What can you tell be about the differences in hunting one or the other?
Thank you.
Foxes will tend to run more evasive routes. They circle, zig zag, etc. The couple of times we’ve been on coyotes its been more of a drag race.
My very limited experience chasing coyote is that they run straight and fast. Damn fast. Holy Moly.
The first time I was behind a pack of hounds on a coyote- Virginia, just southeast of Gilbert’s Corner, mid-80s- it ran three large loops, each loop about 3 miles in diameter, and then turned west and boogied in a straight line. We stopped the hounds at Rt. 15. I was told at the time that that was a pretty standard MO for a coyote, at least an eastern one.
Out here in the west, where they are more often shot by ranchers with rifles from a couple of miles away, when a ‘new to hunting’ coyote sees you coming, from a couple of miles away, it tends to make tracks. Once they learn the game and realize they aren’t going to be shot, they are much bolder, and run in more circuitous routes, like a fox. If you hunt at Arapahoe, they tend to find particular coyotes that tend to run their favorite established routes. At Red Rock, where the coyotes around the kennels have been hunted for more than 20 years now, they make tighter loops, pretty much like red foxes.
I’ve seen the little bitty kit foxes at Arapahoe, 2-3 lbs at maturity- they just duck in their holes which is a good thing since they are protected.
Up here in NY we run about 75% coyote now, and it seems that they have evolved their running style according to what I’ve learned by talking to the huntsman. They will run large circles until they feel pressured by the hounds, then hold on because its going to be a wild ride. This past season, twice we had a situation where everything was going well, coyote was running normal, then BAM the whole pack was just about out of country and headed for major roads. I was wheel-whipping that day, not on my horse, and myself and 2 other whips in cars were able to turn the game and pack with horns blowing and hollering at them- very scary. Luckily (ha) I cracked my rib and had my car that day because in those situations, even the fastest horse is too slow, and cars are necessary.
That being said, when everything goes according to plan they are a blast to run. This year I had 3 tally-ho’s on coyotes…it was awesome!
Cool! Thanks!
The thrill of the coyote runs have gotton way old and not fun for this foxhunter Every hunt during cubbing was in less than 10 mins … we would take off like a bat out of hell for who knows how god awful long. When horses quit eating and start loosing weight because of the extensive hunting I think its a little too much and I’m ready to quit after 15 seasons.
Use to be we would get on coyote but not EVERY hunt.Now its every hunt and usually more than one. You hardly ever get to watch the hounds. work …no not like it used to be. the thrills is gone for me and I really hate to admit it.
Who knows I might feel differently the beginning of next season and give it another try.
WW -
Does your state have a bounty on coyotes?
Up north there is evidence they are interbreeding with reintroduced red wolves.
Yeah… really.
The reason I ask is that Beverly mentions chasing them in the mid-80’s when game wardens swore up and down coyote weren’t in this state.
The last couple of years we’ve seen an explosion in coyote numbers.
I agree, too much 'good hunting" on coyotes is rough on a rider AND a horse…but Windy Willow, come on out anyway. I’m leading second flight tomorrow - an I miss you!! (we run as fast as most first flights I’m told, but just pay more attention to our riders and horses needs and safety!)…and sometimes we even been known to get to the 'end" before first flight, haha! (we get to take our own line on a hard run)
I’ve been hunting with my hunt for 24 years…long before we ever had a coyote. Certainly, hunting has changed! Years go, when we first chased coyote, I remember a coyote just ran like a bat out of “you know what”…in what seemed like a straight line. Now, they seem make HUGE circles…If you hunt often enough and know your country, you can even predict it’s general path…however. maybe it’s just that I’m more in tune these days.
There has been talk among many hunts in the South, about the need to “slow down”…amateur hunters have problems getting their horses fit enough for a true coyote run (I’ve been on MANY that are over 25 miles…at mach speed!) However, they’ve bred packs of hounds to catch those wily coyotes…and someone HAS to keep up or loose the packl. It’s certainly a dilema!!..
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I’m guessing the folks reporting “fast and straight” coyote runs are in areas recently invaded by coyotes. When we first started seeing coyotes in KY (15-20 years ago), coyote runs were frequently fast and straight. That’s because the coyotes were in transition and hadn’t settled in yet. When they got chased, they said “The hell with this place” and left the area at a high rate of speed. Now that they’ve settled in, we see more of the kind of activity reported by Beverly and other folks out west where coyotes are long-term residents. It’s still faster than fox, but more circuitous as they try to stay within their territory instead of heading for the next state at Mach 5. So in a few more years, you folks in VA may see a different pattern.
Actually, I first saw them in that general neighborhood, more precisely on the VA/WVA border northwest of Winchester, in about 1978 while deer hunting. They were chasing deer in relays and being real pains. Our host said, shoot 'em- not likely when they are galloping through the woods and you have a rifle with iron sights.
By the way, ‘officially,’ there are no wolves in Utah…
I must say I love hunting both and don’t find chasing coyote “too much” for me or my horse, though certainly I am getting longer in the tooth. My horse is a Thoroughbred and has no trouble with the pace. I’m saddened to read that Windy Willow’s experience has been so different and, it seems, unpleasant. We frequently see excellent hound work on coyote, which in our country do run the huge, thoughtful, careful loops others have mentioned above, just much faster than the foxes. So at least in my case I can say unequivocally that the hound work, and my view of it, has not in any way suffered. I hope Windy Willow will give it another season and have a happier time in 2009-2010!
Artillery Hill,
Where exactly do you hunt that much coyote? Do you hunt coyote three times a week? We cover two states and sometimes three or more plantations on some of the hunts.We have vast amount of land so we can cover some ground .I heard last year clocked 36 miles running a coyote.Our hounds are wonderful to watch but the hunts I was on this season,They jumped a scent right off the bat and took off and that was it, no watching . We were gone and the hounds in a far distance could be heard as we were running to catch up.Our huntsman loves chasing Coyote and he rides my first homebred. I pray for their safety everytime because it is so dangerous.
What I said was my horse, (who is a TB, Secretariets GD and has no problems keeping up by the way)… had quit eating and started loosing a ton of weight and so I thought it was a little “too much” ( especially since it was her first sesaon, no easying into it)). What that meant was that worrying about my horse made it not fun . I heard that alot of the hunt horses are getting treated for ulcers and also like never before extensive leg wrapping after hunts and misc…
I also like to go during the week days but there is usually no second flight.
Florida Foxhunter is a wonderful field master and I love riding behind her.Its hard for me to get out on Sundays tho.
May drag myself out hunt ball week end and join in the fun on a friends horse.Only a couple more weeks of hunting left for us.
WW…if you want to go during the week, contact me. I’ll do my best to take you…I’m taking 395 pine trees off my farm the next 2 weeks, so it’s a zoo here. but I’m aware that we only have a few weeks left. I’ll be there Friday of Hunt Ball weekend…will you join me???
WW, we are indeed a three-day-a-week pack hunting coyote almost exclusively.
