How big are these coyotes gonna get?

calebintn

New member
Well I have just been too busy this year to do much hunting, but I have seen lots of coyotes while out & about on the farm & other places. I have seen & killed many regular sized coyotes but in the past few years especially recently I have seen many LARGE coyotes. They resemble German Shepherds & I have seen them over much of the mid state here in TN. Some have been colored like a german shepherd, some regular greyish brown & black, & many large red coyotes. Is this a trend? Is there just alot of rabbits to eat around here or could it be that the so called "Wolf" gene is coming more prominent in the Eastern Yotes.
I know that some of these could be mixed will domestic dogs but surely not all of them.
Ok lets here it guys!!
 
My first yote I called in was a male close to 40lb. Iv seen some big ones too.
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this is a female my buddy shot lastyear.
 
We killed one last night that was pretty big we didn't weigh it. I would quess somewhere around forty pound it was bigger than my neighbors husky. I seen two run across the road near a farm I hunt that were rather large. But all the ones i seen killed last year were small they also look a little different than the ones out west color shape of there head and everything.
 
A guy who hunts the same farm I do shot a 57lb male Tuesday morning. Same spot I was hunting in Monday night too. [beeep] luck. I shot a 46lb one last year. My personal best so far.
 
the scales will usually tell the truth. they all look bigger alive not many in tennesse are gonna go over 40 lbs. im sure there are a couple of surenuff big ones out there.
 
It is just my opinion, but I believe it is based on some obvious facts, that the coyotes around central Ky. have evolved within the species to meet the task at hand. When they first showed up here, they killed every rabbit and groundhog they could, dug out the groundhog dens, and made their dens there. First five years I hunted coyote, I killed one coyote over 50 pounds. In the next 15 years, I have killed 16 more over 50 pounds, with the largest being a 58 pound brute. They are longer legged and longer coupled now, and they are killing much bigger wild and domestic animals. I don't believe they left here to go breed with wolves somewhere either. A lot of people who live in the outlying districts say they look like German Shepherds to them, but I've seen a lot of coyotes with a lot of black in their guard hair. Last time I talked to the biologists at the University of Ky., they said there were 26 recognized sub species of coyotes. I have seen some with a lot more reddish coloring and have killed one black one and several pure blonde ones.
Several years ago, a bunch of coyotes showed up around a subdivision in Lexington called Rabbit Run. The neighborhood association called me, met with me, and I told them what I thought was needed. They didn't listen, but hired some trappers to live trap the coyotes at $100.00 apiece, take them twenty miles or so into the country and then release them. Pretty dumb if you ask me. How did they think those coyotes got there to begin with? Hard telling how many times they paid the trappers $100.00 for the same coyote. If you kill them, those particular coyotes won't be back, but some others will take their place.
 
My biggest was 58 pounds. A guy I went to school with shot one that was 72 pounds a few years ago. Last weekend I killed one that was 39 pounds, a young male.
 
I wouldn't doubt the possibility that the underlying reason some of them yotes are as big as german shepards is because they mated with a german shepard somewhere along the line.
 
When coyotes finally started builing up their numbers in KY in the late 70's and early 80's the bigger males we were killing were in the 35-40 pound range. We put almost every coyote we kill on the digital scale especially the bigger ones.

Our records have indicated a lot of growth in thd coyote since then. I have killed females that tip the scales at 44 pounds. I have killed males over 50 pounds on several occasions since the 80's. My Uncle killed one when I was with him that came in at 58 pounds and he was a beast.

They have not only gained weight but some seem to be taller or appear to have longer legs. I also see all kinds of color combinations now.
 
Originally Posted By: cawilson82how bout some pictures of these monsters? o and not saying that in doubt i like to see the huge ones.

Below is a 50 lb male I killed circa; 81-82? I weighed him on a feed grain scale. We didn't see any coyotes in central Iowa until season of 68. Those coyotes were mostly mousy grey & were in the 30-35+/- lb range. As the yrs rolled on we started to see different colored coyotes & a few that were in the 50 lb range.

Winter of 71? I killed a 47 lb female. Around 10-12 yrs ago or so. One of my Bro's & I killed a male that would've weighed in the mid-upper 50's. We didn't weigh it, but it was massive in size & girth. Bro has a pic of that coyote.

Also back in the late 60's to early 80's. Some people in Iowa, raised & breed coyotes to dogs, & wolves to coyotes & wolves to dogs. They sold them on the open market. I suspect some of those hybrids either escaped or were released upon the land over time.

Below is my 50 lb Iowa coyote.
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52 lb coyote I shot a couple of years ago About the same time another hunter in the same area shot one that was 74 Lbs. no picture but mind and his both look like they had wolf in them.It is not uncommon for us to get one or two each year well over 40 Lbs.If we get some big ones this year I will post some pic's

Bill
 
I forgot to mention my coyote above, had a dark mask on it's face with a bluish tint in it's fur. Also on the outer edge of the mask was a thin dark blue ring of fur. I have never in my life seen any coyote with blue in it's fur.

The fur buyer I sold it to was excited about this coyote & told me he was going to keep it & have it mounted.
 
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Here is a pic of one I killed last year that topped the 50lb mark. I've killed another one on Jan 1st that I need to post the photo. It sounds exactly like what you are talking about...tall red and dark colorations.

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here is one i shot in central va this summer.didnt weigh herrrrrr but you can get an idea,.thats a 30 inch barrel with a 2 inch muzzlebrake


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