Sorry For the Intrusion

[Coyotegirl]

Hi All. I was unaware this was a gentleman's place. However, I figured since I went through the steps to register, I may as well say thank you, maybe get some thoughts and I will move on.
I was searching for some opinions on the AR-15 when I ran across the closed thread from 2018. I live on a small 20 acre farm surrounded by hundreds of acres of woods. I own a few weapons: P-90, Keltec .380 (bought the new Gen 5 .380 because that ridiculous microscopic takedown pin was too much of a pain), Stevens .320 shotgun, SKS (my favorite), .44 and a few more I won't bore you with. I have been eyeballing the AR-15 for some time now but have just purchased my first. A Freedom from Palmetto State.
This past Friday, I watched from my den window, my farm dog running across the pasture being chased by 2 coyotes. By the time I hit the front door with my .30-30 (it was sitting next to me on the couch) and squeezed off a couple of rounds, they'd nearly tore her in half. I'm no stranger to them, or hogs or anything else that lives in these woods, but the coyotes have become a real, serious problem - killing my chickens for the hell of it and now, my little girl is gone and I am left with the blisters on my hands from burying her. I wish they'd try one of my horses so they could put a size 0 shoe up their ***.
I figured the AR-15 would be much lighter and shorter/manageable for me to carry up and down my stands and give me a little bit more of an edge then any of my other long guns. The extra rounds can't hurt; damn things are fast and move like fog.
I suppose what I would like to know, are any tips and advice anyone has on culling Coyotes and how you achieved your successes. I am borrowing a lure from a friend who has had a little success with them, but he does not live as rural as I do.
Thank you very much for taking the time to read this, and I appreciate any suggestions to help me try and thin them out. I am still heart-broken, and now need to look for another dog.

 

[ackvil]

First, welcome to B&B. Second, females are welcome here and we do have some female members.

I sympathize what happened to your dog. When I lived in NJ I lived in the "country" and we had a coyote problem. However, NJ is one of those states that only allows hunting with shotguns.

I don't have an AR-15 but there are many on this site who do. I am sure someone will be along soon to give you some good info.

 

[jar_]

Sorry about your loss but welcome home. Pull up a stump and set a spell.

 

[mglindo]

Sorry about your dog. I feel for you. I have watched some videos of people hunting coyotes with a coyote calling machine. A recording with rabbit distress cries I think. You could try that and shoot out of a blind. Good luck.


Mike

 

[Ad Astra]

Sorry to hear; what a shame. Many a cat is missing in my area due to them.

Wishing you all success that next / soon you are burying coyotes.

I think PSA makes a good product, and with skill and planning you'll succeed.


AA

 

[Esox]

Welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear about your dog.

There is another option for dealing with coyotes and it happens to involve another dog.

If they're an ongoing problem and they sound like they might be, you might look into a Kuvasz, or two. I'm not sure where you are but a friend of mine breeds and raises Kuvazok (plural) and most of her dogs go to farms with coyote issues.

Home - Huron Kennels

Dogs of that breed are unique and extremely good at dealing with intruders and quite up to the task. If you might enjoy reading about them working on an off the grid farm in Kentucky, there are some very good stories here: Robert's Daemon Kuvasz Posts from LGD-L

His writing is very entertaining and he understands the problem and how to deal with it.

 

[simon1]

No need for sorry. @Intrigued just recently bought herself a new handgun.

I feel your pain. We have some cats missing from time to time and coyotes are thick around here, along with hogs. I also have a .30-30 handy for longer shots on 'yotes, and a .41 mag. Ruger Blackhawk I wear for the hogs when out fishing at the pond.

One of the guys that manages the ranch next to me had his bolt action .30-06 refurbished by his wife one Christmas so he quit carrying it in the truck and started throwing a .223 in there. He said the .223 didn't seem to knock the hogs down as hard, but it did work a bit. That should be fine for 'yotes.

Last dog I had here was a Siberian Husky so the 'yotes pretty much left it alone. One of the horses we had on our pasture here hated 'yotes. He'd put his nose about 2 inches from the ground and go after them. They gave him a wide berth.

What state you live it?

 

[Lightcs1776]

Welcome! While the majority of us are gentlemen, there are some ladies here as well. Also, while my wife doesn't participate here, she uses a DE razor, shave soaps, a brush, and enjoys shooting.

I have never hunted coyotes, but I have heard they can be a challenge. There are some fairly knowledgeable people here though.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

[simon1]

Esox had a good suggestion about getting a proper dog. My uncle has a ranch in N.E. Oklahoma and he and some other guys would take dogs out at night and hunt coyotes. There was a bounty on the ears back then. The dogs I had here before the Husky were a pair of Black Mouth Curs.

And I don't know about this being a "gentleman's" forum...I mean, look @OkieStubble.

 

[Coyotegirl]

Y'all are great, thank you. simon1: I just watched a few videos of BMC's..very impressive dog. I still miss my OEM (Old English Mastiff). She never let me out of her sight. I could clean the barn and coop and do my chores knowing she had my back. For the last few days, I have chored having to watch my back a little more then I care to. I'm too busy to be constantly analyzing every rustle in the woods, but I have to. I will not rush into a dog, I will wait for the right one. It is critical to have the right dog, with the right chemistry.
I have not yet received my AR-15. But it does not have rear sights (the one I wanted was sold out), so I have also been looking at scopes and a few other changes I know I'll prefer. I am by myself most often so have to make decisions based on what I can reasonably manage and have maximum success with. I also have an M1 Garand...it's a beast and like my .44, something I typically keep around the home area. Just not reasonable to carry constantly but it's a beautiful rifle. Still, there's just nothing like the sound of a chambering scatter gun. I think even Coyotes understand that language.
I am in GA. I do not hog hunt, but I do have a very good friend who is employed by various constituents to trap and kill them. They are like mosquitos here now and a real nuisance. I have shot them in the trap with a .22 and they drop like flies. But that's right between the eyes. I would never dream of hunting hog in the open with a .22! We *always* use the meat. Nothing is ever wasted. I have never hunted with his dogs.
It's nice to speak reasonably with people who understand the challenges of dealing with wildlife. While I understand their role in the balance of nature, they can become too numerous for even their own good. I can live next to them, but when they start coming into my yard in the daylight hours, killing my stock...I have a problem to remedy.

 

[Claudel Xerxes]

Hi All.

Welcome to B&B!

I was unaware this was a gentleman's place.

As other members have stated, this may be considered a "gentlemen's forum," but it is not exclusive to males. Anyone willing to partake in civil and polite discussion is welcome here.

This past Friday, I watched from my den window, my farm dog running across the pasture being chased by 2 coyotes. By the time I hit the front door with my .30-30 (it was sitting next to me on the couch) and squeezed off a couple of rounds, they'd nearly tore her in half. I'm no stranger to them, or hogs or anything else that lives in these woods, but the coyotes have become a real, serious problem - killing my chickens for the hell of it and now, my little girl is gone and I am left with the blisters on my hands from burying her.

My condolences. That had to have been a tough thing to go through.

I have not yet received my AR-15. But it does not have rear sights (the one I wanted was sold out), so I have also been looking at scopes and a few other changes I know I'll prefer. I am by myself most often so have to make decisions based on what I can reasonably manage and have maximum success with.

Do you know yet what you're thinking about doing to your rifle? I always love to hear about customization and personal touches.

 

[OkieStubble]

Thinning the Yote population on ones land by yourself really depends on how much acreage your spread is. Coyote's are numerous, can breed good size litter's and will/can travel long distances looking for food. Ranchers and Farmers in my neck of the woods, who have lots of open land, will advertise for vermin' and pest hunters. Most of the enjoyable hunting I do, is on vermin' and other pest critters.

These Farmers and Ranchers allow hunters to hunt their land for free, specifically for what ever problem they are having; yote or hog. Hunters will text pics to the land owners of the hogs they take and/or carcasses/tails of the yotes they kill hanging on their fence line.

If it isn't alot of land, then carrying around a smaller, lighter rifle with you like an AR while going about your day/evening and taking the opportunities to thin the pack when presented is a very good option. Thinking of using a scope, is a good idea. A folding bipod mounted up front for stability with those further shots might be a good idea as well.

 

[Lightcs1776]

Hope you stick around. My son has a Garland. It's a great rifle. What part of Georgia are you in? My folks are in Dallas, brother in Kennesaw, as well as some relatives scattered around the area. My wife and I plan on retiring around the Rome area.

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[RandyC]

Welcome!

Sorry to hear about your dog.

Sounds like you're on the right path toward payback.

Magpul makes decent rear sights depending what you want to spend, metal vs polymer. I think for what you need to do some magnification would be helpful, a Vortex Strike Eagle 1-6x maybe? 1x with the lighted reticle functions as a reflex sight and having magnification on tap helps score hits at range.

Ammo choice could also be helpful, varmint ammo that'll do more damage vs ball ammo.

Good luck!

Randy

Sent from my LG-LS998 using Tapatalk

 

[Intrigued]

Welcome to the Forum!

Please feel free to hang around for as long as you like. There are a lot of good people around here.

 

[simon1]

It's nice to speak reasonably with people who understand the challenges of dealing with wildlife. While I understand their role in the balance of nature, they can become too numerous for even their own good. I can live next to them, but when they start coming into my yard in the daylight hours, killing my stock...I have a problem to remedy.

Your place sounds about like mine. There are pros and cons to living way out, as you are fully aware of. Around here coyotes, hogs, skunks, and armadillos are to be shot on sight. Not to mention cottonmouths.

I'd also listen to what Rob (OkieStubble) has to say about sights for your new rifle. He has an affinity for the plastic combat tupperware. Not to mention his experience.

I am careful not to shoot a yellow bellied water snake...they are good. One time a water snake got in the house around a dryer vent and crawled up the back of the microwave stand and hid in a plant the wife had on top of it. They do a very good impression of a cottonmouth. We dumped the entire plant, pot and all, into a big box and I shut the lid then took it out by the pond. I couldn't see it was a water snake until I dumped it out.

Some of the pros though...Zoe the doe was in the backyard again grazing on the honeysuckle buffet today. Wagging her tail the whole time...she didn't seem to have a care in the world.

 

[sharktown]

Welcome to B&B!
This forum is not just for men although most members are. Please stick around as this is a great forum with a lot of nice people engaged in super conversation.
Very sorry to hear about your dog - its just heartbreaking to see one of the family go like that. I'm sure you will have your payback in spades!
I have not hunted coyotes but there are members here that are very experienced with them and should chime in some. I have various firearms but unfortunately not one AR so I can't help you with that much but can say I believe its the right tool for thinning the coyote population on your property.
Again, welcome to B&B!

 

[Bhugo]

Welcome. So sorry to hear about your pup.

Trapping is by far the most efficient way of getting rid of the coyote. There are a lot of laws about it, but trappers are very helpful folks for the most part. If you advertised on Craigslist or a local newspaper, maybe someone would like to trap your ranch. Just a suggestion.

Regards

 

[jar_]

One other kinda low tech possibility is a classic 5" or 6" barreled revolver. They are easier to carry around than a rifle, the longer sight radius than with the average semi helps when making distance shots and a 45 is adequate when it comes to stopping power yet not unpleasant to shoot.

 

[HARMON]

I have a fair bit of experience with coyote's and I have found that calling and baiting are the two best ways to go about taking care of them. I have trapped and snared them with limited success. Either way you go you will have to put in some time, as I have found that night is when they are most active. That's not to say you can't have success during the day, I just find my odd's go way up at night.
I use a fox Pro caller and if calling during the day I use a predator decoy along with the caller.
When baiting I use meat scraps along with the fat or cooking oil and this will sound strange, but coyote's love watermelon rinds. Here are a few older trail cam pic's from my back yard and they are eating watermelon rind's, even fox like them. I also included a pic of my budget coyote rig, Savage axis in 22-250, Mueller scope and a wicked lights, night light.