Nova Scotia coyote regulations

Back to the OP's original post. I think we need to petition the NS govt and DNR, to allow use of rifles, for varmint hunting, during the current shotgun only season, for coyotes hunting. I am hoping the current regs are an oversight by non-hunter/non-firearms types when the regs were written for coyote hunting.
 
Superbrad said:
Not meant to discredit you blackwatch....... there may very well (and likely are) some "abominations" out there........ but none have actually been submitted for testing....... and even at that, they are just that..... abominations......so, as such, creatures of legend so to speak...

A perfect example is the "coyote" harvested in Newfoundland that incited much debate only to end up being a Labrador wolf that crossed on the ice after dna testing.......

There is plenty of evidence that coyotes and esteem grey and red wolf have interbred from Ontario east..... but we have yet to see the massive "coywolf"....
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No offence taken. I don't think the average size is 100 pounds just that some are getting close 75+ imo. The first couple I saw in Nova Scotia was in 89, new thing around here. Those were about half the size I've seen lately so they are definitely getting bigger since they moved here. Not to open up another debate but there have been a lot of cougar sightings in NS over the years but no one has submitted a sample. Then there's Bigfoot lol...

A pack of coyotes killed a camper a few years back in cape Breton. So they are getting meaner and bigger.
 
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There was one shot in PEI that was somewhere between 70-80 lbs a couple of years ago, I saw an article in a newspaper about it.

The biggest vote I've gotten here was mid 50's.

Our hunting laws are absolutely the dumbest in Canada.
 
Out of curiosity has anyone heard of anyone target shooting without hunting in Nova Scotia and being caught by DNR? Just wondering if it's obvious you aren't hunting something out of season and just shooting targets would they charge you or have they been instructed by the crown that such charges would most likely not result in a conviction.
 
Hard to believe but they actually eased up the regs over the years for coyote hunting.

In the beginning... to hunt with a centerfire after deer season you had to get a piece of paper that gave permission till end of March I think but any bullet you used had to be under 100 gr. I was using some Remington accelerators in my 30-30 and I think I toyed around loading some sub-100 gr loads for it as well.

I wish it was rifle all year for coyotes, lots of good hunting time after March. But once I HAVE to use a shotgun I seem to lose interest.

N.B. has some weird rules too, I think they have to use under a certain calibre (such as .23 or something like that)

If they made rules uniform across the country, based on western provinces, it would be nice. Although we have an odd rule that you do not have to get landowner permission to hunt on undeveloped land (not farms). To deny hunting the land must be posted every 50-100 feet ( not sure) and a landowner can only ask you to leave if caught. I realize this sounds like blasphemy to you westerners:p but I believe it was because we have such a high percentage of private land v.s. crown land and many lots are small. It seems to work here without a lot of headaches.
 
Adding to the weight dispute...

One 85 LBS "Coyote" that was shot in NL was later confirmed to be a wolf.

Wolves were officially extinct in NL for over 100 years, I guess a few are making it over from Labrador on the ice...

Large Coyotes (Eastern Coyote) are generally no more than 45 LBS, larger have been shot, but rare.
 
Bigfoot 870 said:
Any shotgun "shot" is legal, as long as it is multiple projectiles. Atlantic Canada has the the largest coyotes.

http://www.thetelegram.com/news/local/2012/3/14/province-tests-dna-of-82-pound-coyote-2926895.html
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This was a wolf.

NL-Hunter said:
Adding to the weight dispute... One 85 LBS "Coyote" that was shot in NL was later confirmed to be a wolf. Wolves were officially extinct in NL for over 100 years, I guess a few are making it over from Labrador on the ice...
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A juvenile wolf was spotted in Terra Nova National Park a couple of years back. Unlikely to have been a strait crosser.

Large Coyotes (Eastern Coyote) are generally no more than 45 LBS, larger have been shot, but rare.
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The official average weight of an adult male is 38 lbs, though 50+ lb specimens have been radio collared.
 
Correct, shotguns with any size shot from April 1 to October 15, unless you hold a Bear Hunting stamp in September, then you are good to goo with a centerfire rifle.
 
CV32 said:
This was a wolf.



A juvenile wolf was spotted in Terra Nova National Park a couple of years back. Unlikely to have been a strait crosser.



The official average weight of an adult male is 38 lbs, though 50+ lb specimens have been radio collared.
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The largest shot was a confirmed 75 pounder...... my personal largest was almost 65 pounds...... but I do agree that the average is much smaller....
 
CV32 said:
Which means an established presence - however small or even temporary - rather than transitory or wandering wolves.
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Did not insinuate wanderers. Would like to know, though, when they first re-appeared.

Official dates for first coyote was 1987 (Deer Lake). locals in Gros Morne area have spotted coyotes there years before.
 
NL-Hunter said:
Did not insinuate wanderers. Would like to know, though, when they first re-appeared.
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Didn't say you did. I expect there has always been an occasional presence of Labrador wolves, at least since the extirpation of the Newfoundland wolf in the 1920s. For the most part I think these 'visits' have previously been largely limited to the Northern Peninsula. Factors since then:

(1) the opening up of access routes on the GNP and elsewhere, e.g. snowmobile trails, power transmission lines (such as the Muskrat Falls work), have allowed natural wanderer predators (like coyotes and wolves) to more quickly spread across the island than before; and
(2) many more people have the ability to access previously isolated areas of wilderness, because of snowmobiles, ATVs, etc; and
(3) virtually everyone has quick and ready access to a camera and media.

Hard to say if there are more Labrador wolves on the island than before. I lean towards yes, mainly because they are being seen more often in southern Labrador (suggesting more likelihood of making the crossing) and because of #1 above. I still think there is some ways to go before a regular established presence, if ever.

Official dates for first coyote was 1987 (Deer Lake). locals in Gros Morne area have spotted coyotes there years before.
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It is likely even earlier than that. There was some evidence found in southwestern Newfoundland as early as the late 1970s during some caribou research work that was going on there at the time, but it wasn't documented.
 
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