Shooting a coyote while wild turkey hunting

[Big Jack]

Jack:
You are dead right with many of your statements. There is major potential for animal welfare to suffer if the individual is not diligent in ensuring that their trapping activities are humane. There are close to 75,000 licenced trappers in the province. The certification course that is required by the province is a mere introductory 40 hr. session. You're taught the basics. Farmers aren't even required to take the course if they trap on the own land. Just like hunting, you're going to get both good and bad "participants". Unfortunately, you're going to get a portion of these groups who break the law, or simply do not rate the welfare of the animal as a high priority. There are regulations in place to ensure that things are done properly, but you're always going to get some idiot who disregards them.
Regarding the live-holding sets, if I came across evidence of someone not checking their sets, their would be an immediate call to enforcement, to get the person charged. This industry is under the public's hand lens. Any bad exposure can be devastating.
Regarding an animal ripping itself to shreds, I can honestly say I've never had this happen in all my years of trapping, but I am extremely attentive to ensuring that every one of my sets is humane, and that I'm using the correct equipment, it's been maintained properly, and I've set it in a manner that I have directional control of the animal's approach for a humane dispatch. I agree with what you've said - you do this poorly, and things can go badly for that captured animal. Regarding my support of other legally hunter's actions, I do not support anything that doesn't jive with my own personal set of ethics/values. I think everyone has their own set. It's a personal thing that you build throughout your life. Everyone has them, based on past personal experiences, and they may not be right or wrong for everyone. Now you've got me thinking, and here's a few for me. I don't agree with: shooting hen turkeys in the fall, shooting maternal WTD does that are accompanied by fawns, harvesting any of our sea duck species that are now globally threatened, any form of trophy hunting where the meat of the animal is not completely utilized, etc., etc. Actually, this could develop into an interesting tangent for this thread - what if everyone listed their top 5?

You make sense too. I think in any activity there are the good fellows and the bad. I have seen both but honestly 90% of the trappers I know are stand up guys and do a good job. It is not an easy job after all.

My top five I'd have to think about carefully but here are a few off the cuff;

Hail Mary shots - desperation rarely pays off and usually just wounds with unrecovered game. When we hear a shot we expect a dead animal. We only still hunt so if you shoot the bush up one day, nothing usually is coming back tomorrow.

Buck shot in open areas - yes it works in tight but in our gang we have agreed no more period after one incident.

The doe with fawns - shoot the fawn if you really need to

Underpowered/marginal guns for big game

Not practicing and tuning in gun before hunting season - Everybody in our gang proves they can shoot before they join. If their gun is not tested before the hunt and proven accurate, it will not be used. If no other good gun is available that person does not hunt. I've heard every excuse but accept none. Usually I or another member have at least one spare proven shooter in the cabinet.

Just my opinion - I know i'll take some flack.


I'm sure there are quite a few folks on here that would bring up good ones.

[Hunter John]

Good points Jack as I will not use buckshot either , No exit hole and little to no blood trail.

[krakadawn]

Those are all good points...totally agree. The fact that you hold the group accountable to certain standards is solid just like our group will not be shooting coyotes in the spring.....self imposed for group benefit and just a tad of good common sense.

A personal pet peeve is the question that pops up frequently......"is a 22 good enough"? Those who ask that question don't know that they don't know.

I'm on side with Fenelon when he describes how our ethics drive our actions. Too bad some of our fellow hunters didn't rely on some ethics to determine their actions.

[trimmer21]

A personal pet peeve is the question that pops up frequently......"is a 22 good enough"? Those who ask that question don't know that they don't know.

I'm on side with Fenelon when he describes how our ethics drive our actions. Too bad some of our fellow hunters didn't rely on some ethics to determine their actions.

".....don't know what they don't know" says and tells a lot. "Ethics drives our actions" is accurate,also,BUT, ethics is a very personal thing,much like telling someone which religion is better. Like I said before in an earlier post,we need to be open-minded and far less critical when our views differ from others. Different strokes for different folks.​

[dutchhunter]

One thing I did notice is that guys that hunt coyotes every year do not shoot them in the spring well turkey hunting and guys that never hunt them will shoot them given the chance in the spring well turkey hunting ,It is like a target of opportunity.Dutch

[werner.reiche]

One thing I did notice is that guys that hunt coyotes every year do not shoot them in the spring well turkey hunting and guys that never hunt them will shoot them given the chance in the spring well turkey hunting ,It is like a target of opportunity.Dutch

Agree with you Dutch on that. Guys that hunt them in the winter tend to view them as a resource to be managed. Guys that want them completely wiped out don't so much hunt them for recreation, but they'll shoot one any and every chance they get otherwise.

[Vulpes_vulpes]

The key word here is suitible for human consumption. Nobody I know would want to wear a mangey jacket. You need to keep your gun encased and unloaded until you see the coyote -- provided you have the licenses and it is open season.

[Fenelon]

I guess I have a 6th one too - the buckshot deal. I've shot a pile of deer over the years using it, but it was always swamp hunting where you were lucky to get a 20 yard shot, maximum. At that range, it was absolutely lethal, if you were on a watch, and had your time to line up well placed heart-lung shot. The guys that tried to stretch it to 35-40 yds did a pile of damage, esp. if they were shooting at a running target while dogging. Quick snap-shooting ended up with a lot of flying pellets, and I know for sure that many deer were poorly hit. I finally came to my senses and bought a muzzel stick for both myself and my wife. You get that one shot, so you don't pull the trigger unless you're sure it's going to count. You either hit it, or you miss it. No different than a well-placed shotgun slug or rifle round.
7th - piss-water American coffee
8th - single ply bowel towel
9th - hook eyelets on any type of boot
10th - fatty American bacon
11th - beer that has lime, honey, or lemon added to it
12th - diarrhea cramps when you're on the Don Valley Parkway at 0730hrs

[Obi-wanShinobi]

Meh, SSS during spring turkey.

[krakadawn]

Meh, SSS during spring turkey.

Wonderful