Howler

the impact that coyotes will have on deer herds will vary greatly across the country. The coyote is opportunistic and will dine on what ever is the easiest, so when the fawns hit the ground, that's another easy target for the coyote. BUT if an area also has fruit, grasshoppers, vegetables, rodents, snakes, etc., then the fawns may very well be down the "list" for the coyote. For the most part, I think coyotes will kill some fawns, but in most parts of the country, there's plenty to go around w/o having a negative impact on the over all herd numbers.

early in

Where in the world did you get the idea that Ohio has a heck of a lot more deer than Pa? Ohio's deer herd is estimated to be around 550,000. Pa's herd is somewhere around 1,000,000.

davidmil

Take out every coyote you can... and you'll still have too many. They do kill lots of fawns and I'm sure young deer.

jnrbronc

I don't shoot them (pass on them with the gun, though I'd like to shoot one with the bow).

We got tons of them.

We also have a large and growing deer herd.

Coyotes don't appear to be making much of an impact on the deer herd.

JoeRE

I keep them thinned down where I hunt...when a pack moves in, a lot of deer relocate to adjoining areas. I have seen this first hand on a farm. The deer dissapeared over the course of a winter and spring and coyote sign was everywhere. I got the rifle out...and five coyotes over the course of a summer later (legal year round in IA)....deer sign was back up that very fall.

I do not hate them though, they have my respect - the old indian saying is correct, the coyote will be one of the last animals left on the planet.

bowhuntnsteve

yotes can take down an adult doe or buck. where I hunt, my farmer just last year lost 8 calves to the yotes and they were all pretty close to the barn.
Thinning them out will only be good for your area but they adapt so well that they replenish very quick. You maybe surprised how many you really have in your area.

bemidjihunter

It's intresting that this topic came up. I'm working on my degree in wildlife biology and interning with the MN dnr this summer. Almost 200 fawns were caught and collared this spring, and when one of the collars stops moving, it's my job to go find them and determine the cause of death. yotes have been the biggest culprit by far, with domestic dogs killing a suprising amount. No sign of bear killing any yet. We're still sitting at about an 80% survival rate so far though. As far as older deer go, coyotes don't pose much of a threat unless the deer are hurt, sick, or in very deep snow, and with the mild winters we've been having it hasn't been much of an issue. I can't really speak for any other areas however.

Dubbya

I've done a significant amount of research on coyotes, primarily because I love hunting them, but through my research, I've found that "thinning out" coyotes is nearly impossible. I'll explain.

Coyotes (as well as mosquitos)have the natural ability toadjust their litter sizes to reach carrying capacity, unlike most animals (deer, elk, antelope, etc.) that generally have 1 or 2 babies per year.

For easy numbers, let's say that an area has a carrying capacity of 60 coyotes and that 25% of those (15)die each year from a combination of disease, hunters, vehicles, and old age. That means that 15 pups are are raised to maturity (more are born) each year in order to maintain the carrying capacity. In an area like this, it's probably that less than half the females breed each year. So, let's say that through intense "hunting control" that an additional 15 coyotes are killed in a year, meaning that 1/2 of the population is eliminated. Coyotes will respond to this in two ways; First, more females will breed and therefore increase the population. Second, their litter sizes will increase from say 2-3 pups to 4-6. This will occurr naturally and boost the population.

I'm not saying that the population is at 100% of the carrying capacity in every area, but the same holds true.

I recall one study that was done somewhere in Arizona (I believe). It was a population that was fairly low and not much was done to control it. They studied the females and realized that roughly 1/3 of them were breeding each year. After the breeding season took place, serious control measures were taken and the fall population was decreased significantly. The next spring, they found that almost 90% of the females were breeding and that their litters were nearly double what they had been the year before.

So, controlling the population of coyotes is very difficult. And their threat to the deer herd is exaggerated by a lot of people. Mice and other rodents make up the large majority of coyote diets. Granted, they'll take a deer if they have the chance, but they realize it's much easier to catch mice and rabbits than a deer. And like any animal, they'll generally eat what is the easiest to find. This definitely holds true during the winter in colder climates, where expending large amounts of energy on chasing deer is more detrimental than helpful.

nctaxi

I will tell you my experience. Coyotes will kill adult deer, I have seen it and the evidence of them doing it. I have seen trail cam pics of them taking down deer.
I hunted a 20 acre parcel between 2 subdivisions that was loaded with deer and after 4 years there are nothardly any deer. If they are taking fawns, eventually that loss of an age class will catch up with your herd. After 6 years, the herd is hurting.
The homeowner at said property asked why her cats disappeared after I found the evidence of yotes, I set 6 traps. Caught 4 the first night. Hopefully by taking more of the yotes out the herd will bounce back.
ANYONE who thinks that yotes don't hurt a herd, you are fooling yourself. Wait a few years.

GMMAT

Interesting about the yotes....but I'm perplexed as to why you think a deer herd doesn't do the same thing.