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Any objective data on coyote/deer predation?
- Thread starter ffmedic
- Start date
BSK
Well-Known Member
Yes, but often the data is very contradictory. A fair amount of data indicating that in SOME AREAS coyotes are having a SUBSTANTIAL impact on fawn survival. Also good data indicating a major coyote removal program conducted right before and during fawning time can greatly aid fawn survival. However, also some very interesting data from the Southeast indicating coyotes are highly transitory, meaning that no coyote removal process is going to work for long, as new coyotes will rapidly fill the void or transition through the area.
Considering how different the results of different studies on fawn predation by coyotes have been, in my opinion, the big question for any individual hunter-manager is, is fawn survival a serious problem in your specific location? And that can only be answered with lots of hard fawn recruitment data. Casual observation won't cut it.
Considering how different the results of different studies on fawn predation by coyotes have been, in my opinion, the big question for any individual hunter-manager is, is fawn survival a serious problem in your specific location? And that can only be answered with lots of hard fawn recruitment data. Casual observation won't cut it.
I new if there was any Coyote info I knew you would know BSK. Thanks. I have one more thought on this subject. With the movement towards more deer management thru intense land management ie food plots etc have we artificially increased the carrying potential of the land therefore increasing the number of predators as well? Basically have we put more healthy deer out there producing more fawns producing more food for the predators?
In my humble opinion, the impact of food plots most properties, (emphasis on the word most), is minimal at best. However, if there was also no hunting on those properties, you would see far greater positive results.
Increasing the carrying capacity does not equate with increasing the population in most instances. That would be true if you had a situation where the population was burgeoning and reaching c.c. But that is not true in most cases.
What you may do is attract more deer to specific food plots, causing you to think you have increased the population when the fact is, they have just been more visible in a specific area. That in turn may attract or increase the predator population. However, the odds are, it will have little or no impact.
Now the increase in the wolf population is a different matter. Studies by some idiot in Idaho show the wolves are rapidly invading the southeast and crossing with coyotes causing a new hybrid, one more aggressive and larger to emerge. I saw it on the tv so I know it is true.
Increasing the carrying capacity does not equate with increasing the population in most instances. That would be true if you had a situation where the population was burgeoning and reaching c.c. But that is not true in most cases.
What you may do is attract more deer to specific food plots, causing you to think you have increased the population when the fact is, they have just been more visible in a specific area. That in turn may attract or increase the predator population. However, the odds are, it will have little or no impact.
Now the increase in the wolf population is a different matter. Studies by some idiot in Idaho show the wolves are rapidly invading the southeast and crossing with coyotes causing a new hybrid, one more aggressive and larger to emerge. I saw it on the tv so I know it is true.
WRbowhunter
Well-Known Member
Now the increase in the wolf population is a different matter. Studies by some idiot in Idaho show the wolves are rapidly invading the southeast and crossing with coyotes causing a new hybrid, one more aggressive and larger to emerge. I saw it on the tv so I know it is true. [/quote]
BHC
Well-Known Member
Probably have conditioned predators to use plots strategically. I have learned , bobcats I believe, are lying in brush along our field edges waiting on small deer, turkey's, and rabbits to feed to close... I don't believe coyotes would hunt like that tho.. However I get more coyote pics on fields than anywhere. And often gets pics of them chasing deer out of them....
BSK
Well-Known Member
ffmedic said:
ffmedic,
The big problem with equating anything about deer to coyote populations is how omnivorous coyotes are. Their diet during most of the year is so heavily weighted towards food other than deer (i.e. fruit and rodents), that they can exist in high numbers whether deer are present or not. It appears coyotes are simply taking advantage of an easy food source when they subsist heavily on deer (mostly fawns, but also does having trouble with the birth process) during the fawning season. Basically, they're taking advantage of an easy meal, not existing because of deer. It appears deer is not a required food source for coyotes to exist in high numbers.
