The thing that irritates me is that our DNR is helping those coyote loving antis.

For those of us not in Georgia, what is Project Coyote? I've killed a collared wolf, and treed a collared lion with dogs, and a bear with ear tags that I assume was once collared. When I was a kid my dad had a coyote he had caught collared and tied up on a chain with the hounds, it wore out the snap and broke it, he wasn't paying attention when he fed the dogs and tossed food in its bowl. Next day when he came out there the food was gone. So he bedded a trap in front of the bowl and had the coyote the next day. A while later it broke the chain again. No luck catching it at the food bowl set, again. About a year later the neighbor down the road three or four miles called to apologize to dad for shooting his coyote out in his hay field!

Moral of the story: if you're going to put a dog collar on a coyote, make sure you take the name plate off first!

It's an anti group that preaches coexistence with urban coyotes and goes around the country doing studies on them. They did one in Chicago and now doing one in Atlanta.
Funny thing is they use footholds to catch their study animals.

College collars them here. Their first question always is “Did you release it?” Lol nope.

Gotcha. Can’t wait to see pics!

I Love Happy Endings...

When I met with these folks one of the first things I said was, I assume you will want the collars back.

Lol what did they say? I’m guessing thier feelings were hurt lol !

Anyone interested in catching bobcats might want to take a look at this.

When it comes to cats you always hear about big eye appeal, flashy sets, motion attractants, tinsel, feather boas, disco balls, and even audio recordings.

I think for the most part flashy cat attractors are a one trick pony in a majority of the cases. Once a cat has seen it the thrill is gone. I believe their holding power is very limited because there is no real reward.

Just like with the coyote, being on location trumps pulling a cat off his travel route to another site.

If you really want to catch and hold a cat’s attention show him something he really wants to eat.

Folks instinctively think rodents are the cat’s meow, and that is probably so if that is all that’s offered.

If given a choice between a nice chunk of carne and a little field mouse or rat, you can probably guess which one the cat will choose.



The cat in the photos below is willing to defend the prize night after night against multiple coyotes because it’s a high value item.
As far as Tom is concerned, it is a meal worth fighting for.

There is not a lure or visual made that has that type of holding power.

I have seen this same scenario played over and over again in the brush.




The cat arrives on the scene right at sunset.

He knows if he can beat the competition there and stake his claim he can handle the canine contingency.




It doesn’t take long for the coyote crew to arrive on the scene. He soon finds out he is an unwanted dinner guest.




This particular battle went on for over four hours.




The big male makes a pass, but doesn’t risk getting any closer.




The coyote is relentless, The cat is fearless.




The cat makes multiple charges at the coyotes during this time.




If this were two adult coyotes they would use the cat's charges against him.

One would decoy while the other darted in and swiped the goods. The juvenile is not much help.




Both coyotes walk away with an empty belly. They will be back.



Folks might keep this in mind next time they are targeting cats.

Must be nice not to have buzzards, lol. Ours would have that cleaned up in less than an hour.

I’ve put cameras on gut piles several time and a cat camping out on a gut pile is pretty common. They ain’t leaving till they’re good and ready lol !

You’re right, it would be nice.

Bait is usually put out just before dark to avoid the flocks of flying monkeys.

It would be even better not to have hundreds of Cara Cara hanging around all winter. Their sharp eyes don’t miss a trick. Even a small bit of meat or hide the size of a fifty-cent piece is scooped up within a matter of minutes. They investigate anything and everything on the ground that might be food.

Then you have the Harris Hawk and Turkey Vulture just to make it interesting. The vultures don’t like crowds.

Here’s a slow day on a depleted bait.

You Betcha!

They stay and/or fight for it because it is at the top of their favorite things to eat. A fresh deer carcass is in the same category.

You can mimic that same fresh bait scenario at you sets, whether it be bait covered with debris or a traditional hole set. Not necessarily bait like in the photos, but something of a little more substantial amount than what is normally put at a set. Fresh scraps will work just as well. Just grind while still super fresh then add sodium benzoate and you're good to go!

I see a similar situation on my bait. Starting in mid January I’ll have a pair of yotes find my bait and set up shop. My yote sightings will go way down until I kill the pair. Funny thing is you would think they would hammer the bait till gone. They eat on it regularly but seem more into keeping it for themselves than anything else. Kill the female and the male is usually killed later that night or the next night on a scent post. Then the yote sightings pick up big time. Seen this for the last five years. About every two weeks a different pair seems to set up shop if I do my part and kill the “resident pair”.

Greedy rascals aren't they LOL... Thats good info Yote.

Those are some good observations, and it lends credence to the fact that you’ve been keeping tabs on them for five years or more. I have done the same here.

You have a healthy population as do I, but I’ve noticed here that one pair or individual will not rule over bait to the point where others avoid the area. They will wait their turn in the wings for the dominate coyotes to get their fill and move on. They will still work the location no matte who is there.

Regardless, coyotes of any rank hammer the bait for all it is worth. That could be in part because of the bird factor. What they leave to the day will be gone by nightfall.

I can tell when there is a new gang in town by the infighting when a newcomer is trying to take over the top position.

I could be mistaken, but I think you get a different reaction from the remaining coyotes when shooting versus trapping.

What’s your take Yote?

Here is another good example of holding power without the threat of competition.

This is a different location. There is no sign of Wile E. the entire time.

The bait is put out right at dusk. Tom arrives at the scene just a little over an hour later.




The cat camps out from 7:45 p.m. until 6:45 a.m. the following morning. He stayed in the area for eleven hours.

He covers the bait just before sunrise before taking a well deserved cat nap.


.

Tejas the sections around my place where I shoot them I haven’t trapped in a long time. The last time I did I caught 21 yotes on a 350 yard field transition. Another year I did 19 there. The last five years of just shooting them I’ve killed a high of 38 and a low of 20 per year.
I feel I have access to more yotes shooting them only because of the large baits. I also feel there has to be yotes I never see that could be easily trapped. Just to paranoid to approach my shed. The game I play is close range in your face yote killin. Anywhere from 30 yards to 12 feet. You can’t make a mistake. Always wondered when I shoot a yote how many other yotes just watched him die.
The resident yotes are way different than the travelers. They are usually killed the first week of season under the regular white lights as they are used to them. This one is 12’ from my kill window. I know because I measured it. Lol Next. Night was opening day. He didn’t make it. Four shots,three hits with the single six. Love that gun.

I kill about half on bait and half on scent posts. Makes for some interesting viewing. Seems like some yotes could care less about the bait and will spend a lot of time rolling and marking the scent posts. These are pre occupied and are setting ducks. It a flip flopping yote is a hard target. Lol
I feel a much better approach would be to lay off a section or so and trap it hard while shooting them on the bait.
The pairs are the most interesting. Just because it’s a pair doesn’t mean it’s a male and female. Killed a few pairs over the years that were adult males. Guarded the bait the same and that can happen at anytime
Also have killed a few triples that are the adult pair and a young female during late Jan to March.
One of the first years I started figuring this out I was trapping some. Within 3/4 of a mile from the bait I trapped and shot 43 in three months. I’m on a great travel way. I’ve shot yotes in my yard in day time. It all stated it in about 1996 when my dog was barking at 2am. I looked out the window and 5 yotes were in the yard looking at him. 4 left. Every since then I’ve killed at least 11 a year here with a high of 38. Most years in the 20s. Location, location,location.

Rob if I remember right your on the north side of that big lake. Do you think you have a funnel type affect or just great habitat?