Denning season ethics

If there is a predation issue either at the farm or in a hunting area then by all means I will do what needs to be done to kill the problem animals.
When it comes to summer time hunting for fun though I have self imposed grace period for "sporting" reasons. When I first started calling a buddy and I killed a female and 2 10 lb pups and that really soured me for summer hunting. I have too much respect for these critters to be hunting them down as babies.
 
I've watched this "same" post come up every single spring without fail, sometimes it goes well and sometimes it gets a little heated. It's a clash of morals and predator management with important talking points to both sides. I can only speak for myself but one of the things I learned as I aged was there's definitely 2 sides to this debate and sometimes it's a challenge to be respectful of others stance and opinions.

For me and where I live, our deer and small game population isn't in any jeopardy and I'm yet to meet a rancher that's had a coyote kill a calf. If either of those was a legitimate issue than I would have zero issues to eliminate the problem.

That said I actually enjoy hunting adult coyotes that are cunning, wary and vocal at times. I enjoy matching witts with seasoned adults and the accomplishment of outsmarting them. I don't enjoy the thought or risk of killing parents that are very easy to call when rearing and the pups dying of dehydration and starvation in the den resulting in a very long and miserable death. Calling very young pups is like shooting fish in a barrel and I don't get any feeling of accomplishment from it.

The moral side of me wins and I leave them alone from spring until fall then it's game on, what others choose to do is there decisions and that also is as important as mine, even though we might not agree.
 
I shoot mangey ones any time of year if I see them whether big or small but I don't seek them out. I start calling in November and go until the end of February. As for the mangey coyotes I view it as the pups will end up with it if their parents have it and the end result will be the same no matter what. The only difference is if they survive they'll just infect other healthy coyotes with it.
 
Interesting topic, I leave them alone too now until winter. I remember years ago out "practice" wing shooting with my shotgun on blackbirds when I came upon some fox kit. I shot one of them before they went back in the den. I felt like an idiot after and vowed never to do that again.
 
May get some hate, but cute babies grow up to be adults. To me it’s all a mindset. I look at removing predators as a job and a benefit to the prey, no matter their age. Yes, it’s all part of nature, but when folks want to pay you to make it happen, you make it happen. Some folks just can’t justify it, some can.
 
Spurchaser said:
May get some hate, but cute babies grow up to be adults. To me it’s all a mindset. I look at removing predators as a job and a benefit to the prey, no matter their age. Yes, it’s all part of nature, but when folks want to pay you to make it happen, you make it happen. Some folks just can’t justify it, some can.
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And honestly I think that's the root of the "argument" if predator management is the main goal then you are %100 right in that to properly manage populations a guy needs to stay at it all times of the year.
For recreational hunters like many of us its fine to quit hunting for moral reasons.
 
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The subject will always come up. If it is legal and you don't have any qualms shooting coyotes then, go for it. The the only thing, I wouldn't brag on it or post pics of dead pups or lactating females. It only gives antis more ammo and you could get regulated right out of hunting them at all.

If you kill them in the winter they can't have pups in the spring.
 
about 15 years ago i found a coyote den while hunting groundhogs. i sat and watched the little pups run and play. all my buddies said go kill them or tell us where its at and we will do it.

i didnt do either one. i left them alone. i would do the same thing today....they were tiny, about groundhog size
 
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