Scarcity of small game

cricketdave

cricketdave

Joined
Dec 24, 2008
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5,548
hi, just an observation. it seems that in the last couple of weeks the coyotes have cleared out all the small game in the area. havn't seen a rabbit or jack rabbit for a while and squirrels are scarce too. had a pretty good example of that this afternoon, i was sitting in my shop having a smoke and relaxing and the small dogs outside went nuts. i looked out side and about 10 feet from my shop a large coyote was trying to kill one of them. i ran out and yelled and waved my arms and he ran off. i didn't have a gun out in the shop i'll be putting one out there now though just in case. i really don't want coyotes coming up that close to the house, and my wife would be on me like ugly on an ape if i let her dog get eaten.

hows the small game doing in other parts of the country?

take it easy
cricket
 
I live in a semi-suburban area. Not many rabbits, but squirrels are everywhere. Maybe they move to town to avoid predators? I have to eliminate more than a few from my backyard garden every year. When I lived in the country I would eat squirrels. I'm hesitant to eat a "city squirrel" though.
 
Since the storm surge from ike drove the coyotes closer to the house...they have got stupid brave...still plenty of rabbits...they would rather kill the barn cats and small dogs than hunt the rabbits....i guess they are just easier prey..
 
Where I'm at we got mostly dogs and mice. Course I'm still relatively in town. I know we got a bit of rabit out here on the property. See some tracks in the snow now and then.

God bless,
Adam
 
Plenty of squirrels and rabbits where I live, along with coons and possums, but coyote sightings are becoming more frequent too, so that might change.
 
My post is quite irrelevant because i am so far away from your cricket, BUT, small game has been very abundant here until this last couple of weeks...I caught a nice sized coyote in my alley behind my house when i was on my way to work...i chased him downa nd almost ran him over with my truck but he deeked out just in time...i called the conservation officers and they went looking for him...this occurred all within 100 yards of an elementary school..

if you have coyotes coming after your dogs, somthing is driving them to looks for easier food sources..is it possible that a bigger predator drove them in closer to humans? that would explain the lack of small game...
 
I'm not seeing much by way of rabbit tracks the last few weeks, either -- which is a complete bummer, as I was hoping to supplement the indoor freezer a bit.
 
I live in an urban area, Coyote's have eaten most of the small game as well as quite a few "missing" cats.
 
It's embarrassing but our little critters are doing fine. Thanks to my wife and I. Were in a suburban area with a large greenbelt behind out home. My wife has feeders for the squirrels and birds. We have squirrels, rabbits, stellar jays, blue jays, woodpeckers, etcetera. We have a regular critter day care going on out there. It's freakin expensive to feed these fat little suckers everyday. My poor german short haired pointer is coming out of his skin watching this go on inside his turf.
 
well i do live out in the country and we normally have coyote's and bobcats, i just havn't had one come this close to the house in the middle of the day. we have had mountain lions come through the area too.

take it easy
cricket
 
Cricket, exactly the same thing happened this summer around our property. The O.D.N.R. officer said the same as you, probably coyotes were the reason, and once the food supply dried up (rabbits, squirrels, etc.), they would move on to different parts of the county. I was cutting grass on one of our tractors along a fence row, & happened to look around some trees & a coyote was lying in the grass not 10' away watching me. The officer said for it to be out in daylight that close to humans it probably was either sick or injured or was rabied. Needless to say I now have a new playing companion called Glock 34 whenever I am out and about. Funny how situations 900 miles away can be almost a mirror image of where you live . . .
Be safe.
 
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You need to start calling them and shooting them. If you think knives are addictive wait until you get full blown into the predator hunting game. The good thing alot of the time the predator hunting and knives go hand in hand as you will be in the field every weekend.
 
It's been a while since I've seen a coyote. I have seen several red foxes surprisingly close to town though.
 
cricketdave,

I've asked this very question from time and again. I too have experienced this same phenomenon, we had a mountain lion around here in '07 that I thought contributed to it as I actually seen the lion myself..but as it turns out he was harvesting one of my neighbors white tail.. there used to be squirrels so thick you would see them jump from tree to tree all day long, rabbits like crazy..

not anymore, you very rarely see any of the above small game around, although it appears this year the rabbits are trying to make a comeback..

weird..
 
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Lots of game here still. But with that, we have a huge yote population. It swings from time to time. Lots of good coyote hunting on my property. We do get a mountain lion every other year down in the neighbors sheep. I have had a few lions on my place get into my animals. They don't last long. They go the way of the coyote.
 
cricketdave said:
hows the small game doing in other parts of the country?

take it easy
cricket
Click to expand...

Small game is OK, but large game is not.

Hunting season was dismal this year in the Catskills.

Our gun club has an annual game dinner at the end and it was cancelled this year due to lack of deer and bear.

Somethings up when the old timers at the club say this was one of the most lacking seasons they could remember...



.
 
we have coy dogs also, but then we also have an abundance of rabbits, squirrels and other small animals here in North Florida.
 
Southwest Missouri is still thriving with numerous types of small game, whitetails and turkey too. We do have a bit of an issue with coyotes, but most landowners are fervent yote hunters as well. My younger brother and his friend are usually out once or twice a week thinning out their numbers. I'd go more often, but work usually prevents it.
 
The songdogs got mange very badly a few years back and there are few of them left. Rabbits are doing pretty good, but nothing crazy. Squirrels and deer are stacked on top of each other around here though.
 
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