The New Huntmastersbbs!: Spin off from “Which one first?”

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Posted by Bryan J (Member # 106) on February 26, 2006, 11:52 PM:

Lonny’s thread “Which one first?” got me to thinking. How do you tell which of the two approaching coyotes is male or female (at a distance I have the post mortem inspection down pretty well by now)? I’m not questioning anyone’s ability to feel somewhat confident in making those conclusions. What are the signs that I’m sure that I have seen but not recognized? (I promise not to read in always)

Posted by 2dogs (Member # 649) on February 27, 2006, 03:31 AM:

Bryan,

My .02 cents, [not ALL-inclusive, mind ya LOL!]

Coyote;
Other than eyeing swinging meat [Eek!]

. I look @ the width/length of the muzzle. Head & shoulder mass, mane, chest width/depth & overall body size/length.

Red Fox;
[Darker Cherry Red] around [here] indicates a male. As well as all the above mentioned sign's.

I shot a 47lb female Coyote, many moons ago. She defied all of the above visual cues [Cool]

Posted by Rich Higgins (Member # 3) on February 27, 2006, 06:30 AM:

Bryan, Kokopelli commented about the same thing on Leonard's thread about shot placement on the HM coyoye. A few of us referred to it as a "she" and a few referred to it as "he". Hormones give the mature male of most canines a heavier, broader, more masculine ppearance than most females and after a time the subtle differences become more apparent.
I examine every coyote that I have access to for general condition, age and sex. At St.Francis the last couple of years was a bonanza with 247 coyotes this year and about the same last.
I look for a well developed sagital crest on a mature male along with small subtleties such as broader muzzle and masculine musculature. The females have a sharper lighter conformation. I can't tell a juvenile male from any female.
Basically from a distance it's just an impression based on experience. Leonard would have as much experience at judging sex as anyone except maybe Brent Rueb.
I believe the HM coyote is female.

Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on February 27, 2006, 09:14 AM:

The problem here is that instead of comparisons, or considering those subtle physical features, I think my time is better used in deciding which shot affords the best percentages for a second shot....assuming they are not lollygagging around out in a bare field, which for me, rarely happens.

As I said before, we have two motives. First and foremost, we need to kill one of those coyotes. Second, we need to decide how to do that and not screw up a decent shot at the other animal.

I really do not think that selecting your first shot based on the sex of the animal is a good policy, male or female, you must assume the other animal is going to scatter. But, I'm thinking of coyotes, not fox.

Good hunting. LB

Posted by Tim Behle (Member # 209) on February 27, 2006, 10:01 AM:

I can't figure out why I'd ever need to know the sex of a coyote before I shot it. [Confused]

What am I missing here?

The only critters that i can think of who pay different based on sex, are Minks and Fisher. Are the fur buyers going to start grading my coyotes on the size of their cojones?

Posted by Bryan J (Member # 106) on February 27, 2006, 12:23 PM:

Nah, Tim you are not missing anything. It is just that this time of year I’m not overly motivated to kill every coyote I see. I thought if there was a way that I could avoid taking out the females I could extend my self imposed season a little is all. (I know that I’m not going to do significant damage to the overall population regardless what happens.)

Thanks for your replies guys.

Posted by varmit hunter (Member # 37) on February 27, 2006, 12:42 PM:

The one swinging its head side to side in that "You never do anything I wont you to do" posture is the female.

The one with it's head bobbing up and down in the "Yes dear" posture is the male.

Posted by Rob (Member # 75) on February 27, 2006, 12:51 PM:

Like Odon Corr said..when calling in a pair..the female will bring up the rear (Most) of the time.

I brought this up once before and was told by just about everyone that Bill Austin was full of shit..except one government hunter who admitted that he hadn't really paid attention..so here goes...A female travels with her head and tail down,whereas a male travels with his head and tail up...I think the term (traveling) is what Bill means...not coming to a call..just a pair of coyotes on a walk-about.

[ February 27, 2006, 01:02 PM: Message edited by: Rob ]

Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on February 27, 2006, 01:21 PM:

Might be some truth to that, Rob? Don't know. But, I raised parrots for quite a few years and with all this talk about surgical sexing, I could usually tell which was which by the way they sat on a perch. The female generally sits at a leaning forward angle, whereas the male is more errect. Besides that, they usually have a larger beak. Perhaps you can draw some parallels to coyotes?

I just never worried about which coyote was a male, I take the easiest shot and don't figure on changing.

Posted by Rob (Member # 75) on February 27, 2006, 07:10 PM:

Leonard..I agree about taking the easy one first and then go from there...info like how to tell the male from the female should be listed under coyote trivia [Smile]

Posted by Rich Higgins (Member # 3) on February 27, 2006, 08:31 PM:

Since this is the spin off from the Which one first thread, I thought it was just trivia. How come no one is playing?

Posted by Cal Taylor (Member # 199) on February 28, 2006, 06:26 AM:

I have about the same spin as everyone else. I did like Rob's info though, that was one I hadn't heard, and Austin had laid in the brush watching coyotes enough to have a good grasp on the subject. On old pairs it's usually pretty easy to tell, as Higgy and others stated, the male is just built a little heavier. I call the old males "square headed" alot. The muzzle generally looks way shorter because the forehead is wider. But if someone has killed the old male and she went and found a yearling or a 2 year old dog. They can be hard to tell. I have shot a different coyote than I thought a time or two.

Posted by Greenside (Member # 10) on February 28, 2006, 07:45 AM:

I know it can be real tough to identify them from thier voice. Other than some general assumptions>

Varmit Hunter,

Reminds me of a joke.

Why do women have crows feet off the side of thier eyes? "YOU WANT ME TOO SUCK YOUR WHAT!!!!!!"

Why do men?
"PLEASE!!!!"

Posted by Bryan J (Member # 106) on March 02, 2006, 12:40 PM:

As trivial as it may be, I learned a little something. I seriously doubt that I (based on my experience) would be able to recognize the subtle differences in conformation mentioned, particularly on a live animal. The information that Rob shared from Odon Corr seems to conflict with other information that I have read (don’t remember where) but it might be a seasonal thing? Thank you for your replies and the chuckle or two.

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