Hunt Predators, Save Deer

It’s no secret that the deer population in Maine has been on a downward trend for several years. While pockets of the state hold decent whitetail numbers, many rural and remote regions continue to see a decline in mature deer. Mild winters and abundant food sources haven’t changed that as far as I can see. One thing that has changed though is the ratio of predators to deer I see and hear on Tucker Ridge year after year. It’s time for us to get serious about predators.

Coyotes get a lot of the blame

According to the Eastern Coyote species assessment released by MDIFW in 1999, the coyote is the top predator in the food chain here in Maine. The report notes that coyotes are opportunistic killers of prey species, meaning they take healthy animals along with the weak. It also means they may kill more than they can eat. Also, the average size of a male Maine coyote is 35 lbs. versus a typical 24 lbs. for Western Coyote, enabling them to bring down adult deer.

In a 1981 study conducted in Alberta, deer remains were found in less than 10% of coyote stomachs collected during the winter. In contrast, a 1995 winter study of Maine coyote scats found that 60% contained deer material.

Curiously, the assessment comes to the conclusion that starvation and wintering affect deer mortality more than coyote predation does. I’m not a biologist, nor do I discount the findings of the smart folks down in Augusta, but I know what I see and hear.

Opening day of deer season I was perched in my tree stand long before first light, over watching a game trail that snaked along a ridge line. I had noticed plenty of game sign in the area including deer tracks, bear scat and a fisher that came to steal an apple from a tree 25 yards away as I was making final adjustments in my stand.

I started making some doe bleats to entice a buck, but to my surprise, the biggest coyote I’ve put glass on came in looking to kill that doe just 15 minutes later.

I shouldn’t have been surprised though. We hear several distinct packs of coyotes all along the ridge. At night we can hear the celebration of a kill. It can send chills down your spine when they are close and catch you off guard in the silence of the big woods. There seem to be more and more coyote every year and less deer.

Ask any deer hunter and they will tell you a coyote story.

Bobcats are deer killers too

Like coyotes, bobcats are also opportunistic killers. Averaging 3 feet in length and weighing in at around 30 lbs., male bobcats are big and strong enough to take down both fawns and adult deer. While snowshoe hare are the main staple of the bobcat’s diet, a 1984 study cited in the MDIFW’s 1986 Bobcat Assessment revealed that 40% of adult male bobcats had deer in their stomachs.

Bobcats are reclusive animals that thrive in habitats that sport rocky ledges, dense underbrush and woodland blow downs. That pretty much describes Tucker Ridge. Much of the preferred terrain bobcats’ use is also choice bedding area for Maine whitetails.

“Maine is near the northern edge of the bobcats’ range. When the temperature drops below 46′ F, a bobcat has to increase its metabolic rate (and therefore the amount of food it eats) just to keep warm (Gustafsen 1984)” notes Karen Morris, author of the MDIFW’s assessment.

To me that read, “We have some hungry bobcats in Maine.”

MDIFW’s “Living with wildlife” bobcat page notes that these animals are “rarely observed in the wild”. I have no doubt that may be true in the more populated areas of the state, but here on Tucker Ridge we have a healthy population of them.

On Monday of the third week of deer season I was in a different stand about 300 yards away. I followed a similar routine as first light washed over the ridge and started calling for deer with a doe bleat.

Much the same as opening day, I was surprised by what came slinking in not 50 yards from my stand. A big bobcat moving left to right up the ridge, looking for a meal. These cats aren’t just in the deep woods though.

A neighbor at the northern edge of the ridge sees bobcats moving through her property regularly. Just recently she captured a photo of an adult female with two young a couple hundred yards from the house. That’s two more bobcat than bucks she saw.

Hunting them

Night hunting is the most popular method for successful coyote hunters, while hounding for bobcats is the most preferred choice. While these methods are proven, my recent experiences tell me they aren’t the only way.

Coyotes use their sense of smell as the primary tool when hunting. Their vision and hearing are also remarkably developed. Bobcats are more sight and sound hunters. What these predators both have in common though are their choice of prey.

I keep a red squirrel bag in the game freezer that I add to all year long. When the snowshoe hare and ruffed grouse seasons open in October, I kept the carcasses after I process them as well. Any and all deer leftovers from processing complete the menu. A bucket with a plastic handle gets filled with bait and gets carried in to my hunt site, about 100 yards from my setup. I fix the handle in the up position and hang a squirrel tail or partridge wing from it so that during a gentle breeze, it provides a visual attraction on top of the smell.

Calling gets their attention; the smell and visual seals the deal.

Author: John Floyd

John Floyd is a Registered Maine Guide, an NRA Certified Instructor and is the owner of Tucker Ridge Outdoors in Webster Plantation, Maine. He is a member of the New England Outdoors Writers Association and can be reached at john@tuckerridge.me or on Facebook @tuckerridgeoutdoors

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