i've seen where they readily eat dead deer and other times wont touch it also. just few common things that i sorta think are patterns that ill ramble about
we've got a pile of deer in this country; farm fields bordered by cover. 50-100 in many sections is common. coyotes on the other hand are few and far between. so food is plentiful and competition not high for it.
but when dead deer are really hit hard by coyotes tends to be early fall here. they flock to them at that point. and by they i mean the families we have with pups. they gorge themselves putting on that final weight towards adulthood in my thoughts. and theres still alot of crop cover at that point which makes it harder for humans to find them. after that things start to change. they tend to not hit any particular one dead carcass over and over or for any length of time and more will go untouched than touched. the weather can tweak that response but its not a given as even then they are very selective in what they hit , where, and when. once early spring rolls around you will see them start to actively hit the carcasses again also
many of those early season deer carcasses are archery related and lost. i think there is something to freshness maybe even somewhat still alive and that has not been disturbed by humans or is secluded. same goes for the first couple days of our gun season.
we know they communicate vocally and im fairly sure ive heard them call in others to freshly found deer in the early fall. and i have no doubt certain coyotes are great teachers about what to avoid. i wouldnt be shocked if they can communicate avoidance areas in some manner, maybe vocally. around here i dont think they have many others to call out to though but they sure know where to avoid.
