OPES! Gonna Shoot Yotes!

[Gargoyle]

Scored a 170 acre property along the river, cheap buy in as 33% owner. One condition was I shoot all the coyotes I can after deer seasons...That was a hard condition to the sale. So, to lesson the burden I'll go ground blind with heater buddys, sitting over 300-400yd mowed firebreaks through the CRP and drop yotes off hog guts. No pelt saving, so 7mm-08 120gr Vmax ought do it.

 

[Adam in WI]

I had to see where you're from. Not many others outside the Midwest use the "ope"

 

[matthias]

That sounds like a real tough condition to deal with. May I sugest at least a bit of height on your blind. We have used a 4'tall platform with a "tent" blind on it and we saw and connected with way more animals.

 

[davidjoe]

Well, that’s a common practice, here. I’m going to take some pictures so my grandkids can see what coyotes looked like.

 

[markT]

WHAT IS OPES?

 

[Adam in WI]

WHAT IS OPES?

Ope is Midwest slang, kinda like oops.
"Ope, scuse me"
"Ope, lookout there comin' thru"
"Ope, sorry bout that there"

 

[Gargoyle]

Kinda an exclamation too. lol

 

[dunraven]

Going to 'identify' as a coyote hunter this winter..

 

[Toddmack]

Scored a 170 acre property along the river, cheap buy in as 33% owner. One condition was I shoot all the coyotes I can after deer seasons...That was a hard condition to the sale. So, to lesson the burden I'll go ground blind with heater buddys, sitting over 300-400yd mowed firebreaks through the CRP and drop yotes off hog guts. No pelt saving, so 7mm-08 120gr Vmax ought do it.

Good luck to you, I guess. I fear this is where KS is coming to.

 

[davidjoe]

I was curious what the population and distribution of coyotes in Kansas was.

It’s thought by one source to be about 150-300,000. This puts the order of magnitude at about one coyote per 250 acres of land. That’s not the ratio takable to maintain a population, that’s all there are.

Whatever that number is, say 200,000, this principle, - the balance of nature - means 200k wild animals do not double every generation, they maintain.

Now, how many states are more conducive than Kansas to coyotes’ 1:250 animal to acre ratio? And that’s with human population areas being counted, where almost no coyotes can live.

What could you realistically take without decimating the population over a period of time that is very real, whether one lives long enough to see it or not, 1 per 1,000 acres every other year?

If we do want them to be gone, or just don’t care either way, then there’s nothing to be concerned about. Most guys don’t really want to see extinction, but do think it’s fun to shoot them at the same time, - and let’s be honest, very few high count coyote shooters have any agricultural skin in the game, and the question has to be, what would be sustainable, if we all did this, and do no more than that.

 

[Jeff Porter]

Well, that’s a common practice, here. I’m going to take some pictures so my grandkids can see what coyotes looked like.

coyotes and cockroaches will be here long after we are.

 

[Rocky Mt High]

One male and one female left on earth of either species(coyote and cockroaches) would qualify as a problem…

 

[Gargoyle]

I was curious what the population and distribution of coyotes in Kansas was.

It’s thought by one source to be about 150-300,000. This puts the order of magnitude at about one coyote per 250 acres of land. That’s not the ratio takable to maintain a population, that’s all there are.

Whatever that number is, say 200,000, this principle, - the balance of nature - means 200k wild animals do not double every generation, they maintain.

Now, how many states are more conducive than Kansas to coyotes’ 1:250 animal to acre ratio? And that’s with human population areas being counted, where almost no coyotes can live.

What could you realistically take without decimating the population over a period of time that is very real, whether one lives long enough to see it or not, 1 per 1,000 acres every other year?

If we do want them to be gone, or just don’t care either way, then there’s nothing to be concerned about. Most guys don’t really want to see extinction, but do think it’s fun to shoot them at the same time, - and let’s be honest, very few high count coyote shooters have any agricultural skin in the game, and the question has to be, what would be sustainable, if we all did this, and do no more than that.

I'll care as much about this place after I hop off the planet as I did in the year 1623.

 

[jds holler]

I've been hunting and trapping coyotes all my life. I love them as a species, and would hate a world without them. That being said, I don't worry about that happening. Heck, I guess they're doing pretty well in LA and several other large cities.

Since I've killed and used them primarily for their pelts, I don't really like seeing them killed wholesale and wasted. No biggie if that's your thing, I guess I just value them a little more than that. I do the same thing with ground squirrels and starlings, so I don't have a leg to stand on.

I hope you have fun trying to kill all the coyotes on your property. It aint gonna be as easy as you might think. jd

 

[davidjoe]

I've been hunting and trapping coyotes all my life. I love them as a species, and would hate a world without them. That being said, I don't worry about that happening. Heck, I guess they're doing pretty well in LA and several other large cities.

Since I've killed and used them primarily for their pelts, I don't really like seeing them killed wholesale and wasted. No biggie if that's your thing, I guess I just value them a little more than that. I do the same thing with ground squirrels and starlings, so I don't have a leg to stand on.

I hope you have fun trying to kill all the coyotes on your property. It aint gonna be as easy as you might think. jd

I guess it’s obvious, but I wouldn’t want them gone, either. Hunting to exterminate or eradicate is a very different thing than taking and using what one needs, with the intention to conserve a species. I don’t think it’s a mistake they are here, or where that kind of thinking would stop, when it gets going. I have many of their pelts and an appreciation for that traditional craft, myself.

 

[Jeff Porter]

FWIW - I have been nusiance hunting coyotes for a long time for friends neighbors and farmers who ask for some help. I sell the pelts and am not a " kill 'em all !" type but I have no issues with legal taking of the coyotes.

Since the advent of predator hunting videos and TV show and the proliferation of Electronic callers, I have watched the local packs learn and teach their young ones what a Fox pro caller sounds like. I have seen dead pile go untouched during a bitter cold snap after a few had been killed from it previously. The coyotes that make it to breeding season after the first of the year are very well educated in my area. I have even watched them sit in the sun while multiple cars drive down a nearby road but when a particluar chevy truck know to take pot shots at them got within a mile, they would know that sound and be gone.

Coyotes are a lot smarter than a bunch of the guys I see hunting them. I am particularly amused by the high tech night vision and thermal set ups that can run close to $6000 for the rig taking $20 coyotes for pelts. Be a long time to get that return on investment.

If you really want to eradicate the coyotes in an area, you will need to add trapping to your skill set. My trapping buddies always get way more furs than I get with a rifle.

 

[AckleymanII]

I think I am going to throw up!

 

[Kracken McGraw]

Balance is the key. I can handle a few coyotes compared to a over abundance of rats and mice.

 

[ken158]

When you own the property - you make the rules. Tell the seller anything he wants to hear to cut the deal.

 

[David Milisock]

I was curious what the population and distribution of coyotes in Kansas was.

It’s thought by one source to be about 150-300,000. This puts the order of magnitude at about one coyote per 250 acres of land. That’s not the ratio takable to maintain a population, that’s all there are.

Whatever that number is, say 200,000, this principle, - the balance of nature - means 200k wild animals do not double every generation, they maintain.

Now, how many states are more conducive than Kansas to coyotes’ 1:250 animal to acre ratio? And that’s with human population areas being counted, where almost no coyotes can live.

What could you realistically take without decimating the population over a period of time that is very real, whether one lives long enough to see it or not, 1 per 1,000 acres every other year?

If we do want them to be gone, or just don’t care either way, then there’s nothing to be concerned about. Most guys don’t really want to see extinction, but do think it’s fun to shoot them at the same time, - and let’s be honest, very few high count coyote shooters have any agricultural skin in the game, and the question has to be, what would be sustainable, if we all did this, and do no more than that.

Interesting question. In South Central PA we seem to have a sustainable population. My son lives 5 minutes away from me between 2 horse borders and a turkey farm with many other open farm acres within a 1/2 mile radius. He regularly sees them on his trail cameras. I don't have cameras out but I have seen a couple in my rural development. So I have to assume there are more than I see.

What happened a few years back in that area is the house pets started to disappear or show up mauled with a missing leg. A professional hunter came and and took several large coyotes. Problem temporarily solved.

The problem seems to be getting resolved now as the locals seem to take care of it themselves, I gave my son a 22 magnum and two of his neighbors did the similar so everybody gets to survive. The coyote population gets controlled and the house pets stay in one piece.

The Prarie dogs are seeing pressure with one subspecies reaching a critically low population.