The Wily Coyote - Step 2: Take Action (Part 3)

So you think you have a coyote issue...

After you took a deep breath and came to the realization that coyotes are here to stay and they're not going to kill ALL the deer, is there something you can do about it? ...especially if deer are your animal of choice? To put it plain and simple, how do you lessen the impact of coyotes on your deer herd?

Simple...Take Action (Step 2)

Actuality there are two ways to do this, one direct and one indirect. The direct method may yield results rather quickly if done correctly, but it needs constant work. In other words, you've got to keep at it every single year. The indirect method may take longer to see results but may also require less work on an annual basis. Let's start with the former.
 

Coyote Removal - Direct Method

Obviously a simple solution to reducing the number of deer killed by coyotes is to reduce the overall number of coyotes. Unfortunately, this is more complex than it sounds. "Hunting" coyotes sounds like a reasonable solution but by-in-large this method oftentimes proves to be ineffective and there is sound science to back this up. Much of this has to do with coyote biology and behavior.

Let's start with the concept of "coyote hunting." Many deer hunters will call themselves coyote hunters since they will shoot a coyote anytime one wanders by, especially while the "deer huntin' is going slow". This is more or less what I would call opportunistic hunting. By all means feel free to do this but don't expect any returns in the form of protecting your deer herd. This is simply due to the nature of coyotes.

Coyotes often form life time pair bonds.

Coyote pairs bond for life and often claim and defend their territory, hence they keep wandering coyotes out. Should you shoot one of these "nomad" coyotes, you haven't really done anything to reduce their overall population in your area since that particular coyote would've been moving through to find unoccupied territory anyway. If you actually do target and kill resident coyotes and reduce their core population, research has shown that they may give birth to higher numbers of pups since more resources are available. This is common in many mammal species. But this isn't the main reason why this recreational coyote hunting is ineffective, it is not only because not enough coyotes killed, but more importantly, it is because it is done at the wrong time of year...the fall.

Again, let's look at coyote biology and behavior. Coyotes primarily feed on small mammals but they will also feed on deer. In almost all cases this means "little" deer, as in fawns. They rarely, if ever, take down adult deer. If you want to directly impact the number of deer killed by coyotes you need to focus on reducing coyote numbers when deer are most susceptible. This means you have to conduct an intensive coyote reduction program just prior to fawn drop. Studies have shown that this can significantly impact fawn survival. Keep in mind, shooting alone usually doesn't cut it. The coyote removal program should be coupled with an intensive trapping program. There needs to be pressure on the coyotes literally day and night. Keep in mind though, although you may put a dent in the coyote population and hopefully increase your fawn recruitment, coyote numbers will bounce back quickly, thus, you will have to do this "management" every spring. This is why it is a more intensive approach.

Habitat management - Indirect Method

The more complex solution, but one that potentially has less long-term work, is to improve your overall habitat. Depending on what type of habitat improvements you do, it may have a multitude of benefits. First off it may increase your deer carrying capacity.

Wait! ...won't this increase your coyote numbers as well?

Quite possibly, but it shouldn't impact the overall coyote kill-rate, so theoretically, you should ultimately have more deer around. Don't believe me? Say your property can hold 50 deer but coyotes are killing 20% that means there are only 40 deer available for you to hunt come fall. Now improve your habitat and double your carrying capacity. This means you may increase the number of deer you have to 100. Although the number of coyotes out there may increase they will probably still only kill 20%. Hence, you will have 80 deer come hunting season. Keep in mind, this approach should benefit lots of other wildlife as well. This includes turkeys and other small game mammals, so it is a win-win-win situation, especially for hard-core hunters.

Fawn comprise most of the coyotes "deer" diet.

When habitat is prime, populations usually function properly. This is a sign of a healthy deer herd. A secondary benefit to healthy deer populations is a well-timed fawn drop. This means most of the fawns are hitting the ground around the same time. This is actually a reproductive strategy called predator swamping. Although there will be an abundance of prey, meaning lots of fawns dropped all at once, predator impact will be minimized. This is because they only have one shot at the buffet. This is opposed to having fewer fawns dropped over a longer period of time. In other words, the coyotes keep going back to the buffet for seconds and thirds!. Again this predator swamping is a secondary benefit of prime habitat.

Another approach is habitat design. It is best to have thick heavy bedding cover (aka fawning cover) in large blocks as opposed to long linear strips. This makes newly-dropped fawns much harder to find. Think about it, thick habitat that is laid out in one long linear strip is easy for a single coyote to search. Now imagine multiple coyotes searching that same area. Yet another habitat tactic to decrease coyote predation.

The bottom line for creating healthy deer populations, in spite of healthy coyote populations, is HABITAT HABITAT HABITAT. Stick around long enough for these lessons and you will find this is going to be a recurring theme. 😉

Additional reading:

http://www.jstor.org/stable/3800056?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/285109

http://www.jstor.org/stable/3800056?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents