Talk me into Coyote hunting

Considering trying out coyote hunting as a way to hunt through the off season, and work on predator calling in hopes it’ll help come bear season.

My hang up is, what the heck do you do with it afterwards? I’m not going to eat it (unless that’s a thing?) so it seems kinda wasteful. The fact that they’re dogs doesn’t help either. I get that they’re undomesticated…but they’re still a dog. Similar to how everyone was shooting the wild dogs in Afghanistan, just doesn’t feel right.

I’ve heard or read that they aren’t hunted/controlled enough, and their predation is part of what’s leading to the slow growth (or decline even) of the blacktail, turkey, and elk populations. Is there any data to show that hunting them actually makes a difference in reducing the overall coyote population, or helps recover deer/elk/turkey populations?
I don’t think there are many studies that show hunting helps control populations. Some of the most coyote infested areas I have hunted have had a chopper ran through them a month or two prior to me hunting them. They are one of the smartest animals you will hunt. They put the hurting on wildlife and livestock, there is absolutely no reason to feel bad for shooting one. Coyotes will eat calves and deer while they are still alive, your normal dog isn’t going to do that. They are predators.
 
No way to really thin them out, though some guys like to say that's what they're doing. They will "adapt and overcome". The best justification if you need one is for the fur.

By the time you've put a month of work into trying to kill one when you finally get a chance you'll be so bloodthirsty and pissed you won't need a justification anymore, lol
 
hunt them when ever you can, when l was growing up on the ranch it was crazy the amount of animals that they kill, we sat down and figured out that they were costing the ranch 40,000 dollars a year. it is great fun and awesome practice, and you can get to learn your big game units better. skin them and eather sell the hides or have stuff made from them.
 
If you want to hunt them hunt them..never needed anyone to talk me into or out of hunting anything. But please try and use the wind and don't just go out there and blast the rabbit in distress and expect them to come sit in your lap.
 
What are the laws for/against leaving them where you shoot them? Specifically in Colorado?
 
I’ve been hunting and trapping coyotes for years and skin them out to sell the fur. But I also hunt really hard for them in the spring when calving and fawning is going on to help prevent the predation of the newborn deer and elk as well as the birthing mothers.
 
Many studies show that you’d have to remove 75% of the coyotes for 3-5 years straight to see any impact on the coyote population. But there are also many studies that show coyotes kill between 10%-50% of fawns in the spring. Our mule deer around here can use all the help they can get so I’ll stomach the $10-$20 for a finished coyote I’m getting for the coyotes vs the $75-$120 I was getting a couple years ago and continue to go out and kill them. Haven’t done it near as much this year as in the past but still getting out
 
Around these parts, the population of yotes is most dense in the urban edges of the valley. Pets get taken by them regularly. They aren't scared of people either, if you see one they'll just look at you and lope along like nothing's out of the ordinary. When my bow skills improve enough, I plan on hunting the heck out of them. If I get some furs, great, if I don't, well, no skin lost.
 
What are the laws for/against leaving them where you shoot them? Specifically in Colorado?
They're considered varmint, so probably no rules against it. I'd look in the fur bearer regulations. Perhaps google it.
 
Was just out at our new house painting and stepped outside to take a piss and there’s a coyote 300 yards away mousing out in the stubble. Shockingly I didn’t even have a gun with me. Lucky dog
 
If you want to get out of the house and hunt your way through the off-season, but don't have the desire to kill coyotes because you can't eat them, you should try bobcats. Still gets you out of the house, you'll be able to learn practical predator calling set-ups, you'll develop more patience in your calling set ups. Bobcat furs are worth more $ and the meat is more palatable than a coyote (from what I've been told).
 
OP, I’d check the Acme Co catalog for all your coyote hunting needs. Their products have killed a lot of them over the years according to a show I saw on TV.
I think those only work if you can convince the coyote to use the product themselves.
 
I might just need to call my district biologist and ask about what they’re seeing out there.
Sounds like little ol’ me out there getting one or two coyotes isn’t going to make much of a difference, but it just might help the fawns survive in that one particular area. I can’t find much with google about fur buyers in the local area, and have no idea how to treat a hide in the first place, but if I could make some $$ off it, it might at least cover my deer and/or turkey tag for the fall, or at least the cost of ammo and gas.
 

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