rabbit eating cattle?

deadhorse

deadhorse

New member
hey guys
i have a great spot of pasture to hunt, creek on two sides, cornfield on the others. problem is cattle are on the pasture year round, winter feeding. i called a while back using my tally and the cattle came running like i rang a dinner bell. do any of you guys have any luck calling around cattle? any luck with a different sound they dont mind? hard to shoot through the herd you know.
thanks
deadhorse
 
I'm betting they'll quickly quit coming to the call if you keep using it. They must be thinking a predator is present and attacking rabbits and they want to run the predator off so it won't get after their calves... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Or maybe they really HAVE developed a taste for rabbits... :eek:

$bob$
 
lol, i made a call a couple days ago, this cow come running over the small hill bellowing and slobering. i was using a calf in distress due to the fact the land owner looses several calves to coyotes each yesr. she ran up to the call, i shut it off. she turned to leave and i turned it on again. the longer it went on the more pissed she got. finally she walked up, stared a hole righ thru me and left.
the same thing happened about three weeks ago with 4 2000 pound plus bulls with the same call. the only diffrence was they started to fight.

bob
 
Every time I call when cattle are within 200 yards or so, they come right over. They hate coyotes, and will go out of their way to teach them a lesson.
 
Hummm, that's interesting I must be seeing different kinds of cattle. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif The cattle I see don't seem to care about the coyotes, matter of fact the coyotes like hanging around cattle. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif I always thought, find cattle and the coyotes are not to far off. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gifHey HarleyD, nothing like going out to pick up a coyote or two and finding out you are in the middle of a bunch of range cattle lol.
 
Most of the cattle I have called in and around are pretty curious about my howling and dying rabbit sounds. Many times, they will come on in for a much closer look. Sometimes, they get too close for comfort. The cows in the photo below got to within 20 or 30 feet of me before I finally pulled the trigger on a coyote. The cows were to the north side of me and the coyote was to the east, so there was no danger to the cattle.

Cows_After_Shot--lighter.jpg


I had a little excitement when I got up and was walking down to inspect the coyote. One of the cows lowered her head and began to charge me. I spotted her coming and yelled and kicked and waved my rifle at her and she broke off her charge. I continued to walk toward the coyote, and that doggone cow started to charge me again. I yelled and waved my rifle at her again and she broke off the charge. This time I chased her for some distance before I continued my walk to the coyote. This cow was part Angus and I think they have a tendency to be real protective of their calves. I certainly didn't blame the cow for charging me, because only a few minutes before I had been howling like a coyote and squealing like a wounded rabbit.

I think BillyTheKidd is spot on about coyotes liking to hang out around cattle. I have noticed that myself. On more than occassion I have been out calling and had coyotes come right on through a cattle herd to get to me. The cattle don't really fuss much, but they do seem to look up and keep their eye on the coyotes as they pass through the herd. I think cattle probably scare up lots of mice, rabbits and birds that the coyotes are sometimes able to prey on. Heck, I even have some rancher/farmer friends who tell me coyotes sometimes follow them out in a summer fallow field or when they are haying and catch mice and rabbits that get scared up by the tractor and machinery.

Other times, especially if there are lots of young cattle around, they will kick up their heels and start running when coyotes approach. Now, horses are another matter. I usually don't like to have horses around where I am calling. They seem to go plumb berserk when coyotes are around and on several occassions have caused coyotes and fox to quit coming in and leave the country. This isn't always the case, but more times than not, horses work against me.
 
I hunt on cattle wuite often, but stay away from cow-calving operations. I had 150 cows come charging me one time and every one of them thought I had her calf. Feeder cattle, steers, and the like, not a problem. Most of the time, I just get a sideways glance but no approach. This morning, though, my son and I made it to within fifty feet of a great setup when three buffalo stood up from behind a stand of sandplums. Apparantly, the owner moved them in there the day after he gave me permission last weekend. I don't know how they'd react to my calling, and I'm not at all interested in finding out since I've worked with those cantankerous critters before and they're the nastiest tempered of the whole lot. My son assured me that he could run fast. I told him there's no way he could run as fast as a motivated buffalo. We backed out the way we came in and moved on down the road.

Anyone have any experience with buffalo?
 
Coyotes do hang around cattle quite a bit, and the colder it gets, the more they are with them. We have had cattle come to the call, run from the call, and just plain ignore the call. Never been chased tho.
I have seen coyotes in the spotlight when i was checking cows during calving season and they are interspersed with the cows and both seem fairly content. The coyotes get a HUGE part of their spring diet from the afterbirth that comes with calving time. They can also survive when times are tough on the manure of cows.
The cattle will help you see a coyote if you watch their reactions when one comes to the call so we like to call near them for that reason as well. Sometimes it makes the shot a little more difficult, but well worth the effort.
Doc
 
Originally posted by CoyoteDoc1:
[qb]Coyotes do hang around cattle quite a bit, and the colder it gets, the more they are with them. We have had cattle come to the call, run from the call, and just plain ignore the call. Never been chased tho.
I have seen coyotes in the spotlight when i was checking cows during calving season and they are interspersed with the cows and both seem fairly content. The coyotes get a HUGE part of their spring diet from the afterbirth that comes with calving time. They can also survive when times are tough on the manure of cows.
The cattle will help you see a coyote if you watch their reactions when one comes to the call so we like to call near them for that reason as well. Sometimes it makes the shot a little more difficult, but well worth the effort.
Doc[/qb]
Click to expand...
When I used to be in the cattle business we would carry a rifle when we went out to check the cattle at night during calving season just because there were pretty good odds of seeing a coyote hanging out in somewhere on the edge of the herd.

As was said they eat the afterbirth but they are also not afraid of eating part of a calf if it unlucky enough to have been abandoned by it's mother.

A word of caution however, during calving season most momma cows will perceive you as a threat and depending on the breed, some will take you and stop short of hitting you, and others will just run over your sorry ass and then attempt to grind you into the ground. They are serious.
 
I have noticed that birds & mice eat cow manure; I believe the seeds that pass through the bovine digestive tract. That attracts coyotes. I also believe coyotes are attracted to the blood smell during the calving season. I'm sure coyotes account for a small portion of my death loss, even though momma cows are vigilant, tough, and mean. I've seen how they (coyotes) work in pairs or teams, and they are efficient!! Although I am licensed for the use of cyanide guns, I much prefer calling & shooting. However, if my recent inaccuracy issues aren't resolved; I MAY need to go back to poison.
Mark
 


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