I understand that a bill has passed the house and senate and is now before the governor of Utah that will increase the bounty on coyotes from $20 to $50!  The objective is to cut deeply into the coyote population in the state in an effort to help our declining deer populations.

Mixed emotions have been hitting the table pretty hard by some.  The proponents are saying YA!!!  Mo Money for my efforts!  While the opponents are saying no more coyotes will be killed by the rookie hunters and they will only educate them.  Others are saying the money could be better used in other programs rather than paying hunters.  And the anti hunters are calling it an extreme move by our trusted government leaders to slaughter innocent animals.

I’m not sure if it is a state wide thing or not and I don’t know how you collect the bounty.  I have heard that you have to turn in both ears and the tail to collect the money, but is that true?  I don’t know.

I think it is a great idea for those who like to shoot the varmints and perhaps the bounty would pay for the gas!  The pelts would not be worth anything once the ears and tail are removed, so to a person into trapping or shooting them for hide prices would not gain in that regard.  But, on an up note the price of a prime coyote hide in todays market is only going to get you around $20 anyway, so this bounty really looks good to me.

Who wants to go kill a truck load of these varmints?

Bears Butt

March 2012