Just a Hypothetical

[Notsoyoungturk]

Probably shot the gobbler , but the yote gets it to if he hangs around .

X 2

[ScottTaulbee]

Our turkey season spans 23 days total. Of those 23 days, I typically get 12 to 15 days to hunt. Of those days, it's typically somewhere between 3 to 6 hours a day to hunt that gobbler. And I spend the other 350 or so dreaming about and scheming about getting that gobbler in range.  I have 365 days a year to shoot a coyote. I'm always, 100% of the time, watching that gobbler do the dead bird rodeo as Mr. Mundhenke puts it.

But with that being said, in the fall my brain switches over and I'm completely consumed with trying to scheme and get as many of those coyotes as a can to step on a trap pan, almost as addictive as turkey hunting.


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[Old Swamper]

I am a turkey hunter, not a coyote hunter.

[Marc]

Shootin' the tom...  Unless the yote is attacking me.

In my area...  I actually think that coyotes are a net benefit.  opossums, racoons, skunks, and pigs are all egg eaters, and bobcats are far more successful in hunting/killing turkeys than are yotes...  Yotes will kill all of these animals given a chance...  Not to mention foxes (and grey foxes can climb trees well).

Do yotes kill turkeys?  By the numbers of yotes I have called in while turkey hunting, I would say yes...  I would still hazard that they are killing less than a single racoon will eat in eggs on the nest.

I will also say, I have called in a number of bobcats, and I would guess that there are a lot more that I called in that winded me before I saw them, whereas coyotes are a bit more bold on their approach.

Generally, I leave the yotes alone, unless the rancher specifically requests I kill them...  And, oddly, last ranch I hunted, the owner specifically requested I do NOT  kill the yotes, cause they help control the squirrels (which were far more problematic).

[g8rvet]

Back in the day when I might have set out a decoy out, I seen a coyote walk right up to a Jake decoy from across a field. The closer the yote got the slower his movement became, seemed like he was getting ready for some action. There was no attempt  by him to hide, he just walked right up. When he got to about 5 yds, he stretched his nose out to get a sniff. When I said 'kick mud" the critter promptly exited the field.

The approach the coyote took seemed to me like he was expecting the turkeys to move and was looking for indications of sickness or injury. If he would have seen any indication one if the decoys was less than 100% I'm sure the chase would have been on.

The question I have for those so readily willing to shoot a coyote because they killing turkeys is when all the coyotes, and larger carnivores are gone what's going to be around to remove the sick diseased animals from the flock/herd? Natures balance has these animals for a reason. They're generally not taking down the healthiest of the flock/herd. They prey on the weak, the sick and the dying.

If you take all or severely limit carnivores you'll most likely be removing one of the natural checks and balances that has the ability to help limit the spread of disease through a flock/herd.

The law of unintended consequences rears it's ugly head once again because not only will you be removing an animal that has the possibility to help control the spread of disease your also removing one of the few natural predators that helps control populations of omnivorous mammals(the ones that like to eat turkey eggs).

So the next time your hypothetically shooting a coyote for reasons other than harvesting for use, please consider the coyote your seeing sneak a check list gobbler is most likely assessing then situation trying to figure out if he has a chance to accomplish one of the intended jobs assigned to him by nature.

What isn't natural is for the healthiest of the flock/herd to be removed on a regular basis along with the predators that help remove disease from the flock that's already been weakened because many of the healthiest, the ones with the best genes for survival, are shot every year.

I said the same thing a few years ago and was in fear I was going to be tarred and feathed on here.  LOL.  I am less concerned about coyote predation on the sick and dying and more concerned about their predation on the nest robbers (net positive to the turkeys), although the data shows their more important diet is mice, rabbits and plant matter.  They are definitely opportunistic egg eaters (pretty much all omnivores will eat turkey eggs).

We collected scats during the wild turkey reproductive season on 4 different
study areas believed to have abundant wild turkey populations, yet wild turkeys
constituted a minor proportion of coyote diet (0-3.9%). Only 2 previous southeastern coyote diet studies (Lee 1986, Hoerath 1991) reported occurrence of
wild turkey, but neither study was designed to assess occurrence of wild turkey
in coyote diet during the wild turkey reproductive season. Hoerath (1991) reported an annual occurrence of 0.2% for wild turkey from a study area in Sumter County, Alabama; whereas Lee (1986) did not report a specific percentage.

So combine the fact that shooting a coyote one time in a large ecosystem will likely have little to no impact on turkey population.  Like I said years ago, if we are talking about a controlled, small tract, then everything changes. 

I shoot the turkey every time.  In reality, shooting a coyote makes us feel better, but probably does little to change the overall turkey nest success rate in all but small ecosystems.

[Turkeyfever]

I had this situation on my place a couple years ago except it was slightly different as I worked the bird what seemed like forever , I caught movement and the Yote was on one side of  me and the gobbler the other. The Yote was  moving towards the bird. I had just a second to think about what to do but the more I looked at this big nasty looking coyote it was about more than just that gobbler/hen whatever he came in for. Yotes do more damage than just turkey, every fawn around thanked  me that day. The Yote got hammered. I hated it as that bird had gobbled what seemed like 75 times but no regrets whatsoever. Again a little different as I could see the Yote but not the gobbler he was just out of sight but I had spent what seemed like forever on that bird!

[Ihuntoldschool]

Shoot the gobbler. 
The coyote won't catch many turkeys but he'll work on the best predators real good.

[Ihuntoldschool]

Nest predators*

[appalachianassassin]

Ive never had a "Hitlist Gobbler" but Im shooting the turkey

[ScottTaulbee]

Ive never had a "Hitlist Gobbler" but Im shooting the turkey

I've had a ton of "Hitlist" gobblers, every one I've ever heard lol


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[JL_Longbeard]

Piss on that Coyote, it's Gobbler season!

[deathfoot]

Shooting the gobbler hands down 100% of the time.

Yote season open 24/7 365 on private land here. So if I want to kill one, I can go back and do it after spring gobbler season.