Posted on 12/09/2007 8:32:13 PM PST by Moose Dung
Sorry for posting this in the main area, but I need some advice quickly.
Over the past few weeks I've been having a real coyote problem. We're in the San Joaquin Valley and have always had issues with the coyotes, but this year seems to be expecially bad (even traveling in small packs, which I've never seen before). I need some recommendations on the proper weapon to deal with these varmints.
You do need a .223, with a scope. What the so-called experts posting here don’t understand is after the first kill with a shotgun or .22, you will be lucky to see the next dog. Coyotes are very smart and don’t stand around to be shot at after the first time.
And the advise about llamas and donkeys is good...they aren’t afraid of coyotes and will harass them; but don’t believe for a minute a donkey or coyote will run one down and kill it. What a joke.
Actually, eastern coyotes are much bigger than western ones. But llamas, which weigh 500 pounds and up, can certainly stomp a coyote that weighs one-tenth of that. I don’t know why they are so aggressive, but when they see a predator they go nuts.
There’s a video somewhere of a donkey attacking and killing a cougar. It’s amazing. You start to feel sorry for the cougar.
Mule Kills Mountain Lion
"These pics came from a guy in Arizona. Yes, the mule killed the mountain lion. The lion had been stalking them for the better part of the morning, on the way out to a hunt. They were pretty sure it was after one of the dogs. The cat ambushed them, and the mule pictured tossed its rider and went into attack (defense) mode, the horses scattered and shots were fired but no one was sure if they hit the cat or not. Unfortunately, it wasn't until it was almost over that one of the guys started snapping pics. The mule finally stomped the cougar to death after biting and throwing it around like a rag doll. The dogs wouldn't even come close until the mule settled down.
The cat was still alive here and trying to fight back
The mule stomped the cat then pinned it to the ground and bit the heck out of the dead cat several more times.
The cat was pretty much dead by now then mule picked up the cat again whipped it into the air again then stomped the dead cat again for good measure!
Llamas are very protective, but coyotes generally don’t let donks and llamas get near them. Heck, I’ve seen steers chase coyotes out of pastures. Coyotes are oportunistic hunters and seldom risk getting injured...they test and if anything responds aggresively they generally back off.
I did not see the video you mention but for awhile there were a series of digital photos of a mule and a cougar, and alas, like much on the internet, the photos were later proven to be staged. The cougar was already dead and some interprising guides had rigged the whole thing.
I have quite a bit of experience with yippee dogs...I now live in rural Idaho but have worked all over the west including a few years cowboying in central Nevada. I hear the little buggars every night where I’m living now. I normally let them do their thing until calving season; then I will plink at them and they normally back off. Again, about the first time you shoot at one, your next shot will be at a pretty long distance.
yeah, picture it with a coyote under the wire, with tongue hanging out like a mouse.
Federal now makes a good flying 165g soft point boat tail in .308 that has a good wallop
I have seen that rig demonstrated and let me say this.......line-x or rhino coat that subs roof now or repaint weekly......:o)
Unfortunately, after a lot of circulation the photos were found to be staged...the lion was already dead. I know, I know, it looks like the mule is working the cat over, but after looking closely it is pretty obvious the cat is in some pretty unnatural positions. The photos were later proven to be bogus.
That’s it...........LMAO !!
Thanks !
Black Dog is correct.
Great Pyrenese.
Unless you actually want the challenge of staying up all night and shooting them.
My Great Pyr has completely eliminated the local coyote problem. The local eastern coyotes are often as big as german shepards. They sometimes pack up to the dozen.
When we moved into this rural neighborhood we were told that dogs and cats were going missing all the time and the coyotes would come right up onto the porch after prey.
They packed up for the hunt right across the road from us. We used to hear them howl evey night when we first moved in.
Then they met my dog. He is designed to fight a whole pack at once and finds it an easy fight. Their bites have no affect on him and he kills with a single bite of his own.
In fact, for them to bite him is to sign their own death warrant. They can all leap on him at once and he’ll just take his time, reaching around and snapping their necks or crushing their skulls at his leisure.
And he is the sweetest, cuddliest fluffball you could ever want. He also sings beautiful, especially if you play Beethoven. He treats my ancient rottweiler like a princess and is gentle with my daughter’s ankle-biter.
I haven’t heard a coyote howl in two years now and my neighbors haven’t either.
Even the bear who used to travel by on the other side of the road doesn’t come by any more. I still occaisionally see his tracks on the far side of the lake.
Sounds like a great dog. I am envious.
You should hear him sing the Ode to Joy.
Not great with the words, but he has the music down.
12 gauge 00 buck would be OK for coyotes at short range, under 25-30 yards or so, but the shot pattern spreads too fast in most guns to be reliable beyond that distance. I don't know about CA coyotes, but around here (north GA) if you can get within 100 yards of one you are either very lucky or an expert stalker in the same class with Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett. Coyotes are tough critters, and if you just wound him he will run off and then you don't know it he dies or not. A coyote gutshot with a .22 rimfire or a buckshot pellet will travel for miles before going down and dying in misery a few days later, and I won't do that to any animal if I can help it.
I don't have a coyote problem out here where I live, not yet anyway. But if I did I think I would buy a Savage model 110 bolt action rifle with a 3-9x scope, probably a .243 caliber like the one my neighbor uses for deer hunting. With a 100 grain bullet his rifle will make a clean kill on a buck deer at 200 yards or more, and I'm sure it would work even better on a 50 lb coyote. Of course it also would do double duty as a fine deer rifle if I bought one, and you can't say that for any .22 centerfire round even though some folks around here use those for deer.
I used to hunt deer in the thick woods down in FL's Big Cypress Swamp with my 90+ year old model 94 Winchester .30-30 with a 26" octagon barrel, and I'm sure it would kill a coyote like a lightning bolt. But now that Winchester is out of business it's become a collector's item in NRA very good original condition, and I don't want to destroy it's collector value by drilling and tapping it for a scope mount.
In re # 134, in addition to the old Winchester I also have a Chinese SKS 16” “paratrooper” and a 1901 vintage 6.5mm Swede Mauser that would be good for coyotes. But the SKS shoots dinner plate size groups at 100 yards, and the Swede is in too good shape to mess up by drilling for a scope mount. Anyway, coyotes would be a good excuse for buying another rifle, and you can’t knock that idea.
MD’s in California and is not to be trusted with an evil black rifle. Or an SKS. or any number of weapons.
Have TPTB here banned atlatls yet?
I never knew that they were pack animals, but several coyotes come around my property every night now. A Talon 400 air rifle is going to be my Christmas present to myself this year and I expect the survivors to move on soon after that.
Michael Frazier
As they say "whatever trips your trigger."
I have ask this several times lately here on FR and never gotten a response. What was the final tally on the late-great SKS confiscation? Anyone know what percentage they actually got?
I'd like to know what the end result was, too. IIRC, the confiscation was technically intended to collect only those SKS models which had been manufactured to accept detachable AK magazines - a tiny percentage of all the SKS rifles shipped to the U.S.
There was also some state court ruling which declared that an owner-modified SKS was subject to confiscation too, though I never heard whether the rifle in question had truly been modded to accept AK mags, or had been fitted with the extended fixed magazine that *looks* like a detachable type.
It might not hurt to bring these topics back to the fore, what with a potentially ugly election looming ahead.
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