Help answering age debate about yote.

Our neighbour called today saying there was a yote at their chicken coop and it had just run away. My son went out back and hide in the bushes and called this one in. Unfortunately he couldn't get a shot until 330 yards and on the run away. It didn't even stop to check it's 6.
He got it kneeling at 330 yards with a 243 with a very basic scope. He just guessed the drop. Nice shot.
I'd never even try that shot. Appears to be in the ear and out the mouth.
He guessed it's 25-30 pounds. I think it's a small mature female. He thinks a pup from this year. Thoughts.

HD

Good job,lucky shot nevertheless

Who cares about the age lol one less yote and a grate shot

Fancy shootin'. Dead 'yote,good 'yote.

Wow nice shot she looks pretty plump for a yearling but I dont have much experience. Maybe frank will chime in

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it about the size of the one I got a week ago, but yours is fatter. that was an amazing shot. I got mine with x bow on the run at 10yds.

normally best way to judge the age is by shape of teeth. it's not 100% but normally a good guess
as for the shot that's a pretty good one. you'll never make that kind of shot if you don't take that kind of shot

Looks like an adult animal.

That is some good shooting....
Hard to tell from the pics but it does look young and if it was 25lbs, I would say, this years pup.... Most grow up to be big anyway. :)

Thanks for all of the replies. The teeth were clean no chips out of them. I guess it's a pup of the year. I didn't know they fill out that fast. He's certainly shoots well on yotes. Last year he got a pup at 370 yards while standing. Meanwhile I wouldn't even consider the shot because I'd educate it....

You can verify the age by checking a canine tooth. Remove a tooth and its surrounding jaw bone with a pair of side cutters. Boil in a pot for 10 minutes then pull the tooth from the alveolar socket. Check the tip of the root. If the pulp canal of the tooth is still open the animal is less than 9 months old. If the root tip is closed then it’s an adult.

Got this female coyote in a dirt hole set the other day. Beautiful fully prime animal. Weighed 25.1lbs. Extracted canine shows that the pulp cavity is still open at the root tip, so that indicates this year's pup, probably born in early to mid May. Frank's 25 pound rule is pretty much dead on from my experience (pups tend to be less than 25 pounds by fall/early winter) if the animals are "western-type" morphs. I also have the second morph in my area. What they're calling eastern coyote. These animals probably have more wolf genes in them and they are a bigger animal. Dentition is a little more robust, wider skull with slightly higher saggital crest on the skull, and I find the feet tend to be a tad larger. The pelts are slightly longer. Instead of 40-4 lb males for the western type, I've trapped the second kind with weights usually five to eight pounds heavier. Big males are 48-52lbs, based on about 300 animals I've weighed over the years. Based on what I've trapped, by examining the root closure on the extracted canine, I've had pups that were up to 32lbs during the November - January trapping season. Every once in a while you'll get a heavier animal when it's obvious that the coyote has regular access to dead stock. I have sheep farms on both sides of my farm and I see some crazy fat coyotes some years. Lots of bone powder and sheep wool in the scat and the farmer is not losing animals to predation.

Here's the boiled tooth removed from the jaw, showing the open pulp canal

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Thanks for the great info, Fenelon that hide looks awesome

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Here are some coyotes I just pulled from my drying boards. There are two adults and two "young-of-the-year" coyote pups. You can see that November/December pup pelts are not much smaller than the adults.

Wow Fenelon, that third pelt looks fantastic. Hard to believe its the same type of animal as the first pic.