Coyote Hunting With Dogs? No thanks.

Have you ever seen a video of coyote hunting with dogs? If you have, I am sorry. Now I'm not a big "animal rights" activist; I'm pretty conservative most of the time, but in this case, I feel the need to at least blog about this issue. As someone who hunts, I understand the disapproval we all get from groups like PETA and Friends of Animals and do not see justification in their arguments to give deer animals birth control pills (very cost and time effective for agencies that barely have enough funding for their current busy employees) and wild ideas like that, but in a case like hunting coyotes with dogs, I may have to agree with their cruelty cries.

So here is the basic scenerio: a big food plot is set up (filled with dead carcasses like cows and deer from butchers). A hunter sits with his dogs and calls the coyote in using a coyote call (sounds like some sort of dying animal). The coyote runs to the food plot (which he/she has already been visiting so is likely to be closeby). When it gets to a decent area, the hunter releases his dogs, who chase the coyote until the hunter can get a decent shot. Something like this would be mildly acceptable and humane, but the process continues. In some cases, the hunter does not take a kill shot; instead, the hunter shoots the back legs of the coyote. The coyote falls crippled, while the dogs pile on top of it and tear its flesh. The hunter then calls that group of dogs away from the coyote. The coyote struggles to get away, but cannot because it has been completely disabled. The hunter then releases a second pack of fresh dogs, which are further used to tear the coyote apart until death. This may include the hunter picking up the coyote to throw it for the dogs to chase (still alive of course) a few times before it finally dies.

How screwed up is this? I found this hard to believe when I spoke with a Massachusetts Fish & Wildlife Biologist, but he told me to visit a website and watch the videos. So, I did, and they were just as he explained. They were sickening, and even I was disgusted (you've seen how many things I've done with dead animals on this blog- dead animals don't normally turn my stomach). The biologist was upset when speaking about the matter, explaining how he had no idea how something that cruel could possibly be legal. But it is, and so close to my home. In Massachusetts, using baiting and dogs for coyotes is legal. Many other states have legalized it too. I cannot believe it.

Here are some of the problems I can think of with this "hunting (more like torturing)" method: Coyotes, like wolves, are pack animals. They have an alpha male and female, the females normally being the ones to do the hunting. If the alpha female is out hunting for food for her pups and gets brutally killed, the pack has no alpha female. Due to this, coyotes that do not belong to a pack raid into the pack area, which used to be protected by the alpha male and female. Until a new alpha female steps up for the pack and re-establishes its boundries, an area that would normally house only 10 coyotes could have between 20-30. Aside from killing alpha pack members, the baiting also sets up for other wildlife problems: the killing of bobcats. Bobcats are very susceptable to food plots and calls. Massachusetts dropped its seasonal 50 bobcat limit (only 50 bobcats could be shot per season: after that, the season closed), allowing an unlimited amount of bobcats to be taken. With this method of coyote hunting, bobcats can also be easily drawn in, and soon the bobcat population in Massachusetts could decline. I have only seen one bobcat in my lifetime in Massachusetts (not that that says a whole lot), so I don't see how there are possibly enough to not have a 50 kill limit. I guess I just don't understand some management decisions. I don't mind if people want to hunt coyotes in a humane way (one shot kill), but if they are going to kill them in a long painful way, they shouldn't be hunting. I consider most hunters conservationists who care about the environment and don't want to see their wildlife populations diminishing or overpopulating. They hunt because they like animals and being outside. I don't think the torturing of animals is a rightful way to hunt. People like those who partake in this type of hunting are exactly who Animal Activists complain about, and exactly who give all hunters a bad reputation.