To pack or not to pack....

ballistic_trep

ballistic_trep

New member
This winter, I'm finding that the coyotes aren't packing up like they usually do. I think it's because of the conditions....very little snow, heavy crust, and warmer than normal temps. I don't think they need to form packs for hunting purposes because they can move around freely to hunt small game instead of deer. Am I correct with this line of thinking? Do coyotes require packs for mating? It seems to be more difficult to locate coyotes by howling as well.....there is always a few tracks and fresh ones after a dusting of snow...but nothing answers. Can anyone give me some insight as to how coyotes behave in different conditions? And how they change behaviour leading up to breeding season?
 
Coyote "packs" are usually just family groups. In the fall it's the parents and pups and now it's a mating pair with a female pup or two hanging around. There are exceptions where a coyote pack exceeds 5 or 6 but not usually. As for hunting in packs, again, they usually just maintain family groups. Coyote pairs mate. Anything beyond a pair isn't needed for mating.
 
I saw family groups here most of the winter, not sure if by pack you mean more than a family group. By family group I mean five or so which I saw in a field. Different places I see tracks of five or so coyotes travelling together. But now with mating season they seem to be split up more. The mating pair must drive away the pups.

About 2 weeks ago a bunch were howling around my house one evening. I stepped outside and the noise was unbelievable. Found their tracks the next day within 150 yards. They spent a lot of time howling and marking territory by scratching.

A month or 6 weeks ago there were a few deer in every swamp. Now they are gone, either killed or run out of the area.

I would like to get into calling. Just do trapping now. Saw where a bunch split up to hunt rabbits in a grassy bushy marsh.
 
I called a group of 7 coyotes last week friday! The largest group of yotes I have ever seen or called. It was really neat. Could that have been just one family or maybe 2 combined then in that pack?
 
Thanks for the replies, but I already understood family pack behaviour. I want to explain myself without creating a mystery where none exists. When we have heavy snow and the deer are yarding in fairly tight groups....I have seen packs as late as April. I believe that these packs are formed at the onset of winter, regardless of mating or family, in order to hunt more efficiently. There are several deer yards along this tributary of the Miramichi and usually each yard will have it's own "resident" pack. This winter is different. There are no resident packs. Have the coyotes fallen back to their more traditional lifestyle of dispersing the family and pairing up for breeding? Due to the lack of snow and easy travelling? It seems that whenever I try to learn and understand something about the coyotes here....they go and do something different.
 


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