Thank you. Lol reminds me recently one of the guys at work went caribou hunting . I told him good luck, and he replied "I don't need good luck me son, when I go out there I make things happen". He didn't see a thing all week (no caribou)
Where do coyotes sleep during the day?
- Thread starter BJJ223
- Start date
A territorial boundry can be anywhere or any structure or just a swath of ground, ect. Such as a creek, drainage ditch, open valley, fence line, ect. When I try to determine boundry areas. I notice where I continually seen an alpha pair. Their yearlings & where I don't see them, specifically. In my hunt areas from what I have seen. Those marked territories are roughly a 1/4 mile swath. Now can that no man's land differ in width? I'm sure it probably does. Over the years as I've tried to understand the coyotes. Sometimes we will never know the REAL truth of the matter. We theorize & make our best guess. I happen to believe. The most experienced hunter in the World. Of a specific animal. Does his/her fare share of guesswork. As that hunter tries to understand his/her quarry.
Great post. Maybe I’m trying to make a nice, tidy, structure to everything when it’s not really like that. Unless you have tons of them collared and the data for all of them which matches up perfectly how would a hunter even know that info? Kind of gotta go by where you see them and where you don’t, they stay on this side of the creek, and some probable guesses to fill in the blanks
Many years ago, I was given access to a data dump of GPS collared coyotes, on the grounds of the Idaho Nuclear Laboratory. With alpha and beta individuals specified. I was given access to offer my opinion. It all lined up with what I already thought. Coyotes don't really have any rules and they just do what they need to do to survive and when they aren't in pure survival mode they just do whatever in the heck they apparently feel like doing. Those coyotes had well defined core, or home areas. But they criss crossed each others home or core areas apparently whenever they felt like it. In particular, one alpha female that had her den pretty far from water crossed the territories of three other alpha pairs twice a day, every day, going to water. During denning season. When supposedly coyotes are at their most territorial posture.
My simple opinion. People want to WAY over think this stuff. And no matter what you come up with, there is going to be a healthy percentage of the coyote population that doesn't go along with your theory. Some coyotes are kind of timid. Some are quite bold. Some are super paranoid of anything new, others don't seem to notice. Some remember, some forget. There just aren't any hard fast rules. Not any. None.
- DAA
spotstalkshoot
Well-known member
In the winter section roads(here in my area) are cleared with graders and plow trucks with wing blades. Those wings will scrape the grass down to lawnmower height on field approaches. That "cut" and snow removal must drive the male coyote crazy because they will scratch and pee them up the first night after snow maintenance. If you know what to look for and when the road was cleared it is useful information(location). Don't often see tracks from 2 different males, unless breeding season is close. Occasionally a female will scratch, but the "V" is smaller and the pee pattern of course is different.
The radio collard info is interesting. (Prior to & after breeding season). Which from what I have observed. I've seen very little trespassing of nomadic/transient coyotes that were not paired up yet. I also agree with much of your opinion. On individual coyote behaviors, as to passive or aggressive behaviors, ect. They all have similar behaviors to an extent. Such as how they utilize the wind. Such as; when/where they bed down for the day depending on wind direction...Speaking of another behavior. Prior to & after breeding season. I've seen where a few males. Routinely trespassed on neighboring territories. One male that was paired up with a small female. I believe that male had domestic dog in his blood line. Because he was massive compared to the size of the typical (30-35lb for example)male coyote. He also had a firm paw print in snow. That was right at 4" long. Another oddity about his paw prints. Was his two outer toes pads, were different shaped from the inner two.
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Above is a pair of territorial coyotes. They are bedded down on the down wind/(Leeward side) of the snow drifted fence line(wind at their back side). They are bedded down 1/4 mile from the road I stopped on. And they are 1/2 way down the side of a large hill. You could add ground cover or timber to this picture. And it wouldn't change their behavior. It is in grained in their DNA to do what they do considering wind direction. Which by the way. Has ZERO to do with whether the Sun is shining or not.
DoubleLungRage
Well-known member
I have seen coyotes get to a hedge row and act like there was an invisible wall in front of them. They would not cross that line for anything. I've actually seen this multiple times. So I would say that some coyotes are extremely territorial. I've been doing more studying on coyote behavior and travel. I definitely believe that some have their kingdoms then some are roamers.
I concur. Once a pair mates. Typically one of them already has a territory from what I have observed. Once that territory is taken over by a mated pair. They tend to stay within it's marked boundries. However, One of that pair, if very dominant. Will routinely trespass on another pairs territory. I've witnessed that from a few pairs. One of which the male counterpart was extremely large. I've seen him 3x & he was massive. I killed one of his yearlings one day. Part of their territory was owned by some sheep farmers & they were slaughtering their sheep. Not eating much of those kills. Just spree killing. That yearling was large & had weird fur coloration. I hit him in one of his front legs as he was on the fly one day. The next day I walked back into that same area. And there he lay balled up sleeping around 300 yards from me. So I went prone & hammered him. 2 solid hits to the chest & gut. Both bullets hit side by side. The double exit wounds about cut him in 1/2. 95gr 243 cal
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