Shotgun pattern question.

Today, I had the opportunity to take a shot at 3 yotes simultaneously.. They we're lined up head- to-tail and I shot at the middle one, and it dropped. The other two ran off and I couldn't get off another shot. (single-shot shotgun) My question is this---How many, or what percentage, of the pellets probably hit the other 2 ? Would this be enough to be eventually fatal ?

Here's the stats---
12 gauge, modified cylinder choke, BB shot. range about 25 yards. Diameter of the 3 yotes lined up is about 8-9 feet.

How it happened-----The 3 yotes were trying to surround some deer next door to my house. Then they grouped together and began to run away to my right. When I appeared, they stopped for a second to look at me and that is when I fired at the middle one. I'll have a pic of the dead one tomorrow (It is nothing special)

Now get this (and this ain't no CensoredCensored))---The leader of this hunting pack appears to be a female yellow lab retriever DOG that has been seen running around the neighborhood---a typical "loose dog". It was out in FRONT of the hunting pack and the other two were following it ! ! I should have shot it instead, but a tree partial blocked the sighting. This dog does NOT appear to be a hybrid (coydog) but instead like that of an abandoned pet that has gone feral and has joined a yote pack, at least for hunting anyway.

I really hope a lot off pellets hit this "yote". I'm attuned to differing yotes from dogs, but this "yote" has me really concerned. It didn't look ANYTHING like a typical yote or coydog ! ! :mad:
 
It's BAAAACK !!

Not 30 minutes after my post, I heard a loud calling from deep in the woods behind my house. After having seen the yellow "yote"at 25 yards, I had some idea how a lab retriever dog should sound when it called. No other voice was heard. (Maybe the other yote is gone.)

It sounded like a lab retiever dog trying to "sing" like a coyote and it was pathetic. It was lower pitched, couldn't warble or yodel like a songdog coyote. Just couldn't do the voice.

This has led me to believe that this is an ADAPTIVE hybrid (coydog) rather than the usual GENETIC hybrid (coydog).

This "yote" has got to go ! ! :shoot:
 

p_foster07

Member
I'm sure it probably hit the other ones but just not concentrated enough to kill them. Take a piece of 8-9 ft. paper at 25 yards and shoot to find out for sure. I'd just grab a rifle instead.
 

GunnSmokeer

Senior Member
Your pattern was probably around 24" diameter. Maybe a few stray pellets might have strayed farther out.
If your aim was dead-on the middle yote, the other 2 should be unharmed.


P.s. If you are caught killing a dog, a domestic breed of dog like a lab or golden retriever that people love, do you have a legal defense with that "it thinks it's a coyote so I treated it like one" theory?
What if a cop or judge thinks it was still a dog?
Animal cruelty is a felony if the animal dies, by the way.
 
If you are caught killing a dog, a domestic breed of dog like a lab or golden retriever that people love, do you have a legal defense with that "it thinks it's a coyote so I treated it like one" theory?
What if a cop or judge thinks it was still a dog?
Animal cruelty is a felony if the animal dies, by the way.

Better yet, what if the cop or judge doesn't even know about it ? Best to be as careful as possible in identification and then---Shoot, Shovel, and SHUT UP !

The problem with trying to shoot a coydog or coywolf is possible mistaken identification. Nobody wants to shoot someones' pet ! This makes the hybrids, adaptive or genetic, especially dangerous. They can be among you and you don't even know it until maybe it's too late. That's the way it's been with the yellow "yote".
 

JohnK

Senior Member
First I've heard about "adaptive" coyotes. I've seen a black one that I think was part dog....he slipped away before I was sure enough to pull the trigger.
 
First I've heard about "adaptive" coyotes. I've seen a black one that I think was part dog....he slipped away before I was sure enough to pull the trigger.

"Adaptive" is a name I coined for a dog that lives with coyotes. Maybe there is a more accurate name for it somewhere.

The yellow "yote" I saw appears to me to be an ordinary dog, but its behavior is that of a coyote. It was larger, had a round head and muzzle (not pointy), a longer, heavier coat but with a regular dog tail and not that bottle-brush bushy tail of a regular coyote. It runs with the tail horizontal, not downward. It is very shy of people --isn't socialized at all. It runs away from 150 yards if it thinks you are looking at it--which is easy to do because of it's contrast with most surroundings. This makes me think it was never a tame pet of someone to begin with. Maybe it was kidnaped as a puppy and raised by a family of coyotes ?

Makes me think that there isn't that much distance between domesticated and feral when it comes to dogs.

If I trapped or killed the yellow "yote" who would benefit for research from this ? UGA vet school maybe ?
 
No amount of rationalization will make shooting a dog legal.

Not going to shoot the yellow "yote" unless it is a clear and obvious lethal threat to person or property. I will try to trap it instead and leave it alone until then. It just might be someones' pet dog that likes to hunt with coyotes when it is let outside. Weird, maybe, but possible, I guess. However, I will continue to shoot any coyote it might be traveling with as I did before. :shoot:

I really do want to trap it to find out just how "wild" it really is. Much more can be learned from this "yote" if captured alive than dead.
 

groundhawg

Senior Member
I'm sure it probably hit the other ones but just not concentrated enough to kill them. Take a piece of 8-9 ft. paper at 25 yards and shoot to find out for sure. I'd just grab a rifle instead.

Not likely to have hit the others. At 25 yards the spread would have not been able to cover 8-9 feet. More like 30 to 36 inches at the most. Glad you did get at least one.
 
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