15 000 coyote bounties claimed

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:sniper: http://ww w.leaderpost.com/technology/coyote+bounties+claimed/2559640/story.html
About 15,000 coyotes have been killed since the provincial government put a bounty on the animals, but it's too early to gauge the program's level of success, Agriculture Minister Bob Bjornerud says.

The pilot project, which was announced in November and lasts until the end of March, pays hunters $20 per coyote killed. Four paws must be presented as evidence.

About 25,000 coyotes are hunted in an average year although with the low price of pelts that number was only about 16,000 last year, Bjornerud said.

"I think our $20 may help bring that number back up and I'm hoping that's what happens. But until the end of March and the applications are pretty well finalized we're not going to have a good handle on exactly where we're at," he said.

Bjornerud said in addition to assessing the numbers of coyotes killed, he'll ask for feedback from rural municipalities. Several farmers and ranchers had been complaining about trouble with coyotes killing livestock, and about increasingly bold coyotes wandering into farmyards and potentially posing a risk to small children, Bjornerud said.

He said he hopes increased hunting under the coyote control program will "put a little bit of fear back in the coyotes."

A total of 860 applications for payment have been received to date, and the average number of coyotes has been 18. The largest number from one applicant so far is 90.

The program hasn't been without controversy. Following its launch in the fall, nature and wildlife conservation groups questioned the effectiveness of a bounty.

A group has also formed on the social networking site Facebook titled "stop Brad Wall from killing coyotes." Among the 76 members registered as of Friday are several NDP caucus staffers.

Bjornerud said he expected some "push back" on the bounty but he doesn't regret the province's decision.

"I guess my counter to (the criticism) is 'So what should we do?' We should sit back until some little kid out of some family in rural Saskatchewan gets attacked by six or seven coyotes, and the first thing everybody would say is why didn't you do something," Bjornerud said.

NDP Leader Dwain Lingenfelter said he would have preferred if the province had left coyote control incentive programs entirely up to individual rural municipalities, rather than using provincial funds.

"The sense that I get in talking to a lot of rural farmers and ranchers is that there's very mixed feelings about whether this is an appropriate reaction to the issue of coyotes," Lingenfelter said.

More than 80 per cent of the province's rural municipalities have opted to participate.

David Marit, president of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities, said he thinks the government has taken the right approach with a pilot project that will be evaluated in the spring.

© Copyright (c) The Regina Leader-Post
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So who's gonna beat the record of 90 eh?:D
 
Just out of curiosity, what do you do with them? Just cut off the paws and throw them in a freezer til you have enough? 424 paws must take up a fair bit of room...

Jeff
 
rhshooter said:
Just out of curiosity, what do you do with them? Just cut off the paws and throw them in a freezer til you have enough? 424 paws must take up a fair bit of room...

Jeff
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Yes, cut off the paws but there is no need to put them in a freezer,there is a great big freezer outside.-26 here this morning.Nobody is going to get rich over this bounty but it pays for some gas and shells.
 
.17 said:
Yes, cut off the paws but there is no need to put them in a freezer,there is a great big freezer outside.-26 here this morning.Nobody is going to get rich over this bounty but it pays for some gas and shells.
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Uh - 100 yotes - $2000 pays for a LOT of gas and shells.

If I were in SK and had land, I'd be trapping/snaring them. You can get 5x as many with snares as you can with rifles!
 
Pay the income tax on two grand and other expenses and see what you have left and take the time to hunt down or trap 100 coyotes and your not getting rich as I said.
 
"...there is a great big freezer outside..." And free to run.
This bounty thing is going to back fire. All of the dead Wiley's relatives will move in. Read an on-line study(forget where) that said hunting pressure does nothing to Wiley's population. Usually makes it grow.
 
Varmint hunting is becoming popular in Sask. Bounty or not it's a great pastime between seasons.

Well done boys. Keep at it:D
 
I dont know if killing 15,000 coyotes and I think it will be closer to 25 or 30 thousand will make the population grow,but the spin off they are looking for is to make the coyotes associate man with getting shot at which will in turn keep them out of cattle pens and yards and maybe save a life down the road some day.

I dont put much faith in studies of any kind.However I respect your opinion on the subject.
 
I read some sort of article on the effect of hunting on coyote populations. What I understood, is that the population will go down, but hunting alone isn't particularly effective, and can lead to an increase in breeding. Personally, I don't see how shooting and trapping thousands of coyotes would lead to an increase in population.
 
sunray said:
"...there is a great big freezer outside..." And free to run.
This bounty thing is going to back fire. All of the dead Wiley's relatives will move in. Read an on-line study(forget where) that said hunting pressure does nothing to Wiley's population. Usually makes it grow.
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Increased hunting pressure makes coyotes timid of people. When they are being hunted regularly they quickly lose there boldness.

I don't know if running coyotes with hounds is legal in Sask, but it's a very effective way to hunt them as well as keep them on their toes.
 
Dominion Link said:
Increased hunting pressure makes coyotes timid of people. When they are being hunted regularly they quickly lose there boldness.

I don't know if running coyotes with hounds is legal in Sask, but it's a very effective way to hunt them as well as keep them on their toes.
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It was in the 80's but its now in human according to some. I wish it wasnt cause i got a coon hound that could run them down.
 
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