# Coyotes in Little Missouri National Grasslands?



## nitwit (Dec 18, 2004)

Hi all,
I'm soon going to be archery mule deer hunting in the Little Missouri National Grasslands north of Belfield, ND. Does anyone have any knowledge of coyote population in the Grasslands either north or south of Interstate 94? I would bring a rifle and some calls if I thought I could call in a coyote or two. I was hunting mulies in late Ocotober and saw only one coyote - and he was mangy.
Any response would be much appreciated.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!!
Nitwit


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## TIKKA (Feb 9, 2009)

Yep, lots of coyotes out there. Watch your back for big kitties if you are calling out there, that is thier stomping grounds. Good luck.


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## hunt4P&amp;Y (Sep 23, 2004)

TIKKA said:


> Yep, lots of coyotes out there. Watch your back for big kitties if you are calling out there, that is thier stomping grounds. Good luck.


X2


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## NDTerminator (Aug 20, 2003)

Damn things are thick as fleas on a coyote out there...


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## papapete (Jan 2, 2005)

I just got back from my mule deer hunt. We were hunting around Grassy Butte. On the last day we hung up the bows and switched to coyotes. We only hunted half the day. I was shocked, we didn't see a damn thing. I gotta believe that they are really thick out there. I think that it had a lot to do with all the deer hunting going on. They know when things aren't right in their world not to mention all the dead deer and gut pile's everywhere. We were calling in some pretty rough terrain, so maybe that something to do with it. Either way we didn't see a coyote when we were mulie or coyote hunting.


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## kvernum3 (Aug 8, 2005)

I see veryyyyyy few dogs around grassy butte


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## xdeano (Jan 14, 2005)

The last few years I've been seening fewer coyote numbers west river. The mange has hit over there the last few years and they're just now starting to come back. So you'll start to see a few more in the next couple of years in those areas. There are a few still out there though. But then again they're all over the state. Higher populations in some spots though.

xdeano


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## TK33 (Aug 12, 2008)

xdeano said:


> The last few years I've been seening fewer coyote numbers west river. The mange has hit over there the last few years and they're just now starting to come back. So you'll start to see a few more in the next couple of years in those areas. There are a few still out there though. But then again they're all over the state. Higher populations in some spots though.
> 
> xdeano


The "big kitties" may have something to do with that also.


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## xdeano (Jan 14, 2005)

There isn't that many mt lion out there to make all the coyotes in several counties to head out. If anything the lions are killing the mulies off leaving less food for the coyotes, but there is still plenty of food out there.

Just my thought anyhow.

xdeano


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## TK33 (Aug 12, 2008)

Mountain lions chase yotes out though don't they? I thought I read that in one of the outdoor mags. Could be wrong though.


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## xdeano (Jan 14, 2005)

They may chase them off a carcass but for the numbers west river I highly doubt that it would be caused by lions. They're are just to few to really do that much damage to coyote populations. They did kill one Bismarck on the 27th so that's pretty cool. There's been 6 killed that I know of west river no including the one is bismarck, I'm not sure if they'll count that as west river but probably just count it as east river. A quota of 8 west river is a pretty small quota if you ask me, and it hasn't been filled even with all the hunting pressure in the bad lands during speed goat season and deer season. If it makes it tell Dec, dogs are open too, so the quota will more than likely get filled pretty quick.

xdeano


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## nitwit (Dec 18, 2004)

Guys,
Thanks for the replies. I just got back from hunting. We made four stands on Friday - saw nothing. 
While chasing those mulies around we saw zero coyotes, VERY few tracks, and NO cottontail rabbits. 
We also came across a dead mule deer that had been rifle shot so it had been dead for about 4 days. It hadn't been touched!
There may be plenty of coyotes on the edges of the badlands or in the farmlands, but there sure didn't seem to be any where we were.
Nitwit


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## xdeano (Jan 14, 2005)

Thanks for the update. I'm glad to see that everyone else is seeing the same trend out in the badlands. It's like that basically all of west river, but there are still strong pockets out there also.

Here in the NE ND the numbers have definitely jumped in the last couple of years. I'm seeing a fair number of jack rabbits running around this year compared to the last few years. The deer kill numbers seem to have propagated the coyotes numbers. But that's just speculation.

xdeano


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## Fallguy (Jan 23, 2004)

Good discussion guys keep it up. It's fun to read the reports from out west!


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## ckchub (Dec 19, 2007)

I hope coyote hunting gets better out in the belfield area. I am going out there in january and hunt south of medora..


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