Best way to cleanly remove a coyotes head?

T

TheGerman

New member
Yeah, not a question you thought you'd see, huh?

In Utah we have to bring in basically the entire head for the bounty. They want the jaw intact as well as both ears, so short of performing surgery, I am basically just going to try and remove the head and bring that in.

The question is, whats the best way of doing this out in the middle of the desert? Figured I'd leave the corpse out there for the other animals and just take the head, no need to make a huge mess at home.

Not trying to be vulgar, but just bring an axe in the Jeep with me and chop it? A knife would be too small and difficult, was trying to figure out what would be the best/easiest way to go.

Thanks
 
Well... Actually, it's easy as pie to remove a coyotes head with just a knife. Have done it hundreds of times.

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But! For bounty, all you need is the ears - a 15 second job to scalp the coyote, and the lower jaw. If I'm out for serious bounty hunting I take a pair of tree loppers. Snip-snip is all it takes. Can process a coyote for bounty this way in under 30 seconds.

- DAA
 
Other options I have tried, that work.

As already mentioned, an axe works. And I always have one with me in my Jeep or my truck. I use it to chop off the jaw though, not the whole head.

Hacksaw for the jaw, it's not as fast as the loppers but takes up a lot less space in the Jeep.

Cordless sawzall works good to. But only slightly faster than the hacksaw, really.

Also, you can remove just the lower jaw with just a knife too and it's easy. But it's not as fast as removing the whole head with just the knife. So, when all I have is a knife I'll usually remove the head and worry about the jaw at home. Except, in the Jeep in warm weather, having a bag full of meat heads can get ripe, then it's worth the extra time to remove just the lower jaw with the knife. Which, really is easy and doesn't take THAT long. Just when I'm trying to get some bounty going early season, time is money as they say. An extra 20 minutes spent processing during the day could have been another $50.

- DAA
 
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Originally Posted By: DAAWell... Actually, it's easy as pie to remove a coyotes head with just a knife. Have done it hundreds of times.

IMG_1546W.JPG



IMG_2734.jpg



But! For bounty, all you need is the ears - a 15 second job to scalp the coyote, and the lower jaw. If I'm out for serious bounty hunting I take a pair of tree loppers. Snip-snip is all it takes. Can process a coyote for bounty this way in under 30 seconds.

- DAA

Is there some sort of scalping how to/guide, something?

From the Utah turn in FAQ, they mentioned both jaw and ears so cutting the head off seems the quickest at least lol
 
Originally Posted By: DAAOther options I have tried, that work.

As already mentioned, an axe works. And I always have one with me in my Jeep or my truck. I use it to chop off the jaw though, not the whole head.

Hacksaw for the jaw, it's not as fast as the loppers but takes up a lot less space in the Jeep.

Cordless sawzall works good to. But only slightly faster than the hacksaw, really.

Also, you can remove just the lower jaw with just a knife too and it's easy. But it's not as fast as removing the whole head with just the knife. So, when all I have is a knife I'll usually remove the head and worry about the jaw at home. Except, in the Jeep in warm weather, having a bag full of meat heads can get ripe, then it's worth the extra time to remove just the lower jaw with the knife. Which, really is easy and doesn't take THAT long. Just when I'm trying to get some bounty going early season, time is money as they say. An extra 20 minutes spent processing during the day could have been another $50.

- DAA . So tree loppers ummm, holy crap what an idea. My nose will thank you for less time in the stench.
 
Lightsaber
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All joking aside, it must be nice to get a bounty for a coyote. Help offset the cost of gas, ammo, ect. Getting paid to do what you love
 
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If you want the whole head cut the fur all the way around the neck, then twist the head around till the neck breaks. It's short work to trim through the muscle and spinal cord after that. If you just want the jaw the easiest way to get the jaw off that I have found is battery cable cutters. They will cut through just in front of where the jaw hinges in a snap. Pull the jaw bone forward and trim out the tongue. Scalp and ears come off easily with a havalina knife. It makes for a very clean job. The ears and the jaw will fit in a quart freezer bag with room to spare.
 
Would think that a hacksaw would be the easiest way to go. Would be like cutting the horns off on a deer. It works great for that and doesn't take anytime to do it. They want you to kill them around here but won't let you hunt at night. Just shoot them and throw them in the ditch around here. Hide is worthless just figure I've saved a few deer and other animals.
 
I've turned in more than a hundred coyotes for the Utah bounty program and the easiest method by far is to scalp the ears (make sure both ears are attached to one another) and snip the lower jaw with a pair of tree loppers. Takes less than a minute and takes up a lot less room in the freezer. Less smell too. Super easy, super effective.
 
I do the same with the ears, but mostly use a sawsal on the jaw after I trim the Hyde back on the jaw. You only need about half the length of the jaw. I sprinkle salt on the jaw and ears and in two days they are totally dry. I mark a ziplock sand which bag with # so I can refer back to my notes on the date and location. Then throw it in the freezer.You have to fill out a sheet with all the info. I normally turn it about 20 at a time.
 
$50.

Total waste of tax payer money. But they're going to pee it all away anyway, we might as well dip our beaks.

- DAA
 
I read that the bounty was paid for by a fee on deer hunters. All of this was pushed through by a state rep that represented sheep ranchers. I was also told that it's not the whole state (may have changed)

I would hope that if you are out hunting, getting $50 and selling the pelts would be good money. I would be a lot happier with 20 to 30 per pelt if i was getting a bounty on top of it.
 
Like some of the others members said it is easy to with a knife. I do mine that way make really deep cuts around the base of the skull. Then I push the head all the way to the chest. Then I go all the way the opposite way until I feel a pop. Then I just twist off. I have also used bolt cutters. Makes the job real fast but I don't like carrying them around
 
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