Hunting Coyotes and Taking their Pelts

[Lugg]

All,

My son and I will be going on our first coyote hunts here in awhile in an area that we want to hunt Deer next season and I'm wondering if anyone may be able to answer a question for me.

Is there a point when a hide is considered unusable (limb missing, massive damage to hide from exit wound, etc) or unhealthy (Mange) and does not require the hunter to take it back to their residence? My understanding with Mange is that you must still take the hide, but I've found nothing about extreme damage to the hide.

I will likely call the CO when I get a moment but I'm sitting at work wondering.

As a side note so people don't think we are being lazy or unethical we do want to keep the hides, my son wants to learn to skin, flesh and board hides. He also wants to learn how to remove the flesh from the skull to make a mount.

Also, I don't expect to have much hide damage if we get one, we will be using a 243, though not the best for saving a hide my understanding is a good bullet will not blow it apart either.

Thanks!

[86k20]

A 243 with the 58gr bullet under 100 yds will blow a major hole in the dog. Ask me how I know. If you are out on crown land I would use the 100 gr deer bullets. They will pass right through and have less chance of exploding. If it has mange don't even touch it. Mange is mites and you don't want to take them home. Otherwise just make sure you wear gloves as they can pass other things on as well that can make you very sick. Also watch for fleas n tick in warmer weather.

[todbartell]

243 can definitely be nasty more often than not. A frontal shot will be the most fur friendly

I wouldn't touch a dog with mange. We don't see that up north here very much. Most holes can be sewn up

[Lugg]

I explained to him that the 243 will likely damage pelts but eventually we'll get a keeper. I have seen that frontal shots are much better for fur.

Thanks for the comments so far.

[Dannybuoy]

I shot a few coyotes with .243 (before I got the 25-06) . If you don't hit a major bone , ie shoulder , you should be OK . I liked the 87 gr boat tails or 100 gr sp
I also shot a few with 70 gr hp ... small entrance hole , no exit :-P

[boxhitch]

Is there a point when a hide is considered unusable (limb missing, massive damage to hide from exit wound, etc) or unhealthy (Mange) and does not require the hunter to take it back to their residence?No , or it would be spelled out in the regs. What you do with it once you get it home is wide open though, just be careful how you dispose of it.
Bits and pieces can be good practice for fleshing and sewing and tanning so he gets it right on a good hide.
Shooting a mangy dog may help control the spread to some degree and save a few domestic contacts. Carry a large heavy garbage bag for the whole carcass..
Good luck out there.

[walks with deer]

All the coyotes I have shot at I have missued but yes hide is supposed to come home

[Lugg]

No , or it would be spelled out in the regs. What you do with it once you get it home is wide open though, just be careful how you dispose of it.
Bits and pieces can be good practice for fleshing and sewing and tanning so he gets it right on a good hide.
Shooting a mangy dog may help control the spread to some degree and save a few domestic contacts. Carry a large heavy garbage bag for the whole carcass..
Good luck out there.

That's what I figured, everything else is spelled out for us. Good suggestion about using the scraps of hide for learning, not sure why I did not consider that. The bag I already thought of, sometimes I have a good idea!

I may be overly sensitive here but It's unfortunate that by law we are required to handle and bring to our dwelling a possible public health risk that can affect both humans and animals, including pets. I think either burning the carcass if there is no fire ban or stuffing it into a large bag (which still requires contact) and dropping it off at a CO (Or someplace else for type of mange testing) would be better. But until they change the law we will just have to follow it on the off chance it happens.

Thanks!

[dracb]

Those coyotes are going to have fleas and ticks and probably other parasites as well. Most trappers use gloves to handle the animals they catch. Latex gloves are inexpensive and quick to use. At first contact put on gloves and drop Mr Coyote in a heavy plastic bag, give it a good spray of insecticide and seal for a few hours.

If you leave the hide on too long you find the predator hide gets green belly.

[Lugg]

I had read about spraying raid into a bag, how long do you leave it in there and how much raid, 10 seconds worth of spray?

What is green belly? I figured I should skin it right away, was told it's easier when fresh.

[rocksteady]

I had read about spraying raid into a bag, how long do you leave it in there and how much raid, 10 seconds worth of spray?

What is green belly? I figured I should skin it right away, was told it's easier when fresh.

green belly is when they have a belly full of meat that keeps percolating after the yote is dead, and when you skin it the stomach flesh and hide will be a sickly green colour

[rocksteady]

As far as mange.... SSS

[dracb]

Rocksteady is correct about the greenbelly. As for the mange and fleas and skinning, you are right they are easier to skin when fresh. I always seem to itch or feel things running on my skin if I haul them out over the shoulder or skin when absolutely fresh. An hour or so in a plastic bag with insecticide fumes seems to prevent that from happening. Somehow I just can not convince myself that the subcutaneous mites that cause mange are killed quite so rapidly. If I shoot one that has bald patches it probably is not going to be skinned. On the other hand all mange is not that obvious and if I see areas of thin fur that animal is probably going to get cold sitting in the insecticide fumes before it is skinned.

[boxhitch]

I figured I should skin it right away, was told it's easier when fresh.Also then you can leave the carcass as it lays so to speak and not have to pack it home too.
Hang it from a tree or fence post , can usually knock it off in a few minutes.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

As far as mange.... SSS

I resemble that remark!!:redface: