The document discusses the declining deer population on a hunting club's land due to coyotes. It notes the club used to see 10-15 deer per night but now only sees 1 or none. Fewer hunters are renewing memberships due to lack of deer. The author considers shooting coyotes, trapping them, or letting nature take its course. Trapping risks catching deer. Shooting coyotes is difficult as they are rarely seen. The best option is letting disease naturally reduce the coyote population, as the author learned a parvo virus had already decreased coyotes on the land by half.

1. 
Rebuilding a Tradition
Composed By: BlayreOuzts
Ridding Our Area
of an Invasive
Species

2. Since 2006, coyotes have been
significantly depleting the deer
population on our land each year.
Coyotesare quick moving animals
that prey upon baby deer. In result,
leaving less fawns that grow up
and reproduce and causing the
mother deer to relocate and the
big bucks to follow the does.
 On an average hunting night we
use to see somewhere around 10
to 15 deer each night. However,
this number has dropped to only 1
deer andsometimesnone.

3. Avg. Deer Seen/Day
November
'10  Each year, fewer hunters have
been returning to renew their
November
'09 membership at our hunting
club.
November
'08 Avg. Deer/Day
 This leaves us with minimal
November
funds to keep up the facilities,
'07
as well as purchase the
products necessary to attract
November
'06 the deer (Such as deer corn,
feeders, and supplies required
0 5 10 15
to create and maintain a food
plot).

4. What can we do?
Possible Solutions
1. Shoot the coyotes when they
come into the hunters line of
sight.
After brainstorming I came up with several
2. Purchase traps for the
courses of action that we could take to
coyotes, and once we catch
minimize the coyote problem at hand. them turn them over to a
local game warden.
3. Let nature take its course.

5. Possible References
 Blogs from people in South
Carolina who are experiencing
the same problem.
 Talk to a local game warden.
 Look online for internet
It is imperative I research each of articles on issues pertaining
the three solutions I came up with to coyotes depleting the deer
and figure out the pros and cons to population.
each of the three solutions.
 Books on the lifestyle of
coyotes.

6. Difficulty with this Solution
 There is not a restricted Coyotes are very fast animals that
season if you’re hunting the sleep during the day and come
coyotes on private land. out to eat after dark. This means
the animals are rarely seen
 You do not have to obtain a making them extremely difficult
hunting license to shoot to kill. While night hunting is
coyotes within 100 yards of permitted, it is very hard to find
your land. volunteers who will stay up half
of the night hunting down a
 Night hunting is coyote so they can kill it. It is a
permitted, however, there are very difficult process that
weapon restrictions. requires great skill from someone
http://www.dnr.sc.gov/wildlife/coyote/index.html who knows what they are doing.

7. Drawbacks to this Solution
 Trapping season is permitted
Coyotes are smart animals and they from December 1 through
will not go in a live trap. The only way March 1.
to trap a coyote is to set up a leg hold
trap. The drawback to this is the trap
 No license or permit is
is hidden in the ground so it will also
catch deer and other wildlife. These required to trap a coyote
traps are very dangerous and must within a 100 yards of your
be set by someone who knows what home. However, it is
they are doing. In addition each trap
cost about $30.00 so to purchase important to know trapped
several of these traps could be rather coyotes may not be relocated.
pricey.
 If coyotes cause damage to
your property the SCDNR will
issue a depredation permit.
http://police.greenvillesc.gov/animal-control.aspx

8. This is a picture of a (closed) leg hold
trap. The trap is set on the ground, in
the woods, disguised under leaves. The
trap is sensitive to pressure applied to a
sensitive lever. Once the animal steps
on the lever the trap instantly closes on
its leg stopping it in its tracks. From
instinct animals try to escape the trap
by pulling away from it often causing
them to lose a leg or bleed to death.
The problem with these traps is deer
are just as likely as coyotes to run in its
path.

9. Could this be Our Solution?  Canine Parvovirus, most
commonly known asParvo, is
In the beginning of the fall of 2011, we noticed a a viral disease that is deadly
decline in the amount of howling we heard at
nightonour hunting land. We talked to a local to dogs if they are not
game warden, who informed us that a vast vaccinated.
majority of the coyotes died over the past year
after catching a deadly disease know as
Parvo.The diseasespread rapidly amongst the  It is a rapidly developing virus
wild dogs, decreasing their population on our that generally affects the
hunting land by half. intestines, causing bloody
diarrhea, vomiting, and often
heart failure.
 It is spread through feces and
http://y.wisegeek.com/what-is-parvo.htm highly contagious.

10. Of the three solutions I presented only
one of them is the most viable, sensible
solution. Shooting the coyotes would
only be a time consuming process that
would give us minimal satisfaction due
to the difficult process that goes into The only solution that
hunting the animal. proves to be a beneficial
and productive method
for depleting the coyote
Trapping coyotes is a route that could be population in our area, is
taken. However, there is a MAJOR issue to let the coyotes be
that invalidates this method completely. eliminated by natural
The problem with this potential solution causes. By letting nature
is that the only trap that will capture a take its course, disease
coyote is a leg hold trap and it is just as will be the major factor in
likely to catch the deer and other the decrease in survival
wildlife. This could seriously injure and rate of this predatory
even kill the animals we are working so
species.
hard to protect.

11.  http://www.dnr.sc.gov/wildlif
All of the links to the e/coyote/index.html
right are posted at the
bottom of the slide that  http://police.greenvillesc.gov/
animal-control.aspx
they correspond with!
 http://y.wisegeek.com/what-
is-parvo.htm