Fawn and poult killer down

[Troubles Trees]

I have had a terrible time this year on my land and at my house. I had 2 doe that toted 3 fawns behind them this spring, I saw them several times per day together and was a common occurrence. Twice I saw a coyote stalking them on my mowed paths, by the time I grabbed the gun was already in the goldenrod so I raced on the hill with my 4wheeler in an effort to chase the coyote off and give the fawns another chance. For about a week now I only see the 2 doe so at this point I am fairly certain the coyote won this time.
I had 4 Guinea Hens at my house for tick and flea control mostly. 1 night my daughter could only get 2 of them in the coop and a fox killed the 2 that wouldn't cooperate. One night last week I caught a coon trying to break into the coup, I boarded up the drop down doors that used to be use used to retrieve the chicken eggs when it was a chicken coup. Over the weekend he came back and literally ripped the hinges off and broke the plywood access door and dragged one Guinea out, feathers everywhere. So I completely covered the doors with wood and chicken wire and put a trailcam on it to monitor. This morning I went out and the ******* thing literally dug a hole in the side of the coup through the CDX and killed the last Guinea, this time on the other side of the coup that the trailcam cant see and no pics on the cam.
I understand the circle of life and the food chain but hate to see my little ones, that I plant everything to help survive, get taken out of the circle.

 

[j-bird]

Nothing will make me stop everything I am doing like an opportunity to bust a yote! I'll knock down old ladies and little kids if I have too... I may not kill everyone of them I shoot at....but I send a message that they are not welcome. I also show little mercy to coons, possum, skunks, groundhogs.....turns out my 22-250 is "woke" and doesn't discriminate!

 

[ACCMan]

I have had a terrible time this year on my land and at my house. I had 2 doe that toted 3 fawns behind them this spring, I saw them several times per day together and was a common occurrence. Twice I saw a coyote stalking them on my mowed paths, by the time I grabbed the gun was already in the goldenrod so I raced on the hill with my 4wheeler in an effort to chase the coyote off and give the fawns another chance. For about a week now I only see the 2 doe so at this point I am fairly certain the coyote won this time.
I had 4 Guinea Hens at my house for tick and flea control mostly. 1 night my daughter could only get 2 of them in the coop and a fox killed the 2 that wouldn't cooperate. One night last week I caught a coon trying to break into the coup, I boarded up the drop down doors that used to be use used to retrieve the chicken eggs when it was a chicken coup. Over the weekend he came back and literally ripped the hinges off and broke the plywood access door and dragged one Guinea out, feathers everywhere. So I completely covered the doors with wood and chicken wire and put a trailcam on it to monitor. This morning I went out and the ******* thing literally dug a hole in the side of the coup through the CDX and killed the last Guinea, this time on the other side of the coup that the trailcam cant see and no pics on the cam.
I understand the circle of life and the food chain but hate to see my little ones, that I plant everything to help survive, get taken out of the circle.

Get a couple of dogproof traps, bait with catfood and plug it with a big marshmello to keep ants out. He'll be handcuffed and waiting for you. I have caught coons, possums and grey foxes in the dogproofs.

 

[Troubles Trees]

Nothing will make me stop everything I am doing like an opportunity to bust a yote! I'll knock down old ladies and little kids if I have too... I may not kill everyone of them I shoot at....but I send a message that they are not welcome. I also show little mercy to coons, possum, skunks, groundhogs.....turns out my 22-250 is "woke" and doesn't discriminate!

I absolutely love that description and feel the same way bud!! I am at work so I was in a hurry typing all that, I did shoot shoot a female red fox that was stalking my last 2 Guinea Hens. When I walked up to it I realized it had 2 mice in its mouth while it was stalking my Guinea's. Must have been really hungry lol
I know living out in the country like I do I am at higher risk of these problems, I just didn't think anything would tear a hole through 3/8" CDX or I would have wrapped the whole coup with chicken wire.
This is how I learn from my mistakes.

 

[bjseiler]

I know living out in the country like I do I am at higher risk of these problems, I just didn't think anything would tear a hole through 3/8" CDX or I would have wrapped the whole coup with chicken wire.
This is how I learn from my mistakes.

Lost 3 chickens early this spring to raccoons in the chicken tractor. DP traps out ever since then. Caught an opossum last week under a hay wagon. Shot it with my .17 mach 2. Waited a bit. Still moving. Shot again. Then again. I don't want to have to admit how man "and agains" there really are here but many...... Eventually got a different angle on it because it was wrapped around behind a tire. Shot it again and it rolled over. It was a mother and there were little ones in the pouch. I thought I was dealing with an indestructible animal for a while there. Mom was dead on the first shot but the littles kept moving the body.

Might seem cruel. The look on my children's face as I pulled chicken parts out of the chicken tractor when the raccoons got the first 3 justifies it for me.

 

[SwampCat]

I removed over 40 coons last spring with dog proof traps. Went after them again this spring - but admittedly, not as many coons to start with. Caught four or five and then they stopped getting caught. Game cam set on video shows beyond a doubt, the survivors are just avoiding the trap. You can bait with anything from sardines to marshmallows, and most coons just walk on by without even giving the trap a second glance.

i was seeing a few fawns a couple of weeks ago. Now, none. I believe it is primarily bobcats. The number of bobcats at my place has sky rocketed. Used to have three times as many yote pictures as cats. Now, the other way around. Three cats have been run over in the last three months within a 1/4 mile of my house. Not really sure what has brought on the explosion in bobcats - but it has happened at my place.

 

[SwampCat]

My four year old Grand daughter really enjoys the trapping

 

[Natty Bumppo]

Great pic and great memories Swamp Cat.

Got a question for your guys who trap a lot. I am fortunate to not have many, if any, racoons or possums. No groundhogs. A fox or bobcat every now and then. I know nothing about trapping. When you trap 10, 20, 30, 40 animals a year what do you do with them? Are you guys skinning and selling the pelts? Coyote bait?

 

[SwampCat]

Great pic and great memories Swamp Cat.

Got a question for your guys who trap a lot. I am fortunate to not have many, if any, racoons or possums. No groundhogs. A fox or bobcat every now and then. I know nothing about trapping. When you trap 10, 20, 30, 40 animals a year what do you do with them? Are you guys skinning and selling the pelts? Coyote bait?

Our state used to require you do something with the fur when there was "merchantable fur". Our G&F has recently done one of the best things for landowner wildlife managers that they have ever done - created a "predator control permit". A free permit, that allows private landowners to trap/shoot predators on their own land or lease, year round, 24 hours a day, and dispose of the carcass as they see fit. Our southern fur is no longer merchantable - cant give a coon hide away. They end up in the ditch, like a crow or a coyote.

 

[Rit]

My four year old Grand daughter really enjoys the trapping

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That is amazing. I have a four year old daughter and we too trap many coons. Although we just use a standard cage trap. She ask to check the trap at least a dozen times a day. If she is up late she always reminds me to check or set the trap. When we catch one (a dozen so far this Spring) she rides with me in the UTV. On the first few I always made her turn around when I shot it. One day she ask me why she couldn’t watch. I really had no good reason so from that day on she watches me shoot it. One well placed pellet out of a high powered air rifle does the trick for me. Sounds like your granddaughter enjoys it as much as my daughter. My favorite part of it is that she gives me a play by play all the way out to field on how the raccoon is trying to escape.

 

[Rit]

Great pic and great memories Swamp Cat.

Got a question for your guys who trap a lot. I am fortunate to not have many, if any, racoons or possums. No groundhogs. A fox or bobcat every now and then. I know nothing about trapping. When you trap 10, 20, 30, 40 animals a year what do you do with them? Are you guys skinning and selling the pelts? Coyote bait?

I take mine out to the field shoot them and let the crows eat them.

 

[Mozark]

I almost feel bad I had to finish the job with a 45, well....almost

 

[ACCMan]

Good job. I took out another 20 coons, 9 possum and a yote off my property. I trapped 40 nuisance beaver this year, One colony built their lodge on the rear of

a pontoon boat moored to the bank of a pond.

 

[Mozark]

Great job on the beaver, I only caught one. Not sure if the fish smelled like beaver or if the beaver smelled like fish.

 

[buckdeer1]

You guys that can trap in spring are lucky.Coons ans beavers are considered a furbearer hear so we have a season.

 

[Ruffdude]

Worst nest predator is the raccoon by miles. I'm a volunteer woodcock bander for my states DNR and studies show this. Trail cam observation of nests by students doing field work studies has provided the data.
I think black bears kill a lot of fawns in the Great Lakes region, sure coyotes do too but bears are hell on newborn fawns.

 

[yoderjac]

Worst nest predator is the raccoon by miles. I'm a volunteer woodcock bander for my states DNR and studies show this. Trail cam observation of nests by students doing field work studies has provided the data.
I think black bears kill a lot of fawns in the Great Lakes region, sure coyotes do too but bears are hell on newborn fawns.

Holds true for our area too.

 

[SwampCat]

In the south, Coons worst nest predator on turkey nests, rat snakes probably worse on quail nests. Crows and bluejays are also severe nest predators before hen starts setting. Possums get more than their fair share, too. - as do feral hogs.

I had an employee who worked for me one time on a yellow breasted chat nesting study - and bears got several of those nests. It is amazing to me when you think of a turkey nest - eggs forty days on the ground. How that nest escapes detection by a myriad predators is beyond me.

 

[yoderjac]

In the south, Coons worst nest predator on turkey nests, rat snakes probably worse on quail nests. Crows and bluejays are also severe nest predators before hen starts setting. Possums get more than their fair share, too. - as do feral hogs.

I had an employee who worked for me one time on a yellow breasted chat nesting study - and bears got several of those nests. It is amazing to me when you think of a turkey nest - eggs forty days on the ground. How that nest escapes detection by a myriad predators is beyond me.

Shows the importance of having good nesting cover proximate to good brooding cover. From the time a hen lays an egg, the chances of that egg making it to adulthood are very tiny. When a poult hits about 2 weeks old and can fly up to roost at night, its chances of surviving to adulthood improve vastly. The better the nesting cover and the shorter distance that hen had to travel to brooding ground the better for the population.

We complain about predators, but by far, the largest driver of turkey populations, at least from the Mason Dixon line south, is spring weather. Winter may begin to compete as a factor when you get far enough north.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[SwampCat]

Actually, as far as nest survival, wet weather isnt that important of a direct cause of nest failure - but wet weather is responsible for “wet hen syndrome”. Wet hens give off more scent, resulting in increased detection of the nest by predators. Tall Timbers Plantation in Florida says wet conditions dont have much effect on quail nesting success unless it is hurricane like rains.

As far as nest predation in the south goes, predation is the number one direct cause of nest failure. Not to say that wet weather doesnt increase the detection rate. If you have not listened to the Meateater Podcast on turkey management, with Dr Chamberlain, it can be pretty eye opening. They were once doing a study on nesting hens and relationships of predators in the area and had telemetry equipment on several hen turkeys, a gray fox or two, and several coons. A pair of great horned owls killed them all - turkeys, coons, and foxes. Great horned owls can be death on turkey poults once they take to the trees. In the biggest turkey nesting study in my home state, a five year study - two of the years saw not a single successful nest - due mainly to nest predation. Coons and black rat snakes were the most common egg predators.