# Predator Control



## tuffluckdriller (May 27, 2009)

So, in reading the long thread about the cougars, I wonder about coyotes and the effect they're having on deer.

I definitely have seen and heard way more coyotes this year than previous years. I've lost 2 deer to coyotes before I got to them (shot them, waited for them to die, got to them and they were torn to shreds).

Anyway, I recall in the past hearing about cyanide guns being used for coyotes in the book cliffs area. Is this a possibility elsewhere?


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## reb8600 (Sep 8, 2007)

The government still does a lot of ADC work on the coyotes. Poison and shooting them from planes and helicopters. I dont know how much they poison but I have been in areas the last couple of years that have had warnings about poison. Didnt see any wildlife in the area. They mainly do the control in areas that people will be grazing their sheep and cattle.
The state has a certain amount of money to use for predator control. It is used for bounties in select areas also. When the money is gone for the year then the control stops. They spend a lot of money on it. Their money runs from June to June each year I beleive.


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## stimmie78 (Dec 8, 2007)

There are signs north of Cottonwood Res. Come in from the Lapoint landfill road.. stay right and it takes you west of the res. Warning sign is there to let you know.


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## fixed blade XC-3 (Sep 11, 2007)

I've seen poison warning signs down by delta. My buddy shot a coyote within 2 miles of one of the signs. :lol:


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## Nueces (Jul 22, 2008)

I would much rather see hunters be the predator and control the population instead of coyotes. They can work in a pack, but I think a healthy adult deer would be okay unless they are trapped in a snow bank and the pack can get them. I'm sure they take a heavy toll on younger fawns.


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## tuffluckdriller (May 27, 2009)

Also, I've heard that bears take a huge toll on newborn fawns in the spring. What's the estimate on how many they take?


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## wayner33 (Dec 11, 2007)

There is only room for one supreme predator, if that is man then the other predators have to be thinned way down. In the 60's I herded cattle in Spanish Fork canyon. We shot cougar, bear and coyotes. Anything that might take sheep or cattle including stray dogs we shot. The deer herd was never better than in the 60's. Even with this kind of control state wide nothing even became close to extinct.


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## mikevanwilder (Nov 11, 2008)

A few years ago I was coyote hunting down on the BookCliffs and came across a whole crap load of crows and eagles swarming a carcas. We went over to investigate the situation and found a nice 4 point buck that had been ripped to shreds. We figured it was injured or something and just died, but upon further investigation we found 3 coyote tracks coming in and then spots where they ambushed the buck from behind a bush. You could see spots where the buck had gotten up and tried to run but was taken back down by the coyotes. 
The scene looked like the deer had exploded parts of it all over. We took some pictures then left and on our way out found that someone had come by and taken one of the antlers but couldn't get the other one off the skull. 
That was the first time I have seen coyotes taking a full sized deer down.


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## stimmie78 (Dec 8, 2007)

Fishing at strawberry this year I saw 3 coyotes trying to take down a deer. I whistled loud and they took off and the deer got away.


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## MEEN (Jan 27, 2009)

tuffluckdriller said:


> I definitely have seen and heard way more coyotes this year than previous years.


+1. I was watching a herd of elk (130+) this summer they were talking like crazy as they filtered up and over a hill and into a large meadow. About ten minutes later we heard what sounded like a elk calf mew in distress just out of sight down a hill. Then we heard the same elk cry and scream as coyotes started barking and howling ferociously. As this was happening, the rest of the elk herd rounded all 40+ calves into a tight circle and surrounded them. There is no doubt in my mind that those coyotes took down an elk that day.

When we went back during archery season we found coyote scat everywhere we followed the elk herds. The scat was always chuck full of elk hair. It might have been deer hair but it looked a lot more like elk hair.


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