[kenton6]

I came across this article this morning out of Virginia. It talks about a bounty program there in one county.

VERONA — Augusta County sharpshooters put a dent in the coyote count last year, delivering 256 dead canines for a bounty of $50 to $75 each.
“It’s been a positive response,” said Miles Bobbitt, the county’s agriculture industry director.

More than 100 people participated in the county’s first full year of its coyote control program, collecting a total of $16,425 in bounties.

Augusta County initiated the bounty in the fall of 2005. Hunters and landowners are paid $75 for each dead coyote from January until April 1 and $50 the rest of the year.

While county officials are pleased with the response, biologists are not convinced of the effectiveness of the program.

Bounty programs typically kill off about 1 percent of the population each year, far less then the 60 to 70 percent required to keep numbers down significantly, said Mike Fies, wildlife research biologist at the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries in Verona. Virginia has an estimated 25,000 coyotes.

Bobbitt was unable to say how many coyotes were in Augusta County or what percentage had been killed by hunters.

Fies said federal programs that target problem areas instead of randomly hunting coyotes are more effective.

Coyotes are not a native species in Virginia and first entered the state in the 1950s, according to the Virginia Cooperative Coyote Control Program. The wild canines can attack livestock and are legally classified as a nuisance species.

 

[Cap'n Jack Duggins]

I think I could make a decent living at $50 each, for part time work!
I think I could shoot 250+ each year....now to get the greenies and yuppies to pay for it.

 

[kenton6]

I couldn't find any information in the article stating who funds this program. I was thinking the same thing. If enough guys know at least a decent supplemental income could be had, it might work.

If the biologists are correct, they say the only way to effectively control the populations of coyotes is to reduce numbers by about 80%.

Now that would get the dander up on some of them antis.

 

[stweedie]

We'd have to shoot and awful lot of coyotes to reduct them 80%. My brother found a deer the coyotes had taken down in a field where he has some coyote bait out. They also dug up a Moose carcass someone had buried up there after moose season this year.

 

[aroostookbasser]

Not trying to goad Captain D. ........but the whole issue is mute here without funding being considered the first priority in any Coyote program. Maybe we could tack on an extra 1.00 to the cig tax and get another .50 to the tolls and another 1.00 tax on beer and wine sales?

In the end it all comes down to funding the bounty...if you can find the cash the people would back it in sifficient numbers to make it reality.

But you can't get there on any new fees to sportsman.........

 

[stweedie]

I consider a tax on beer offensive. Why not just tax BMW's, Mercedes, and Lexus' to fund it. You tack on another 1.00 on cigs and people will be paying $20 a pack in Maine.

 

[John Porter]

Why do we need a bounty for everyone to go shoot a few coyotes? Why is it the ole mighty dollar has to be mentioned to get someone motivated? Are we that dependant on the government? I put baits out every year and we shoot yr round off these, just takes a hour a week to replenish a bait pile and then a few minutes to monitor it weekly.

 

[aroostookbasser]

Truce.............

The last thing we need here is another tax......period!!!!!

I wish, like Porter, that hunters would hunt the "yotes as hard as they do deer, moose or rabbits. Other than in a few cases where there are contests. Hunting 'yotes is so limited.......we aren't killing 'em as fast as they can breed. Unchecked they pose a serious problem for our deer. But how do we get hunters to shoot more of them..... without a bounty?:frusty:

 

[sremington]

Hey we're hunters right? We should grap our rifles and create an army. It is a right in our constitution and then we can overthrow the government.

I wonder how long it would take before they brought our troops home and stuck 160,000 troops on us. :shock:
:usa:

 

[kenton6]

Porter is right. But hunters, should they recognize the consequences of overgrown coyote populations, would go do as Porter says. The questions to ask are these. Any care to respond?

1. Do hunters recognize and believe coyotes are killing too many deer?
2. Do hunters believe it will have a substantial enough effect?
3. Are hunters willing to take matters into their own hands and hunt more coyotes or do they believe it's goverrnments problem?
4. Are the majority of hunters taken to the attitude of "it's not my problem" and with this the demise of hunting?
5. Is this attitude contributing to the insurgence of anti-hunting and animal rights groups in Maine? Are we now an easy target?
6. Are there just not enough hunters left in Maine who, frankly, give a shit?

 

[Cap'n Jack Duggins]

Why do we need a bounty for everyone to go shoot a few coyotes? Why is it the ole mighty dollar has to be mentioned to get someone motivated? Are we that dependant on the government? I put baits out every year and we shoot yr round off these, just takes a hour a week to replenish a bait pile and then a few minutes to monitor it weekly.

BINGO! My previous post was sarcasm but I don't believe anyone saw it.
I chot one yesterday in my woodlot and chased the other 3 with the .22 auto. pow, pow, pow, pow, pow Boy is that fun!
Went back in today and whacked another one after only 10 minutes of calling. I have beaver carcasses in my back pit and a blind at the top rim.
I only hunt until my coffee is gone (20-30 minutes) then I cut wood, follow deer tracks, look for beds and dropped antlers and cut more wood.

As far as most hunters, I think it's the "deer camp" mentality and social aspect that keeps them going back after deer. You have to be a true outdoorsman to go out and stay out in freezing temps & nasty weather.

 

[John Porter]

I truly believe its a sad day when only a few sportsman try to take matters in our own hands. Do I enjoy freezing my ass off night after night? Nope, but I do so that I can have a decent chance at harvesting a deer every year. If there was a bounty on them dirtbags, I would continue to kill them and not say a word.
If you truly want to harvest the maximum amount in a short time, call in the spring and shoot the YOY. These yoy of the year are stupid and fooled easily, a way to boost your confidence in your calling ability.
Porter

 

[aroostookbasser]

Porter is right. But hunters, should they recognize the consequences of overgrown coyote populations, would go do as Porter says. The questions to ask are these. Any care to respond?

1. Do hunters recognize and believe coyotes are killing too many deer?
2. Do hunters believe it will have a substantial enough effect?
3. Are hunters willing to take matters into their own hands and hunt more coyotes or do they believe it's goverrnments problem?
4. Are the majority of hunters taken to the attitude of "it's not my problem" and with this the demise of hunting?
5. Is this attitude contributing to the insurgence of anti-hunting and animal rights groups in Maine? Are we now an easy target?
6. Are there just not enough hunters left in Maine who, frankly, give a shit?

There you are............

 

[John Porter]

The ones that I seem to run into who have the biggest say in the problems that coyotes are causing--are the arm chair hunters who will shoot any deer just to say they got a deer every year. I feel if your a true sportsmen or women, you will do your part to try and control our natural resources here in Maine. Be it, opt to not harvest your limit of birds daily when the spring nesting season has been wet and cold, or limit out on trout every day you fish just because they are biting good, or just to go out and feed the coyotes even if you don't plan on harvesting them- you must know someone who would like to harvest a few....
Porter

 

[aroostookbasser]

Apathy ........... it's death by attitude!

 

[John Porter]

This is my buddy with a yote we harvested over bait--also this is a good coyote--A DEAD ONE!

 

[kenton6]

There's nothing wrong with the health of that critter!