Ok I gotta ask if any of you have ever had to leave a fresh kill overnight in coyote/wolf country?
Does this trick really work in your opinion?
I have never had the circumstances of leaving a deer in the field overnight but I have walked up on deer that looked to be dead for a couple days in coyote country with no signs of feasting.
Yes, I tried it one time and it worked for me. Only time I ever had to leave a deer kill and go get help.
Shot my best and biggest buck ever, had a pack of howling coyotes practically on top of us in literally minutes. Skipped field dressing it to keep the scent of blood and guts to a minimum and started dragging it out of the woods. Got it out of the woods and only about 40 - 50 yards into into a freshly cultivated and plowed field and couldn't drag it any farther as it was simply too heavy. The coyotes followed right behind as far as the edge of the woods stopping there, howling and running back and forth apparently badly wanting me to leave so they could start chewing on my deer. I knew I had to go get help so I hung a well used blaze orange "heater"cushion I always carried in cold weather to sit on in my tree stand on the bucks rack, the wind blowing my scent from the cushion back towards the woods.
Came back about an hour later with help, deer was totally untouched and coyotes were gone.
In case you have to leave, go home and watch Thr Masked Singer….or maybe Wagonmaster, Wagon Train, War Wagon, Paint Your Wagon, or whatever dumb shît Walter Brennan movie for the 23rd time
Always layering in cold weather & that includes a vest. That vest was draped over a Mule deer in the Co. Rockies overnight with a couple of dead limbs holing it down. Another time tied around Elk quarters in Montana.
Maybe dumb luck, but neither showed any signs of being bothered by any critter.
It does not work here. In recent years I know of two instances where people have left things behind by intent or not and wolves took the deer in the night. Wolves in my area are precious and can’t even be looked at sideways so fear of man isn’t at all what it once was. Tracks on my place during darkness tell the tale up close to the buildings. Peeing near your kill is not worth the bother. I’ve had both coyotes and wolves come in and urinate directly over mine while trapping. Some predator trappers even do it as a draw. In areas with human pressure human scent may be detriment, not here.
Osky
A woman's heart is the hardest rock the Almighty has put on this earth and I can find no sign on it.
I've heard that leaving a t-shirt works very well because it's been against your skin and has the most scent. I've left clothing before and never had a problem but I don't know if any wolves or bears were around to take it anyway. I don't know any way to prove that it works without a live predator to test it.
I'm not sure that peeing around it works. I've heard of guys peeing out their tree stands and still having deer come in. A deer isn't a wolf, of course, so I don't know if it works or not. However, if you have to pee before you leave the deer, you might as well do it.
“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” ― George Orwell
It's not over when you lose. It's over when you quit.
I've had to leave elk out overnight a number of times while I went for my llamas. So far, so good. We don't have griz here but we're not short of wolves and black bears. For the record, leaving a whole elk in the woods over night makes for the most tender meat. By morning, it'll be largely out of rigor and ready to cut up. I'd rather not have to leave it in the field but it does have a plus side.
“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” ― George Orwell
It's not over when you lose. It's over when you quit.
Coyote country? I’m pretty sue EVERYWHERE is coyote country. I once left my jacket on a Ontario bear to deter wolves until I could return with help. Did it help? I’ll never know. I kept my underwear, however.
For us in northern MN the bears are for the most part down for the winter when deer season is in progress. At least the rifle season. There is no better olfactory than those on birds, ravens and crows first here eagles come next. During deer season here the sound of gunfire particularly in the late day hunt has the wolves a step ahead and if interested they work their way in. When I set carcasses on ice in the winter for the few coyotes we still have, according to my cameras and my being on site watching wolves show up in the last half hour of shooting light most often.
Osky
A woman's heart is the hardest rock the Almighty has put on this earth and I can find no sign on it.
I dumped a big guy way back and could only manage to pack out his head, cape and a front quarter before dark. I carried 50’ of nylon rope and a small two and three wheel pulley set in my pack and that deer went way up out of reach in a white pine.
My other auto is a .45
The bitterness of poor quality is remembered long after the sweetness of low price has faded from memory
MPat70; Good afternoon to you sir, I hope that the weekend has been kind to you thus far and you're well.
In our part of south central BC we've got no shortage of coyotes, more wolves than we'd like and also contend with black bears, the occasional grizzly, turkey vultures, ravens, bald eagles and magpies that will come and "share" the carcass with you if given the opportunity.
We've kept coyotes off of carcasses or partial carcasses on 3 occasions wrapping a space blanket around it. On one occasion we were able to observe a coyote at the carcass and it didn't like the crinkly space blanket one bit, jumping nearly every time the wind blew it.
Also we'll hang lots of trail tape at the carcass so we can see it from as far away as possible and be prepared in the event something is there that doesn't want to share.
I want to say we've left a shirt or vest once too, but honestly unless it's something you can easily replace, I'd maybe suggest not leaving it there to get covered with bird feces at minimum.
From talking to friends who've had direct experience with them, I'd agree with Brother Fubar in that grizzly bears don't care about whatever you might leave there. I've also had a black bear climb up a tree to reach over and help itself to a mule deer hanging high enough, but apparently not on a meat pole with enough span to work.
We do whatever we can shy of moving heaven and earth not to leave anything overnight here because we're seeing more black bears than we've ever seen in the 38 years we've lived here and even they tend to be tough to dissuade from sharing - especially under cover of darkness.
Hopefully that made sense and was useful to someone out there.
All the best and good luck on any remaining hunts.
Here's the first I agonized all night about. 2 miles up Graveyard Canyon in SE NM Sacremento Mts.
The day before I had walked the ridges in near freezing rain with waterlogged, heavy wool and had trouble drying my glasses and scope with wet toilet paper and underclothes trying to get the crosshairs on him.
I shot it my 270 wby mag across a canyon with oak brush. Tried to mark it, went down, crossing the steep canyon, climbed the other side and couldn't find him. I left my hat on a bush top and made the hellacious trip back across the canyon. Figured out where the buck went down, cleaned binocs again, found my hat on the bush, made the miserable trip again and found the buck about 40 yds from my hat, got my hat on my wet freezing head, gutted it, peed all over, etc and headed back down Graveyard two miles to my truck and then drove to the Circle Cross Ranch house totally exhausted.
Came back the next day on horses with the ranch Mgr and got my deer loaded. I was very happy to see the varmints had not messed it up.
Last edited by jaguartx; 11/13/22.
Ecc 10:2 The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but that of a fool to the left.
A Nation which leaves God behind is soon left behind.
"The Lord never asked anyone to be a tax collector, lowyer, or Redskins fan".
Here's the first I agonized all night about. 2 miles up Graveyard Canyon in SE NM Sacremento Mts.
The day before I had walked the ridges in near freezing rain with waterlogged, heavy wool and had trouble drying my glasses and scope with wet toilet paper and underclothes trying to get the crosshairs on him.
I shot it my 270 wby mag across a canyon with oak brush. Tried to mark it, went down, crossing the steep canyon, climbed the other side and couldn't find him. I left my hat on a bush top and made the hellacious trip back across the canyon. Figured out where the buck went down, cleaned binocs again, found my hat on the bush, made the miserable trip again and found the buck about 40 yds from my hat, got my hat on my wet freezing head, gutted it, peed all over, etc and headed back down Graveyard two miles to my truck and then drove to the Circle Cross Ranch house totally exhausted.
Came back the next day on horses with the ranch Mgr and got my deer loaded. I was very happy to see the varmints had not messed it up.
Damn Jag! You got old!!!!
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Founder Ancient Order of the 1895 Winchester
"Come, shall we go and kill us venison? And yet it irks me the poor dappled fools, Being native burghers of this desert city, Should in their own confines with forked heads Have their round haunches gored."