I’d be the first to admit that I am not a dedicated coyote hunter; I have on a few occasions pursued coyotes both during the daylight and at night, but I had no success. My lack of success by no means reflects a lack of coyotes and quite the opposite, I suspect, since coyote populations have increased over the years and they have adapted quite well to urbanized areas. Those who are devoted to coyote hunting certainly take their fair share and hunting them has become more popular over the years as reflected by the popularity of organized coyote hunts. What’s interesting is that the more they are hunted the more they seem to persist and endure. Scientists who study wildlife seem to agree that it’s possible to remove up to 75 percent of the coyote population in a given area and they are quite able to reestablish their numbers.

Coyotes don’t have any natural enemies, their greatest adversary is actually us — not only do we hunt them, but we take out a pretty good number on our highways; I know this because I have a habit of identifying and counting dead animal carcasses as I drive down the highway. I’m not sure there are any figures to support the next statement, but I suspect there are nearly as many “incidental’ coyote kills as there are kills by those who are out on a dedicated coyote hunt. In other words, hunters who are hunting deer or some other game animal will often take a coyote if it presents a shot; a couple of years ago my wife did that very thing. We were set up about 40 yards apart hunting deer when a coyote showed up a short distance down the hollow; one shot and she dropped the coyote-the only one she had ever seen while hunting over the years.

While I don’t have any immediate plans to become a die-hard coyote hunter it might be interesting to get out a time or two over the winter months. I suspect those coyote hunters using dogs have far greater success but a winter hunt using calls can also be rewarding. With all the deer gut piles and unrecovered deer left in the woods I suspect there are a lot of coyotes feasting on the carcasses possibly creating more hunting opportunities. With the snow too it will be possible to scout out coyote tracks; coyotes put one foot right in front of the other thus leaving an inline set of tracks.

I think a winter night hunt would be especially intriguing. What’s more is the Pennsylvania Game Commission recently approved a regulation change that will allow handheld and sporting-arm mounted night-vision and infrared (thermal) optics to be used while hunting coyotes and other furbearers. These devices were previously prohibited by state law. This equipment will provide coyote hunters with more tools making your chances of success even greater.

The coyote breeding season is late winter so males will be looking for female companionship; how this affects hunting opportunities I’m not sure. While mating pairs may be spotted it’s also possible to have a single male searching out a mate or even packs of coyotes are occasionally seen. A pack could consist of three to eight animals and cover five to eight square miles; individual coyotes may range even more than that. Even if you haven’t seen any in your area that doesn’t mean some won’t show up and a night hunt could prove productive.