It’s ok don. You also have seen a lot more net fence than I have too. I guess I just don’t know that much...it’s all good. I am comfortable with that.

Humans: we made up the concept of carrying capacity to determine how much a certain species can live in a certain habitat

Mother Nature: step aside child, I been doing that a lot longer and a lot better than you could ever think you could

Bobo, I can think of a couple situations where predators matter:
1. Situation described exactly as what the post before yours, small HF where animals are captive coyote/bobcat bait
2. Situation where your cover and/or nutrition are low and you want to take more deer per annum than the local population of predators will allow, year round action could allow more fawn recruitment to increase the deer population to where it could be sustainable with the higher annual harvest

I am sure there are probably some other situations that predator control could make a strong play into a management program, but for most of us, it is way down the list of things related to deer management/wildlife management.
We all know a healthy managed place starts with abundant cover (specifically fawning cover and early successional cover), which will allow abundant nutrition, so the deer numbers should be more of a “how many do we need to kill this year” rather than a “how many can we kill this year” type situations. Predator control is down the list of things in wildlife management similar to age culling and something most LF ranches will probably never get to in practical measures. This isn’t to say LF places can’t kill lots of predators, but most on here have to realize if you have predators in those kinds of numbers they are reproducing as quickly and will keep their numbers sustainable and replace the dead ones almost as quickly as you take them.

Humans: we made up the concept of carrying capacity to determine how much a certain species can live in a certain habitat

Mother Nature: step aside child, I been doing that a lot longer and a lot better than you could ever think you could

Nature also helps to control the population of coyotes, that is why we have up and down cycles in the rabbit population. Hunt them vigorously and shoot them. Mother nature will make sure they do not become extinct.

All I got rid of was the coyotes. Still see lots of hawks, owls, coons, rattlesnakes, chicken snakes, bull snakes, skunks, bobcats and feral cats from the neighbors. All of these eat rodents. Would hate to see rat population without these predators.

Bingo!!