Brutus
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
This theory sounds nice until you factor in coyotes/wolf predation.
And from the other provincial reports I've read here, this is not just an issue with Alberta.
Cheers!
Anyone noticed a drop in WT numbers??
- Thread starter LuckyStrike
- Start date
And from the other provincial reports I've read here, this is not just an issue with Alberta.
Cheers!
Wolf and coyote numbers seem to be up everywhere right across the west. Almost every hunter I've talked to in farm country is seeing tons of coyotes and in the bush areas of eastern Manitoba wolves are everywhere. Nobody hunts predators seriously around here because of land access issues, and until this is addressed things won't get better.
bearkilr
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Nowhere, ......just past the middle
I'm in the Interlake. The wolves seem to be moving further south every year and increasing in number. There are many theories to this, one being the very low moose population in the northern areas where there are little to no whitetail. Generally, wolves are very secretive and avoid humans and their activity, however that appears to be changing as their food supply is running low in their traditional areas and they have to turn to deer which inhabit farmed areas.
We've always had a fair amount of coyotes though they appear to be at an all time high. I've seen up to 6 in one bunch. I doubt they were looking for rabbits or mice.
There have always been wolves here as well, but they were more of the transient type and rarely would one see signs of large packs, mostly singles that got the boot.
I can envision major problems with wolves for cattle farmers this winter.
DNR hasn't been allowed to use poison on problem wolves for quite some years now. That was an effective tool. I don't want to see wolves exterminated, but they are tough to control with conventional hunting methods. Trapping can be effective, but few are doing it anymore and the game department is grossly underfunded thanks to our socialist government.
Areas that I have hunted North west of Brandon, approx 1 hr, the population is down. Has continuosly gone down as long as I remember. Talked to a friend of mine and where we typically moved lots of deer, lucky to see one.
Around the family farm about 5 minutes south of Riding Mountain National Park, the only deer tracks I have seen in the area are around the farm. Great for me...... They are safe there. It is basically no man's land. Middle of nowhere with hills and big bush. We have about a dozen hanging around. I shot my decent buck and there are still 4 other different smaller bucks around. The mom's and kids hang around the farm yard all winter. They know they are safe there and if the winter is tough like last year they will be well fed.....
The coyote population is real high. Hopefully there will be a few in my power snares this coming week.......
Around the family farm about 5 minutes south of Riding Mountain National Park, the only deer tracks I have seen in the area are around the farm. Great for me...... They are safe there. It is basically no man's land. Middle of nowhere with hills and big bush. We have about a dozen hanging around. I shot my decent buck and there are still 4 other different smaller bucks around. The mom's and kids hang around the farm yard all winter. They know they are safe there and if the winter is tough like last year they will be well fed.....
The coyote population is real high. Hopefully there will be a few in my power snares this coming week.......
We have a hunt camp at Fraserwood and although I haven't hunted it this year the guys that went first week reported seeing very few deer but lots of yotes. I haven't seen wolves there but I've heard that a couple of packs have moved into the Narcisse community pasture. Either way our DNR makes it very unnattractive to go for predators, Trapping liscences and seasons should be abolished and coyotes should be open,wolves too as far as I'm concerned.
I was meaning the entire prairies, not just Alberta. If the deer can't feed, that would make them weaker and more susceptible to coyotes. I see healthy deer run off coyotes. Never seen one run off a wolf though!
And Yes, I would agree with the posts here that report higher levels of coyotes.
I have a question for Sask hunters... wasn't there a coyote cull a year or two ago? Did that make any kind of impact on the coyote population?
My hunting buddies and I hunt in a provincial forest in southeastern Manitoba. Been doing so for years. Up to this year its always been productive. Because of other commitments this year I've only been out once during muzzleloader and saw no deer and only found one scrape. We counted seven deer, mostly does along the highway going out as opposed to 25+ last year.
My buddies went out for the first week of rifle and saw two bucks only and again this past weekend and saw no deer. But they report lots of yote tracks.
In the south central, Interlake and southeast game hunting areas hunters have been limited to just one tag this year. In the past you could use two. Speculation is winter kill and an increase in predators. Haven't heard anything from Conservation Manitoba but there was an article on the lack of deer in a Steinbach MB newspaper.
I think we've been really spoiled out west for the past couple of decades. I've got pictures at our camp of a muzzleloader hunt a couple of years ago when we had 7 bucks and 2 does hanging off the meat pole, and that was on a 1 1/2 day blackpowder hunt! Years ago we were lucky to split 4 deer amongst 7 or 8 hunters after a week long rifle hunt. Reality is that deer numbers have dropped and might take a few years to recover in some areas, a bad winter might prove disastrous in some areas. But, as deer numbers drop so will the wolf/coyote numbers as they also run out of food sources.
bearkilr
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Nowhere, ......just past the middle
Actually, you can buy a $5 Open Area trapping license and wolves,coyotes, beaver and raccoon are open year round.
Same in Ontario. Heard it's getting really bad in the eastern parts, but even down here it ain't that great. I see coyotes in fields near new sub divisions on the edge of the GTA.
I know they're part of the ecosystem and serve their purpose, but I think due to increased numbers of food sources and not enough population control they might be/might've been increasing in huge numbers. Which is now having adverse effects on other populations.
At one of the spots we mostly use for our bow hunting there's been howling/fresh #2 of coyotes for the past few weeks. Doesn't help that the one guy that hunts there at the controlled hunt used buckshot and injured 2 does. Then in the past week 2 deer were hit by cars right there. Haven't seen any fresh deer movement due to that. Lucky yotes haven't gotten close enough for the bow. Time to get yote hunting.
bearkilr
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Nowhere, ......just past the middle
Crusted over snow impacts deer numbers due to the fact it's painful for them to move through it and coyotes can run on top, making it easier to catch deer which break through. Add to this the fact this occurrence is usually in late winter when they are run down. It has little or nothing to do with them not being able to find food.
Seriously? I've never witnessed that. Our deer bolt at the sight of a coyote. I hope you're not suggesting coyotes don't kill healthy deer..................
Ardent
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I know you've seen more than most of us, but I've seen it too. We have an acreage in the Rocky Mtn foothills swarmed with deer and yotes, and I've seen deer give yotes the run. They'll beat them down with hooves if they get on them too though I've yet to see a deer catch up to one. Wolves, the deer steer way clear.
I work at 21,000 acres, 1 hr north of Toronto. Last years hunt we had 21 deer taken on this property, this year 7. We got 2 packs of Coyots plus the lone ones. I have recently seen 3 bears, a large wolf, a few coyotes plus a pack 200M from my house at 4am. I have seen less than half the deer I did last year at this time.
Last years harsh winter plus the preditors have taken effect.
Last years harsh winter plus the preditors have taken effect.
Deer usually only step out in the fields when they are hungry enough to eat... Often they wait till night-time to use darkness as natural form of cover. Deer can be found in deeper parts of the bush here in Ontario where they have better chances of escape and can go without detection from all but the most determined hunters. Look around and take your time, and walk slowly. Yotes, are a problem and in my observations have seemed to grow in numbers over the last decade, and there ought to be a shoot on site (except in urban areas where shooting is dangerous). It seems to me that there is a bounty on them in some places in Ontario and a lot of farmers get rid of them as soon as they can. the bounty should be made available to all hunters.
- Location
- Kawartha Lakes, Ontario
Our deer "camp" in the south central part of Ontario was a major disappointment this year. We didn't hunt last year, but in previous years we'd see plenty of sign (droppings, scrapes, tracks, etc.). Several days of scouting yielded one pile of droppings, that's it.
What I did find were several examples of coyote scat.
As previously noted, some issues with bad weather, combined with high coyote numbers, have likely hit deer numbers, and the remaining deer are likely much further in the swampy bush.
As for shooting coyotes, go for it, I will be hunting them come January, but don't expect to make a dent in their numbers.
It has been repeatedly shown that coyotes have a remarkable reproductive capacity, and attempts at physically reducing their number have not worked, ever.
What you can achieve is a much warier population that will stay further away from humans. That is a good thing for farmers and pet owners.
The only thing that will likely affect coyote numbers will be a crash due to disease (mange) like we saw a few years back. In this area, they virtually disappeared for a couple of years - no sign, no howling/yelping, at all.
What I did find were several examples of coyote scat.
As previously noted, some issues with bad weather, combined with high coyote numbers, have likely hit deer numbers, and the remaining deer are likely much further in the swampy bush.
As for shooting coyotes, go for it, I will be hunting them come January, but don't expect to make a dent in their numbers.
It has been repeatedly shown that coyotes have a remarkable reproductive capacity, and attempts at physically reducing their number have not worked, ever.
What you can achieve is a much warier population that will stay further away from humans. That is a good thing for farmers and pet owners.
The only thing that will likely affect coyote numbers will be a crash due to disease (mange) like we saw a few years back. In this area, they virtually disappeared for a couple of years - no sign, no howling/yelping, at all.
I've seen a 45lb yote take a deer down by himself on the lake in front of my house, & I have his tail tied on the back of my atv to prove it
I think this has been a odd year for deer. We hunt in SE Ontario, WMU 58. There was lots of good sign in the woods and fresh stuff found pretty much everyday. One of our neighboring camps had trail cams set up and there were multiple deer caught on them. However, there was very little deer sightings while hunting. There was one deer seen during the first week of the hunt and 3 during the second, or 2 and 1 twice... I did see a nice large buck but never got a chance to get a shot off on it and I had one pushed out to me late afternoon the same day but it disappeared in the thick brush before I could get the rifle up and around.
While talking to people that were hunting areas south of Highway 7, they had lots of deer sightings and deer shot. A former co-worker had 4 bucks come out to him at the same time when he got his, and a short time later as he was gutting it, another one came out and his brother got that one. Another friend of his also dropped a 275lb 19 pointer, while another got a large 14 point. All within a 30 minute drive of Kingston.
While talking to people that were hunting areas south of Highway 7, they had lots of deer sightings and deer shot. A former co-worker had 4 bucks come out to him at the same time when he got his, and a short time later as he was gutting it, another one came out and his brother got that one. Another friend of his also dropped a 275lb 19 pointer, while another got a large 14 point. All within a 30 minute drive of Kingston.
I hunt west of Calgary in the foothills and the White Tail and Mule Deer numbers seem to be way down. Very few tracks and pellets this year compared to the last few years. My game cameras haven't got much either even though they are in the same places where they used to see lots of deer. I still managed to get my WT and Mule bucks but it was slim pickings this year. However, moose are on a roll, I've been seeing more each year. Might have to apply for a moose tag for 2012.
