Home Range

Yotes,
The coyotes territory is oval in shape, or at least I think so. Around here that Oval is probably three to five miles in length. Coyotes in some area's have larger territory. I have heard of some coyote territories in 7-8 mile range.
 
From Outdoor Life December/January 2003:

"Range: Where food is plentiful, a coyote's home range may be as little as two miles. Females generally range within a five- to eight- mile area. Males may range over territories as large as 40 square miles."
 
In nc , nw IA I have found that it seems to be 8x10 mile area. It is fairly open around here, they like the hilly areas, river areas. I have seen certain coyotes one place and the next day shot them 7 miles away. It depends on the food and terrain.KY
 
I've held off answering this question as it is extremely variable. Most of you will probably agree that when you call, your stands may only be .5 to 2 miles apart. If a coyotes home range is 7-8 miles, does this mean only one pair of coyotes live in an oval 7-8 miles square? I think not. A coyote may range 7-8 miles, so some would call this their home range. In reality, several coyotes occupy this same 7-8 miles with many home ranges overlapping. The 40 miles mentioned is not home range. These are called sorte's or forays. That's like saying your once a month trip to the big city is your home range. You may go there, but it is not your home range. The key to all of this home range stuff is learning what the "core" home range is. This is where coyotes spend most of their time and will defend from other coyotes. That's why when you are calling and the coyotes will howl at you but won't come. You may not be in their core area. Sometimes if you move closer to them and howl, they'll almost run right over you. You've intruded into their core area.

When I'm calling, I don't worry about home ranges. All I want to do is move closer to or get in the middle of a core area. Sometimes these core areas may be no bigger than a creek bottom .5 to 1 mile long.

Hope this helps.

Tactical 20. You must have an exceptional gift to be able to tell the difference between coyotes 7 miles apart. Unless of course it had no tail or 3 legged etc.
 
The coyote I was talking about was with a male two days in a row on this one pasture. I did not harvest them because they were the lucky ones that time. The coyote I was talking about was almost as red as a fox. In my hunting it was the only red, red coyote I have seen alive. My friend has taken two,one was as red as a fox.
The third day I was checking traps and shot a male like the one I saw the previous days, less than a half mile away the red female was sleeping out in the field. I shot her and the red coyote and male were not found in the area again. The female was missing a clip of hair off of her side of the neck where my bullet clipped hair the day before. The hair was on the snow when I checked why I missed where she was bedded down the day before. Maybe I am wrong, but this is what I believed happened.
Thanks for the info on the territories,it is hard to find good info, the book I looked at was 60 some years old. I don't believe the info is the same because of the coyotes addapting to the changing world.KY
 
One reason I thought their area was that big is because I tried a different snaring method one year. I had 3 out of 5 chew the loop off, then I stopped the method. 2 of the 3 were caught in my foot holds 3-6 miles away in less than two weeks.
I was going by the sign the coyote were leaving in that area and the recatches. It seemed to me that when I went farther I ran into different groups of them.KY
 
If you can get ahold of the studies that Steve Allen, former furbearer biologist for the North Dakota Game & Fish Department, did on coyote territories and fox territories I think you'd find some of the information you are asking about. He had radio collars on coyotes and I think also on some fox.

Just do a search on this Web site in the Predator Biology forum for "Steve Allen" in the search box. Then check out any topics that cover your question. You should find lots of reading material.
 
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