Is it slow where you are?

Been slow here in Southeast Missouri about 75-100 miles above SandCountry...still got a lot of Leaves on the Trees here but soon they will all be down and it will be much more open in the heavy timber so we can see further and put some wise old Coyotes down!We have been hearing several Packs and even been hearing several Young Coyotes barking so there's a bunch of Young Un-Educated targets out there running around!
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Well, I left the house yesterday at 1:50 PM and got home at 1 AM. Beautiful weather. High in the 60's, low 36, no clouds, 4 mph north wind.

Hunted 5 properties (smallest one was 600 acres) in two different counties, 20+ miles from one end of the "circuit" to the other. Managed to shoot a hog with my 10 mm at the first place. Saw one set of eyes at 500 yards at about 11 PM, but they didn't come. Could have been a deer. Heard a grand total of 3 packs all night. 2 were miles from us, one was across the road on the neighbor's place. Saw 5 possums on the road and 2 coons.

That's all I have to show for it.
 
Well, we went last night to a THIRD county, over an hour from my other spots. This place is a several thousand acre private quail plantation, completely surrounded by several thousand acre quail plantations. It has an 800 acre duck pond in the middle of it. It has not been called in over two years, has not been trapped, and has always been LOADED with varmints.

In another similar thread to this one, Chupa & others mentioned that yotes were taking a long time to respond, so I made all my four stands at least 30 minutes, some as long as 45 minutes. Nothing. Did not see or hear anything except a button buck that we busted out of his bed on the way back to the lodge.
 
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Well, hunted all Friday night at the quail plantation again. Called up one bobcat (still not in season). Cold, still night, you could hear for about 4 miles. Heard 2 yotes on the place and a pack two miles down the road. Made at least 6 stands. Didn't even bump into anything.

Spent Sunday morning on a 600 acre place where they lost a calf last week. Staked out the spot where the calf was killed, calling intermittently, for 4 hours. Nothing.

In two months of calling, morning and night, at least once per week, all I have to show is two missed yotes and two out of season bobcats.

I'm done. Packing up the calls until bobcat season comes in. Time to hit the deer and hogs.
 
Kizmo, when things quiet down for me at home, etc, you come on up and we'll slap some wildlife
around. Just bring the good scotch with you.
 
Don't get down. I had them running all over the place today and just couldn't connect. I think they have plenty of feed considering all the rabbit tracks that I saw today.
 
I can handle not calling them up. I've had plenty of dry streaks when I didn't connect. However, all those time I was seeing them (bumping them out of fields, not calling them in close enough for a shot, etc.) or at least hearing them. Now, I'm hearing enough that I know they're talking, but not hearing 20% of what I used to hear. Friday night, we even had an ambulance go by in the distance. All quiet except for the two on the place (around 2000 acres) and and the pack down the road. Places that used to have coyote trails (like pig trails, except for yote tracks) now have a lone set of tracks.
 
That is strange this time of year, population should be about as high right now as it is gonna get. Have they become extremely pressured or anything? Had any diseases go through that you know about that could have knocked populations back? Or are you just that dang good and shot them out Mr. Kiz?
 
Wondering that myself, JTP. No serious callers around here but me. We just started seeing mange around here for the first time a couple of years ago. This plus the fact that I haven't seen a gray fox at all makes me wonder if the mange has really taken its toll. There's usually foxes aplenty at my usual places, and the quail plantation should be literally eaten up with them. It hasn't been called in over 2 years, nor has it been trapped recently. About 15 years ago we had a bad distemper outbreak, and it was just like this, but I haven't heard of another recently.

Since I hunt year round, I am sure I am always somewhat of a victim of my own success, but not to this extent. I'm not even hearing them on places I don't hunt.
 
I don't know, I am just not that up on my canine diseases. One thing I do know from my biology degree though, is that all populations go in cycles, literally feast and famine. Predator populations are tied to prey populations, and tend to follow those swings, but with somewhat of a delay.

As the prey population booms, the predators are living high on the hog with good health and large litters, and increase n population to follow the prey cycle. As the prey population peaks and reaches carrying capacity and beyond, disease due to high population density and starvation goes to work killing off large numbers of prey. This however is just fine with Mr. Coyote, as this is the situation he thrives in. Life is good, and he is still rolling fat and sassy. As the prey cycle continues to crash though, things begin to change. Now it is the coyote who is on the wrong end of the carrying capacity equation, and he follows the same route as the prey before him. Disease and starvation hit him hard, and his numbers crash as well. Of course being the adaptable scrounger and omnivore that he is, he can swap around and find different things to survive on, but sti;ll times are lean, very lean.

Eventually as the pendulum continues to swing, predator populations are still going down and prey populations have started to rebound back up. A little further down the timeline from that as predator population bottoms, I feel is the toughest time to call. At this time the numbers of predators are at their lowest point, yet prey has been rebounding for a couple years and food is plenty. the two combined can make for tough conditions.

Is this what is happening with you? I have absolutely no idea, but it does give some food for thought. And of course, it really isn't all that simple anyways because you aren't talking about a single prey species and a single predator species. There are multiple populations of both, all interacting the same time, and we haven't even figured in things like human manipulation! The whole system is incredibly complex and dynamic, ever changing.

Looking back over my fathers 20 year calling log, I can see some definite patterns. I am sure some of that coincides with busy times in his life where he wasn't able to call as much or could call more, but I can also see entries about how good or poor their condition was and so forth as well. We seem to be approaching a peak right now, times are flush and calling is good, coyotes everywhere, not much mange. I know it won't last though, you just can't have mountains unless you have valleys.
 
Where I live and hunt at in California we are going through the worst drought I have ever seen.

There is no ground cover and no small critters. So far this year I have not seen one coyote pup. The coyote population is very low around here right now.
 
Kizmo,
I'm up here in the Ringgold area and it is the same here. I hate it for ya but in a way it makes me feel better that I'm not the only one. I was really starting to question myself and starting to grasp at every little thought of how I was failing. I called Saturday night and as I was setting up, one howled five or six times. It was only 300-400 yards away. I howled back and "NOTHING"!!!!.I know it did not see me because I was in a hay barn lying on hay bails overlooking the field. I know it did not wind me because I had the wind blowing towards me directly opposite of the coyote. I just don't understand what's going on.
I was doing so much better at this time last year. If I figure it out I will be sure to tell ya because I'm about to start really getting frustrated.
Howling usually does it for me this time of the year. Distress sounds usually do okay for me this time of the year but not my go to sounds. Neither has done anything at all so far this year.
I figure a blind squirrel will find a nut sooner or later.
 

It's always been slow here, but very close to impossible getting a coyote now. I can't even get one to the bait site but every month or two it seems, and then they hit one night and are off and gone until next time, whenever that is. I hunted the whole fall, winter and spring (over bait) last season and didn't get a single coyote until May. Since May I have had maybe two visits total. It's hard to have success that way. But, I keep trying.

JT hit the nail on the head. Our prey (rabbit) population is increasing, as well as fox. I used to see very few of either, but see them more and more now. That speaks volumes.

 
Thanks fellas. Our rabbit population has been in the tank for years, but it didn't seem to bother the yotes. A couple of years ago I went a whole year, hunting at least one night per week, without seeing a single rabbit. When I was a kid and we shined rabbits, it wouldn't be unusual to pull up in a field and see 50. The rabbits seem to be on the increase, as I have seen several of late.

The bobcats are what make me think of canine distemper. I usually have to target them specifically, and last year was a crappy bobcat season. This year, I've already called up two without trying, so they seem to be doing just fine. It's the canines that are absent. As bad as the yotes are, the absence of gray foxes is downright scary. They're usually so numerous they are almost a nuisance.
 
Have not been able to get out much, but it has been red hot so far this year in my area. Averaging 6 a day so far, 27 carried back to the truck in 4.5 days hunting. That's 3 days by myself and 1.5 days with my partner. Definitely a well above average year to this point.

It normally only gets worse from mid Nov. on though, so I'm expecting a pretty dramatic decline in the average.

In regards to population crashes/disease though. A few years ago, maybe four five years? Anyway, same areas, awhile back, we had a decent season but only killed one YoY for the whole year! Absolutely unheard of. But, basically no pups killed at all that year - figure disease must have got them all while they were still in the ground. The following season was abysmal, in those areas, but normal a few hundred miles away (I usually cover a very wide swath...). And now this same area seems to be crawling with coyote more than ever.

You just have to play the cards that are dealt I guess.

- DAA
 
In a good year down here, I'll kill 20-30 yotes. We will never have the population you fellas out west have due to the heartworms. This summer, I spent a whole lot more time hog hunting than I did yote hunting, so the yotes actually caught somewhat of a break.

You'd think they would be a little more appreciative. Maybe they got their feelings hurt and packed up and headed for the hills.
 
There are just so many factors, it is hard to nail it down to just one or two things. Especially with coyotes being as opportunistic as they are. Here in my part of the world, the summer diet of a coyote contains a whole lot more grasshoppers, mesquite beans, and prickly pear fruit than it does rabbit. Mice, frogs, snakes, lizards, watermelons, ground-nesting birds, any number of things they can be eating, switching from one to another as they see fit. We had a bad mange outbreak 5-10 years ago that hit us hard too. Stress due to drought or other weather conditions can bring on disease outbreaks as well. There are tons of different possibilities for the population bust you are seeing, and it could very well be a combination of several.

Didn't you have a research facility down the road that was collaring coyotes and doing research? Why not stop in an see them, perhaps they have some insight into the local situation?
 
It's been pretty dry here since early summer. However, my main place is on the river, and the quail plantation has an 800 acre duck pond and is bordered by a large creek. I was actually thinking that this drought would play right into my hands. I envisioned myself as being a sort of coyote hunting water baron. Blood for water. HAH!

As far as the research facility, I am not exactly their favorite person. I suspect that I would end up naked, alone in the woods, with a tracking collar affixed to me somewhere if they could get their hands on me.

I think I'll give the state biologist a call and see what's up.
 
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