Washington state wildlife managers are considering eliminating hunting competitions, particularly of coyotes, citing ethical and social concerns.

“Sometimes we have to do something for social reasons and this is one of them, in my mind,” said Barbara Baker, the Thurston County commissioner who requested the commission consider the changes. “This is the kind of thing that gives hunters a bad name.”

Hunting competitions and contests are organized events in which participants compete for prizes and awards by killing animals. Coyote derbies, in which competitors try and kill as many of the animals as they can, are the most common.

The competitions were long seen as necessary to keep coyote populations in control and protect…