Anyone Actually Worry About Coyotes in the Woods?

We have a lot of coyotes and a lot of feral/abandoned dogs in my part of the state.
both species travel in packs and neither is particularly fearful of humans.
They've been within 50 yards of the house when we were home and our dogs were outside.
With that in mind, I felt it safer to not sleep in my shelter the night I built it for the mega contest because it was cold enough that I wasn't certain I could safely and accurately handle a firearm if several coy, dogs, or coydogs decided this lone human was fair game in the middle of the night.
 
I lived around tons of coyotes in southwest Ohio for over twenty years. Where I grew up no one had any hesitation about shooting them, so they knew to keep well away from people if they wanted to live. Nonetheless, they killed my dog, and god knows how many barn cats over the years.

Regardless, I'd still say that batch was no threat at all to humans unless they'd picked up rabies.
 
I’ve bumped a couple while hunting (day time) and they couldn't run away any faster. Been in a few situations hunting at night (coon hunting w/dogs) where I've been circled a few times by a pack but it wasn't long until they scattered.

Never really worried about them but they can become dangerous.
 
When I lived in San Diego, coyotes were always running through my neighborhood, looking mostly for cats. They were bold, had no fear of anyone, and would actually attack a dog on a leash and tear it to pieces right in front of the owner. A friend of mine saved her dog by picking it up and holding it in her arms, just as a pack tried to rush the dog. I've had packs circle me when I was hiking in the hills in the dusk, but I think they were more curious than anything else. Never gave me any problem, but it was spooky seeing the glow of their eyes when I would shine a flashlight around.

Now, I live in LA. I spend a lot of time at Griffith park and I see coyotes there all the time. Saw three coyotes two days ago, just sitting by the side of the road, like homeless beggars, waiting for people to stop and throw them some food. People often feed them, so they show no fear if you walk towards them. Again, I've heard of them attacking dogs on leashes in the park, but I've never heard of an attack on humans.

I think two-legged predators are vastly more dangerous than any number of coyotes, and I ALWAYS carry a big heavy stick (hickory-heartwood cane) for encounters with either one.
 
The coyotes actually worry about me. I'll typically let them be as long as they keep their distance and don't make attempts on livestock. Once they do I proactively kill the hell out of them.
 
Im a bit more concerned with ferrals and i guess to some extent coyotes. When I was a boy I was hunting squirrel with my buddy and his grandfather. (the kids had guns, Pops rifle was in the back of the truck). Abnder, the family dog, was with us. (Tells you how much "hunting" we were doing) lol.

We were walking one of the orchards when out of nowhere a pack of ferral dogs got hold of abner. It was quite scary as a kid. Of course my buddy had a 410 shotgun and i had a .22. Pop got back to the truck REAL fast and had his .223 out. He busted 2 of them. Maybe got a 3rd or 4th and old Abner was beat up pretty bad. He lost a bit of his ear and his tail always had a 90 degree turn after that. But that event kind of always stuck with me.

Now days when I walk my dogs at night I can hear packs (coyotes or ferrals) calling each other. Man its a FREAKY sound. If they sound close our walks are pretty short! LOL I have on OLD dog that is deaf as a post. If that scene happened to him he woudl be dead before I could do a thing.

Oh, a happy ending... Abner was just fine after a trip to the vet. :) He lived a long and very happy life!
 
My 10 year old daughter gets upet with me when I ccw, which i do whenever I can. I think its a teacher or a friend putting that in her head.

I took her hunting last month chasing some quail around the desert (her first time). It was a few minutes after dawn and just as beautiful of a morning as you can ask for. Over what sounded like the next rise, we heard a pack of coyotes howling and calling. She got really freaked out and unconfortable with all the noise. She wasnt happy with the idea that my shotgun only carried 3 rounds at a time and asked me if I was carrying my side arm. I lifted my shirt and showed her the pistol and she was immediatly comforted by it! For once, she was happy Dad was packing some heat! LOL!
 
Are coyotes more or less dangerous than wolves? I was camping up in New Hampshire in October and the first night there was a pack of wolves hunting in the area. First we heard them howling back and forth, then later I heard an animal "scream" nearby followed by a chorus of joyous howling over the kill. :eek: I did not sleep well that night!
 
Sounds mostly like what I'd thought.
Not much threat to healthy adults, but dangerous to pets, and likely children or severely injured adults.
Don't think I'll worry about them, but I won't try petting them either.:D
 
I just got back from lunch and saw a coyote standing at a lady back chainlink fence "eyeing" her pooch in the back yard
 
The Z said:
Are coyotes more or less dangerous than wolves? I was camping up in New Hampshire in October and the first night there was a pack of wolves hunting in the area. First we heard them howling back and forth, then later I heard an animal "scream" nearby followed by a chorus of joyous howling over the kill. :eek: I did not sleep well that night!
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Pretty sure that a wolf attack would be more deadly (bigger, stronger, etc) but that a coyote attack might be more common. Don't quote me on that, just a guess...as I understand it, wolves are EXTREMELY shy of humans. I have never once encountered one.

I'll echo other posters here that I think the worst one to worry about is turned-wild dog packs.
 
md02geist said:
Yeesh. Woulda probably given that coyote a quick rock, and let the lady know.
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all part of nature ,I am not a farmer or cattle person and my outside dog is large my 2 chi's are inside so ....The coyote does not offend me ,I like to watch'em in nature & listen to 'em :D
 
We have seen alot of them around recently. I'm not worried one single bit. Now I wouldn't try to catch one with my hands or anything. But I wouldn't hesitate to chase one off with more than a broom.
 
The incident I wrote about was more scary for me as some of the coyotes were mixed with dogs and had wild dogs with them I figure this by coloring it was really dark and some had large dark splotches like a mutt dog might have ,also the glimpses I got showed a variation in size not explainable by age differences ( some were way longer but of the same hight and some had much larger heads and muzzle). I knew they had no fear of us and only kept a distance to decide if we might be food.
 
from 1988-2003 there were 89 verified coyote attacks on people..

The coyote's scientific name, Canis latrans, means "barking dog".

This months American Hunter..
 
It seems like a majority of you guys live far west of me (central Kentucky), so I don't know if this is a geographical difference or a species thing, but I've never seen a "pack" of coyotes here in the eastern U.S. I've seen dozens and dozens - but always lone critters on the prowl - solitary hunters. They're big SOBs, too, at least compared to the coyotes I've seen on camping trips Out West. The western 'yotes I've encountered are nearly always much smaller and scrawnier - almost malnourished even.

A story: I was camping in Yosemite with a couple of buddies back in the early 1990s, and we had a large boxer-mix dog with us. We struck up a conversation with a USPS Ranger one day, and he stressed that we'd best "keep an eye on that dog and keep him close because there's coyotes about". Now, we all sort of chuckled because of what I just told you above - the coyotes we'd seen were all scrawny - the biggest weren't even half of this dog's size, but this Ranger continued - "it's not the one you see you have to worry about, it's his 7-8 pals lurking just out of sight waiting to for that dog to be lured out of your campsite". These critters are smart, and adaptable.

For shotgunner - sick and puking, lying under a tree in the woods is no way to go through life, son. lol I'm guessing that in one regard, coyotes are much like wolves - they have almost mystical powers when it comes to sensing weak or injured prey, and I bet they were licking their chops at you as prospective dinner. ha ha

Edit: almost forgot - a few years after that Yosemite trip, we were in Yellowstone, talking to another Ranger, and we told him the story about his California counterpart's advice. This Ranger said that the coyotes in his park had an entirely different trick up their sleeves, and they had a preference for small, fluffy, yappy lap-dogs. In the big national parks you see alot of older retired folks travelling in RVs, and lots of them have little poodle, pomeranian, yorkie, etc dogs with them. Evidently the coyotes liked to dash into campsites and snatch these little dogs right out from under their owners' noses.
 
oruacat2 said:
It seems like a majority of you guys live far west of me (central Kentucky), so I don't know if this is a geographical difference or a species thing, but I've never seen a "pack" of coyotes here in the eastern U.S. I've seen dozens and dozens - but always lone critters on the prowl - solitary hunters. They're big SOBs, too, at least compared to the coyotes I've seen on camping trips Out West. The western 'yotes I've encountered are nearly always much smaller and scrawnier - almost malnourished even.
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I'm not that far in southwest Illinois. Things seem to run in cycles here. We have woods/brush on three sides and had coyotes -- big ones -- on and off. We had foxes for a year or two, then coyotes, foxes again and the coyotes took over again. They seemed to be in two's as often as there was just one. When two of them were working on something, you could hardly distract them.

Less than two years ago a BIG bobcat showed up in our yard, the only one I've ever seen. Since shortly after that, no predators at all, they're all gone.
 
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