OK Here it is.How many of you really witnessed a Pa or NY coyote killing a healthy deer.Don't mis-understand me,they get some.But I'm a little skeptical as to how much venison they bring down as compared to what they scavenge.Why would an animal as wiley as a coyote risk injury for food it could get dead along the highway?Did any of you ever empty ones stomach?If so,how much venison was in it?How much mice and small animal matter?I tend to not believe half of what I hear.It's like folks want to make a great story out of the eastern coyote which got here by insurance co. secret coyote stalking programs and the Game Co. trying to get rid of our deer!How about some honest feedback here.What's really going on out there?!!!
Coyote Diet...Really!
- Thread starter jbmaster
- Start date
greenmountainboy
New member
ripley's believe it or not! coyotes do kill and eat whitetail deer. a winter weakened deer might survive until spring if ol' mouse chasing coyote doesn't catch it. in the winter of 2004 i found the remains of 9 deer that the coyotes were feeding on.
JAMaidens
Custom Call Maker
In heavy snow pack they will, and do take down deer. In most North Eastern areas the deer "yard up"... they stay in one small location and don't go out of that area much. Coyotes will key in on this and pick off the weak and starving deer. Northern Maine and Canada will see this the most.
One other thing to remember is a pack situation... packed coyotes are a danger to large game the size of deer. That is where the "pack mentality" term comes from… they know that they have strength in numbers. I have found a couple of deer "kills" by coyote here in the Mid-South. One was a healthy six-point, he had no sign of being wounded by man. The area in the field we found him was turn to pieces. All the tall grass was smashed down in an area about 20 feet wide. The ground had places where the deer’s hooves had been dug in and there was deer hair everywhere. It was something to witness… It's just all a fact of nature, coyotes kill to live. They will do that any way they can and with a “need to kill” desire that we don't comprehend. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
One other thing to remember is a pack situation... packed coyotes are a danger to large game the size of deer. That is where the "pack mentality" term comes from… they know that they have strength in numbers. I have found a couple of deer "kills" by coyote here in the Mid-South. One was a healthy six-point, he had no sign of being wounded by man. The area in the field we found him was turn to pieces. All the tall grass was smashed down in an area about 20 feet wide. The ground had places where the deer’s hooves had been dug in and there was deer hair everywhere. It was something to witness… It's just all a fact of nature, coyotes kill to live. They will do that any way they can and with a “need to kill” desire that we don't comprehend. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
trapwv
New member
My observations here in WV.
Scat almost always contains deer hair.
Found where a pair killed a yearling deer in 8" snow, the deer did not make it 10ft from the point of contact.
Hunters in our party have seen a single coyote chasing a deer on two different occasions, single--not a pack! Both times the deer was chased completely out of sight without the coyote letting up.
I beleive they take down more than people realize. Bobcats get their share also, look at the cuddeback link in the photos forum.
Scat almost always contains deer hair.
Found where a pair killed a yearling deer in 8" snow, the deer did not make it 10ft from the point of contact.
Hunters in our party have seen a single coyote chasing a deer on two different occasions, single--not a pack! Both times the deer was chased completely out of sight without the coyote letting up.
I beleive they take down more than people realize. Bobcats get their share also, look at the cuddeback link in the photos forum.
ohiotrapper1984
New member
i watched drury out doors the have it on film a larg mature buck was feeding in a food plot when it sudinly started runing a coyote chased it out of the field as soon as it hit the woods a pair of yotes where wating in a mater of seconds it was dead no problem.
Varmonter
New member
I witnessed a coyote chasing what looked like a pretty
healthy but winter weary doe down my driveway a few years back.Maybe if your out west with those lil' 15 lb coyotes
that don't chase em . but here in the northeast they are
a bit more wolf like (50 lbs) and readily take deer.
In heavy snowfall years especially.
healthy but winter weary doe down my driveway a few years back.Maybe if your out west with those lil' 15 lb coyotes
that don't chase em . but here in the northeast they are
a bit more wolf like (50 lbs) and readily take deer.
In heavy snowfall years especially.
Good feed-back!Some good honest accounts.Some not so good but I appreciate the input.See,I work the oil/gas patch here in N.Central Pa.I am in the woods 5 days/week.Being a hunter and trapper,I have been at it for 36 years.In all that time I have only seen 5 coyotes.Every mud hole along the gas lease is checked for tracks.There are very few.I guess that in my neck of the woods they are scarce.(ELK McKean,Forest Co)I have seen 9 bobcats.Maybe the terrain suits them more.Also,if I found remains of deer being eaten,I'll do my best to ambush the buggers eating there.
just so you know jbmaster If its thick were your at theres coyotes. Its thick were I do my hunting and trapping. I dont see many signs of yotes hardly at all. But I know that they are there. I have taken 6 off my 100 acre patch and theres still more. Call the thick stuff and youll get em. Expect lots of greys too. Back to the main topic, I think yotes eat more deer than people realize. I still think they eat more rodents though.
True no BS, my buddy's horse was killed by coyotes in upstate NYS.Got the horse on ice pack took it down.I've also heard that a den will average 10 to 15 fawn skulls here in NYS.Fawns r easy targets come May.I have shot a yote on 6 month old fawn during deer season, the fawn was still warm.
Could be that the coyote don't like the activity around our work areas.I know they are around.I killed one with the car a few weeks back.Last winter I looked pretty hard for tracks.Not much luck.Still,I'm puzzled why they kill when carcasses are so easy to find.I grew up reading stories of how discusting of carion they eat.In the meantime,I'm still hunting them.Also, on one Randy Anderson DVD,he starts out using a coyote howl.When nothing responds,he uses a fawn bawl.This doe with twin fawns comes tearing up to him and believe me,she wasn't scared at all!I just think that some of these deer may appear healthy,but maybe mother nature tells the coyote something else.And I don't want to start a squabble,but I watch as much predator film and read as much as anyone and there isn't much out there to support alot of the talk.
Well the town in wich I work has a video from a security camera of a single coyote running down a adult doe and killing her. They watched the video to see who dumped the deer and were very surprised. I have seen the video and it is not a second hand story. Also the state of Rhode Island on their website has some good data about stomach contents. hard part about thay is weather or not its road kill or other cause of death. One thing is for certain their is a increase in the fawning period.
hillbillyjake
New member
here in the central part of wv i have seen cyotes on 2 different occasions chasing deer. the last of which was in late august 2006. 2 of them started to stalk a healthy 5 point that was bedded down. when he ran off, they started to chase a doe. one chased her quartering towards the ridge while the other went right up the ridge line to cut her off. i did not see or hear a kill but i think that they would only be pursueing the deer for one reason.