Ramblings and Such From Hunting Coyote

[DSheetz]

He's a retired Navy Seal sniper instructor in San Diago Ca. He also teaches about the four different levels of competence . The good instructors all studied how to learn and teach others to learn in my opinion . But that's just that my opinion .

 

[DSheetz]

For all of my life I have enjoyed learning how to do things better so early on I figured out that I wanted to learn from others that were better at doing the things that I wanted to learn to be better at . So it's been a life long quest to find the best People that I could at things and study what they have to teach me . There are people out there that specialize in a field and they are the ones that I tried to find to teach me . No I'm not the best at doing any one thing but I try my best to do to my best at what ever it is I'm going to do and for me to do that I figured that I needed to know as much as I could about it first and that way I also would know what it was that I shouldn't do . Coyote control was one area that I studied the hardest to be the best that I could at doing and it is such an involved job . It covers so very many different things , shooting , tracking , walking quietly , scent control , coyote life styles and behaviors . There are some very good people out there and so many that have passed that were specialized in certain areas of the art of coyote control . Some very good study materials are available in todays world but there are some buyer be ware materials out there as well . Enjoy what you do or find something that you enjoy doing study it and figure out who can help you as well as who will hinder you weather it's your life's work or your hobby . I started studying coyote and their lives at a young age and there is still so very much that I can learn about them and the art of hunting , calling , trapping and snaring them . What I wanted was to be able to figure out who , and where the trouble maker was and where they lived to get them stopped as fast as I could . That involved so many aspects in my life and theirs . Not all that hunt coyote take it to the extremes that I did and do , nor should they . For the vast majority it will be a past time not a way of life . But still study from the best you can find , never stop learning and by all means enjoy it to your fullest .

 

[Bucklowery]

He's a retired Navy Seal sniper instructor in San Diago Ca. He also teaches about the four different levels of competence . The good instructors all studied how to learn and teach others to learn in my opinion . But that's just that my opinion .

A retired navy seal has taught me some of these techniques as well. It has greatly improved my shooting as well as changed my attitude all together. They don't see impossibly just obstacles

Thanks

Buck

 

[DSheetz]

Yes Buck time to slow down think about it , but not dwell on it for long and make a new plan then move forward . Use all of your senses and the one we don't often acknowledge , I have a feeling something isn't as it should be but I just can't put my finger on it , something is watching me that sense . There are people out there that can teach you how to do that they are a part of that group .

 

[DSheetz]

Over the years of coyote control I kept notes and made some observations , figured a few things out about why ,where and what they tend to do at different times and under different circumstances . They are a very complex animal , have a vocabulary , communicating with each other and can be very social at times . They can also tend to isolate them selves from others under some conditions , during the pupping season is one of those times . At times I have tracked the animals in a given area and found that there are just two adults in the area with a litter of pups . then when I killed the female or the male out of the pair even if I took the body with me it wasn't long before they brought in another coyote to help with raising the pups . If I left the dead coyote in the area it didn't take but a couple of days for them to find a new helper . They get to missing the other coyote and will do some howling and barking to see if they will answer back . Under good conditions with plenty of food base I see them often having two females and a male running and raising the pups sometimes with both females pupping . When the females are in good health and well fed they tend to have larger litters . When the prey base is low and the females aren't well fed or in bad health they have smaller numbers of pups and at times don't have any pups at all . When there is good weather and a good prey base the numbers of coyote tend to increase and you will see more coyote numbers in given areas with smaller territories . From what I have observed the number of pups in a litter tend more to be based on the health of the coyote more then the number of coyote taken from an area thus it seems to be based more on the availability of food and the lack of disease in the population then the number of coyote in the area so it is to me more based on the carrying capacity of an area .

 

[DSheetz]

Coyote and your dog have several things in common . Their pups are born after the same length of gestation period 60 - 63 days , They are born with their eyes closed and open them from 6 to 10 days . Coyote pups are born a nice chocolate brown , when their eyes first open they are a blue color . The mom will start weening then around 6 weeks . By 8 weeks old they will have gotten their coyote colored coat and their eyes will be the color of an adult coyote , here most of our coyote have yellowish eyes . they will shed their milk teeth and be getting the full 42 teeth of an adult by summers end , like your dog . A lot of our smaller coyote here will end up at near 22 - 24 inches tall at the front shoulders , with the bigger mountain coyote being the size of a large German Shepard . They tend to have a wide range of colors here ranging from nice pale silvery colored to reddish , to blackish . The pups grow fast and will be nearly full grown by September at which time , here , they will start venturing out on their own . For the most part here they travel in pairs or maybe 3 adults after the fall of their first year .

 

[nealm66]

I never knew coyotes got that big! Or maybe your idea of a large German Shepard and what I've seen are different? So around 150#'s. That's a big coyote. Ours around here are small

 

[DSheetz]

The mountain coyote here get around 70 lbs. average . in areas people think that a 25 lb coyote is big . I don't think that I've seen a 150 pound German Shepard so I probably shouldn't have used them as an example . The mountain coyote here are usually a darker blackish color heavy set well muscled and the one I tanned and sold to a friend who took it down to Arizona for some ceremonial use said they wouldn't use it because they thought it was a wolf not a coyote so they are pretty large as compared to a lot of the other subspecies of coyote .

 

[nealm66]

I'd guess the ones around here about 25lbs as well. No wolfs yet around here but I'm sure there's some folks that would love to see them

 

[DSheetz]

There are a few different subspecies of coyote . If I remember correctly there are 19 subspecies with around 8 or 9 of them in the lower 48 and several of them south of our border as well as a couple north of it . I'm not sure but I think that the climate has a part in their size . The USDA , Collage Station Texas as well as the University of Southern California has some older studies done on coyote their habits and lives and the subspecies . There was some interesting work done on coyote in the past and some that is still being done today . Me being me and full of curiosity about them I have done quite a bit of reading on them and some of it was from a lot of years before me to the present day . Within several miles of where I live I can think of about 4 subspecies varying in size and color from around 25 lbs to an average of close to 70 lbs . Silver grey to reddish and mostly black . Some of the local names are Montana grey or pale , sand hills which are small with fine textured light colored fur , mountain coyote which are bigger and are mostly a darker nearly black coyote then the standard coyote that runs around 22 - 24 inch's at the shoulders and weighs around 30 - 35 lbs. often with a reddish back and main . It was sometime in the last year that a wolf was killed in northern California that had been tracked from Idaho to Washington and Oregon . Often the DNR doesn't say a lot about what they know is in different areas . I have seen otter , moose and big horn sheep in my area and been told that they weren't there till a moose was shot and killed in my area they denied it even when I showed them pictures of a young bull moose . I had an Osprey nest and once people knew of it's location they bothered them till they abandoned it . People being people and not really understanding can become a very real problem and do more harm then good without intending to .

 

[nealm66]

We cut an old growth job up in the Tacoma watershed That had an Osprey circle and was at the job till the younger ones were learning to fly. Was pretty cool. Some huge black bear up there. They had some Indians come in and hound hunt a bunch of them out of there.

 

[74honker]

Most of our coyotes are in the 30# range give or take and very reddish. Occasionally we see a lighter one or a have one with more black hairs on its back.

 

[74honker]

I must apologize for my absense lately. I've been busy with work and pumping since it won't stop raining here. Been online since Tuesday AM. Unfortunately a sad day for me here. My main pump drive went down about a week ago. It's a westinghouse 458hp synchcronous electric motor that was made in March of 1927 and it finally gave out. Has never been touched until now. As you can imagine there aint too many people out there that can work on these and sorting through the bs to find the right one is even worse. Finally found a crew from 2 states away that will be here Monday to further diagnose/verifywhat we already know and hopefully give us a plan we can afford. We're pretty sure the lamination has broke down in the DC rotor coils and shorting it out. You know, eventhough there was nothing in my control to change this outcome, it still weighs on a guy. I'm only the 3rd operator of this station and district in about 100yrs but it happened on my watch, but we all knew this was coming sooner or later. Enough of my problems, keep the stories coming so at least when I can stop for a few to catch my breath I can read about others having fun lol.

 

[nealm66]

Sounds stressful. Hopefully it all works out