Christmas Eve day hunt

Man what a day or running! Aside from being late to Christmas and a couple of P/O’ed wives it was a great day. We dumped some dogs about mid morning and jumped a yote that had some serious feet under him. That yote could run and was one smart animal. He wouldn’t go anywhere near a road that had a vehicle on it. The dogs ran him around the section until he hit a road without a truck on it and he was gone. He dropped the dogs and kept running for three more miles with no dogs behind him. Once we finally got the dogs caught up, we could find him. We gave up and let him run another day. About 11-11:30 AM we dumped a couple dogs in a THICK slew combination woods. What a mess that turned into. My self and the two dogs spent the first 3 hours going around in circles in the same woods/slew trying to find the yote. After 3 hours the dogs finally got close enough to get a visual and opened up and spent the next 3 hours chasing him around the same woods/slew again. Actually we figured out that there were at least 2 yotes(one bailed out of the woods after 5 hours) that we saw and maybe more. For the life of me I couldn’t get close enough to the yote to get a shot. The brush/timber was so thick that many place I couldn’t have shot more the 10 yards anyways. Finally at about 4:30PM the guys were stating to panic because it was getting dark and we still had 3 dogs in there. One gun and two guys went in while I sat in the truck (I was beat tired by now). They got 4 shots at the yote and wounded him. The dogs got him corned in the culvert just before dark. The guys couldn’t get to the yote because it was so far in the culvert.(didn’t really want to leave a wounded animal) They leashed the dogs and loaded them in the truck at 5PM. Talk about cutting it close. We made mad dashed to our respectable family Christmas’s to end the day.

Sounds like an exciting day yote hunting. It’s amazing how many times they end up in a culvert. I’ve also seen many guys take some barbed wire attached to a long tree branch (or a 2×4) and twist the wire until they snag the coyote. And of course, make sure the dogs are tied up.

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I’ve also seen many guys take some barbed wire attached to a long tree branch (or a 2×4) and twist the wire until they snag the coyote.

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I don’t want to get into a debate, but that to me is plain wrong I don’t want to sound like a PETA lover here, but some things are better left unsaid. That kind of treatment sounds very cruel and inhumane and the game definitely deserves more respect than to be wrapped in wire and drug out of a culvert.
Not only that, but if I read it right, the coyote was also wounded and left to die? That just isn’t right

I should of stated that I have only seen this when the coyote has been wounded. I agree it’s a tough call. Do you leave the coyote in there suffering or try and put it out of its misery??? Hunting coyotes with a dog is not for everyone. Almost all of your shots are running shots which unfortunately sometimes end up in wounded coyotes.

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I’ve also seen many guys take some barbed wire attached to a long tree branch (or a 2×4) and twist the wire until they snag the coyote.

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I don’t want to get into a debate, but that to me is plain wrong I don’t want to sound like a PETA lover here, but some things are better left unsaid. That kind of treatment sounds very cruel and inhumane and the game definitely deserves more respect than to be wrapped in wire and drug out of a culvert.
Not only that, but if I read it right, the coyote was also wounded and left to die? That just isn’t right

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The wire trick has been done for years, theres no better way to retrieve them. Any other ideas?

Usually the wire trick is only used in drastic measures. I prefer never having to resort to that, in fact I’ve never had to and hopefully never will. Depending on the circumstances the coyote is usually killed or left alive. Leaving one wounded in a culvert really sucked, but it was a small cuvert(to small to fit a human) and it was way(something like 14-15 feet) in there. Even if we had wire(which we didn’t) I don’t think it was coming out. The only other option was to shoot it in the culvert and let it rot in there. The wound didn’t seemed to be a fatal one. The yote was still pretty full of life and we opted to hope for the best and hope it recovered and lived to run another day. It’s a tough choice, but one all hunters have to make at one point.

I had Chistmas on Christmas day. I’m not sure if some of the other guys went back in after the next day or not. My guess is someone went back to see if it was still in the culvert. But again, even if it was it wasn’t coming out.

Like it was stated above, running yotes with dogs isn’t for everyone. With the gross over population of coyotes and lack of hunting pressure, it seems like any hunting is better than nothing. You can’t believe how many people thank these guys from running the yotes off of their properties. It’s amazing how many pets and livestock coyotes kill.

I am glad to see this didn’t turn south
I myself am not a fan of using dogs to run coyotes, but then again, I will admit I have not tried it.
My perspective is not to take shots at running game, whether it be coyotes or deer, I just won’t do it.
I won’t say that anybody is wrong for doing so because we all see things differently
I also want to make clear that my post was not to “call” anybody out, just add my input.

As far as an alternative way to get them out of the culvert? Not sure, I guess I would back off and wait for the coyote to come out on its own. If not fatally wounded, it will come out.

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It’s amazing how many pets and livestock coyotes kill.

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That is a very true statement and I know all too well the damage coyotes do to livestock. I grew up on a beef cow-calf operation out west and seen first hand the damage. I have also worked a few ranches in Wyoming that raised beef cattle and sheep on the open range. I did predator control for these ranches and seen countless dead lambs and calves from coyotes. It seems there is simply no way to eradicate the coyote

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With the gross over population of coyotes and lack of hunting pressure

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Again, you nailed it with that comment
Seems like everybody deer hunts and complains about the coyotes, but very few actually hunt them. It is a great way to keep hunting when all other seasons are closed and the winter blues set in.

Mike,

You made a very good point about not wanting to shoot at running game. I respect that.

I also love the fact that you have the utmost respect for the game you pursue.

Thanks for your positive response and let’s all do our part to control the coyote population. It certainly is a balancing act.

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I am glad to see this didn’t turn south

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No worries on my part. I know where you guys are coming from. I have a great respect for all living creature. This was taught to me by my father at a very young age. Taking the life of an animal is never taken lightly in our family. This was an unfortunate situation due to the quickly approaching darkness. A decision had to be made and the shots were fired. Of course 9 times out of 10 the shots would have been kill shots, but that 1 time, like this time, it didn’t work out that way.

There are many different schools of thought on running dogs. Some people are in it for the kill while other are in if for the sport of running the dogs and often leave the yotes unharmed besides the miles of exercise they just got. I don’t agree with all the different spectrums of the sport. Therefore I opt to put myself in the portion of the spectrum that works for me personally. There are some people that I prefer not to hunt with and some that I outright refuse to hunt with. Then the same goes for deer or bird hunter or dog handlers that I don’t care for their tactics.

Great report, great story! I could picture it all taking place, sounds like a great time. I really gotta get into that someday.

thanks!!