Coyote hunters, I need some help.

[Pydpiper]

My local paper has been doing a article run on coyotes the past couple weeks, the original article is from a farmer who does dog drives for coyotes, he also identified himself as "the only coyote hunter around" then went to a fear tactic. His goal is to form a committee to organize drives, and derive his budget from our township, this particular guy also happens to be running for counsel. Part of his plan includes "live snaring" and relocation, relocating is legal, about as dumb of an idea as a guy could come up with, but legal. The "live snaring" part is very illegal, I spoke to the MNR this morning about this, they had submitted a request for all publications from the newspaper by the time I got there with my letter this morning.
My goal is to offer an alternative for farmers, I do wildlife control for a living, most of my coyote calls come from the MNR, or at least as a referral, I do not have the time to deal with every call.
I would like to compile list of hunters who would be willing to work with farmers for coyote control. I will be able to help each person gain access to land they wouldn't normally be able to access, usually for a one shot deal. I will be attending a counsel meeting on Wednesday to introduce an alternative when this comes up, 9:45 am.
If you are interested in having your name added to the list please email me with some information, the WMU you live and how far you are willing to travel. I will not share the submitted names/information with anyone.
pydpiper(at)gmail.com

Here is the letter that I wrote, it will be run in next weeks paper:

I have been following the letters and articles being submitted and thought I would share another perspective on our current situation.
As an avid hunter and outdoorsman I too have noticed an increase in predator populations, as a business owner I have been afforded the luxury of sitting at many spam tables to discuss this very issue. I own and operate nuisance wildlife and control company that operates in this area, and have for over 10 years. The majority of my business is done in a humane fashion, including live trapping and repairing any damage that may have been caused. I also deal with predators; my company offers this service at no charge to my customers. Nuisance wildlife control is not a hobby for me, it is full time work, I am on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I spend my days in an unmarked service vehicle going from various homes, farms and businesses armed with every tool needed to remove unwanted wildlife quickly and discreetly. I am also welcomed on many farms that in other situations simply do not allow hunters.
An unpressured coyote only has a range of about 3-4 kilometers, in that area it is very aware of what is happening in respect to its food and water supply, shelter and can become quite habitual. I am not convinced that driving those animals off of that particular comfort zone with other dogs is the route that needs to be taken. The coyotes that are missed by the hunters have been pushed to an unfamiliar area and forced to seek out new food and water supplies, as well as shelter. These areas often turn out to be barns or other man made structures. In more than one situation, after a bit of discussion, I learn that someone in the family is putting food out to feed stray cats or other animals, this is also a major contributor to the issue of predators encroaching populated areas.
The Ontario Ministry of natural resources recommends a maximum relocation distance of one kilometer, although not written in stone there is good logic behind that number. It is to prevent the spreading of disease from one area to another in a manner that Mother Nature could not do on her own, or is ecologically prepared to sustain. For an animal known to run a fairly large area, you had best drive fast once you release the animal; it is likely to beat you back home. The idea of a “live release” program is only there to satisfy those who insist that no animals are to be hurt and gain their support. As far as “live snaring”, the township will soon find out that this is not a legal activity on this particular species. Home owners have rights that exceed that of an average hunter when it comes to nuisance wildlife, as a licensed term agent for the Ontario MNR I can assume the rights of the homeowner once I arrive to deal with property protection issues.
In my experience the most efficient way of dealing with these animals it to hunt them where they live, hunt them on their own land opposed to moving them to someone else’s. My calls are fairly routine, the farmer will describe where and when he sees the coyote(s), I show up at that time and dispatch them, often in less than an hour. I dispatched 78 coyotes in 2009 using that technique, no dogs, no groups of people, no fee. There are hundreds and hundreds of predator hunters in our area that are willing to come and deal with coyotes in a similar fashion. Admittedly, gaining access permission to a farm is becoming harder each year, I have found a few reasons for this in the past, one is that there are a lot of people out there who do not realize the importance of population control, and it pains me to say that the other reason is that the farmer has had a bad experience with a hunter or group of hunters in the past.
I believe the township should explore other options for the control of these animals; there are better methods than transporting the problem in the back of a van or shifting the coyotes to the next farm with a group of dogs.
Sincerely,
David Lawrence, ACS Animal Control Systems.

[one shot scott]

You should have no problem getting names! If I had a yote gun I would jump at the chance! Good luck with this pyd.

[lscha]

I'll start looking for real estate in Canada.

[MADMAX2]

Moving them is not the answer that is for sure!!

[bearclan]

Count me in- gun or crossbow whatever situation calls for

[dutchhunter]

the last thing we need is a bunch of farmers setting snares .no goodf can come of this for sure .as far as moving yotes to another area that is a joke .there is not to many places that do not have ther own to deal with .trapping and hunting is the only way to deal with them effectivlly .good hunting dogs is the most reliable method of hunting yotes .calling can be effective but not nearly as good as running hounds .from what i hear and have seen most guys that go out to call yotes i to shot have a one in ten chance of harvesting the yotes .trappers could do a big part in control of ypotes but a lot of people are against killing so getting permision is the biggest problem most hunter and trappers face .DUTCH

[DesertRat]

If you need a hard core coyote killer, I am right here. I believe in "smokin a pack a day"!

[vixenmaster]

Pydpiper i knowed abit about running Yotes with Hounds. When i was much younger & in better shape we had Walkers in Ms. We would turn packs loose at nite & kill with shotguns those Yotes that we caught up with. Many were great races & fighting with our Hounds. Yotes are like tick toters they will run in big loops fer miles. You hardly ever can run one out & it not be back the next nite or 2. Dang stinking varmits!

[Boo]

Coming to my neighborhood David? There are yodie sightings and a report of an attempted attack today!

[Dumbazz]

Dutch is right....around Southern Ontario, coyote hunting by calling is not gonna put much of a dent in the population. It is a ton of fun though.

Running them with hounds is the way to do it, but can open up a whole other bunch of problems.

Live snaring and transferring them...ya that will work, NOT!!

[Vormax]

Not that I like the WellTimes ( http://wellingtontimes.ca/?p=657 ) , but PEC (WMU70) seems to have a c-issue as well. No deer seen on the property last year and the property was full of deer in the years before. Lots of coyote tracks and only a few deer tracks. That's it. Seems like the coyotes are doing a "great job". No rabbits, no squirrels either. Wouldn't mind getting rid of the coyotes.

Do I get this right ? : " Home owners have rights that exceed that of an average hunter when it comes to nuisance wildlife, as a licensed term agent for the Ontario MNR I can assume the rights of the homeowner once I arrive to deal with property protection issues. "

Does it also mean you can go to "protect the property" in the end even if the homeowner doesn't want you to "protect" his property ? What if you push the coyote from the neighbour's property onto an adjacent property during the hunt ? Can you continue to hunt or do you have to stop and wait for the coyote to come back ?

I have no real interest in hunting, but would hate having guys running around on my property hunting coyotes. If I know the guys and know they will clean up after themselves, that's ok, but there are just too many trigger happy city@#%$$& out there with too many licenses they don't deserve who sometimes treat nature like a service center on the 401.

What are my rights as a home/property owner when it comes to things like controlled MNR coyote hunt ? Do the hunters still need permission ?

Other than that, no problem at all with responsible hunters.

thx,vm

[gogo]

There is no doubt about it southern ontario has a big coyote problem. The mnr better be pro active, its only a matter of time before another human is attacked. I dont know what the solution is but a effective program has to be found.

[Pydpiper]

Nobody has the right to use your property without your permission. I think you missed the jist of my post, I am opposed to the dog drives for this application, I intend to introduce an option for these guys, a single hunter that is responding to a coyote issue on his land, to dispatch a coyote who has grown bold. You have to remember, everytime I show up at a house it is because I was invited by the owner.
The problem in this area is two fold, one is the obvious overpopulation, the other is that some people are growing increasingly nervous about specific coyotes that are getting bolder, being seen at regular intervals close to the house. 2 problems need 2 solutions.
You not wanting hunters all over your land is your choice, but has nothing to do with what I am addressing. I think a lot of the problem here is very much like what you described though, in one sentence you say you have too many coyotes, then say you don't want hunters around, not sure what to tell ya.

Not that I like the WellTimes ( http://wellingtontimes.ca/?p=657 ) , but PEC (WMU70) seems to have a c-issue as well. No deer seen on the property last year and the property was full of deer in the years before. Lots of coyote tracks and only a few deer tracks. That's it. Seems like the coyotes are doing a "great job". No rabbits, no squirrels either. Wouldn't mind getting rid of the coyotes.

Do I get this right ? : " Home owners have rights that exceed that of an average hunter when it comes to nuisance wildlife, as a licensed term agent for the Ontario MNR I can assume the rights of the homeowner once I arrive to deal with property protection issues. "

Does it also mean you can go to "protect the property" in the end even if the homeowner doesn't want you to "protect" his property ? What if you push the coyote from the neighbour's property onto an adjacent property during the hunt ? Can you continue to hunt or do you have to stop and wait for the coyote to come back ?

I have no real interest in hunting, but would hate having guys running around on my property hunting coyotes. If I know the guys and know they will clean up after themselves, that's ok, but there are just too many trigger happy city@#%$$& out there with too many licenses they don't deserve who sometimes treat nature like a service center on the 401.

What are my rights as a home/property owner when it comes to things like controlled MNR coyote hunt ? Do the hunters still need permission ?

Other than that, no problem at all with responsible hunters.

thx,vm

[MADMAX2]

Dogs are great in the country,but growing up in Flamborough ON we had to stop using them because we lost too many to cars as that area became more populated with humans how do we get rid of coyotes in these areas?I have a friend that lives in noth Burlington and all the wildlife that is live trapped in the city gets released near his farm and these animals go right for easy pickens cause they are half tame in the end they are shot!!

[fuel80guy]

David i totally understand where your coming from and get your point.
I hunt coyotes with a group of guys/ gals and we use hounds.Where we hunt in rural farm areas using hounds is very effective.We very rarely have problems with any landowner except what we call postage stamp 1 acre petas.Some people want to move to the country and dont want to see or hear about others hunting and believe they have the right to confront us and harrass us.I personaly believe that using hounds to hunt coyotes is more effective than calling them and would like to invite you to come try it with us.
That being said i also agree with you in regards to nuisance coyotes and your method of getting them is very effective.
I contacted you on another forum and please feel free to contact me.