My last hunt until fall

[possumal]

Since I have been shut in so much for the past couple of months with a bad back, I went out late yesterday to a farm that is just a few miles out of Nicholasville.  All gates were locked on Sunday, so I had to walk about a mile back the farm road to get to a spot I could set up and see anything.  I turned on the FX-5 on Aggressive Red Fox for about a minute and a half, switched to Coyote & Fox Fight for about another minute, and then switched to Coyote Pup Distress.  A pair responded immediately, and I shot the female at about 125 yds and then stopped the male with the Coyote Distress preset at about 150 yds and busted him. They had already shed to the point that they were the ugliest coyotes I had ever seen other than one I killed that had mange. Too hot, coyotes too ugly, and that ends my hunting until next fall.   One thing that was odd to me is that they appeared to be two year olds, but the female had never had pups.

[NASA]

It's possible they were transients without a territory of their own.  They will hold off breeding until they have established one.
Another possibility is that coyotes "normally" don't reach sexual maturity until 2, although females have been known to breed at one year
when populations bottom out.   The likely scenario is that they were late breeders.  Did you open her up to see if there were any embryo's?

[possumal]

I am familiar with their breeding habits, and that the one year old females will be allowed to breed if the numbers are down. This bitch has never had pups, and their breeding season is long over around here.

[NASA]

Yeah, that helps narrow down the reasons for a barren pair.  Assuming they were a "pair". Maybe just a couple of neighborhood Betas?

[possumal]

They sure responded like a typical pair, but with coyotes, anything is possible. Hell, they may have been queer! :roflmao: There is only one thing I can guarantee about these two; they won't kill anymore calves or fawns.

[NASA]

You found evidence in the stomach contents?  Then you did follow thru and gut them.     But unless you actually saw them bring down and kill a calf, it would be difficult if not impossible, to tell if the trace was not from carrion.

[possumal]

I didn't cut them open for any purpose. But the owner of the farm has seen plenty of evidence of them killing calves. That is common in this part of the country right now.  It was obvious that this female had never had pups, no operation necessary.  The point of my original post is that it is too hot and they are too ugly for me to hunt any more this year.