The discovery of five coyote carcasses dumped along the roadside in rural southwestern Bartholomew County in late December could signal that coyote killing contests are being organized locally.
Hunters who participate in the organized contests, and a nationwide coalition of organizations who oppose the hunts, each said the grisly discovery on Dec. 21 indicated that whoever dumped the carcasses might have been involved in a loosely organized competitive hunt.
“You can have 100 good hunters, and then one throws a coyote on the side of the road, and it reflects on everyone, said Joe Umphries, a Parke County hunter who is organizing the seventh annual Coyote Crush Predator Tournament in early February. “This just reflects badly on everyone.”
Tom and Vickie Schoolcraft, who live near Interstate 65 on more than 100 acres, notified the Indiana Department of Natural Resources about finding the coyotes, which appeared to have been shot, on Dec. 21.
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A DNR officer took photos at the scene but initially told the couple they would be responsible for disposing of the carcasses. However, when DNR law enforcement learned of the couple’s predicament, an officer went to the scene to help them dispose of the animals.
“This is just unreal, people bringing dead animals out here and dumping them,” Vickie Schoolcraft said.
Of the five coyotes, four appeared to be fully grown while one was smaller, she said.
“It’s just disgusting — totally sickening,” she said.
“In general, coyote pelts are worth nothing,” said Katie Stennes, programs and community manager for Project Coyote, a nationwide organization that is part of the National Coalition to End Killing Contests. “Coyotes are not eaten as meat and hunters have no use for these animals,” she said.
Tagging coyotes
A big concern for the Schoolcrafts, and some Republic readers who read about the incident, was that one of the coyote’s mouths was tied shut with a zip-tie.
The tie is actually a clue that the five coyotes might have been part of an organized hunt, although a check of social media shows no organized hunts were planned in December in Bartholomew County.
In organized coyote hunts, a tagging system is part of the event and it can involve a zip-tie, Umphries said.
In organized, competitive hunts, participants are required to tag a coyote that they kill in a certain manner to prevent what is called “party hunting,” which is when different teams of hunters group up and then attribute all the killed coyotes to one hunter, who then agrees to split the money with the group, Umphries said.
Instead, each hunter who pays to enter a competitive contest is required to tag each coyote they kill, he said.
This can involve the use of zip-ties or even colored ping pong balls which are placed in the deceased animal’s mouth. The zip-ties are not put on the animal when it is alive — it is a tag that is placed after the animal is dead.
The Predator tournament is different from many competitions in that it is a benefit hunt, with this year’s proceeds going to benefit Wounded Warriors in Action, Umphries said. For the past six years, proceeds have gone to the Wounded Warrior organization.
One hundred teams, made up of two hunters, compete in the event, with the winner being the most coyotes taken during the event. A local taxidermist is part of the event and does take the coyotes that are killed, he said.
“There is no throwing any coyotes in a ditch,” Umphries said.
Umphries said around Indiana, it is common the first weekend of deer season to find deer carcasses dumped by the side of the road by those who cannot be considered real hunters.
“True hunters do not do that,” he said. “It just makes everyone look horrible.”
Upcoming contests
Stennes said there are three organized coyote killing contests in January and February in Indiana, something the organization is monitoring, along with contests in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois, states where the contests are very popular.
The organization opposes the killing contests as coyotes are being treated differently from other game animals such as deer — they are not being harvested for food but rather for sport and in the case of killing contests, for prize money.
“These contests are mostly underground — they are announced on social media and kept underground,” she said.
Laura Nirenberg, who operates the Center for Wildlife Ethics in northern Indiana, said the justification some people use for killing coyotes, that they are being a nuisance by killing livestock or pets, isn’t logical when applied to an organized coyote killing contest.
“They are not targeting individual wrongdoers,” she said of the coyotes who are sometimes hunted because they are killing farm livestock or harassing or threatening a homeowners’ pets. “They (hunters in coyote killing contests) are targeting an entire population of animals.”
Indiana Department of Natural Resources released a statement from Marty Benson, the agency’s assistant director of communications, saying that coyote season in Indiana runs from Oct. 15 through March 15.
“Hunting is an important means of managing the wildlife population, and must be done within the laws regarding that species,” Benson said.
Indiana Conservation Officer Jet Quillen said a hunting license is required to hunt coyotes except when a homeowner has labeled the animals a nuisance and is trying to eliminate them from their property. However, coyotes can’t be shot randomly and then dumped on other people’s property, Quillen said.
Coyotes are considered a nuisance animal, meaning that if a homeowner feels the animals are a threat to their family members and children, property, livestock or family pets, they may be trapped and destroyed, Quillen said. But it is illegal to dump the carcasses on other people’s property or along roadsides, he said.
Quillen said DNR sees dumping of deer carcasses quite often. Some hunters will take a deer lawfully, with a hunting license, and process it, he said, but then have the remaining carcass and are unsure what to do with it.
“It is littering,” he said of dumping deer, coyote or other animals on other people’s property.
Having the carcasses along roadsides or on private property brings other scavenging animals to it, which can also create more nuisance problems, he said.
Quillen cautioned coyote hunters that if they are hunting, and not going after a nuisance animal, they must have a hunting license and have permission from the landowner to be on private property while hunting.
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Coyote hunting season in Indiana runs from Oct. 15 through March 15. There is no restriction on the type of gun that may be used to kill them, and no limit on the number of coyotes which may be taken. Coyotes may be trapped or killed out of season if they are labeled a nuisance, such as threatening livestock or pets.
Source: Indiana Department of Natural Resources
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- The coyote closely resembles a German shepherd dog in height and shape but it carries its tail below the level of its back instead of curved upward and is generally half the weight of a German shepherd.
- Coyotes have a long slender snout and large, pointed ears.
- The upper body is a grizzled gray or buff, with a reddish brown or gray muzzle and legs. The belly is white, cream-colored or reddish yellow.
- The coyote has a bushy tail, which it carries below the level of its back.
- Coyotes average 25 pounds (ranging from 20 to 50 pounds), and they measure 40 to 50 inches long from nose to tail tip.
- Coyotes are elusive and normally avoid humans.
- They can be active day or night, but are typically most active at dawn and dusk.
- The coyote communicates by barking, yipping and howling.
Where coyotes are located
Coyotes are present in all sections of the state. There are records of coyotes in Indiana as early as 1816, though they likely inhabited Indiana well before that time. Bounties were in place in Indiana on coyotes from at least 1849 through the late 1960s. Historically, coyote populations were limited in range to the prairie regions of the state, and expansion may have partially been limited because wolves suppress coyote populations, and both red and gray wolves were once abundant in Indiana. However, with the eradication of wolves and conversion of habitat to farmland, coyotes have been able to expand and adapt to new habitats. Statewide coyote abundance has slowly increased as coyotes continued to expand into previously unoccupied habitat. Today, coyotes occupy all of Indiana, no matter the habitat type or amount of development.
Reproduction
Coyotes may pair for life. They mate in February, and a litter with an average of four to six pups is born in a den in April. Dens may be located in a bank, rock outcropping, cave, or an enlarged woodchuck or rabbit burrow. Males help raise the pups and provide the female with food when pups are very young. Pups begin playing at the entrance of their den at 3- to 4-weeks old, and by 10 weeks they may leave the den completely. Pups learn to hunt during the fall and generally disperse before they turn 1 year old. Occasionally, a female yearling or two may stick around another year and help raise the next year’s pups.
Source: Indiana Department of Natural Resources
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The following planned hunts are occurring in Indiana during coyote hunting season
Northern Indiana Coyote Derby
When: Concluding today
Where: Weigh-in at Neffs Gun Shop in Topeka, Indiana
Prizes: For team with the biggest coyote and team with the most kills.
Coyote Showdown 2019
When: Jan. 25-27
Where: Hosted by Highsmith Guns, Greenfield
Prizes: Awarded to team with highest combined weight for coyotes and foxes killed
7th Annual Coyote Crush Predator Tournament
When: Feb. 8-10
Where: Check-in at Parke County 4-H Fairgrounds in Rockville
Benefits: Wounded Warriors in Action
Prizes: Teams with most coyotes taken wins, sponsors include gun and hunting equipment manufacturers and sellers
U.S. Predator Challenge
In addition to Indiana competitions, a national U.S. Predator Challenge is also underway, with the eastern region competition taking place this month. In this competition, hunters from around the United States pay an entry fee and compete with hunters around the United States.
Source: projectcoyote.org
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