I'm a hunter in a deer-dense region along the Ohio River called the Trans-Bluegrass. It has a lot of cattle and a lot of coyote. Let me make the case for killing any coyote you see.
1) Coyote eat deer. They are especially good at taking fawns. The more coyotes you kill, the better chance the fawns have for survival.
2) Coyote eat cattle. That sounds like an outrageous claim, but around my neck of the woods, you have to be extremely careful about watching your cows in the spring. Coyotes will follow an expectant cow around, waiting for her to drop. As soon as the calf presents, they coyotes will be on it. The first time I nailed a coyote out deer hunting, I was a neighborhood hero.
3) Coyote eat turkeys. They destroy the nests, and they interfere with breeding. Most of our coyote kills have come from coyotes coming to turkey calls or making a run at our decoys.
4) I have not heard of coyotes actually attacking humans, but the ones in our neighborhood have started making runs at us. One neighbor reported a coyote clipping his legs as he was walking between two sheds in his yard. I've had them make close passes in the dark. My youngest son made the mistake of trying to come home through the woods after dark without a flashlight. Trust me, they are always looking for a way.
5) In 2005, the coyote population became dense enough for Parvo to set in and nearly wipe out the whole population in our area. The problem was they passed it to a lot of other animals as well. A lot of pets died as a result.
Starting two years ago, I issued a new standing order at camp: no one was to go beyond the curtilage without being properly armed. This necessitated going for our CCW's, because it quickly became clear that this was going to make trips into town a problem. We have had just too many close encounters at the farm and too many missed opportunities. I've also had two incidents where I caught coyotes stalking our dogs up close to the house.
When I'm out and about and not otherwise armed, I'm carrying a 357 Magnum in either a lever rifle or a revolver.
Warning: I have been warning folks for years that they should not think about shooting yotes in the dark. There are a lot of guys who get scared at coyotes making passes at them in the dark while they're going out to their stands. They start packing sidearms thinking they'll shoot the yotes if they get too close. Don't. You probably won't hit them, and you might hit another hunter. The better tactic when confronted is to make yourself big and scary and loud. I've had to do this a few times over the years, and it works. Instead of firing, point your flashlight at the noise and brandish your staff or rifle at them like a club. So far, that has worked much better for me.
