Late fall marks the resumption of Utah’s wildlife killing contests, where an unknown number of coyotes and other animals are shot by teams angling to take the largest haul of dead “dogs” stacked in the bed of their pickups by the end of the day.
Many Utahns think of November as a time to cast ballots for political candidates, rake leaves, pick through leftover Halloween candy and prepare to give thanks in front of the holiday season.
“No matter what we say, it’s not going to change anybody’s mind and it’s not going to open anybody’s eyes to anything,” said Trent Wilson, who oversaw the 2nd Annual Castle Country Coyote Classic held Nov. 19 near Price. “It’s better for us just to do our own thing and not be in the public eye.”“People like to go out and people already hunt coyotes. You are never going to end that. It’s a friendly competition. Are you going to get rid of fantasy football?” he said.
Officials acknowledge that DWR staff have been present at past events, such as the 2018 Utah Coyote Derby in Spanish Fork, to process bounties and collect scalps. The agency’s involvement was not to facilitate the contests, but to ensure that out-of-state coyotes are not being turned in by contestants to fraudulently collect Utah’s $50-a-head bounty.
Contestants generally hunt in two-person teams and must set up their stands and calling devices on public land. To prevent cheating, the hunters are increasingly required to document the time of their kills by using their cellphones to record a time-stamped video of them shaking the dead coyote prior to the onset of rigor mortis.
State wildlife officials have no idea how many animals are killed, which species, and where and how they are killed. Contestants are not obligated to follow the rules for hunting big game and birds that ensure fair chase, sustainable harvests and humane kills. “Beyond the rules governing hunting in general, contests are not regulated or even tracked. Few of the regulations for deer apply to coyotes. They are an unprotected non-game species,” said Roger Phillips, spokesman for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. “There is a question of legality and there is a question of ethics. Showing videos of coyotes being attacked by dogs falls outside the realm of ethics, but it might be legal since hunters are allowed to use dogs to hunt predators in Idaho.
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