Predators and temperatures

champ198

champ198

Active member
was talking to a friend a while back about trapping and predator hunting. he is a pretty experienced trapper and he said that here in the Midwest that he sees that his predator trapping (fox,cats, yotes) seems to go up when it has colder temps and the ground is froze causing them to look for food elsewhere.
do you all find similar situations?

I know some like out south west where temps can stay warmer longer but was just curious on what some of your alls opinions on this was.
 
The colder it is the more energy(food) it takes to stay warm. Much like the furnace in your house, as the temps drop the furnace runs more to keep the temp in your house at comfort status.

So frozen ground, deep snow etc, requires more effort to obtain food, which burns more calories, which requires more food .....repete.
 
Have heard that my whole life, that the colder it gets, the better the predator hunting is.

But I have NEVER seen it. Not in my area. Not ever. Hunting is always way better in October and November than it is in January and February, for me, in my areas. Always. Way better. Heck, it's way better when it's still downright hot out in September, than it is in January when it's as cold as it ever gets around here.

But, I don't think the temperatures actually have much of anything to do with the reasons why, either. It's hunting pressure and the fact that they are all dead or crosswired by the time really cold temps hit.

I think deep snow usually makes getting food easier for the coyotes in my area too. A lot easier.

Different areas, different tactics, less pressured coyotes, private ground, I can't say. Can't speak about anything except the public ground I hunt around here. But for me and the areas I hunt, that whole idea of it getting better with bitter cold is just a bunch of hooey.

- DAA
 
I've killed more in cold weather than warm weather. But I like calling in the cold better than when it's hot though. As soon as it's 70+ on a regular basis I start catchin rattlesnakes. So my opinion is kind of one sided but I have killed both bobcats and coyotes when it was warm outside.
 
When I lived in Montana the colder it got the better the calling seemed to be . Especially with snow on the ground to cover up the mice . Some of my best hunting used to be 15 to 25 below . However for the last five years I have lived in Utah and have to agree with what DAA says . In Montana we never started calling till after Thanksgiving when the hides were good . In Utah there are so many callers that by 1st November every coyote has heard every sound on the FoxPro . So like DAA says you gotta get them early . Get the young ones and the dumb ones and then you are left to fight for the rest later in the year . Now everyone has a suppressor and the thermals and IR's are becoming popular. The coyotes get no rest. People are hunting them 12 months out of the year. Aah, the good old days.
 
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I'd agree that a long spell of cold temps. will have an impact on how good the calling is, but time of year has more to do with it. In other words, if it were to get good and cold and stay cold early in Oct., Nov., the calling would be better than if it were avg. or above avg. temps. for the area during that same time period.

And I'd say the same for late season calling. It would be better to be cold than above avg. temps, but it's still not going to be better than early season calling. It's just a numbers game.
 
I beleive temperatures have little to do with calling here in the Midwest farm country. I have much better calling success late summer early fall than i do when temps get cold later in the year.
I beleive my early success is because all of the young coyotes that are out there trying to make it on there own. The later in the year it gets the smarter and smarter they become.
After the coyotes make it through all the hunting pressure throughout the season from all the deer hunters, rabbit hunters, and upland game hunters in my area when the cold temps and snow get here all the coyotes are on high alert all the time and very hard to call in.
 
So, colder is better. Period.

Yeah, pups are easier to fool than adults, and you will get more coyotes in the early season, before they are educated, but that has nothing to do with temps.
 
Its sure a lot easier to kill 7 in a day in October than it is in January but you also might kill 6 pups and 1 mature coyote in October. By the time deer season is over there have been a LOT of pups killed and the playing field levels out somewhat.

We've had an uncharacteristic warm winter with only 1 cold snap and 1 small snow storm and I don't really know anyone right close to me that is killing close to their usual numbers since Deer season ended and the population is not the problem, if anything the numbers are up. If winter ever decides to finally set in I'm willing to bet those numbers increase.
 
In the winter when the temperature drops below average, it seems that the coyote will move around looking for food however they reduce how far they move from a preferred bedding area. Also when there is a rapid or large temperature change the wind speed increases, coyote,deer, rabbit ex. Will reduce movements as a survival mechanism.
 
I agree. I've heard that crap for years (colder=better). The only thing that is easier is the ability to see a little better with less vegetation and leaves. We just finished an unusually cold stretch here-16 days without reaching freezing, most days not getting out of single digits and lows at night with the wind chills to -40. I can guarantee you it did not make for better hunting for me, because if I can't shoot out of my house when it's that cold, it's not happening.
 
Getting to where I just stay home (mostly) the first couple of days of an Arctic blast. They just don't respond. Around here that would be single digits to below zero and wind. After it calms and warms up a few degrees it's a different story. Unfortunately that's often at night.

There's a reason coyotes hole up in the thick stuff in snotty weather. So do it's food sources.
If I can, I hunt them hard after they've been laid up a couple of days or more. I've yet to shoot a gant one.
 
When I lived in Wyoming in the late 70's the colder it got the better the calling was up to a point. When it got 25 or 30 below they tend to try and hole up and move during the warmer part of the day. I hunt a bit further east now days and when it gets really cold there hunting gets pretty tough simply because the coyotes move out of the hills where they are much easier to get at. They usually move to the flats where the cattle are and it gets difficult to get anywhere close to them without getting busted. Those $80 coyotes back in 78 to 80 would make me get out there when it was COLD.
 
More coyotes are available early season.
More coyotes are moving at one time in really cold weather.
Several times I have scored the most kills in a day and a spot late winter breeding season. Too bad the hides are shot
 
Originally Posted By: Tim NeitzkeThe colder it is the more energy(food) it takes to stay warm. Much like the furnace in your house, as the temps drop the furnace runs more to keep the temp in your house at comfort status.

So frozen ground, deep snow etc, requires more effort to obtain food, which burns more calories, which requires more food .....repete.



I read a study commissioned by the U.S. Army that studied the caloric intake of soldiers in desert climates. When the body temp is close to the outside temp you don't need calories to stay warm and keep the body functioning. When it gets colder, you need the calories.

That being said, temps are not the ONLY issue. There can be a lot of other weather related issues occurring. Such as pressure changes, wind, etc that can and will have an effect on them. And it does seem to be regional.

Out west, if the temps drop real fast, they seem to lay up until the temps stabilize. I hunt predators year round. Even in the heat of summer. You just have to learn to change your techniques to match their behavior changes. But overall, yes, I would say that calling is a bit easier in the lower temps.
 
I would agree that, after an extended cold snap, say 3+days of Zero or below, the calling is productive, but, for sheer numbers of coyotes, October is as good as it gets, due to all the 6 month old pups out there.

By this time of year, I am hunting a different class of coyote, usually having a Phd in 'Humans'.

In cold weather, I've noticed coyotes coming in from farther distances.I went out with a 'Fire member some years ago to a heavily hunted public property during a cold snap, and had a pair come in from so far out, I could not see them without the binocular. I always scan the area as soon as I sit down and before calling, again at about the 8-10 minute mark, and again before we get up. I spotted these 2 at the 8-10 minute scan.
 
When the weather is brutally cold, the coyotes do not move. Talk to any experienced trapper or person who runs snares, and get their perspective as their success is highly dependent on animal movement. The ones I have spoken to have said they see almost no sign and catch almost nothing during severe cold snaps. If the abnormally cold weather lasts a long time, the coyotes may be forced to move.

Over the years my calling success when the temps got lower than about -15 was not very good. I mentioned this to some long time trappers and they looked at me like "of course. I would guess if you asked most coyote hunters, they would say "colder is better for coyote hunting." I don't agree.

As for October coyotes, it really depends on how you call. I do agree fall coyotes can be easy coyotes, but honestly I kill very few pups. They are so dumb at this time of the year that I find it more successful to target the Alpha coyotes. Of the coyotes I harvested this fall, more than 90% of them were adult coyotes. The type of calling you do can impact your results. If you use nothing but distress, you may get lots of young coyotes. If you fine tune your vocals, you can focus on more of the problem coyotes.
 
-18 degrees yesterday and I spotted 3 coyotes out mousing thru the binos. They were looking at me already at over 1/2 mile away. With the snow and the flat ground I didn't try to get close to any of them. I know the area they are in and when the snow melts some I will make my move. Rudy
 


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