I’m not saying it’s inaccurate, but it Oklahoma ranks second to last in coyote population, just ahead of Delaware. It’s difficult to gauge population by state since state sizes vary, which skews the numbers. I’d like to find a reliable source that documents coyote density per square mile.
I often hear the phrase, “You just hunt in an area overrun with coyotes.”
OKRattler, do you think our area is truly overrun with coyotes? How often do you see one while driving down the road?
I live in the country and commute an hour to work Monday through Friday. My route takes me through some of the land I hunt, often in the early morning when coyotes are most active. I’m constantly scanning the fields, and while I do spot them occasionally, it’s only one every few months. We have a solid coyote population, but only a fraction of them have never encountered hunters. Even those that haven’t been called before have established social structures that shape their behavior—some are naturally more timid, others more bold. But to suggest that coyotes from one region are inherently more intelligent than those from another? I personally don’t see any probable basis for that.
Even in areas with a higher coyote density, habitat largely determines how many can be sustained—aside from outliers like feedlots or carcass piles. Personally, I’d rather hunt more open terrain with fewer coyotes than thick, brushy areas along rivers where their numbers might be higher. In open areas, I can set up my stands to create better shooting opportunities. In contrast, coyotes in dense cover get conditioned more quickly—not necessarily because they’re smarter, but because they’re easier to call in yet harder to see. Many hunters call in thick areas and assume nothing responded, when in reality, the coyotes came in, but they never saw them— the coyotes already got their wind from a previous hunt and are just not buying what they are selling...
