Coyote Hunting

[gobblerroller]

Can someone tell me when is the best time to go coyote hunting & how to do it? I have a digital call. Thanks!

[WaCoyote]

Winter.

How? Way too broad of a question. Hide in the brush, and basically try to call them in with howling sounds or wounded animal sounds. I'd watch some videos. Theres thousands of them.

I hear that now is a good time to call in the pups but I've never tried. To busy chasing turkeys and working. Coyote hunting starts in Oct- Nov for me.

[gobblerroller]

Thanks for the reply!

[huntinguide]

now they are everywhere up here see several on a daily bases, its there rut

[Ethan Givan]

Late fall and winter are the times I hunt. I like to hunt where there is cropland, pasture, and wood lots. I get into an area where I can see a long ways and call using a wounded rabbit or rodent sound. Try to watch some videos to learn more of the details.

[WaCoyote]

not quite. there "rut" is in feb march. Litters are being reared right now.

[wtnhunt]

With deer dropping fawns right now, would think a fawn distress call might be effective. Pup distress might also be effective right now. I shoot yotes whenever I can, they are legal here year round.

[huntinguide]

not alot of pups yet lots of breeding still going on. killed a female the other day she was in heat.....

[huntinguide]

not quite. there "rut" is in feb march. Litters are being reared right now.

the rut is different everywhere

[WaCoyote]

No it's not. Maybe within a month or so. Almost all wild animals rut at a time of year that allows there young to be born when food is a plenty and weather is favorable. Deer, bear, elk, bison, coyotes, bobcats, you name it. People and rodents don't seem to care what time of year it is but wild critters do.

Habits and Habitats

Coyotes are generalists, eating whatever food is seasonally abundant. Coyotes are known to feed on mice, squirrels, woodchucks, snowshoe hare, fawns, house cats, carrion, amphibians, garbage, insects and fruit. Coyotes utilize forested habitats, shrubby open fields, marshy areas and river valleys.

The Eastern coyote is a social animal that generally selects a lifelong mate. Coyotes are quite vocal during their January to March breeding season. Both parents care for their young, occasionally with the assistance of older offspring. Four to eight pups are born in early May.

Within a year some pups will disperse long distances to find their own territories, while other offspring may remain with their parents and form a small pack.

Territories range in size from 5-25 square miles and are usually shared by a mated pair and occasionally their offspring. Coyotes mark and defend their territories against other unrelated coyotes and sometimes against other canid species. Coyotes are capable of many distinct vocalizations - the yipping of youngsters, barks to indicate a threat, long howls used to bring pack members together, and group yip-howls issued when pack members reunite.

Coyotes are biologically able to reproduce with domestic dogs, but rarely do. Successful crossbreeding usually occurs in the fall, well before the coyote's winter breeding season. Domestic dog/ coyote hybrids, referred to as coydogs, are usually born in the winter. Since domestic dogs that manage to pair with a female coyote do not remain with her to assist in parental care, the young rarely survive. DNA sampling of coyote tissue in the Northeast shows no coyote/dog crosses. However, they do have a mixture of wolf DNA.

KEY FACTS

SIZES

Length: Head and body, 30-40 in. Tail, 12-16 in.

Height: 18-22 in. at shoulder.

Weight: 15-45 Ib.

BREEDING

Sexual maturity: 1 year.

Mating season: January to March.

Gestation: 58-65 days.

No. of young: 2-12. Usually 6.

LIFESTYLE

Habit: Social; nocturnal predator.

Diet: Small mammals, carrion, deer, and sheep.

Lifespan: Usually about 4 years. Up to about 22 years in captivity.

[huntinguide]

have you ever been to oklahoma and seen the coyotes first hand im not saying your wrong but there are alot of factors that go into the breeding season.

plus there are several sub species of coyote maybe your dogs in wash are different than our prairie runners

[WaCoyote]

Maybe coydog? Hybrid of some sort.

COYDOG FACTS Coyotes and dogs often mate. It usually happens in the warmer climates like Texas and Oklahoma where the coyotes are plentiful and the breeding season is extended because of the warm weather. The puppies are a true menace to livestock and pets because of the domestic mix. They have wild side like the coyote, but are not as shy. They will kill pets and livestock for the fun of it, often not eating the remains. Another bad side of the mix is now the breeding cycle is confused. Wild animals like coyotes usually breed only once a year and domestic animals breed often. Female coydogs will breed year-round, producing many more pups than a wild coyote. Member Robert Admire sent these picture of some coydogs in Oklahoma. He said he often sees more coydogs than coyotes in his area. A distinguishable feature in a coydog is the ears and tail. Special thanks to Robert for these pictures.

Possibility? Dunno.

Here's another

Interspecific hybridization

Coyotes will sometimes mate with domestic dogs, usually in areas like Texas and Oklahoma where the coyotes are plentiful and the breeding season is extended because of the warm weather. The resulting hybrids called coydogs maintain the coyote's predatory nature, along with the dog's lack of timidity toward humans, making them a usually more serious threat to livestock than pure blooded animals. This cross breeding has the added effect of confusing the breeding cycle. Coyotes usually breed only once a year, while coydogs will breed year-round, producing many more pups than a wild coyote. Differences in the ears and tail are generally what can be used to distinguish coydogs from pure coyotes.[20]

[WaCoyote]

Sooooooo, we will have to agree to disagree. Maybe some weird mutation is going on down there but coyotes breed in the winter and have there young right now.

[huntinguide]

i do agree with you on that one, but in what ive seen this year the breeding was delaid until early spring with all our high water and bad weather.

One reason i say this is there is a den bout 300 yards down our pasture and every year there is a litter. The male and female are still there every night but no little ones yet, maybe still in the hole but last year they where an everyday occurence.

I just dont think that the mating season has calender dates i think the coyotes know when it is time, sometimes it is later than others. Also when i said sub species i ment eastern and western not really hybrids, but i have seen some mixes out here should would like to get a pelt off one them things.

[gobblerroller]

i dont know who to believe on the rut!

[sureshot]

everyone I have talked to including some of the guys who do coyote hunting for a living say what Wacoyote says, the mating starts in late jan usually with gathering of mates and getting there territory set up in jan then feb and march is the mating season, usually feb, I know this year here all was said and done by the end of feb, I seen about 15 pups last weekend they were all at least a month old,[foxes were even older]I can not say for sure in Ok becouse I have never hunted there or know anyone who does, but I can say for a fact in Nebraska the mating is the same as here, jan through feb sometimes into march, I will not disagree if the male gets shot during this time she will need to get another mate and come back in heat,this will bring the litter later,I can see the odd female coming into heat now that was not bred becouse of curcumstances, but I cannot see a whole population breeding now!