As just about every Maine sportsman and state wildlife biologist now recognizes, coyotes are a major deer predator that must be controlled if Maine’s already struggling deer population is to ever recover. Maine’s former deer biologist Gerry Lavigne wrote this: “Deer populations in Maine are unacceptably low and in need of restoration. Among several causative factors, predation by coyotes ranks high in importance, particularly in the northern half of the state. We propose a coyote control program that integrates the participation of hunters, trappers, hunting- based businesses and organizations, landowners, and the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.”

Lavigne, himself a recreational coyote hunter, has long argued that deer hunters can’t expect MDIF&W, with its limited financial resources, to single-handedly control coyotes in Maine. Hunters themselves can help control our expanding coyote populations by adding the predator hunt to their list of recreational hunting pursuits. Currently, about 2,000 coyotes are killed annually by hunters and trappers. Lavigne says that we need to take an additional 4,000 – 5,000 coyotes a year to “accomplish effective control.” This doesn’t mean eradicating the coyote from our lands. The goal is to simply get populations under control. Putting it another way, if 3,000 additional hunters can kill two coyotes each a year, wintering deer survival rates would, according to Lavigne, improve markedly.

With this in mind, Northwoods Sporting Journal outdoor columnist David Willette has just released a new manual on how to hunt and trap coyotes. Titled “Coyote Wars: A Deer Hunter’s Guide to Hunting Coyotes,” this new 153-page book is an excellent instruction manual for aspiring new coyote hunters. An accomplished hunter and prize-winning outdoor writer, Willette starting hunting coyotes a few years ago. With a lot of help from more experienced coyote hunters and trappers, Willette got on the fast track. He writes,” I got my first taste of predator hunting on a sub-zero morning in Williamstown, Mass., two years ago. I’ve been tasting it passionately ever since.”

To his credit, Willette did his spadework. He dug deep in gathering the advice of veteran coyote hunters and trappers for his book.

One of those experts was Lavigne, who prepared the foreword for “Coyote Wars.” He writes,”Whether you are interested in baiting, calling, dogging, or just hunting coyotes incidentally to other hunting pursuits, this book will put you on the right track. Enjoy it, build on the collective hunting experience David presents, and you may well become a coyote hunting addict! And in time, if enough of us get involved in coyote hunting, we just might prove the skeptics wrong. We’ll have a thriving deer herd to enjoy again.”

Willette has assembled a thorough, useful and enjoyable book. Willette saw a need for a good coyote hunting book and went to work. “Coyote Wars” covers it all. Divided into three sections, the book concentrates on calling coyotes, running coyotes, and baiting coyotes. Willette has interviewed seasoned coyote hunters and houndsmen. He’ll help you with blinds, hunting spots, bait materials, rifle calibers and optics. The book also includes a section of the coyote’s history in the Northeast and an in-depth interview with wildlife biologists from all of the New England states, as well as New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. Coyote Wars: A Deer Hunter’s Guide to Hunting Coyotes is one of those overdue, utilitarian books that fills a publishing void, and does so with style and purpose. For any experienced or aspiring hunter of the Northeast’s exploding coyote populations, this is a must-have book and a solid value.

Willette sums it up nicely in his closing thought in the book :”There’s no reason why we can’t get more guys hunting coyotes. Hunters have access, time and ambition to become coyote hunters. Coyote hunting will add a new dimension to your hunting experience and it just might put more meat in the freezer for you, too. Many deer hunting enthusiasts already dabble in habitat improvement on the land where they hunt, why not add another dimension and incorporate coyote control as well?”

Produced by Maine Outdoor Publications, “Coyote Wars,” priced at $19.95, can be purchased directly from the author through his website, www.coyotewars.com or by sending a check for $19.95 to Maine Outdoor Publications, 300 Sawyer Rd., Hampden, ME 04444.

______________________

The author is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal. He is also a Maine Guide, co-host of a weekly radio program “Maine Outdoors” heard Sundays at 7 p.m. on The Voice of Maine News-Talk Network (WVOM-FM 103.9, WQVM-FM 101.3) and former information officer for the Maine Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. His e-mail address is [email protected] and his new book is “A Maine Deer Hunter’s Logbook.”