A day of rabbit hunting in Caswell County

Finally a February day that felt like one instead of day in May. The air had a bite, the wind was really blowing and I actually saw some snow flakes as the front rolled through giving us a small taste of winter. There was about 10 of us and a dozen beagles and lots of great rabbit cover to push to see if we could find some. It didn’t take long for the beagles to pick up a hot scent and the race was on. There is something special listening to the beagles chasing a rabbit through an overgrown clear cut. Anyone who thinks the rabbit doesn’t stand a chance hasn’t done much hunting because they are pretty sly. These rabbits we hunted yesterday seemed to have advanced degrees in eluding the dogs and the coyote signs we saw all over the place told us who the professors at that university was.

We had a number of chases but only 3 rabbits made it to the bag before we called it quits. There is still a few weeks left in the season here in North Carolina but likely this was the last rabbit hunt of the season for me.

Overall it has been a good season even if I haven’t taken a rabbit this season. The thrill of the hunt the social aspects of small game hunting all have made for a fun season. If I’ve learned one thing it’s we need to control the predators and most specifically coyotes. Coyotes are expanding across the state and we’ve got to slow them down a bit but that’s another story for another day.

Young man with a beagle walking down the hedge row

turning the dogs lose

Lucky hunter

Andrew & his roommate “diehardhunter” with a 317lb feral hog

North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission is conducting public meetings next month to hear public comments about opening up year round night hunting on both hogs and coyotes.

The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is inviting the public to comment on proposed rules that will allow the hunting of feral swine and coyotes at night with a light.
The proposed seasons would be year-round, and would allow the hunting of feral swine and coyotes on Sundays on private lands with archery equipment. Night hunting is one means of controlling the population of coyotes and feral swine, both of which are non-native to North Carolina.
The public can comment online, email regulations@ncwildlife.org or attend one of the following five public hearings across the state, which will begin at 7 p.m.

March 20, Iredell County Agricultural Extension Center, 444 Bristol Dr. Statesville, N.C.
March 21, District Court #1, Buncombe County Courthouse, 60 Court Plaza Asheville, N.C.
March 26, Bladen County Courthouse, 106 W. Broad Street, Elizabethtown, N.C.
March 28, Room 153, Fulford Building, Pitt Community College, 4381 County Home Rd., Greenville, N.C.
March 29, Centennial Campus Center for Wildlife Education, 1751 Varsity Dr., Raleigh, N.C.

I’m glad to see that the proposal is to allow year round night hunting of these species cause we really don’t need them to get strongly established in this state and hunting at night is one of the most productive methods. So please weigh in and let Wildlife know this is a pretty good idea.

With hunting season here I’m going to try to add some Video blogging or reports from the field. This is a new venture hopefully I’ll improve as time goes on. You’ll see I have lots of room for improvement.

The end of the morning hunt.

Coyote encounter

End of day when a couple of does show up

Red Wolf or Coyote? Maybe a bit of both

The News and Observer article the other day about red wolf reintroduction into North Carolina had a few people ask me about my thoughts. Well that certainly is a loaded question mainly because I’m not convinced what has been released as a red wolf is really a red wolf. No doubt it has wolf in it but it also has coyote in it as well. Myself I believe they are better described as a supped up coyote. While I know many will disagree with me I’m just not sure the federal government should be stocking in something that is not what they claim it is.
Now am I opposed to restoring wolves or other predators to ranges where they once were? No if it is done reasonably but that never seems how it is done. I do not believe predators should be stocked in to replaces man’s role at the top of the food chain. While there is room for both where the issue comes in that many of the supporters of restoration efforts want to allow these populations to grow unchecked we only have to look at western United States to see that.
Well anyone that knows me knows how much I like to turkey hunt so the main thrust of the article must make me happy;

Wolves’ role in helping these ground-nesting birds is well known, Rabon said. Raccoons eat the birds’ eggs, and red wolves prey on raccoons. More wolves mean fewer raccoons, and fewer raccoons mean more quail and turkey. Connecting the dots, more wolves mean more birds.
Effects like this aren’t unique to Eastern North Carolina. Research from around the globe, compiled in an article in the journal Science last month, shows just how deeply large predators like wolves and cougars are connected to the ecosystems where they live.
If predators vanish or reappear, even plants and soil might feel the effects. Predators play a crucial role in shaping the landscape.

I’m really not surprised the red wolf / coyote help many of the birds including turkeys. Other predators have gone pretty much unchecked with trapping becoming a politically incorrect activity and hunting of coons certainly not as popular as it once was. West Virginia did a five year wild turkey survival study and found that only one study turkey was taken by a coyote suggesting the coyote did not negatively impact the wild turkey population. Given that study the red wolf / coyote in eastern North Carolina most likely has some positive effects on turkey and quail populations.
Of course with anything in nature something has to give especially if the red wolf has federal protection and the population continues to expand. The protection is hard to enforce giving that the red wolf stocked in had coyote in its dna already and they will breed with coyotes making it impossible for anyone to prove if the critter in question is a red wolf or a coyote. That is my opinion and should not be taken as legal advice for sure. I hunt pretty infrequently in the red wolf territory but if you do you better educate yourself on the red wolf.
Red Wolf Id Card

Bottom line whatever you choose to call it the red wolf / coyote is having some positive impacts but a check with local farmers I’m sure they have some negative impacts these critters are causing.

Coyotes can be found in all counties in North Carolina

Coyotes are present in all 100 counties of North Carolina and by all suggestions their population is growing. The expansion of the coyote is a success story of sorts and really the coyote population has exploded across the country. I say of sorts because the coyote is a formidable predator and left unchecked can do significant damage to crops, livestock, pets and wildlife. One only has to look at how fast the coyote claimed habitat in this state to realize how fast it is expanding.

In the early 1980s, coyotes were in only a handful of North Carolina counties. Today they’re in all 100.

“They’re extremely intelligent,” said Thomas Padgett, a Wildlife Resources Commission biologist who oversees nine eastern North Carolina counties, including Brunswick.

Though state coyote population numbers weren’t available, officials agree they are a force to be reckoned with.

“There’s no question in my mind that they’re expanding and that they’re becoming more of a problem,” said David Marshall, the state veterinarian.

Star News

The coyote population is at a point now in the state where they are becoming problematic in some areas. Farmers are experiencing livestock losses and they are resorting to a number of techniques to reduce their losses. One only has to drive through the countryside and see the donkeys mixed in with the cattle in the pastures to realize how popular an option they have become.

Pearly Vereen has kept donkeys in his cattle pastures to protect 200 cattle and calves. He’s up to eight donkeys.

“I try to keep at least two in every pasture the cows are at,” he said.

Before he brought the donkeys in, he lost eight or 10 calves to coyotes. He hasn’t lost a single calf since his donkeys have been on the case, but Vereen has still noticed coyotes at work.

“They’re about to destroy the deer population,” he said. He’s heard how they’ll prey on chicken farms. “If they get started on them, you got to kill them or they’ll clean you out,” he said. “They find food, they’re coming back after it.”

As hunters and trappers we should offer to help landowners especially farmers in controlling coyotes along with other species that are causing damage. Coyotes can be hunted year round in North Carolina and there is a variety of techniques one can use to hunt coyotes. The big thing with coyotes is changing up methods is probably the best advice because they are a pretty smart critter and will catch on quick.

Wild Mountain Lion Killed in Connecticut

The debate about the presence of wild mountain lions along the east coast has just gotten new life with the confirmation of a wild mountain being killed in Connecticut of all places. Many stories of encounters with cougars or mountain lions have been circulating for years but little physical evidence has been offered to support these stories.

A mountain lion killed on a Connecticut highway last month had apparently walked halfway across the country from South Dakota, according to Connecticut environmental officials who said Tuesday that the journey of roughly 2,000 miles was one of the longest ever recorded for a land mammal.

The animal originated in the Black Hills region of South Dakota and was tracked by DNA from its hair and droppings as it passed through Minnesota and Wisconsin in 2009 and 2010, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Daniel Esty said at a news conference.

Biologists estimate the size of the mountain lion population at about 100,000 in North America, mostly living in western regions and seldom traveling more than 100 miles. It was the first confirmed wild mountain lion in Connecticut in more than 100 years.

Middle Town Press
Most wildlife agencies over the years have blamed sightings on mistaken identity or escaped animals.
The mountain lion killed in Connecticut migrated east from South Dakota making the case that western mountain lions could make it this far east.

Authorities initially believed it was a captive animal that escaped, but tests showed that it was not neutered or declawed and it had no implanted microchips, which are commonly used in domestic animals.

Tests also determined it was likely the same one that had been seen earlier in Greenwich, Conn., a New York City suburb 30 miles away. The death was followed by a flurry of big cat sightings in the suburbs of Connecticut, but experts dismissed most of them as unreliable. Government experts say no native mountain lions are believed to live in Connecticut.

The coyote is believed by many to have expanded east to explain how they have rapidly have taken over every county in the state of NC. I believe there are some more likely explanation but if that is the case will the western mountain lion be that far behind?

North Carolina lawmakers with the passing of house bill 432 have eliminated the game animal classification for wild boar in the state.  What has been some crazy laws that recognized hogs as a game animal in 6 mountain counties and feral pests in the other 94 counties has been corrected to reflect the true problematic pests these critters can become.  Starting on October 1^st all wild hogs in North Carolina will be considered feral and can be hunted year round.

Press Release Quote:

The new law was enacted in part to address the proliferation of feral swine across the landscape of North Carolina. Feral swine are not native to North Carolina, and pose threats to commercial hog farming operations and native wildlife through disease transmission and habitat destruction.

One such disease is brucellosis, which can infect people if they come in contact, through their eyes, nose, mouth or a skin cut, with infected blood, fluid or tissues from an infected wild hog. People also can become sick after eating improperly cooked meat.

Currently, surveillance testing for brucellosis in feral swine in North Carolina is quite limited. However, in areas where surveillance has occurred, rates of brucellosis have been increasing for the past three years.

NCWRC

In addition to address the double standards of dealing with wild hogs this bill also cleans up a number of other issues or at least gives the NCWRC the authority to change some things if they wish.

Press Release Quote

HB 432 also states that the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission may adopt rules prescribing seasons and the manner of taking wild animals and birds with the use of artificial light and electronic calls. It also states that hunters can take rabbits, squirrels, opossum, raccoons, fur-bearing animals, and nongame animals and birds open to hunting, with a pistol of any size. 

Hopefully this will open the door for coyote hunting at night and a few other things that would help get a better control on some of the predators in the state.

Animal Planet

North Carolina is once again ground zero for the hunt for the ever elusive Bigfoot. Animal Planet has sent a film team here to document the hunt as reports of the Bigfoot roaming these woods continue to circulate. There are many things that are rumored to roam the lands of North Carolina some I believe do others I don’t;
Cougars, or mountain lions… yup I believe there are some however I’m not convinced that NCWRC released them.
Red Wolves….nope we got a souped up coyote with red wolf traits that US Fish and Wildlife released on us but no pure red wolves.
Chupacabra the blood sucking creature I don’t know … maybe how they got here I can’t speculate.
Big Foot ain’t no way in heck we got one of them running around some redneck would of mounted that thing on the front of his pick up and paraded him through town. Trust me they are not going to find big foot.

We’ll continue to follow as this story develops cause we know it will.

Coyote a very adaptable animal but a taxpayer?

Durham NC. Durham residents are frustrated with coyotes roaming their neighborhood and eating their cats and no one seems willing to help.

Fearful residents have called animal control, but neither the county nor the state can help.

“We’ve got cats missing, we’ve got cats the tails are off of them, so I did call animal control,” resident Linda Rowland said. “It’s a real concern of mine that something could hurt a child.”

But the close encounters have not convinced animal control to help out.

“We do have a presence of coyotes and we’re aware of it,” said Melinda Duarte with Durham Animal Control.

Duarte says by law she can’t trap a coyote. Most animal control offices in the Triangle are only licensed to handle domesticated animals, leaving people like Rowland with only one option.

“If they are on their property and they’re in the process of attacking or attempting to attack small animals they’d be in their legal right to shoot it,” Duarte said.

Rowland was told to call the North Carolina Wildlife Commission.

“Wildlife told me I couldn’t trap it, because I wasn’t licensed,” Rowland said. “I couldn’t shoot it, because wildlife has rights we should have rights too. We’re the ones paying the taxes.”

ABC 11

Animal control cannot help because coyotes are wildlife however I believe these folks have been giving some misinformation. North Carolina does not have a closed season on coyote so any licensed hunter can kill them. Now the county and or the city may have restrictions on discharging a weapon that prevent such actions.
Wildlife like foxes and coyotes are more visible right now because chance is pretty good they have young kits they are trying to raise. Thus this time of the year it is not unusual to see them hunting during daylight hours.
Now with how rapidly the coyote population has expanded across the state if we could find a way to tax them it might be good. Then again they probably want free health care that will just cost us more.

Chuck teaching shooting skills to his son

Seems this weekend a couple of critters have tried to turn the tables on some of our younger hunters. One of my friends reports that he and his daughter had a coyote charge in after hearing their calling and spotting their decoys. That will get your heart a pumping.
The second story was from my good friend Chuck and his son, who I’ve hunted with a number of times, as they called turkeys Saturday morning. Chuck had a medical procedure that prevented him from shooting a gun so he was the designated caller.

My son and I are walking a road bed calling and we heard something running thru the leaves coming our way.. We both thought ok here comes some deer.. NOPE turns out to be 3 wild dogs. Well at 30 yards and they were closing growling and snarling, the first got pretty much shreaded with #5′s. The others got over top the ridge before my son could shuck the next shell in and get on them. Those 3.5′s throw a mean thump on the shoulder and pumping of it, he couldn’t get back on them in time. Thats the reason I wasn’t toting was didn’t want the jarring on me.

Good thing his boys can shoot and they know how to defend themselves. Feral dogs are becoming more and more an issue across North Carolina and really many other states as well.
These are examples of how quick one can go from being the hunter to the hunter. Quick decisive action is the only way to deal with this situation and its impressive our young people were able to react and avoid injury.