I am almost laughing at the responses that I am reading in this post. I am no biologist or any type of scientist. I am however an avid outdoorsman that is out every season and I can tell you all this.....Coyotes absolutely muckle the deer. They do not only kill the sick, young, and old. They do travel in packs and have an organized method in which they kill. They are not afraid of a mother with fawns.
Coyotes are eating machines. The colder it gets, the more calories they burn, the more they eat. They use strategies, and are very smart. If you want to kill them, not a few here and there, I mean kill em all....read on.
The absolute best method to kill these things, other than trapping, is with a fully choked semi auto shotgun over bait. Not a little bait....alot of bait. To the tune of a few hindred pounds of bait. Bait just before a snowstorm and either clear a tree ( way higher than deer)at least 30ft or set up a shooting house about 40ft away from the bait. (always keep the moon in mind in your set ups) Walk away for a week. When you go back to check your bait, do it from a distance with binos or drive by the bait in your truck, sled, 4 wheeler or whatever. DO NOT walk over to your bait or even close to it. You leave boot tracks and you can forget it. Dont educate em. If its getting hit, wait for the next miserably cold night, and get into position at least 1 hour before dark. Wait em out. DO NOT shoot the first dog or pair that comes in, unless they stop to eat. If they stop to eat, not just smell around, let em have it. Usualy they do what I call a buz- by. One or two will come out, cruise around your position, sniff around, and leave. They are the scouts. Let em leave!!! Within two hours, the whole crew will come back and then you can lite em all up. Most winter family groups are between 4 and 8 animals. Once you light them up, don't leave!!! If you wounded some, the rest will come back even though you just scared the crap out of them. They are VERY family oriented and they help each other.
This is not bull crap....this is years and years of freezing my butt off when any normal person is in front of a fire. If you dont see them, stay. They ALWAYS show up to a bait that they are hitting hard. The hardest part is waiting them out. The only exception is if one starts barking. If this happens, you mine as well pack it up cuz you have been had. I could go on forever on this subject, so I guess now would be a good time to end this post. If anyone has any questions...just ask. I will help anyone with killing these things. I absolutely hate them. They are the devil if you ask me. Just a lttle smarter.