Ban on coyote hunting contests rejected

A proposal to ban coyote hunting contests in Nevada was rejected Friday by state wildlife officials.

After hearing from some 50 people for and against the idea, the Nevada Wildlife Commission voted 7-1 to deny a petition sought to end a controversial practice that gives cash or other awards to hunters who kill the most coyotes during so-called “coyote call” events.

Petition supporters decried the contests as “killing for kicks” and said they have no real impact in paring down the coyote population. Hunters and representatives of organized sportsmen groups countered that the hunts are a legally protected sport and do have a significant impact in controlling populations of an animal that regularly kills livestock and pets and sometimes threatens people.

“There’s no better definition of the frivolous killing of an animal,” argued Don Molde of Nevadans for Responsible Wildlife Management, a lead petitioner.

“Coyote killing contests represent a wildlife version of a hate crime,” Molde said.

The contests have “proven to be a very useable control method,” said James Schmidt, a retired coyote expect with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services. He suggested petitioners’ motives were more extensive than simply seeking more humane treatment of coyotes.

“This is an anti-hunting movement. Don’t be fooled by what this is really about,” Schmidt said.

In Nevada and across the West, the coyote is classified as an unprotected animal, meaning they can be hunted without a license or a permit and be shot on sight with no limit on the number that can be killed at one time.

In coyote calling contests, coyotes are typically lured with devices that mimic the howls and yips of coyotes or the sounds of prey animals such as rabbits. Prizes are awarded based on the number of kills. Some contests are huge, including the 2013 World Coyote Calling Championship in Elko, where participants killed more than 300 coyotes. Another contest last December in the North Valleys north of Reno — the event that generated the petition debated Friday – involved the killing of 10.

Critics call the practice inhumane, including Fauna Tomlinson of Project Coyote, a nonprofit group that successfully pushed for a contest ban in California.

“Many people are saying it’s just not acceptable and ethical,” Tomlinson said. “There’s no ethical justification for killing wildlife for kicks.”

Speaking via video camera from Elko, rancher and longtime former Republican state Assemblyman John Carpenter defended the contests as an effective method of controlling a dangerous predator. Carpenter spoke of losing 75 lambs to coyotes during a single night.

“I understand people think it’s wanton killing, but without predator control, you cannot survive in the livestock business,” Carpenter said.

See Original Story >