songdogslayer - I'm an utter newb when it comes to hunting coyotes, but I've literally spent hundreds if not thousands of hours on cross country skis of all sorts, as well as a decent amount of time on snowshoes.
Don't get skis unless you want to spend the time to learn how to use them. Cross country skiing off trail, even on gently rolling terrain, will take dedication. I no longer take people out snow camping on skis the first time. Too many friends spent too much time face down in the snow with a pack on their back.
Snowshoes on the other hand are practically just like walking. With modern designs (hang the wooden ones on the wall) there is virtually no learning curve. Utter klutzes can put them on and scale and descend a ridge here in the Sierras. Something that would take many hours of frustration on skis to duplicate.
I own a pair of Tubbs Altitude 25s, and they work just fine. Take a look at either the Tubbs or the Atlas web sites to find out what size you need for your application. Then as was suggested, see if you can find them on Ebay.
http://www.atlassnowshoe.com
http://www.tubbssnowshoes.com
Oh - if you do go with snowshoes, make sure you use poles as well. I haven't tried it yet, but I bet you could paint the poles white, and use them as shooting sticks.
Regards,
Scott
