Coyote question

[OK Corgi Rancher]

Yes, there is a dedicated group of hunters in my neck of the woods that hunt every Sat. and Sun. from now till the end of March. They will have several dog trucks and will put at least one on each side of a section of land. Then the herders on ATVs will drive out the draws and wooded areas to get the coyotes up and moving. Then they try to steer the yotes towards a dog truck so the dogs don't have to sprint too far to run them down. The dog truck drives towards where the yote looks like it will cross the section road and if it all goes well they turn out the dogs and the chase is on. It's pretty exciting to be a herder. I occasionally participate in my Ranger when they get close to my house to where I can drive to the field without having to trailer it there.

The main herders are pretty hard core. They are out there in the weather no matter how bad it is. The only time they don't hunt is if the roads are hard packed with snow or ice. It is a bit dangerous racing across open pasture land at 25mph+ while focusing on the coyote and the terrain at the same time. I have seen several accidents where guys on quads that the quad stops but the rider keeps going. Fortunately no serious injuries that I have heard about. At least my Polaris has a seat belt and a roll cage, but it can still be spine jarring. All of this is coordinated with two way radios. There will also be a group of spotters that just park at vantage points and call out when a coyote is flushed and let the rest know what part of the field it is in and which way it is headed. It's quite a production.

That doesn't really sound like hunting to me. And, no, I'm not anti-hunting.

 

[rickm]

In my youngers days have shot a many of the hounds that they bring out and turn loose on a friday night to chase yotes and not pick them up til the next weekend, alot of them would get to chasing the cattle with baby calves.

 

[kingfish]

That doesn't really sound like hunting to me. And, no, I'm not anti-hunting.

I completely understand your position on this. I have mixed feelings about it myself. What I do know is that many of the local ranchers greatly appreciate them helping to control the coyote population. Many calves are lost to depredation. This is why the state continues to relax the regulation on hunting them. As of today you can now hunt them at night with lights, thermal scopes and rifles without a depredation permit from the state. You now only require a signed letter from the landowner giving his permission to do so.

Some think hunting bear out of a tree stand over a baited spot is not very sporting. Is hunting on a pay to play game preserve where the animals are trapped inside tall fences and you are pretty much guaranteed a kill all that sporting? How about shooting pheasant or quail or other fowl from release traps? Everyone is entitled to their definition of sporting and I respect yours. At least the coyote hunters are providing a service to ranchers. That can't be said about those other things listed above.