting but shouldn’t it be bigger? Do you eat Coyote meat? Do you wear it’s skin as a hat? Stuff it and keep in on your mantel?
Don’t get me wrong, it would be cool to hunt stuff but I’m not sure I completely understand it. Help!

Hunters are a necessary part of conservation management. Due to the introduction of so many humans in North America, many wildlife species have suffered and dwindled due to the massive population and land habitation of man. With man, in turn came the introduction of domesticated animals for the purpose of food. We as Americans eat primarily beef, chicken and fish for our meats, leaving the wildlife population to grow and overpopulate at an alarming rate. Not only is this unhealthy for the diets and lifespans of the animals, it spreads diseases, thus increasing the amount of pestilence and plague for the humans around. As humans, we have a strong responsibility to love and respect the wildlife around us. This involves living in harmony with and caring for those animals. Without any conservation regulations and care, our wildlife populations would decrease like the American Bison or the Whitetail of the nineteen thirties where the north american population dropped from the millions to 300,000 nationally. Now however, due to hunting and strong conservation and land management, the whitetail is once again one of the most prevalent North American non-predatorial animals, now numbering nationally over 30 million!!!!!!!!

I’ll begin by saying that I never hunt simply to kill. There is always a purpose or reason behind my different hunting adventures. For whitetail deer, it’s an enormous challenge ending with the reward of a large portion of meat (delicious!) for my family, and the ever-present possibility that I might kill an enormous trophy. However, will always take a doe if given the opportunity. Not only are female whitetails the best meat, it’s also healthiest for the growth of the herd. With so many trophy hunters out there only taking bucks, someone must be willing to “take a doe, and watch the herd grow.”

SO WHY A PREDATOR HUNT? Hunting coyotes is different in the sense that you don’t eat them, and they’re not great trophies. They’re wiley and smart, while feeding off animals in distress or even carion (roadkill, animals already dead, etc). AND they’re becoming more and more overpopulated. With popularity of deer and turkey hunting growing immensely across the US, most hunters will never actively pursue the regulation of predator numbers in their area. For instance, when I was growing up, we would occasionally hear coyotes chiming in and howling together in the evening and night. NOW? It’s not a question of when or where you’ll hear them, but how many and how often. Coyotes have also traditionally been a lone hunter will travel solo when not looking for a mate or raising pups. Unlike wolves, they have not traditionally been pack hunters. Until now. Many recent acounts speak of coyotes attacking in pairs and trios, even fours or fives in some cases. In my story below, you’ll note that when I called, THREE coyotes came in.

And YES, to answer Timmons’ question, the coyote I shot was smaller than most larger ones, though the coyote in general isn’t that big anyway, maybe 40 lbs maximum. Mine was probably a year old, weighing roughly 20-25 lbs, and was from one of last year’s litters. The two that were with it were substantially bigger though they disappeared after I shot the first one and never had an opportunity to take another.

I could write for days about this subject, but I know you wouldn’t want to read that much and I wouldn’t have the time to write it! FEEL FREE TO LEAVE COMMENTS, IT HELPS TO KNOW WHO’S BEEN VISITING MY SITE!