Whitetail land managers typically plant food plots on their properties to draw and hold deer — to provide the nutrition they require and to increase hunting opportunities. It makes sense. Feed them and they will come. But it also provides a concentrated source of protein that draws predators such as coyotes to those same food plots. Feed them and they will come.

That’s why predator control should be an important part of any land management effort. While studies have shown it’s nearly impossible to rid a property of all its coyotes, it still makes sense that if you can keep predator populations in check, you will have lower fawn mortality — which should mean more mature bucks down the road.

I hunt turkeys on a working cattle and sheep ranch every year where the owner exercises extreme predator control by hiring a professional trapper to keep coyote populations under control, and it’s not uncommon to see a coyote in a foothold trap while hunting on his land. Whitetail land managers can do the same. Most areas have locals who will trap coyotes for a nominal fee . . . or maybe even for free if they trap them when fur is prime. 

But why let the trappers have all of the fun? Why not take matters into your own hands to do a little predator control of your own each year after deer season? All you need is an accurate rifle and a mouth call or electronic caller. If you’ve never done it before you can learn how by visiting our sister site Predator Xtreme. You can also set up a bait pile — maybe borrow some dead livestock from a local farmer — plant yourself downwind and wait the coyotes out. Coyote hunting is effective, and it’s fun.

Listen, you’ve gone through the trouble of creating a whitetail utopia, but now the coyotes have moved in. There goes the neighborhood, right? It’s time to take matters into your own hands. Kill a coyote, save a fawn.