Conference vmsnet::hunting$note:hunting

    I never hunted coyotes Walt, but I've talked to the guy who monitors
    them for the state. The population around the Quabbin Res. is the
    biggest, so I would look for open hunting areas around Quabbin, like
    Bare, and Petersham. 
    
    Jim

    Rabbit distress call works fine on coyotes. I've never hunted them
    in mass. but have hunted them extensively in Tex. Rabbit call will
    most often bring these here in Texas in at a run. One I shot last
    year landed on my boots when he fell (pretty close). The population
    is usually huntable anywhere you can here them at dusk. 
    Good luck, and have fun.
    Harvey
    

    I heard the other day that shooting a coyote in Wisconsin will get
    you a $500 fine. Seem the people are shooting a species of wolf
    thinking they are coyotes.
    
    That still leaves 49 states :-)

    
    The New England Coyote is much different than his western cousin.
    He's Larger as he is partly more Canada Wolf in looks than the western.
    
    There are more coyotes in Maine,N.H.,VT and, Mass than most people
    belive, as its easier to see a deer than a coyote. Calling the Eastern
    Coyote works exceptionaly well in Febuary (Winters a long time going).
    
    I heard that they are protected in MASS. Does anyone know if this
    is true.
    
    Rick.......

    re: .4
    
    
    	Mass. has a "season" on Coyotes (Nov 1 - Feb 28, 1989)....
    
    
    I was told (as I'm going to try for some this year), that winter
    time is the best time as food is less available...
    
    
    				~Mike~

    I haven't hunted coyotes, but have trapped a few in Mass. The last
    one I picked up was in Rutland a male (missed his mate the night
    after). I have seen plenty of coyote signs in the last two years
    in eastern Mass. SInce there range is a good 5 miles you should
    have no problem tracking them once the snow falls. I don't know
    too much about the coyote, but I figure they hunt the valleys and
    open fields at night and den on top of hills during the days. Take
    a walk to the peak of a few hills and you may see some droppings
    if they are in the area. Also may stop and talk to a few sheep farmers
    and ask them if they have seen a few in the area. Sheep to coyete
    are like ice-cream to you and me, only differnece is they smell
    sheep for miles. 
    
    The eastern coyote is an off-shoot of the canada wolf. This speci
    the coyote here in the east came from north not the west. What we
    call the coyote here is really the eastern brushwolf. SInce the
    wolf is on the endangered species we can't call it a wolf so let's
    call it a coyote. Ever see a western coyote the size of a full grown
    german shepard like we have here in the east.
    
    droppins 

    
    For a more intence description of the eastern coyote see note,
    
               112.12
    
    
    Rick

    I think that the state of Mass has a bigger coyote problem than
    the Fish & game are willing to admit. My inlaws have a dairy farm
    and basicly they are seeing more and more of them with hardly
    any hunting or traping for them. I also know of folks that got rid
    of sheep and lamb becuase they couldn't keep them out in the pastures,
    since they would be dead over nite!
    
    
    

    I'm thinking about giving it a try this winter. Where is there farm
    located? Would they allow hunting? If not, what town is the farm
    in just to get an indication of an area where there is a decent
    population. 

    
    
    	Well if I had a shotgun in my hands as I stepped onto the front
    porch this morning I would've had a coyote.... No more than
    20 yds away in my side yard I watched him "poke" along to the
    field across the street.... Damn!!  Well I know they're here
    anyway ;-{)}  :-{)}
    
    
    
    				~Mike~
    

    	Hi mike long time no see.
    
    	Saw a BIG bugger this year during deer season, shot gun.
    I was across the street from my house in the wood about 500yds.
    He came running by and I swung on him for practice but didn't pull
    the trigger, was waiting for mister big buck!!
    
    	Steve  8#).....

    re .11	 Good thing you did let it pass. If you were to attempt
    to have the pelt tagged you might have been in for a rude awakening.
    "Seasons Closed during shotgun deer season - All hunting seasons except 
    waterfowl are closed from Nov. 28 to Dec. 7 in deer zones 1-11 and from 
    Nov. 28 to Dec 3 in deer zones 12-14." Quoted from mass abstracts.
    It is surprising how many people do not realize this law.
    
    Rich

    	RE:-1 
    
    	Yup Rich, 
    
    	Your right on the season and that's the real reason I didn't
    pull the trigger. Just sounded good the way I wrote it in my original
    reply.   
    
    	Steve Who_may_go_after_that_big_bugger!!  ;^)

    The funny thing is that we had a guy get popped in my town for shooting
    a grouse during the shotgun season on deer. They got him for: Hunting
    during a closed season, Illegal possession of game and Illegal possession
    of ammunition (Bird shot). How about that for a charge for not knowing
    the laws.

    Rich

    Did you guys also know it is illegal to be caught having rifled
    slugs or buckshot while hunting, other than during the open shotgun
    season? This is an easy mistake to make also, if you have the habit
    of leaving extra shells in the pockets of your hunting clothes.

    Maybe someone can help me with this one. If you wanted to hunt bear,
    bobcat, coyote or fox in Mass, you could not use shotgun slugs. Yet 
    you can use a rifle. I don't see the logic. 
    
    Can someone help me out? I know its the law, I just don't understand
    it.
    
    Guy
    
    

    
    
     Guy, 
         I'm not sure on this one but could it be that 
    
    
    

    
     re.17
    
          sorry Guy i tried not to enter only one line but the terminal
          had other ideas.
                 p.s. let me check with someone i know. I'll get back
    you.
    

    I saw what I think was a dead coyote on the side of rt 95, northbound
    between Foxboro and Sharon.  I called F & G just to see if they were
    interested.  They don't bother disecting them anymore because there's
    so many now, but they do like to get road kill reports.
    
    ANYWAYS... I talked to the guy (he's the state specialist on
    furbearers) and he said that there are huntable populations in every
    area of the state.  The harvest last ('89-'90) season was 85 animals. 
    He said there's one guy who's a real specialist in hunting MA coyotes
    who brought in a few every week during the season.  I live in southeast
    MA, and I'm definitely going for it next year.  Its one of the few
    times when you can legitimately use a centerfire rifle for hunting in
    MA.  As others have confirmed, you cannot use buckshot or slugs at
    anytime other than deer season, and you can't hunt anything but deer
    then anyways.
    
    <<< Tim >>>

    do you happen to remember the name of the "furbearer expert that you
    spoke to?
    
    
    Thanks
    
    Guy

    re: .20
    
    No.  It was a while ago and I didn't catch his name.  When I asked
    about coyotes, the person on the other end of the phone got this fellow
    like he was the only one.  Sorry I can't be more specific than that.

    
    I was looking at the Abstracts for 1992 and it states that you can
    now hunt coyotes up till midnight. However the only mention of
    legally using a light is when you hunt possum and racoon. does anyone
    know for sure whether or not a light is legal to hunt coyote? It
    would make sense that if you can hunt em till midnight that you
    could use a light, but then again this is MASS.
    
                                                Walt 
    
    p.s. same thing goes for fox, open til midnight.

    
    Hi Walt,
    
    
    	You up for some coyote hunting? What's the season run like on them?
    
    	Sounds like it might be an interesting switch from deer and
    pheasant.....
    
    
    					jim s.

    
    
    Hi Jim,
         I'm up for giving it a try, you still living in Rutland?
    I'll be headed out that way the weekend after Christmas if you
    want to get together. The season is open till the end of Feb, I 
    think. I'll be sure to check the abstracts before we go. What
    shift you working now?
    
    So how's the new baby? My wifes getting fat but I won't tell her that
    to her face. 8')  The new Bing is due in March and the Doc says it's
    a boy. They did that ultrasound thing  and I said "Yup, just like his
    dad" and the doc said "That's his umbilical cord Mr Bing". 8'(
    
                                          Walt      

	I saw a coyote run across the road about a week ago. I was drive in 
	Methuen, MA just before Pelham, NH and was .just before the Old Methuen
	I think the name of the road is Pelham St.


	If anyone hunts this area and wants more info, give me a call.

				Jim

    
    My vet has one in his kennels recovering from being hit
    by a car less than a mile from my house in Lunenburg.
    

    	RE   Coyote season
    
    	I'm not sure about Mass. but an old friend who recently moved to
    Maine said the new season there is Jan. & Feb. nights only.  Lights
    can be used.  He said most hunters use red lights which are less
    distracting to the game.  Baiting is also legal.
    
    Andy
    

    
    
      Andy,
    
        The use of red lights is true if a coyote is anything like a fox,
    when we hunted fox at night we used an electronic call (same setup as
    we used for crows) with a number of different tapes.
        A fox will run as soon as you put a white light on it (most of the
    time) so we took a good 2 cell flashlight colored the bulb and lense
    red and taped it to the shotgun barrel. always carry a good flashlight
    that throws a good beam (not colored) since as you will find alot of
    animals will come to a call., I cant begin to tell you how many cats we
    shot by accident since they are almost the same size and their eyes are 
    a perfect match to a fox.
       When I say that anything will come to a call I am serious, one night
    a friend of mine almost shot a deer, it came in with its head down and 
    didnt pick up its head till it was about 30 yrds away, I knew something 
    was wrong when its eyes lifted 2 feet off the ground.
    
         

    RE: .27
    
    The 1991-1992 Maine hunting regulation book lists the coyote season as
    Jan. 1 to Dec. 31 (used to say NO CLOSED SEASON) with a special night
    hunting season from Jan. 1 to April 30. (special permit required
    $2.00, and so is some type of predator call). 
    
    
    Chuck