I'm really just returning to hunting deer in any way since 2012 and was doing some research on coyote predation. Ran across this article that gave some great perspective.
In particular theses two parts were impactful.
"We noted there are two types of coyotes – residents and transients. Residents maintain territories that average about 7 square miles, whereas transients move around the landscape looking for open territories, typically using more than 25 square miles. Some of these transients traveled hundreds of miles before either dying or finding a territory. We found that when a resident was shot, trapped, or otherwise killed, a transient quickly filled the void – think days or a few weeks, not months. We also noted that more than 35 percent of all coyotes on the landscape were transients, which has significant implications for managers attempting to trap and remove coyotes. If you remove a transient coyote, you've done nothing to impact the local dynamics of the coyote population relative to influences on deer or other species. If you remove a resident, you can rest assured that a transient will fill that void quickly."
and
"Overall, we found deer were the single most important prey item, as deer were most frequently identified in scats. When we detected deer hair, we then measured the diameter of hairs using a microscope to determine if the hair was from an adult or fawn. We noted that adult deer remains were found in scat in all months of the year, and fawns occurred during seven months. The latter finding was not surprising, as deer in southern latitudes often have prolonged conception dates, and hence fawns are available to coyotes across many months. However, the finding that adult deer occurred in coyote diets throughout the year was a bit surprising."
I hunt roughly 100 acres and have always thought, a dead coyote is a good coyote. Sounds like I could hardly slow coyote predation through eradication. My coyote pack is strong from what I hear at night, but my deer herd is too…I think. Any thoughts?
Full article: https://www.deerassociation.com/how-much-venison-are-coyotes-eating/
In particular theses two parts were impactful.
"We noted there are two types of coyotes – residents and transients. Residents maintain territories that average about 7 square miles, whereas transients move around the landscape looking for open territories, typically using more than 25 square miles. Some of these transients traveled hundreds of miles before either dying or finding a territory. We found that when a resident was shot, trapped, or otherwise killed, a transient quickly filled the void – think days or a few weeks, not months. We also noted that more than 35 percent of all coyotes on the landscape were transients, which has significant implications for managers attempting to trap and remove coyotes. If you remove a transient coyote, you've done nothing to impact the local dynamics of the coyote population relative to influences on deer or other species. If you remove a resident, you can rest assured that a transient will fill that void quickly."
and
"Overall, we found deer were the single most important prey item, as deer were most frequently identified in scats. When we detected deer hair, we then measured the diameter of hairs using a microscope to determine if the hair was from an adult or fawn. We noted that adult deer remains were found in scat in all months of the year, and fawns occurred during seven months. The latter finding was not surprising, as deer in southern latitudes often have prolonged conception dates, and hence fawns are available to coyotes across many months. However, the finding that adult deer occurred in coyote diets throughout the year was a bit surprising."
I hunt roughly 100 acres and have always thought, a dead coyote is a good coyote. Sounds like I could hardly slow coyote predation through eradication. My coyote pack is strong from what I hear at night, but my deer herd is too…I think. Any thoughts?
Full article: https://www.deerassociation.com/how-much-venison-are-coyotes-eating/
