We're rural.  Starting to have a real coyote problem develop over the past year or so.  They seem to be everywhere.  We hear them several times every night, and now we're starting to hear them during the day.  last night there were 3 of them in my driveway 50 yards from the house (@ 4am).



I need to put together a seek and destroy mission to get rid of these damn things.  Too many little kids, chickens, etc. around here.



Any guidance appreciated.

Wounded rabbit calls (electronic or manual) and a rifle sighted in for daylight hunting.  For nighttime hunting, check with Game & Wildlife Dept in your state to see what is permissible.  Some states permit nighttime calling and spotlighting with game warden's approval, some states don't.  

Poison bait is also available, or at least it used to be in Oklahoma, but you have to worry about domestic pets, hunting dogs, etc getting into it, so I wouldn't recommend that.

Thanks, I'll check w/ DNR.  Indiana is pretty easy going when it comes to killing these things.



Any ideas for finding where they live vs calling them in?  Impossible, bad idea, ...?

Just eradicated a few who had been stealing my free ranging chickens this past weekend. A couple of whole fryers stuffed with beef liver and staked down in an open field. Set up about 60 yards downwind with a suppressed AR w/ surefire light and a red filter. Took all of 4 1/2 hours to get two of them that way. Going to give it another go this weekend.

Good luck. They seem to breed faster than I can kill them.

Another member here let me come up to his place to try some yote hunting. It didn't work out to great because of storms that were heading through. But my plan was baiting also. Threw some beef in a Tupperware for a couple days, then let it sit out for another day. Figured that would give it some aroma. Anyway  got to his place, he showed us around, the we waited for sundown. My son and I walked down to our spots and I shined a light across the field to see 2 yotes walking up the tree line. I couldn't get set fast enough to get a shot off.

Didn't see anything else but deer the rest of the trip.

But, for suggestions. Set up some Coyote sets to lure them in. Sets are just something different in their turf that draws their attention. Could be as simple as a tin can hanging from a tree on string or a plastic windmill stuck in the dirt. Also use a snare if you have a hot trail that they are using...

If you get caught doing this, you will go to jail. M44's and compound 1080 have been illegal for about 30 years or so, except for Government Trappers and other ADC trappers, usually licensed thru the USDA. (usually).


If you want to try and call or trap some for fun than go for it ( when the season opens). But if you really want some of the coyotes killed off than you should contact your local Trappers Association.

Having said that, you will never get rid of them. What ever coyotes you kill will be replaced by others.

You don't have anything to worry about when it comes to kids. They have a greater chance of getting struck by lightning.



Trapping canines is a little more complex than this.....

From what I've read related to keeping them off deer hunting property, trapping is the only way.  I read an interview with one guy. He trapped constantly for a couple years. Then he stopped trapping for 6 months after he figured he was rid of them all. When he checked his trail cameras before deer season, he had as many as he did before he started trapping.

The problem is coyotes evolved when wolves were common. Wolves hate coyotes as much as you do.  So they kill them every chance they get.  Coyotes evolved to breed enough pups to counter this.

The bottom line is that you can't shoot enough to be rid of them.  You could kill every coyote within miles of your home and others will just move into the unoccupied space. Plus any you fail to kill will become educated. That's also true with traps. But at least they stay in the woods 24/7.

What part of IN do you live? I may be able to connect you with a DNR officer to help you out.
 

 
Please explain...

We're in the SE part of the state.  No issue baiting them in, calling them in, etc.  

Is it not possible to find where they live and going after them there?  I think it's close to here.  


I'll call the game warden tomorrow to make sure I'm staying legal, but Indiana has a coyote problem and the rules are pretty loose...


Thanks for all of the help.  

Here in Florida coyotes often den up in old gopher tortoise holes that they dig out larger to accommodate themselves. By the time the coyotes are done with it, the hole will be about dog sized and at the base there will be a pile of dirt or sand several feet across and a foot or two high. You don't have burrowing tortoises where you live, but you may have animals like badgers or other diggers whose holes coyotes my appropriate for their dens. I presume coyotes everywhere make permanent dens like they do here. Finding them takes a lot of walking, especially though thick. Usually the coyotes will have defined trails that go right to their dens. This is especially so if you can bait them up in a regular location over the course of several months. We use deer carcasses to bait them up and they've made trails going straight to the carcass pile from their den holes. We then set wire snares along the trails and catch them going to and from the carcasses.



Calling them and shooting them is fun, but its not super effective to get their numbers down. They learn fast and after a couple of them put the slip on you in a hunting session, they will become hard to call in. Trapping is your best bet. We use snares here because that's all the state lets us use, but leghold traps are the most efficient way to catch them. Snares work best covering the trails to and from the den and carcass piles. Leghold traps work best with dirt hole sets.






You will never wipe them out as a species, but you can wipe out specific packs and keep them beat back every time a new pack moves in to your area. You just have to stay on top of them.






They kill adult deer with regularity. Don't let anyone convince you otherwise. Where you live there probably isn't a tradition of hunting deer with pack hounds like there is in Florida and southern Georgia. A good pack of deer hounds can get their master 20 deer a year per person easy just by hunting weekends (no bag limits in Florida). A pack of coyotes is infinity better at chasing and killing adult deer than the best pack of walker hounds. A pack probably makes an adult deer kill a couple times a week at least.




 

To effect the overall population of coyotes you have to remove 75% of them in a given area.  That is very hard to do.
I travel down to Indy to hunt them.

trapping  will work good, hunting them will  work as well.

They move around a lot it's not unreasonable for them to claim 8 square miles up to 20 as their "range".

Pups are most likely born by now and will be hanging around a den site until middle of summer.  

Their nose is one of their strongest assets. They will smell you in an area days after you have been there.

trapping our calling them in is your best bet to keep them in check.  Baiting can work as well.

If you find a den and approach it they will most likely relocate.

Children have a greater chance of getting struck by lightning than they do of being attacked by coyotes.





If by chance you get close to their den, they will know you were there and never come back.

Truth.

 

The idea of a curiosity set is to draw their attention. You're supposed to be waiting when they walk over to investigate.

the key to baiting from what I understand is to follow a few guidelines.


1. make the bait so they cant drag it away, make it something they want.


2. Once you put it out don't revisit again until its gone. (dont go close to it)


3. Bait must be put in an area that a) the coyotes will feel safe visiting b) you can get a shot at without being seen/heard or smelled. (i would recommend a minimum of 100yds away if not more depending on terrain.


4. be patient. check frequently, they will git it any time during the day or night if the above conditions are met.
 

I'm not sure about your area but right now spring is when they den up and raise their litters. The juveniles will be out and about a lot and the year old ones have been kicked out so to speak. The breeding pair will be hunting heavy to feed the young. So you can have a pretty active population this time of year.

If you aren't familiar with trapping, take out an ad out in your local trapping association website. You will probably have several offers of help.

Pick the old guy who doesn't talk much.

Are you suggesting to hang a soda can from a tree and than wait with a firearm close by for a coyote to come investigate the can?


I'm pretty sure this would be a waste of time Buddy.........


OP, georgiagun is a professional ADC man. You should listen to his advice.

Or, if you want to try a new and exciting hobby, contact your local trappers association and learn to hunt/trap coyotes yourself this fall/winter. You could always check out websites like trapperman.com or predatormasters.com that kinda specialize in new guys getting started.


Good luck.

I never said it is the be all end all to coyote hunting. It's just another arrow in the quiver. I think I suggested snares earlier in this post. I personally tried baiting with hamburger my first time out.

Just to back up my suggestion on a curiosity set. My neighbors put this feeder up last night. My dog noticed it as soon as he went out this morning. He ran over to it, barked... Kept his attention for quite awhile. Just something new in his turf that he needed to figure out... That's the idea behind a curiosity set.