Hunting

Coyote populations are directly related to prey populations. Rabbits for instance. Rabbit population is high, coyote population is high. Then as the coyote population increases, the rabbit population decreases. It’s cyclical.
We had a huge rabbit population this spring and summer and now are seeing coyotes almost daily. The cameras in my backyard are constantly seeing them also. And now this fall we rarely see a rabbit.

The coyotes pee in our backyard every night and it drives our dogs crazy

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thome50 said:
Do you get their pelt or are you just trying to get rid of them as predators?
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I try to be as least wasteful as possible. Every animal I harvest whether it be hunting or trapping I try to do as much with it as possible.

When it comes to predator trapping I take the pelt, the skull to euro mount (I now have so many coon and foxes that ive been selling them to people who do crafts or want them for decorations.) I also remove scent glands from the foxes to make lure and use the meat from different critters as bait.

Matterhorn said:
Give a listen or find a copy of Coyote America by Dan Flores. An in depth history of how the federal government tried to exterminate them multiple times without success. They finally realized that coyotes can regulate their litter size based on the availability of resources and the needs of the pack. So they'd kill off a bunch and then those that were left would have huge litters to replace the losses. The government eventually gave up after needlessly killing off millions of coyotes (and other animals) and contaminating the environment with their shit techniques.

Amazing creatures worthy of more respect than they get.
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Yotes are the only thing in PA that have no closed season or limit in which you can kill them on site during any other hunting season including Sundays and night time.

They are becoming increasingly popular though as this year I heard more fellow hunters than ever complaining about getting pics of fawns being eaten by them and seeing mature otherwise healthy deer being chased by packs.
 
Stakem said:
I try to be as least wasteful as possible. Every animal I harvest whether it be hunting or trapping I try to do as much with it as possible.

When it comes to predator trapping I take the pelt, the skull to euro mount (I now have so many coon and foxes that ive been selling them to people who do crafts or want them for decorations.) I also remove scent glands from the foxes to make lure and use the meat from different critters as bait.



Yotes are the only thing in PA that have no closed season or limit in which you can kill them on site during any other hunting season including Sundays and night time.

They are becoming increasingly popular though as this year I heard more fellow hunters than ever complaining about getting pics of fawns being eaten by them and seeing mature otherwise healthy deer being chased by packs.
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tell me about your organ meat recipies


want to try kidneys and lung first
 
PA has a 3 week trapping season for a limit of 1 bobcat and im going all in on trying to get one this year.

Ive had them on my property in years past but have not seen one in several years. However, it snowed a couple days ago and ill be damned if I didnt find some bobcat tracks around my property.

With the same snow, I also located a rocky out cropping by a hollow in state gamelands I hunt where I also found tracks in addition to another gamelands spot I was scouting for deer and got a monster bobcat showing up frequently on trail cam.

Over the weekend I started making preparations for the one site. I built 2 small cubbies and added some bobcat gland lure as well as tossed some tainted deer scraps inside the cubbies. My hope is to let them get comfortable and enjoy some free meals before I set the traps this weekend.

I dont think I can set traps in all the locations I want to. There simply isnt enough time in a day for how far I need to walk to all these locations. The only easy place I can ride my 4-wheeler to is my own property but the 3 places in the state gamelands/forest are 45 minutes, an hour and 1.5 hour walks 1-way respectively.

I think im gonna break it down with having my own property set the entire time and then try each gamelands spot for a week. If I dont get one the first week, bump to the next spot for a week, etc.

Considering I have to walk in each day with all my gear to potentially reset traps that have gone off or caught unintended species, im planning on taking an extra trap with me each day to make an additional set to check. I also have to carry waxed dirt in with me to make these sets as the forecast is showing temps in single digits which is gonna make these damn traps freeze and not fire when stepped on if I dont do it right.
 
Stakem said:
PA has a 3 week trapping season for a limit of 1 bobcat and im going all in on trying to get one this year.

Ive had them on my property in years past but have not seen one in several years. However, it snowed a couple days ago and ill be damned if I didnt find some bobcat tracks around my property.

With the same snow, I also located a rocky out cropping by a hollow in state gamelands I hunt where I also found tracks in addition to another gamelands spot I was scouting for deer and got a monster bobcat showing up frequently on trail cam.

Over the weekend I started making preparations for the one site. I built 2 small cubbies and added some bobcat gland lure as well as tossed some tainted deer scraps inside the cubbies. My hope is to let them get comfortable and enjoy some free meals before I set the traps this weekend.

I dont think I can set traps in all the locations I want to. There simply isnt enough time in a day for how far I need to walk to all these locations. The only easy place I can ride my 4-wheeler to is my own property but the 3 places in the state gamelands/forest are 45 minutes, an hour and 1.5 hour walks 1-way respectively.

I think im gonna break it down with having my own property set the entire time and then try each gamelands spot for a week. If I dont get one the first week, bump to the next spot for a week, etc.

Considering I have to walk in each day with all my gear to potentially reset traps that have gone off or caught unintended species, im planning on taking an extra trap with me each day to make an additional set to check. I also have to carry waxed dirt in with me to make these sets as the forecast is showing temps in single digits which is gonna make these damn traps freeze and not fire when stepped on if I dont do it right.
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‘Waxin the dirt’, was something I first uttered last year when helping prepare some traps. Also a great euphemism for the buried.
 
Bobcats have been crazy moving in our parts, been wild how cyclical nature gets. I’m fully expecting a shit load of bears next year.
 
Few weeks with no hog sightings on camera then a couple days ago we had several hogs on both. Guess they’re swinging back thru our land. Baited yesterday and caught him last night. Young boar but already at 200lbs. Your typical Russian style boar vs some of the mixed breeds we’ve trapped earlier this year. I have one front shoulder in the fridge to smoke tomorrow.. rest of him is going into Andouille sausage.

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A massive sow this morning in the trap. Didn’t try to get a weight but it put yesterday’s boar to shame. Thought she was pregnant at first but when I cleaned her it was a good fat layer. A drop in the population bucket, but eliminating sows and their future litters always helps.

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FATC1TY said:
Bobcats have been crazy moving in our parts, been wild how cyclical nature gets. I’m fully expecting a shit load of bears next year.
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I cant get away from porcupines this year. All sorts of different places/terrain and im coming across them like never before.

Which I suppose means the fisher might have a bump in food source/population here in the coming years.
 
I had an incredible time hunting yesterday on the last day of the Canadian goose hunting season here in PA.

A buddy of mine is a prolific waterfowl hunter and I did not hesitate when they asked me to join them on a hunt. 5 of us limited out and one of the birds was banded- it got its bling 150 miles away 4 years ago.

My oldest memory of hunting is from a time before I could legally hunt. I would sit in a blind with my brother, father and grandpa and watch them shoot at ducks and geese. Nothing I witnessed with them would have prepared me for what we got into yesterday.

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Stakem said:
I had an incredible time hunting yesterday on the last day of the Canadian goose hunting season here in PA.

A buddy of mine is a prolific waterfowl hunter and I did not hesitate when they asked me to join them on a hunt. 5 of us limited out and one of the birds was banded- it got its bling 150 miles away 4 years ago.

My oldest memory of hunting is from a time before I could legally hunt. I would sit in a blind with my brother, father and grandpa and watch them shoot at ducks and geese. Nothing I witnessed with them would have prepared me for what we got into yesterday.

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Thank you for your service
 
Stakem said:
I had an incredible time hunting yesterday on the last day of the Canadian goose hunting season here in PA.

A buddy of mine is a prolific waterfowl hunter and I did not hesitate when they asked me to join them on a hunt. 5 of us limited out and one of the birds was banded- it got its bling 150 miles away 4 years ago.

My oldest memory of hunting is from a time before I could legally hunt. I would sit in a blind with my brother, father and grandpa and watch them shoot at ducks and geese. Nothing I witnessed with them would have prepared me for what we got into yesterday.

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They actually make great meat sticks
 
Jimctin said:
They actually make great meat sticks
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I ended up taking almost half the birds home with me as 2 of the guys were not interested in cleaning/eating them. I was in complete disbelief.

Apparently they all kill and donate to a couple people who make sticks of all varieties. I hear jalapeño and cheese is a big hit?

I breasted them out have them them vac sealed to prepare in the future. I also took the legs off and have them segregated with the intent to slow cook them to make a sort of pulled honker tacos.

And just cuz, I have all the hearts in a bag that im either gonna slice and pan fry in butter like I usually do or might get fancy and stuff them with something before wrapping in bacon.

So many options
 
Season opened saturday but been too busy to get out until today!

This rock only had 2 at it last year. I stopped counting after 10 today. 4 on top sun bathing and then many around and under it on all sides. I didnt bother handling any of them but one of them caught my eye that I might go back for at a later date to measure.

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Stakem said:
Season opened saturday but been too busy to get out until today!

This rock only had 2 at it last year. I stopped counting after 10 today. 4 on top sun bathing and then many around and under it on all sides. I didnt bother handling any of them but one of them caught my eye that I might go back for at a later date to measure.

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There’s a couple large nope ropes in that pile
 
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