Coyotes in my back yard

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Some of the residents around me have said they thought they saw coyotes but wasnt sure. Well this morning (since I'm home sick) I got my cup of joe and went to sit at the table. Looking out my back window I watched a buck that comes into a clearing to eat. He has frequently been coming to my yard. I let one side grow up to cut back on mowing time and the extra work. This has helped in making the deer a bit more comfortable.

Well I noticed this morning the buck was being very cautious. He then jumped into a thicket of brush and took off. About 3 minuets later I see a reddish brown spot in the tall grass. I get my 22 rifle out and scope it out. There lies what I thought was a dog. Okay no big deal, then it stood up. That aint no dog, thats a coyote! So I popped him one. It was about a 125 yard shot, not much of knock down power for a 22 at that distance. He jumped and flipped and managed to run off. While he was doing this, 2 others that were gray colored raised up from the tall grass. I did get sighted in on one of the others and popped him as well. The 3rd one was able to get out of my sights before having a chance to get him. Yeah baby, nothing like a good shot of adrenelin!

Seeing 3 of them stalking a deer makes me wonder what they would do to someone walking along the roads and streets. This area is residential, but has lots of wooded acreage where these coyotes can hide. Residents have reported that their dogs have been attacked. With coyotes around, the leash law is a death sentence for a dog. I just make sure mine is inside and is supervised while he does his business outside.

Awhile back my dog had a fox that he played with. It finally ended up getting hit by a car and hasn't been seen since.

I just don't want my buck to become the dinner of the coyotes before deer/gun season!:devil:

 

[Mike722]

Re: Coyotes in my back yard

I was going to say something about, "why did not you shot the deer as well?" but I see you are waiting for deer season.

Coyote hasattacked a person about a mile from my house. This was a rural setting but the lady went to the trash can at the back of the property at dusk and was attacked by a single coyote

We have too many deer and not enough coyotes. I will see 10 - 15 deer in my back field right up to deer season then they go hide.

Mike

 

[crunch]

Re: Coyotes in my back yard

Same here, for the last 20 years 70-80% of the does have had twins, we're up to our a** in deer.... come hunting season they all move to town

 

[woodrat]

Re: Coyotes in my back yard

I have tons of coyotes here, but I am way out in the sticks. They took all of my lambs last year and most of my chickens. This year I put up electric netting around the night pasture and my 13 year old and the dog guard the sheep during the day when they are out. Coyotes tried once to get through the netting, sure wish I could have seen that! Girl and dog have chased them off the sheep a couple of times as well.

They sure are smart though, adn hard to get a good shot at.

 

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Re: Coyotes in my back yard

If I shot the deer, that would have been a big fine on my part. So far there are no restrictions on preditory animals. Thanks to PETA, there is going to be bigger problems of over population of game.

Eventually when the people who live in the burbs/city have all the bark knawed off their trees, bushes/shrubs chewed to the stubs, and the natural landscapping stripped bare, just maybe they will realize what they created by not permitting better wildlife management. When it gets to that point, the deer population will be unhealthy and many will die of starvation.

Some of the burbs around Cleveland have laws against feeding of the animals. However just like any other law, it is broken. Then the residents complain about the high numbers of deer while others just love to see them everyday in their yards. To be honest, I like seeing them in my freezer or on my plate. I do not like them jumping in front of my car/truck at night.

 

[QC]

Re: Coyotes in my back yard

To be honest, I like seeing them in my freezer or on my plate.

LMAO, and you should be OK as long as cigarette smoke doesn't start looking the same . . .

BTW, we have Coyotes here too. I feed them dead cottontails. One man's pest is another man's pest's dinner . . .

 

[kbetts]

Re: Coyotes in my back yard

Last winter I had a coyote come up in my back yard, maybe 20 yards away from the house. I had some old plastic drainage tile coiled up in the weeds in the woods. I guess that coyote chased a mouse or rabbit in that plastic tile when I saw him out the window around 7am in the morning. I grabbed up my .243 and when I got back to the window he was gone. I sneeked out the garage door and around to the corner of the house and their he was not more then 15 yards away messing around a wood pile I piled up for rabbits. I pulled up on him with the .243 and tried to get a target on him with my scope, but he was too close to get a clear view. Since I can't look out of my open sites, I took a shot at grey through the scope. I hit that coyote in the back and out the stomach. That coyote started spinning around bitting at its stomach like it was on fire. I ended up putting another one in him to keep it from suffering to much. With two 4 year olds around the house and three dogs, that is too close to the house for me. I always amagined coyotes as rough looking animals. This one looked sleek, very healthly and big for a coyote. That .243 was not very healthy for him though.

 

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Re: Coyotes in my back yard

kbetts, I only have two fire arms. The Ruger10/22 and a old Ithica Featherlite 12ga. These coyotes don't come real close to the house. They manage to maintain about a minimum of 50 yards from the house. I don't like using my slugs for deer, and "00" buckshot has restrictions on it in this county. That would be perfect for the distance for the 12ga. Just if they would come a bit closer, then I know the 12ga with #4 turkey shot will light em up.

Just talked to my neighbor a bit ago and said his daughter up the street had to chase them away from her dog last night. SHe has one of those ankle bitters(not even a meal for one coyote).

I think it is time to find a better gun and ammo for these critters. I have lived pretty much my whole life in Ohio. This is the first I have dealt with coyotes. So what would be a good combination be to take em out. Legally,,,,the sheriffs dept is just down the road about a mile and they know we shoot guns in this area. So we are watched closely.

.

 

[crunch]

Re: Coyotes in my back yard

Try CCI "stingers" in that 10/22.... about twice the money as LR but muzzle velocity is 1900 FPS...... shoots flat at 100 yds.

 

[woodrat]

Re: Coyotes in my back yard

I'd probably go fo the shotgun myself. I shot one of my neighbor's sheep killing dogs right in the head with the .22 and he ran home. Although I wasn't using the stingers. Might be worth a try.

 

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Re: Coyotes in my back yard

I need to check those out. I haven't bought ammo since the Y2K thing:^So it needs to be refreshed. Need to get back into shooting some clays too. Thats a good way to deplete old shotgun shell stock.

 

[JB]

Re: Coyotes in my back yard

Got lotsa coyotes and at least one wolf here. Lotsa deer, too.

Loving a natural, rural environment and killing every predator you see strikes me as inconsistent.

Should a coyote or wolf cause me or my interests injury it does so at risk of its life. Doing its part in the natural scheme of things is sometimes sad, but not a capital offense.

If I had sheep I would have a great pyrenees. No coyote or red wolf is a match for one of them.

An adult whitetail is too much for a coyote or even a few coyotes. Those critters are too smart to risk a caved in skull. They can and do take fawns, though. That might mitigate your deer overpopulation troubles.

 

[kbetts]

Re: Coyotes in my back yard

SS Mayfloat,
A 22 mag. is a nice little coyote killer at 50 to 100 yards. Ammo is about five times the price of .22 long rifle shells, but if that is all you are using it for it would be worth it. Friends of mine swear by the 22-250 for long shots on coyotes. The only problem with the 22-250 is, that if it hits anything before getting to the target the bullet will vaporize. So, unless you have a clear shot, the 22-250 may not get to the target. I have a nice little Marlin .22 mag. bolt action that I paid $170 for years ago. The .243 is a little overkill for me, but is nice if you don't have to worry about the bullet traveling over to the neighbors. I live out in the sticks and don't have to really worry about that to much.

 

[bassboy1]

Re: Coyotes in my back yard

We used to live out in the sticks. About 15-20 mins to town.(2 hours if you crossed paths with the hourly coal train)We used to have coyotes but instead of them attacking the dog, the dogs would attack them. They stayed well away from our property after the first couple of times. Now we live in the city on a 2 acre lot with lots of trees and have more deer here than in the sticks. Although now the dogs dont run free so that could be part of it. We often have deer sleeping under our trailer and have to wait for them to cross the driveway when coming home. Occasionally we see them cloppety clopping down the middle of the road.

Eventually when the people who live in the burbs/city have all the bark knawed off their trees, bushes/shrubs chewed to the stubs, and the natural landscapping stripped bare, just maybe they will realize what they created by not permitting better wildlife management. When it gets to that point, the deer population will be unhealthy and many will die of starvation.

Some of the burbs around Cleveland have laws against feeding of the animals. However just like any other law, it is broken. Then the residents complain about the high numbers of deer while others just love to see them everyday in their yards. To be honest, I like seeing them in my freezer or on my plate. I do not like them jumping in front of my car/truck at night.

At red top mountain state park near here we had that problem 2 years ago. It got to the point to where they paid certain hunters to kill off about 150 of them. 50 bucks a deer. Didn't take from your normal limit.

 

[kbetts]

Re: Coyotes in my back yard

Im with you Bassboy. They would look much better in my freezer than on the hood of my truck. I also have a bunch of deer here, and they do need to be thinned out. I have (had) 10 little evergree trees that I had planted in my yard. All of them were nibbled down to a twig. If we had as many quail as deer, live would be good. d

 

[kbetts]

Re: Coyotes in my back yard

life would be good!

 

[bassboy1]

Re: Coyotes in my back yard

Im with you Bassboy. They would look much better in my freezer than on the hood of my truck

Actually I wasn't one doing it. Just read about it in the paper. And it wasn't because people were hitting them, But because they were starving to death and there was no foilage in that park due to overpopulation. A whole bunch of other animals died too, because the deer ate all of the foilage. Almost ruined the whole ecosystem. They are keeping the numbers under control now too.

 

[JB]

Re: Coyotes in my back yard

I really don't think a rimfire .22 is an appropriate weapon for a critter the size of a coyote. Maybe a Stinger from 20 to 40 yards or a WRF magnum to 75 yards, but only if you are a dead shot and hit an instant death vital spot. 100-150 ft. pounds is just not enough energy for a 20-40lb critter.

A centerfire .22. . .Hornet or hotter. . .has enough velocity to fragment and put a lot more energy into the target. .243 would be a much better weapon, and buckshot from under 40 yards better than that.

Never shoot at any living thing you aren't sure to anchor immediately.

There are 2 coyotes running around The Hideout on three legs because of incompetent bloodthirsties with inadequate weapons.

 

[Scoop]

Re: Coyotes in my back yard

Don't get me started on deer. I live is a town (ok villiage). I have so many deer in my yard, they even eat the branches off my apple trees. No one can have a garden without an 8' fence. Our tulips are cut to the ground before they even flower. They eat the plants on my front porch. The dang deer are not even afraid of humans.

Since I can't shoot them (and use nice apple fed deer for food (makes Homer Simpson hungry sound)), I think it should be legal to take a deer at any time if you use a spear. In my yard I would just have to walk up to them. they are fun to chase with the car in my back yard, but unless you gun the engine, they just stand there like it is their yard

 

[JRJ]

Re: Coyotes in my back yard

I really don't think a rimfire .22 is an appropriate weapon for a critter the size of a coyote. Maybe a Stinger from 20 to 40 yards or a WRF magnum to 75 yards, but only if you are a dead shot and hit an instant death vital spot. 100-150 ft. pounds is just not enough energy for a 20-40lb critter.

A centerfire .22. . .Hornet or hotter. . .has enough velocity to fragment and put a lot more energy into the target. .243 would be a much better weapon, and buckshot from under 40 yards better than that.

Never shoot at any living thing you aren't sure to anchor immediately.

There are 2 coyotes running around The Hideout on three legs because of incompetent bloodthirsties with inadequate weapons.

Well said JB and I agree. A .22 at a coyote at 100+ yards is usually only a cripple round. Living things deserve better. Put them down period, or leave them alone. A .243 would be a good start. If you are overrun with deer or whatever you might leave the predators alone to do their natural thing.