# REPORT ON OUR ONLY HUNT



## Hildae (Aug 15, 2012)

Size. Coyote tracks are much smaller and narrower.


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## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

I am in NY. Here in the Northeast we have a more robust coyote. These are actually coyote-wolf hybrids that hybridized in Canada. The coyotes I have seen are not small.


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Wolf prints are huge. My husband is from Idaho. Those wolves are easily 125# or more. Here in AK, ours are smaller around 100# or less due to a rougher climate. Coyote are smaller than a lot of dog breeds.

For grouse and other ground nesters, we've found here in AK, that rains at the wrong time will decimate eggs and babies. We had that happen a couple of years ago and it really lowered the amount of grouse for a couple of years. Did you by chance have that happen in the spring of 2020, rain at the wrong time?
For us rabbits (we have hares here) the population fluxuates with the amount of lynx. More lynx mean less hares. What eats your rabbits? Foxes, coyotes, bobcats, etc?


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## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Alaska7133 said:


> Wolf prints are huge. My husband is from Idaho. Those wolves are easily 125# or more. Here in AK, ours are smaller around 100# or less due to a rougher climate. Coyote are smaller than a lot of dog breeds.
> 
> For grouse and other ground nesters, we've found here in AK, that rains at the wrong time will decimate eggs and babies. We had that happen a couple of years ago and it really lowered the amount of grouse for a couple of years. Did you by chance have that happen in the spring of 2020, rain at the wrong time?
> For us rabbits (we have hares here) the population fluxuates with the amount of lynx. More lynx mean less hares. What eats your rabbits? Foxes, coyotes, bobcats, etc?


I first hunted this very area maybe 1982. I could get 15 flushes in a day. At that time it was in earlier stages of ecological succession. Now nearly 40 years later the vegetation has been replaced with other species. For example the massive grape tangles that I found them in are nearly all gone. The conifers they use for roosting are gone. I was hoping to at least find some sign because I was hunting with a newbie who wanted to try this and I wanted to show him some basics. Maybe even flush a pheasant but they are not around either.


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

gdgli said:


> I first hunted this very area maybe 1982. I could get 15 flushes in a day. At that time it was in earlier stages of ecological succession. Now nearly 40 years later the vegetation has been replaced with other species. For example the massive grape tangles that I found them in are nearly all gone. The conifers they use for roosting are gone. I was hoping to at least find some sign because I was hunting with a newbie who wanted to try this and I wanted to show him some basics. Maybe even flush a pheasant but they are not around either.


15 flushes a day is pretty amazing, I've never had that kind of experience. What kind of doggie crack is that? Must have blown their little minds!


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## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Alaska7133 said:


> 15 flushes a day is pretty amazing, I've never had that kind of experience. What kind of doggie crack is that? Must have blown their little minds!


You have no idea how great it was. Too bad my shooting was so poor.


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## cwag (Apr 25, 2017)

I think we have those coyote wolves around here in Virginia. Two trotted right past my garage not far from Rukie's fenced area. I was out with him after dark. They were bigger than Rukie. He didn't pay any attention to them. I yelled and one just looked back and kept going. I've seen smaller coyotes before but those definitely had a wolfish look.


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

cwag said:


> I think we have those coyote wolves around here in Virginia. Two trotted right past my garage not far from Rukie's fenced area. I was out with him after dark. They were bigger than Rukie. He didn't pay any attention to them. I yelled and one just looked back and kept going. I've seen smaller coyotes before but those definitely had a wolfish look.


Do you have wolves in Virginia now? I know many places have had them started up again by federal fish and game. Those wolves in Idaho are beyond amazing in size. They are very long legged and very tall. 
Coyotes can also breed with dogs. Hard to say what you saw in Virginia. Anything odd here, fish and game will try get DNA to determine what it is. Especially when we had wolves killed and ate a jogger a few years ago. Fish and game was hoping it was dogs and not wolves. It was definitely wolves that killed and ate her.


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## cwag (Apr 25, 2017)

Well I had to look that up. There are no wolves in Virginia. I had heard coywolves had migrated south but the article I found said not to Virginia.
So I don't know what we have here. My daughter in law's father is a big outdoor hunter type very familiar with coyotes and he's seen them too. He said they were big and unafraid of people. He keeps a gun handy. The pictures I just saw showed some coyotes that were bigger and fluffier than I thought. I have seen some scrawny mangy looking ones before. So maybe they are just big coyotes. They all scare me no matter what they are.


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

There is a small population of red wolves in North Carolina. Some people say they've bred heavily with coyotes and are no longer pure wolf.


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## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

OK, this is what I saw. Tracks in a straight line and a line in the snow from the low hanging tail.


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Wolf prints would be about 4 times or so the size of a golden retriever print. Maybe 6 times the size. Wolves have enormous feet.


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## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Alaska7133 said:


> Wolf prints would be about 4 times or so the size of a golden retriever print. Maybe 6 times the size. Wolves have enormous feet.


Yes, I Googled images for footprints. I have only seen wolves in zoos.


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

In the southeast, our coyotes are not small. I don't let my dog out of sight when we hike because of them.


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## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

nolefan said:


> In the southeast, our coyotes are not small. I don't let my dog out of sight when we hike because of them.


I feel as you do. The coyotes I have seen are large and a bit robust. I watch my dogs too.


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