That's not bad for a old gandy dancer lol

Chickens and several other critters have pecking orders. Whether or not coyote do I would not know. I set for them all. If there is an elusive large coyote that tickles my psychic I will put in a very inconspicuous blind trail set or a 'turds only' set a foot or two off his trail. Otherwise I will not waste my time trying for a particular animal.

Now there is a good idea.
Mac

The idea of an "alpha" is something made up by Nat Geo type people that give wolves names. Coyotes and wolves have a breeding pair that typically rule the roost.

I agree - gang set

Always!!

That must have been why my coyote catch was off last year.....spent too much time trying to catch that darn alpha male first. LOL Or was it the weather????

Me too!

Thank you, red mt!

Yep, Red nailed it..

I haven't hear that term for quite some time, it's all in the hips right Boco! Lol

That's not bad for a old gandy dancer lol[/quote]

I haven't hear that term for quite some time, it's all in the hips right Boco! Lol
[/quote]

That's one old gandy dancer to another lol

AuthorTrapper,
My Grandfather told me this...
"A wise man will seek out the council of experience - a fool thinks he knows everything".
You just keep asking questions - you're obviously wanting to refine your skill set and that's nothing at all to be sorry for.

Thank you, everyone for your answers and kind words!

Glass half full, eyes wide open bud. Never stop asking questions and learning.

PM sent

Man who coined the term "alpha male" no longer believes it is a useful way to understand wolf packs. https://youtu.be/tNtFgdwTsbU

Depends on time of year too.

when coyotes pair up to breed they get pretty serious about chasing off other k9's from the denning area till pups are about 3-4 months old.

I don't think they are "alphas" just cause they breed and will protect offspring whenever possible.

I guess you could call the pair that bred "alpha" so far as they relate to their pups. While pups are still pups. That to me is not pack behavior.

When 3-4 adults get together in bad winter weather to hunt deer or antelope I suppose that is pack behavior. when a kill is made they squabble constantly till its all ate. one may be able to keep everybody else from just quickly getting a belly full but its an ongoing contest. I SUSPECT when they group up like that they were littermates or littermates with parent(s).

The great dispersal that is such a hot topic doesn't happen like many think. Some pups do wander off. I don't believe they have a plan or a destination in mind. I don't Believe they are even capable of planning ahead. They certainly don't have any way of knowing whats over the hill till they cross it. Most pups live their whole life within 10-20 miles of where they were born.

An adult with pups that knows what a trap is, (which is a lot rarer than many think) will keep pups away during summer control work. Sometimes the lesson sticks and often it does not.



I never been to college or even finished high school. What I wrote though is what I have observed and concluded after chasing the things . Never trapped or hunted them east of the Mississippi but I have trapped/hunted them in the desert, in the prairie, in the sand hills, and in the rockies. It holds true in all those places.

Good observations, Danny.

I think in most families the alpha or primary male member is the father of the family. Same is true of the female, mom is the main, primary or "alpha" female. Until the youngins grow up.
It was that way in all the neighbors' families .. Alpha is the first letter in the Greek alphabet- translates to "a", the first letter in our alphabet; and as such is use to denote the first or number one unit/member of a group.