Preditor and varmint hunting ......Controling numbers.

[iowa roger]

These are just some idle thoughts about preditor and hunting in general.
First let me preface this by saying I have hunted small game and birds, so I am not an ant-hunting person of any kind, to the contrary I enjoy hunting and fishing, just not able to do what I used to do.
As a youngster I killed my share of raptors (hawks & owls ),in those days we were told they all needed killing as they ate birds that farmers needed for income.
Now, we know they are all beneficial as are snakes. All are protected by laws now.
Now, most preditors that we hunt are coyotes. The foxes, coons,etc. are considered furbearing animals, and have hunting and trapping seasons for them here in Iowa.
The point I am digressing to is this:
I recent years I have seen fields of hay and other forage crops decimated by such animals as jackrabbits, rock chucks, and prairie dogs simply because of lack of preditors to keep the numbers under control.
We have all seen pictures of foxes and coyotes hunting and catching mice and other small rodents. Also badgers digging for and catching prairie dogs. As a teenager I trapped coons and foxes.
Farmers around here have to secure their farm cats at night or the preditors will make a meal out of them.
It seems that coyotes and foxes can adapt to civilization and thrive, where as wolves not sa much.
Man is the only real enemies that preditors have, it is up to us to control their numbers, not wipe them out but to keep them in control so they can live yet allow their prey to live and prosper also.
This seems to be the tough part, there is no clear answer to it all.
I am just stating what I see and have learned over 78 years of my life by observing and participating in the great outdoors.

Thanks for reading,

Roger H. Heywood

 

[spiderman]

I would like to see the coyotes wiped out , so to say , just to have our red foxes back. The coyotes will never be gone now , I know , but I loved the fox trapping and they were always in good numbers. I am 61 and have seen lots of changes in populations in my life . Jim

 

[Sosalty]

A point you mention that I'd like to touch on is that nature, left to its' own, trends wildly out of balance. God gave man dominion over the animals knowing full well that we have an awful lot of shortcomings. In most, excepting a few speicies, animal populations tend to explode to excessive numbers, then disaster/nature strikes and you have a microcasm of the Black Plague or a killing frenzy of the Barbarians.

Man can create desired balances, increasing the health/quality of species as well sustaining GREATER AVERAGE NUMBERS of wildlife. (Put that in your pipe and smoke it PETA.) Most often thru hunting/trapping/harvesting. Not 1 formula for wildlife management satisfies everyone's goals. Coyotes get after the ewes and culling the coyote population leaves a bunch of bunnies and rodents to gnaw on grains/trees/pastures.

(My goals for my 5 acres is to hit hard the coyote/bobcat but only those that respond to pet decoys in immediate vicinity. Would love to see red fox more often than bobcat.)

Masses are also folly enough to institute negative feel good game management. In CA, hunting is on the endangered list, but USDA agents can slip into the city park under the cover of darkness and take out bobcat/coyote with suppressed 17HMRs once the wealthy residents make complaints and donations. Dawn arrives with no sign of death, pretty, quiet, and peaceful. The poor deer, turkey, and especially a herd of Bighorn Sheep are stressed by marauding Mtn Lion, but some 2X voter, who lacks moral superiority or even compassion, in San Francisco might feel bad if we hunt 'em.

Some populations are next to impossible to knock down. Leave coyotes alone for 2-3 years and you'd be pressed to ever know they were hunted. Same with groundhogs, hogs, feral cats, so on. .. I think more important than 'what are our goals in terms of specie numbers,' is 'who will have the strongest voice in deciding what is 'wise scientific' management vs do gooder organizations consisting of lazy only experience with wildlife was a youTube video types.

 

[jetman]

We tried to eliminate wolfs, we did. We have been trying to do the same with the coyote for the same time. There now spared from coast to coast and from Alaska to well past Mexico, what does that tell you? The little impact we as hunters have on there population is very Minimal. One ranch or farm changing something can devastate any population way more then 10 guys and there modern rifles and gear. I'm not knocking any farm or rancher, just saying environment can dictate population a lot more then hunting.

 

[woodguru]

Controlling numbers is a touchy subject...

Coyotes you can't shoot enough there will always be some left. When I moved in two years ago my neighbors lost 48 sheep that year. I've called in and shot almost a dozen, three times did doubles. Coyotes seem to be elsewhere right now, it's mountain lions killing things and coyotes eating them.

Bobcats can be decimated by shooting just a few, do you want them gone or do you want some left? We had quite a few around here a few months back, one was after my cat so I shot it, my neighbor shot one that was after his rabbits, another neighbor shot one, and yet another neighbor shot an older one that wouldn't leave his chickens be even though he was trying to chase it off, we have no more bobcats here until some move into the area.

Mountain lion got one of my goats a couple of weeks back, I see it, it's cub, or the year old youngster that's with them they are going down, cubs turn into predators, and mamas training cubs have a tendency to kill three and up to 8 sheep or goats at a time. My wife asked me if I could shoot a cub and I told her he11 yes, that cub and it's mama will be killing several of our goats in the spring and summer.

These are predators that aren't doing well with people trying to raise animals, my attitude is that they are going down.

I feel a little different about going into an area where wildlife can strike a balance with nature and guys will hunt bobcats down to where there are none left, easy to do as there are only so many in a given area.

Coyotes, have a field day, you'll never get them all, but understand the dynamics of how many bobcats will live in any given territorial area, know which are female that might have kittens, and know that you aren't hurting the resident population nearly as bad taking males that might actually be a threat to kittens.

Guys shoot three, four, or five and then are bummed out that there aren't any left. They have no regard for the balance needed in an area. Find farm and ranch areas and knock yourself out,but a wilderness area... have some respect for wildlife. Take an animal but think about cleaning out the area of all that live there.

Growing up we hunted coons and bobcats with hounds on ranches that were 20,000 and 30,000 acres. We basically knew how many bobcats lived in these areas, which were female and males, seasons when females would either be pregnant or have kittens, and we left way more treed bobcats than we shot.

I see people on here that are all about shooting them and it wouldn't occur to them to let one have a free pass under any circumstances. Does it occur to guys to wonder whether it's a male or female before shooting it, does it even matter?

I guess it's just different way of being raised and what you've had the chances to shoot in the past. There's a difference between shooting animals that are wreaking havoc with ranchers and farmers and wilderness animals.

A lot of people will never get that difference.....