What the hell. I may as well toss my .02 in here while the fire's going, since the guys here that know me know that I cut my teeth coyote hunting on the front seat of a dogwagon as I followed in the footsteps of my grandad and dad. Having said that, I'll go on record as saying that the days where this type of hunting are acceptable are long past. In areas of western Kansas, Nebraska and any other locale where you have large tracts of uninterrupted rangeland, it may play well. But, we have a lot of dog men in my area where you may have upwards of six or more tracts of land in any given section with each belonging to a different landowner.
This particular means of hunting coyotes, though extremely fun, gobbles up huge areas of real estate for a day's hunt. And there is no way in hell that these guys have secured permission to hunt on all that land.
Just last week, I was on break at work at a convenience store on my route and there was a dog wagon with Cloud County plates filling up at the plates. That's a hundred miles away. The dogs had fresh blood on their faces and it was barely 10 in the morning. Had I not been in uniform and driving a federal vehicle, I'd have gladly told them to pack their happy asses back to Concordia and go trespass on their friends' ground. I'd have followed them out of town and the first open gate they entered would have been where the Sheriff would be citing them a few minutes later for criminal trespass.
Don't get me wrong. I have no moral objections to coursing coyotes. Like I said, I've done it and enjoy it. But I bear the burden of getting permission for every place I hunt. This year, that meant five days of driving, over 800 miles, and all for 48 signatures and 20,000 acres. Those guys, if they want to continue doing as they enjoy doing, should pay the same price. My objections center around the fact that these guys are chronic law breekers. Trespassing. Criminal damage to property. Reckless riving. Unlawful stop and stand on highways and traveled roads. And, in my opinion, often times wanton waste of coyotes.
Just yesterday, I found where coyote hunters had removed a sixty foot section of four rung barbed wire fence so they can take a straight shot into a pasture rather than go a hundred feet further down the damned road and make a left turn into a gate with no chain or lock. This morning, I went to a place where I supposedly have sole permission for hunting after the close of deer season only to find all three gates into this place open and with truck tracks going in and out.
I constantly have to entertain the rage of landowners who endure erosion losses and soil compaction problems where coyote hunters have lost their cool in the heat of the chase and left the roadway in pursuit of a five dollar coyote. I've learned to ask, up front, if I may "call" coyotes on their land rather than "hunt" them. That way, at least half the time, I don't get an ass chewing for someone else.
Earlier this year, one of the local dog hunters lost track of his dogs after he'd dropped on a coyote. The dogs wandered around until they found a flock of sheep. The sheep bolted, the dogs did what comes ntaurally to them and the result was the entire flock was killed, as was the owners Australian shepard, which was only trying to do its job. Luckily, the owner was nearby and had a rifle with which he literally laid waste to the entire pack of greyhounds. The "hunter" showed up in time to see the last two of his prize pack take a 30-caliber round in the steamer.
In past decades, coyote hunting has been a minority sport, and one enjoyed primarily by dog hunters. Calling was in its infancy and very few, if any, landowners even knew what it was when I knocked on their door. I had to carry a call just to demonstrate and explain. Today, calling is quickly becoming the next "bowhunting" as people seek out new and more challenging forms of hunting. I'm both thrilled and frustrated at the numbers of know-nothings out there trying to squeal coyotes this year.
As the loathsome coyote gains greater favor with sportsmen, the methods by which it is pursued will undergo greater scrutiny. And when the callers organize and identify the dog people as the leading cause of why our coyotes have gone almost totally nocturnal and why, despite having more coyote this year than in the past, the calling has been the worst in years, there will be debates. And coursing coyotes will be placed in the public eye, as will the trespassing, the cut fences, the errant shots, and the generally poor public perception fo this method. In the end, it won't be the anti-hunters that outlaw coyote hunting from trucks. It will be the demands of growing numbers of callers who recognize the truck boys as the primary cause for the loss of quality in calling coyotes, at least in Kansas. And, then the dog hunters will go the way of surrounding a section of ground and driving the coyotes to the center.
Yeah, I agree. Their value is long gone and I wish the state would step up enforcement on the collateral violations these "hunters" commit.
