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Bounty nets 475 coyotes
By BUZZY HASSRICK
This document was published online on Thursday, February 26, 2004
The coyote bounty program resulted in 475 dead animals in two months, for a payout of $9,500.
"Our goal was reached," said Lou Cicco of Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, the program's sponsor.
A Powell area sheep rancher praised the effort, while a Game and Fish biologist offered a mixed review.
The bounty was $20 per animal for the program that began Jan. 1 and ended Feb. 23.
A total of 210 hunters and trappers participated with many taking one or two and "several who brought in quite a few," Cicco said. The takers and coyotes were supposed to all be from Park County.
"It really got the kids involved, women, too," he added. "It gave them something to do and got back the old pioneer spirit of hunting."
The reduction will save thousands of game birds and domestic fowl along with deer and antelope fawns.
"Four hundred and seventy-five coyotes during a year have a big appetite," Cicco said.
Regarding criticism from biologists that the program would have little effect, Cicco said, "I don't believe a word they said. This did a lot of good.
"We all think it's well worth the effort."
Initially, some thought the tally might be 50, so the total amazed many observers.
"This surprised everyone," Cicco said.
SF&W hopes to repeat and possibly enlarge the program next year. That would please Shane Smith of Smith Farms, who has been running sheep for 40 years.
Coyotes killed more of his sheep this winter than any in the last 15 years, he said. He lost 30-35 lambs worth $105 each out of about 4,800 head brought in to fatten.
"I lost one last night," he said Monday, estimating its weight at 100 pounds. "The coyote problem is out of control."
Smith attended an SF&W meeting and changed his mind about membership.
"I will join because I'm extremely happy someone is doing something to help my situation," he said.
Since bringing in the lambs in early winter, Smith said his losses of about one per night slowed after the bounty program started. He said coyotes do not target the smallest or weakest and use a recognizable attack pattern.
"They go for the throat, crush it, and eat the back end and intestines," he said.
To make a dent in coyote numbers, a program needs to take 50 percent of the population for three consecutive years, said Kevin Hurley, Game and Fish wildlife coordinator. He said no one knows what percentage 475 represents, but the number does suggest a healthy population.
"That (475) tells me there's a ton of coyotes out there," Hurley said.
"Literature" also says fox impact game birds more than coyotes, he added.
The bounty program "did no harm except to 475 coyotes," and it did get SF&W members out of the house, Hurley said. To be most effective, however, he said the program should involve a targeted area and be part of an integrated pest management plan.
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