Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints coyote populations

Here in Michigan, our DNR has no idea of coyote populations. I've heard numerous hunters talk about not finding a deer they shot till the next day and finding it almost completely eaten by coyotes. Well, I've used road-killed deer as bait somewhat successfully in the past few years, however, last saturday (Oct. 24th) I put a road killed deer out back and nothing has touched it yet. I'm thinking that if we had a good population of coyotes that the deer would have been hit rather quickly. What say you? Would you agree that our population must be quite low right now based on that experience? thank you.

Sometimes they just won’t eat something for some reason or another. Maybe they have plenty to eat or they’re just aren’t any in the immediate area at the moment. I’ve left pigs I shot and had them literally gone down to the hair overnight. Other times I’ve left them and had them lay out until they turned into mummies. I figure that coyotes and cockroaches will be the last two species to go extinct, they’re probably around.

I hunt Ks every year. Arrowed a deer last year and lost blood trail at dark. Found what was left of it 12 hours later. All that was left was some meat on the neck and head. The rest, and all the guts and stomach contends were gone.
The previous year, my brother and I both killed the same morning. We took the deer to a location that we could watch with trail cameras and we could sneak to it and take a 200 yard shot at feeding coyotes. We gutted both deer, left the rib cages, hide etc.
the coyotes never touched it for three weeks. Then they demolished the remains in a couple nights. I don’t know whether the second set of dead deer were not touched because of our scent, or something else. There was plenty of coyotes in the area.

Here in northern Michigan, if we don't find a wounded deer, the coyotes will by morning, if a bear don't find it 1st. We have had to run totes off a deer that we were tracking.

You contaminated it with your scent when you picked up the road kill. They generally won't touch it with your scent on it. If we have a cow carcass we move it with a tractor and not touch it. When a coyote is shot off the carcass we drive up to it in the pickup and drag the coyote away from the carcass before getting out and loading it in the truck. It makes a huge difference.

They are all over TEXAS. I hear them everywhere I goin the country.

God, they got enough of em in Mt. Every cattle trail...they love to run them. Called one in 2nd day, 10 AM.

I arrowed another deer in Ks on Nov 10. Gutted it that evening. Next morn I boned out the deer and put the bones etc by the gut pile. Checked it the next two mornings, no coyote action. Checked the third morning, gut pile was completely gone and much of the bones and scraps were gone. Couple days later, there was some blood stains on the ground and most of the hide, the rest gone.

Had to work multiple sections of high line in the area this last week with the snow. Funny how right up the middle of each section on the gravel road there was a set of paw prints. You could see the track trail from the ridges go all the way up the section. Talking up to a mile view.
They are singing in my town almost every night. Dense residential. Breeding season has the activity at night up to a high level.
Not good when you see packs of up to 8 or more on trail cameras
Our deer heard has taken a huge hit with fawn predation up through the roof between the bobcats and the song dogs.

Dropped a Pendleton shirt in the woods while tracking a deer. Went back for it some time later, and the buggers had scattered it over a pretty wide area. Hardly left a piece big enough to wipe your butt with.

When I was still working, I saw a couple in Herndon and Ashburn, VA, walking down the street like they owned it, at night of course. Cat hunting, I suppose.

human scent, by the way coyotes are thick as fleas in the S.W. part of the state around Cimarron ect.

My kind of coyotes!

DNR radio collared several yotes here. The packs cover about 2 square miles each. So a sample of one deer is not indicative of a population.

Here in Western Ky. we’ve had more pictures of coyotes on trail cameras than we’ve ever had previously. They are abundant this year here. Gonna be working on that......

Not to sure the human scent thing is a big concern on a carcass- we skin coons in the woods and the carcass will always be gone the next night-like rifle shots being a dinner bell to bears in elk country,I think hounds treeing are the same to coyotes.