people that don't have a clue about the agriculture business are so under the radar

My position on coyote depredation on feral hogs is that it isn't enough to make much difference to hog populations.

And the coyote depredation on fawns is extensive and proven.

Therefore both should be shot at every opportunity.

Although doing so will certainly not put either species in jeopardy.

But it can help things locally, if you do so.

Pasture Poodles never get a pass from me, in fact, I spend more time actively hunting them than I do all year for anything else.

Coons are another animal on my hit list. Soon.... Now that deer season is over.

I really like to go calling coyotes after deer season. Got more places to go after deer season is over but will shoot one if it comes out while deer huntin Coyotes or hogs never get a pass. Heck shoot a hog usually you can get a coyote off it the next day

When they share the same habitat, coyotes account for 80-90% of fawn mortality. With no fawns to feed on, the coyote you saw was obviously in search of other young to kill and eat.

I never give a coyote a pass. They are without question fawn-killing machines.

The more coyotes are pressured, the bigger the litters will be. If I find the book, I will list the source of that little tidbit. The only place I have seen (in Texas) where there are almost zero coyotes is in Val Verde County where the ranchers (sheep and goat) pay well for the trappers to get them. We've had hunts ruined because they got desperate to catch a single coyote and they ended up bringing a helicopter to track it down.

What ever book you find that in, it's not worth the paper it's written on.

There was a liberal coyote hugger type "scientist" that wrote that bunk.

he went so far as to say the more coyotes you killed, the more they would reproduce, and the population would grow.

Lots of people bought into that... until the real life scientists came out and asked how a species could reproduce more than you could kill.

Fun stuff.

I see it's still got followers.

I try to shoot all I can, however coyotes and deer have been living together for thousands of years and there’s still plenty of both.

I kill anything that competes with me for food.

Deer exploded when they introduced the screw worm eradication program.

Coyotes exploded when the greenies banned compound 1080... that accounted for 80% of the coyotes taken for predator control measures.

Since then the sheep ranching ag industry has dwindled to nearly non-existent.

To be sure, coyotes eat a few piglets, but I doubt they make much of a dent. We shoot both on-site my place, deer hunting or not. It is also a standing rule for guests. Let one walk and you'll not be invited back.

I don’t disagree with the fact that coyotes impact ranching and raising animals. I come from a long line cattle ranchers and cowboys. From my experience buzzards account for a lot more lost calves than coyotes do. I’m not saying coyotes don’t get calves though. As for the sheep industry I have no experience there. All I was saying is from a wildlife standpoint, coyotes and deer have lived together for a long time and the coyotes haven’t wiped the deer out yet.

I read an article about deer hunting in Mills County. It said that one of the reasons there are so many deer is because the coyotes are keep in check by trappers, who are hired by the ranchers. I am not a rancher, or a trapper, just read this. However, I am on a deer lease in Mills County. I have never seen a coyote, or hog on it, and it is loaded with deer. I am also on a lease in E TX (Morris County). It is full of hogs/coyotes, and has few deer. I know there is more to this than the coyotes, but I think it is fair to say the coyotes do not help the deer population. How much do they hurt it? No sure.

If on one day you could remove 75% of the YoYo population and with no further predation on them, you would have the same exact number one year later. If you remove mouths that creates more protein for those who remain and it also will serve as an attractant to YoYos on neighboring properties. With more protein available, larger litters are more viable. It's a tough challenge and one in which you have to stay on top of.

We have a lot of YoYos on our lease in Eastern Lasalle County. You hear them every morning and see some while moving through the pasture. In addition, we have tons of cottontails. I always considered that to be a sign of good health in the pasture.

This year, we had a couple of deer found by YoYos before the hunters got to them. Caught me off guard and early on, I started to carry my suppressed AR with me. Evidently that's all it took as I never saw one.

You're assuming the food source remains at the same level which it doesn't once predators create their impact. It's a cycle where large numbers of prey animals creates increased numbers of predators. As predators reduce prey numbers, a declining food source reduces predator numbers. With fewer predators, the number of prey animals rebounds and the cycle continues. Since we and coyotes are both predators, shooting them lessens the impact of hunting in reducing deer numbers. For that reason, you might say that shooting coyotes, the prey animal that has the greatest impact on fawn mortality, is your best tool at sustaining or even increasing bag limits.

Did you actually read what I posted? Go assuming on your own.

my good neighbor friend lost a baby calf to coyotes last night and one the night before, that's $1500. minim out of his pocket depending when they are sold, when I was in the cow-calf operation, 4% loss was all you could take before being in the red, so you "don't know its"go suck on cow patty

To be honest, most people have little to no experience with aggressive predators.

I really try to enlighten folks, but still there are those that cling to falsities and myth.

I think a day out calling really aggressive coyotes with some sounds other than cottontail or jackrabbit, would educate some folks. After seeing very aggressive coyotes come charging in to kill something while calling with calf sounds, deer fawn, and antelope fawn, and fox sounds.

Not all coyotes are berry and mouse eaters.

The impact they have on wildlife and livestock are very well documented for more than a 100 years.

^^100% agree

They are maybe the most intelligent animal walking the land in Texas. And they are good at making a living.

I think this observation is on the same level of credibility as the "rattlesnakes done rattle because of feral hog bs".

We have LOADS of coyotes, we see them often, at dawn and dusk sometimes I think about putting in ear plugs to not hear them. There are continually fresh tracks on the roads every morning and we routinely get trail cam pictures of them. We always have a solid fawn crop. We also are low fence south texas and from time to time have as many hogs as anyone else.

There is no livestock on our property and other than the roads and shooting senderos it is covered in brush and grass up to chest height. Good cover makes a big difference to me. We shoot hogs and coyotes alike when given the opportunity but we do not come close to removing a viable number from the population to make any sort of effect. I think too many read too much into what they see and dont give any thought to what they dont see. If you have a strong deer population chances are you have a strong fawn crop, you probably just aren't seeing them.

Sounds like Red and I hunt similar places. Yep, overgrazing is likely a higher variable in fawn mortality than the actual consumers themselves. We don't have an issue with too few deer. We count yoyos in our game census, but our harvest numbers have never been limited by them. With their sound traveling far & wide, I believe there are less yoyos out there than what most of us on our place think.

Our cattle guy never hunts or traps varmints, but he also doesn't overrun the place with livestock.

My wife's family has property in Eastern La Salle County. We've seen a large cottontail population as well, usually means fewer coyotes. We've seen more bobcats than anything else. Not too many hogs but there are a few. We shoot them every chance we get.

I used to indiscriminately kill coyotes...up until about 4-5 years ago. They get a pass at my place at home. If they become a problem - they will get shot.

I know it does happen - but I've yet to see a coyote kill a calf. Was in charge or a pretty large (by East Texas standards) cow/calf operation in college - never lost one to coyotes. At home - I'm surrounded by a cow/calf operation and there are probably 50-60 calves on the ground right now - none have been lost to coyotes in the almost 10 years we've lived here. When I was killing every coyote I saw - the feral cat and rodent population got out of control. It became a major problem for us. I stopped killing coyotes and those problems have all but disappeared. We also have a very healthy deer population that is growing steadily year after year in my area.

Again - not saying coyotes don't kill calves and fawns - I know they do. But in my personal experience - call me lucky or whatever - it has never been a major issue. Sheep and goat country is a whole different thing - and I'd gladly shoot coyotes if that was where I lived/hunted.

With that said - I have watched buzzards (and bald eagles) kill plenty of calves. Hell I've watched the neighbors donkey kill several calves.