What do you do after you shoot 'em?

[USAF Marksman]

Hey all,

Just trying to get a general consensus on what people are doing with coyotes after they shoot them, other than snap pictures. The few coyotes I have been lucky enough to bag were basically removed from the farmers field and left for dead. I can't think of too many things you would do after you shoot 'em. Have the hide tanned if it has a really unique pelt or something, like the black coyote recently posted. I don't like to waste things, especially from nature, but can't think of anything else to do with dead yote. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Tucker gun)

 

[bigngreen]

We try to shoot most of them when the fur is prime so we can sell furs, we will return later to where we drop the carcases and pickup skulls and bones and then sell them as well some times.
Out of season they stay where they lay and recycled.

 

[Capt. D]

Down her in South Texas the hides never really get prime so selling hides is really out of the question. Down here we hunt primarily hunt for predator control. Sadly to say a couple of places that I hunt are looking at a fawn recruitment less than .5 this year. Predators, whether anybody likes it or not need to be kept in check. Deer herds in particular suffer the worst. While the predators are part of the ecosystem an over population of predators can and will decimate other wildlife populations.

 

[USAF Marksman]

The few that I have shot were in the summer so the pelt wasn't really on my mind. I guess I am glad to see that "recycling" the yotes, as bigngreen said, is an accepted practice. My mother lives in Seguin, TX and every time I go there I see a yote or two, but never have a rifle. If I had a place to hunt down there I would probably be more inclined to bring one. After killing those dogs it sure made me want to go out after them more! They are very exciting to hunt.

 

[sandbar782]

Have never hunted coyote and always wondered the same thing. Would like to try it this year.

 

[JOHNNIE WALKER]

First thing I do is congratulate my self for not missing. Then take a few pics and send them to friends with a message that makes it sound like it was no real big deal because I do it all the time. Then, basically , I consider them free nitrogen for the pasture. Shooting coyotes is another form of wildlife conservation. We all need to do our part. And its a fun job to do.

 

[hynes57]

If the hide is fairly decent and the hole isn't a huge mess I skin them out, dump borax on the skin and put them on a stretcher till the dry. Then I find a nice spot in the garage to hang or I give them to buddies who might want to hang them in their garage. Ha!!!

It's pretty easy and I feel like at least I got some kind of use out of them. I only do this with a couple per season. I keep thinking about the skull thing but seems like a lot of work and money to do anything with them. I'm going to try and throw one on an ant pile one of these days and come back and check it out after a week. That's more my style than boiling, or digging out brains.

 

[Specialized]

I've heard a lot of opinions on "wanton waste" and other terms for killing an animal and not using it for one's own benefit, but we have to remember that NOTHING goes to waste in nature. A dead body in nature always gets used -- for food, minerals, fertilizer, as a breeding ground, and several other beneficial ways that benefit the circle of life. I personally like to have the hides tanned, but I certainly don't worry about the rest of the carcass, even if I don't use the hide. Nature is a very efficient place, and there's no place in nature that escapes that efficiency. Even if the animal that dies is "pretty", or "endangered", or whatever term that folks might add to give it some sort of leg up in priority over other animals. I think nature takes care of its own, and we humans kinda forget that sometimes. Just my opinion.

 

[EFR]

I skin them all (which is only 2-3 a year) and tan them. I don't hunt them until after deer season (Jan 1) so the hides are always good. Dog hunting is TOUGH in the Northeast, but some of the ones I get are nice, 50 lbs is not that rare here any more. I have a couple of hats for me and the kids, a bunch of hides hanging in the AV room (although my wife thinks there is too much "dead stuff" up there). The rest we give away for the price of tanning. Believe it or not, there is a decent 'waiting list' of mostly my wife's friends for a tanned hide. I put the skulls in the freezer for the winter (so they wont mummify) and put them out in a damp area in the spring. Two-three weeks later they are cleaned up. Give those away too.

 

[Dosh]

We leave them and look for another. We try to hunt them with several hunters in an area in late winter. Here in Az the coyote has greatly reduced the antelope and mule deer populations so we try to reduce them before the antelope and deer give birth.

 

[NWmissouriman]

Most of them end up in the ditch. I tanned the first one I shot while calling. I'll probably tan a few more eventually, depending on size, color, and quality. They aren't worth much, but they sure are fun to call in.

 

[steeltraps]

Southern coyotes dont bring enough money for you to get any money for the furs. IF YOU get a winter prime thats not mess up , you will be lucky to get 8 dollars for it!

 

[dstark]

I clean skulls occasionally but you can only use so many of those. I've tanned a couple myself but they didn't turn out as great as I had hoped. I had a couple professionally tanned and they turned out awesome.
And now that all that is done I found a local fur buyer that gives me $25 for the whole carcass and that is pretty much all I do anymore.

 

[steeltraps]

Year before last I trapped 191 coyotes in Alabama, I would LOVE to get 25 dollars a piece for them!!!! This year I have trapped and shot over 100 coyotes. The fur , even in the winter is usually rubbed up, mangey, or has thin patches. I sold some in the early 90s that were 8 to 12 dollar range but those are few and far between. Mange is tuff own even prime season coyotes in the south. We have MANY color fazes but the quality is usually poor!