The south has long realized the effect the coyote has on their deer herds, particularly on highly managed hunting clubs.

The adaptable coyote is an invasive species in this area and should be treated as such.

The study Bean referenced showed using radio collared deer, that over a 2 year period, 73% of fawns were killed by predators (defined by coyotes and bobcats). Coyotes contributed to 82% of these deaths, bobcats 18%.

http://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/ja/ja_kilgo013.pdf

Other studies have shown that timed removal of predators before fawning is key to fawn survival. Shooting a few coyotes from the deer stand is great, but the long term effects of this on predator numbers are insignificant. Trapping is the most effective control method we have.

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Originally posted by bean:
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Originally posted by Bryan78:
[b]
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Originally posted by PoseyCoHunter:
[b] I wonder how much deer predication by coyote accounts for the loss of deer populations.
Maybe need to look into allowing year round coyote hunting for low population areas.
Probably not as much as you might think... I bet EHD kills more per year then coyotes do... [/b]
With more and more recent studies done and from what I have read and heard from biologists, coyotes are becoming more of a major factor in certain areas in deer predation. I think 76Chevy posted some info on a recent study done in SC that really showed how coyotes are hurting their deer herd. Grant Woods emailed me study done by one of his students and it showed what happened when coyotes were targeted and how id helped fawn survival. I know states are different and all with different habitat, but what from I read coyotes are becoming more and more a problem. [/b]