Coyotes taking bite out of Hill Country

[KFDM COOP]

Published: January 03, 2007 08:47 pm           

Coyotes taking bite out of Hill Country

Chester Moore Jr.

The Orange Leader

On the opening morning of the 206-2007 archery-only season, I was set up in a ground blind near a deer trail in Llano County.

At the crack of dawn, a lone coyote sounded off a few hundred yards away. It was soon joined by what sounded like a choir of coyotes on an adjoining hillside.

I saw no deer that weekend and found coyote sign everywhere.

Fast forward a month to the opening of the general season and the same thing happened with a lone coyote calling out but this time it sounded like it was joined by a full choir and symphony of its kin from every direction.

I have hunted the Hill Country since 1986 and used to guide hunts for exotics in Kerr, Real and Edwards Counties and I have never heard so many coyotes or seen so much coyote sign as I have this year.

Coyotes have always been present in the Hill Country but their numbers have been small compared to South Texas and the coastal areas of Southeast Texas.

Sheep and goat ranchers shoot coyotes on sight and hire professional trappers to make sure they do not proliferate.

However, those industries have been in decline in recent years and it seems the crafty coyotes are increasing in numbers in the Hill Country.

A study based on predator control trapping conducted by U.S. Department of Agriculture showed that in the 1950s there were virtually no coyotes in the Hill Country. By 1960, there were 188 trapped and by 1980 that number had increased to 637. When the study concluded in 1994, there were 2,594 coyotes trapped in the study area that year alone.

An article written by Paul Schattenberg with the Texas Agricultural Extension Service shows coyote numbers have continued to rise in the Hill Country, since then even in the suburbs of Austin.

"We've recently had a sharp increase in the usual number of calls to Extension about coyotes, especially in the northwest part of the city around Highland Hills," extension agent Jeff Ripley said in the article.

"We're not sure what's causing the coyotes to become more active in this area, but feel sure the activity will continue."

"Right now there's a hole in the net in Travis County and we're trying to close it. We're finding out what personnel and financial resources city, county and state agencies can bring together and come up with a solution."

How this will affect hunting in the region is yet to be determined. Coyotes certainly will not wipe out the deer as the region has the highest per acre average of whitetails in the world. However, it will have an affect on some areas.

Lewis Hogan of Orange who is the leaseholder for the Llano property I hunt talked with a biologist managing a nearby tract of land and learned the fawn crop suffered in our part of Llano County this year due to coyote predation.

"He said with the drought and the coyote increase, there was not much fawn survival," Hogan said.

And that goes with the lack of fawn sightings on our lease. On a 1,000-acre tract there have been no sightings of first year fawns at feeders and that is a rarity. Hunters on surrounding acreage report the same thing.

My original suspicion was the drought which was brutal out there this year, but with the addition of a big coyote population the puzzle is becoming a lot more complete.

Coyotes are a valuable part of nature and it remains to be seen what their role will be in terms of deer management in the region. My suspicions are hunting will get a little more difficult due to their increased presence and that they might even help trim the region‚s burgeoning deer herd.

Some areas are on the verge of a major die-off and if coyotes help to keep that from happening as their numbers grow, that is a good thing.

However, if their populations too remain unchecked, they could become problemsome for the important deer hunting economy in the Hill Country, which is the main factor in keeping most of that scenic land from becoming one big housing development.

Coyotes are just doing what they were built to do and hunters like myself will have to accept it or find a way to deal with these highly adaptable canines under the auspices of game management.

Either way, I have a feeling the coyotes are here to stay.

(To contact Chester Moore, e-mail him at [email protected]. You can hear him on the radio Fridays from 6-7 p.m. on Newstalk AM 560 KLVI or online at www.klvi.com.)

[tvc184]

Between pigs and coyotes, they are going to run deer out of Texas.

[gringo]

they might even help trim the region‚s burgeoning deer herd.

Some areas are on the verge of a major die-off and if coyotes help to keep that from happening as their numbers grow, that is a good thing.

[tvc184]

they might even help trim the region‚s burgeoning deer herd.

Some areas are on the verge of a major die-off and if coyotes help to keep that from happening as their numbers grow, that is a good thing.

That is true in some areas. But as the coyotes knock down the deer population, theirs is likely to explode even more. It might eventually reach a point of overkill. I wish they could move some of those overpopulated deer to other areas of the state where they are struggling to gain population.

[bronco1]

That is true in some areas. But as the coyotes knock down the deer population, theirs is likely to explode even more. It might eventually reach a point of overkill. I wish they could move some of those overpopulated deer to other areas of the state where they are struggling to gain population.

It would be nice but relocation is very expensive. It will probably never happen.

[tvc184]

It would be nice but relocation is very expensive. It will probably never happen.

You are correct. It won't happen but it sure is a waste of a natural resource.

[Mr. Buddy Garrity]

Imma be shooting alot of bear and deer in Alaska ;D

[Guest Diva]

Alaska?  When are you going?

[Mr. Buddy Garrity]

Alaska?  When are you going?

april/may