Northern Rancher said:
Calving season might have alot to do with it too-we calve a bit later when the gophers and such are out and though we have yotes in the calving fields they don't do much but steal cleanings. Maybe those 'EXT's' taste too wild for them. How can a guy in a country overrun with yotes not be packing his rifle at calving time-do they seriously send a pilot up everytime somebody loses a calf-wouldn't it be cheaper to shoot an old cow and set up over the bait.
We too have problems with coyotes but we don't let that dictate when we are going to calve. A lot of ranches are not in one nice block of land, the home place and summer pasture may be many miles away. And a lot of ranchers put cattle out to grass on private/tribal/goverment leases and need to make the most of their aum's. So having the pairs ready to ship by certain dates is important. Most poeple around here sell calves right off the cow in september/october. The extra age/weight pays off through the sale ring.
We are over run by small game but the coyotes are always looking for a easier meal. We ranch next to a Federal Wildlife Refuge and every spring the coyotes show up like clock work. We've lost one calf already as have our neibors who are serious varment hunters. They were feeding heifers in the middle of the day and caught a pair of coyotes harassing the first new pair, they shot one coyote and moved the pair and 100+ heavy heifers closer to home. The next morning another heifer had calved and coyotes had killed that calf. The one we lost was from a running age cow and these are'nt barn yard cows :!:
The trapping laws are strict about trapping near bait traps must be so for from carcass becuse of protected birds such as eagles. Spotlighting is also regulated to point of uselessness. The state or USFWLS don't give a damn about property rights here JMHO
Sixty years ago a relative rancher had a plane and killed thousands of coyotes and livestock losses were not a problem. The problem started when the anti fur folks knocked the bottom out of the fur market. The demand for fur diminished and people quit hunting them without the cash incentive.
I like to see coyotes in the country but they have to be controlled :cry2:
As far as extinction yeah right :???:
Oh yeah, same goes for mountain lions :lol:
Firearms are a whole nother issue here, kind of frowned on in this farmerized country. Although SD allows concealed carry.

Most people are too lazy or thoughtless to have protection handy every day.
Not questioning your ways Northern Rancher just my experiances/opinions in this country.