Sponsors of a monthlong coyote hunting contest planned for February canceled the event. Series11 sporting goods store and the Weston Rod & Gun Club in southern Vermont cited a lack of interest in a posting on social media.
Meanwhile a different coyote hunting contest, for the weekend of February 10 and 11, is being sponsored by the Green Mountain Houndsmen Club in Franklin County, according to Protect Our Wildlife, a Stowe-based nonprofit.
The Stowe organization is one of several animal rights groups pressing Vermont lawmakers and state Fish & Wildlife Commissioner Louis Porter to ban coyote hunts on the grounds that they promote senseless killing of animals that no one wants to eat.
Green Mountain Animal Defenders circulated a petition to ban coyote hunting in Vermont and called the Series11 planned hunt a “killing spree.” The petition, on change.org, had attracted almost 8,000 signatures as of Thursday afternoon, although many of those were from people who live outside Vermont.
Opponents of coyote hunting contests have also asked Vermont landowners to post their property to prohibit all hunting as a way to pressure the state to take action against the coyote contests.
Series11 sells guns and other goods in Londonderry. A message posted on the store’s Facebook page Wednesday said the hunt was canceled due to lack of participants. The decision had nothing to do with pressure from activists, according to the posts on the page.
A man who answered the phone at Series11 Thursday said only four people signed up. He declined to give his name and reemphasized that protests against the hunt played no role in the cancellation.
Supporters of the hunts say they reduce coyote attacks on Vermont’s deer herd and help keep the thriving coyote population from spilling into residential areas where the animals sometimes prey on cats and dogs or scare people.
Vermont has an open season on coyotes, meaning they can be hunted anytime.
Critics say that’s cruel and that coyotes are often killed in a particularly brutal fashion, including being clubbed. “I don’t think there is any animal that is treated more terribly than coyotes,” said Brenna Galdenzi, president of Protect Our Wildlife. “There is a deep hatred for these animals by hunters and they are just treated without mercy.”
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!
After reading the article and the comments, I must admit I did not know coyote hunting was a big problem in VT. Forget the opioid crisis and the numerous economic issues to be solved in this state. This whole issue sounds like a group of trust funders with a solution who need to find a problem.
Mr. Covey talks about outdoorspeople and learning about their heritage, camaraderie, and connection with the land that draws them outside like hunting and trapping are the only ways to achieve these things. I beg to differ. First off heritage can be a good or bad thing. There is a heritage of slavery and society has determined that it has no place in a civililzed humane society. The same can be said about trapping. Trapping served a purpose in the past to provide for food and clothing in the wilderness. There is no reason to contiunue this barbaric practice when the majority of society does not desire products with fur anymore. Trappers can be seen on videos enjoying the pain they inflict on the animals and smiling while clubbing them to death while captured in the trap. Even trapping of so called “nuisance” animals is a slippery slope because there are so many other humane ways of dealing with these problems before they resort to using trapping as a last resort. As for hunting, I am not against ethical hunting. That means subsistence hunting period. Trophy or thrill killing is nothing more than feeding a sick need for the human ego and has nothing to do with what is best for wildlife or conservation. By hunting coyotes indiscriminatly you are only increasing their numbers and biologist will confirm this. Finally, there are many that have a heritage, comararderie, and connection with the land by hiking, kayaking, photographing, or just plain communing with nature. They do not have to kill anything to do that.
I am so thankful the 1st coyote contest of 2018 has been cancelled, and hopefully the 2nd one scheduled for February will follow suit. These contests are obviously the senseless and barbaric killing of an important species in our environment. All studies have shown that coyotes play an important role in balancing our ecosystems. These contests give hunters and Vermont a bad image in that they are truly killing for fun…killing for the sake of killing. I also believe there should not be an open season on coyotes.
Thank you for canceling this coyote killing contest. Soon, these barbaric, anachronistic, and cruel practices will be banned. The fact that fish and game agencies support these contests tells you a lot about them. They have been stuck in the past when humans didn’t know any better and lashed out at all perceived threats to life and livestock. Our knowledge has come a long way, but our practices have not caught up. Well, it is time to catch up and not allow fear and hatred of predators to rule us. It is time to ban this bloodsport and persecution of animals that serve a definite and crucial role in the ecosystem.
The saddest part of this whole issue is that the leadership of the department of fish and game (aka Fish and Wildlife Dept) has not stood up to this sick practice in how we treat Vermont’s wildllife. If the agency won’t take a stance in this sickening practice, why do we have a department that purports to serve the citizens? This issue more thn any other demonstrates without any shadow of doubt that the fish and game dept has lost its way in the 21st century.
Its funny how antis are okay with coyotes starving to death or dying from diseas like mange or rabies. This is the most gruesome way for an animal to die & they are okay with that. Coyotes just like every other animal needs to be managed. When the population grows beyond carrying capacity & food runs short the pack self manages itself by them starving to death. Hunting & trapping is the best way to keep them from overpopulating, spreading diseases & starvation. I dont mind if someone disagrees with something but to spread lies & misleading information to get your way doesnt sit well with me & this is the stuff antis are pushing.
Coyote killing contests are sick, barbaric and DISGUSTING! This should be illegal. Heartbreaking that ppl would participate in something so horrible.
Thanks for canceling the one coyote-killing contest. As other posters have pointed out, no ecological purpose is served by these contests. Quite the opposite.
The decision had everything to do with the response from people appalled by this barbaric practice. We note the article says among the thousands who signed the petition are many from out of state. Vermont welcomes tourists, and presents a very different side of life there when it does. But these contests are receiving much attention from int’l tourist groups via social media. Something local businesses that support ” killing contests” might want to consider. We are watching with interest what happens here.
in response to kerry edmonds i wish to point out that in the desert where i live it is the coyotes who live close to people and the foxes that stay further away. i’ll add that while i’m cool with hunting, i just don’t see any reason to hunt coyotes. i wouldn’t try to tell you vermonters (individually, or collectively) what to do, but i would ask that if you find yourself wanting to hunt coyotes that you ask yourself “why?” and then weigh that ‘why’ against the ‘why not’s. i can’t get them to balance, not even close.