Tag Archives: contest hunt. coyote

“Why Don’t I See My Comment on this Blog?”

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This post is for all you predator hunt supporters out there wondering, “why hasn’t my comment been approved?” Seeing as how the number of web hits 1451324_650954518277931_1616731734_nto this blog site in the last twelve hours exploded to 98,250 and STILL CLIMBING by the minute, there’s no way I’m going to go through thousands of comments from wolf/coyote haters. (Considering that daily hits to this site average in the hundreds, the stats graph looks like a chart depicting human population growth over the past couple centuries.) Some of them are simply posting the same comment over and over, dozens of times, in hopes of overwhelming the comment section of the post, ID Gun Nuts Start Year With Three-Day Mass Slaughter Of Wolves And Coyotes. The only way I can keep up is to delete them in bulk, unread.

Too bad, but they all sound the same anyway. Actually, there’s about three different types of comments that most of them fall into.

1)  The first category, I’ll call the ‘kill ’em all’ crowd:

” Kill all of them coyotes and wolves start more contests to control those over populated predators that ate killing all the other animals”

“…kill them all! Wolves are one of the biggest problems we have in Idaho, wyoming and Montana!”

2)  The next group are the ‘poor me for living where there’s wildlife’ bunch:

“… maybe we should restore wolf populations to ALL its native habitat. Let’s say Central Park, Chicago, etc”

“If you are all so upset about this, petition the government to have them relocated to your house. That way you can take care of the nucience they cause”

These folks don’t seem to understand that we pretty much all (even those “tree lovers” who live in cities), have coyotes living among us, and are we’re thrilled about it.

3)  By far the largest category are the smart-mouthed-smarty-pantses that just want to point out that the photo included with the article (Right) was not from this particular ongoing contest hunt in Salmon, ID. Yes, that’s true, but so what? It definitely illustrates what they’re out there trying to do: shoot mass quantities of coyotes and pile up their dead bodies like some scene out

I deleted the photo from the article in question and added the one at the bottom of this post instead.

I deleted the photo from the article in question and added the one at the bottom of this post instead.

of Auschwitz. (Just last week, nearly 40 dead coyotes were discovered, dumped in such a pile outside of Las Cruces, NM, after a coyote contest hunt was held there. The picture could have been taken anywhere; that’s not really the point).

“I’m not sure where it came from since first, the area where this event is located is covered in snow…”

And there’s a sub-category of commenters: the ones that pretend to be polite and intelligent and just wants to educate people on what they think about the merits of predator control. But intelligent-sounding comments from these folks are few and far between, and after looking through dozens, this was as close to an example as I could come up with,

“There is nothing wrong with the killing of these animals it’s a all in an order to control population. Coyotes and wolves kill livestock and game animals by keeping they’re population down it insures their long term survival and balance in the food chain. Don’t just take my word or the word of this article in stone, research for yourself what is actually going on.”

I’m sure a lot of hunters wish they hadn’t wasted their time trying to post their anti-animal comments here, but all this could have been avoided if they’d only read this blog’s “About” page first:

About:

This blog site  is a haven for wildlife and animal advocates, a wildlife refuge of sorts, that’s posted “No Hunting,” as any true sanctuary should be. Just as a refuge is patrolled to keep hunters and poachers from harassing the wildlife, this blog site is monitored to keep hunters from disturbing other people’s quiet enjoyment of the natural world.

It is not a message board or a chat room for those wanting to argue the supposed merits of animal exploitation or to defend the act of hunting or trapping in any way, shape or form. There are plenty of other sites available for that sort of thing.

Hunters and trappers: For your sake, I urge you not to bother wasting your time posting your opinions in the comments section. This blog is moderated, and pro-hunting statements will not be tolerated or approved. Consider this fair warning—if you’re a hunter, sorry but your comments are going straight to the trash can. This is not a public forum for animal exploiters to discuss the pros and cons of hunting.

We’ve heard all the rationalizations for killing wildlife so many times before; there’s no point in wasting everyone’s time with more of that old, tired hunter PR drivel. Any attempt to justify the murder of our fellow animals will hereby be jettisoned into cyberspace…

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Animal Lovers: Don’t Hesitate to Feel Your Hate

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Text and Wildlife Photography ©Jim Robertson, 2014. All Rights Reserved

Text and Wildlife Photography ©Jim Robertson, 2014. All Rights Reserved

Living in Earth’s out-of-the-way places, surrounded by prime wildlife habitat (as I’ve always chosen to do), an advocate must eventually make a choice—either stand with your wildlife friends, or join in the “fun” (made increasingly more popular by repulsive “reality” shows like Duck Dynasty and so many evil others) and go around shooting everything you see.

I made my choice long ago and decided the only way to live in such a wildlife-war-torn area is to have as little to do with the people as possible. To quote Sea Shepherd’s Captain Paul Watson, referring to his native land, coastal New Brunswick, Canada (where clubbing baby seals is the local pastime), “Love the country, hate the people.”

Author Farley Mowat, another selfless Canadian animal advocate in league with Captain Watson, ultimately came around to that same sentiment in A Whale for the Killing. The 1972 book is an autobiographical account of Mowat’s moving to Newfoundland because of his love for the land and the sea, only to find himself at odds with herring fishermen who made sport of shooting at an 80-ton fin whale trapped in a lagoon by the tide. Although he had started off thinking folks around there were a quaint and pleasant lot, he grew increasingly bitter over the attitudes of so many of the locals who, in turn, resented him for “interfering” by trying to save the stranded leviathan.

Mowat wrote, “My journal notes reflect my sense of bewilderment and loss. ‘…they’re essentially good people. I know that, but what sickens me is their simple failure to resist the impulse of savagery…they seem to be just as capable of being utterly loathsome as the bastards from the cities with their high-powered rifles and telescopic sights and their mindless compulsion to slaughter everything alive, from squirrels to elephants…I admired them so much because I saw them as a natural people, living in at least some degree of harmony with the natural world. Now they seem nauseatingly anxious to renounce all that and throw themselves into the stinking quagmire of our society which has perverted everything natural within itself, and is now busy destroying everything natural outside itself. How can they be so bloody stupid? How could I have been so bloody stupid?’”

Farley Mowat ends the chapter with another line I can well relate to: “I had withdrawn my compassion from them…now I bestowed it all upon the whale.”

Having recently finished reading, Give a Boy a Gun, by Jack Olsen (author of the pro-coyote/anti-trapping book, Slaughter the Animals, Poison the Earth—an appropriate addition to his numerous other true-crime works), I’m still puzzled by that book’s similar underlying question: How could so many people be so stupid as to think so highly of Claude Dallas Jr., a killer whose crimes included poaching, trapping out of season and the shooting of two Idaho Department of Fish and Game agents? Apparently the majority of people in cattle country there think nothing of the prolonged suffering of a bobcat, coyote or trappers’ other non-human victims, and accept people at the shallowest of face-value (except game wardens out to uphold the few laws animals have on their side).

In civilized society we’ve been brought up not to hate other people. Tolerance is the buzz word and that’s supposed to go for everyone, even if they choose to kill the animals you care about. It’s not like animals are people, right? Well, that’s debatable; besides, there’s only so much tolerance to go around. I love the wilderness and the wild things who live there. But can you really love something, without at the same time, hating those who threaten its very existence?

Every morning I’m reminded how much I hate the local duck and goose hunters, for example. At first light this time of year, before I can even think about how much I love living where flocks of migratory geese spend the winter, the sound of shotgun fire rings out to remind me of those whom I hate—the ones who make sport of killing creatures more noble, magnanimous and intelligent than they could ever hope to be.

If it’s not okay to hate the people who kill your friends for sport, who can you hate? And don’t think for a second that hunters, no matter how the schmooze, don’t hate you or anyone who might be out to spoil their fun by trying to ban contest hunts, or otherwise exposing their sadism.

1598558_10152837672323554_7131931279073962386_oIdaho’s ongoing Predator Hunting Contest and Fur Rendezvous, organized by a group ironically calling itself “Idaho for Wildlife” (more appropriate names would either be, Idaho against Wildlife, or Extremist Idahoans for the Destruction of Wildlife) claims as part of their second mission, “To fight against all legal and legislative attempts by the animal rights and anti-gun organizations who are attempting to take away our rights and freedoms under the constitution of the United States of America.” Apparently somebody is confusing the Second Amendment with the right to kill non-human animals for sport.

Now, you may have grown up to songs with lyrics like, “Come on people now, smile on your brother, everybody get together, try to love one another right now,” or just heard phrases like, “feel the love,” “love thy neighbor” “blah, blah, blah.” Bullshit! If your neighbor is out mowing down coyotes or wolves for fun or cash prizes—or blasting into flocks of geese for sport—they need to know how deeply you hate them.

But hate is such a negative emotion; it’s not good for your chakras, or whatever they say. Well, sometimes the animals need our outrage, our lividness, our hate. It’s a war, after all, and the other side is winning, partly because we resist the urge to embrace our hatred. How can you fight a war and not feel hate for your enemy?

Yet it shouldn’t be seen as desperate words coming from some lone, animal-loving whacko. As long as the laws are on their side and they think society shares their view of animals as objects, they’ll be encouraged to keep up the killing.

In other words, “Come on people now…Everybody get together, try to hate coyote hunters right now. Right now. Right Now!

coyote contest kill

“Idaho for Wildlife” Contest hunt organizer thinks this is the year hunters will actually “catch” a wolf…

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According to a new article in Newsweek, http://www.newsweek.com/wolf-hunting-event-breeds-controversy-idaho-296390  Alder “thinks this is the year hunters will actually catch a wolf.”…

The question is, how exactly does he mean “catch?” Does that mean someone thinks they can run down and actually “catch a wolf,” as in by the tail? I’ve seen how fast wolves can run. If we’re talking a fair foot race, I’d definitely put my money on them.

copyrighted Hayden wolf walking

Nearly 40 dead coyotes dumped near Las Cruces, NM

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http://www.abqjournal.com/519815/news/dead-coyotes-dumped-near-las-cruces.html

By
PUBLISHED: Thursday, January 1, 2015

LAS CRUCES [New Mexico] – Nearly 40 dead coyotes dumped in the desert outskirts of Las Cruces, some with wood blocks in their mouths marked with the date they were killed, are the latest sign of the excesses of coyote-killing contests, say advocates who want to see the derbies banned.

At least 10 environmental groups are hoping to push legislation this session outlawing the contests in New Mexico, much as California did last month. They say the contests, which reward participants for the largest number killed or biggest animal shot, serve no legitimate wildlife management purpose.

Supporters of the contests say coyotes are akin to varmints and identify in online forums as “predator callers,” a reference to their use of hand or electronic calling to attract coyotes.

But a co-founder of a local coyote hunting club said wholesale dumping of coyotes is “very much frowned upon.”

The hunting of coyotes is unregulated in New Mexico, and the contests are legal. There are no limits to the number of animals that may be killed.

Wildlife advocates counted some 20 such contests around New Mexico in 2014 but say the number is understated because many are not publicized.

Advocates say they are in talks with two possible sponsors of a bill to ban the contests, one Democrat and one Republican. The legislation would mirror a House bill to ban the contests that failed in the 2013 legislative session by a 38-30 vote.

California is the first state to ban wildlife-killing contests, although some states such as Colorado place limits on the number of animals that can be taken.

“The animals are not being eaten or used in any way; they are just being killed, and they are being killed for sport,” said Kevin Bixby, executive director of the Southwest Environmental Center in Las Cruces. “It disrupts natural ecosystems and undermines the ability of coyotes to provide their ecological role in maintaining healthy systems, in regulating populations of prey animals like rodents and rabbits.”

Bixby recently counted 39 coyotes strewn around creosote, broken glass and tossed cardboard boxes used for target practice near the Las Cruces airport.

The mouths of the animals were stuffed open with wood or bullets inscribed with the date they were killed – Dec. 21 – a practice used in contests. A few had been skinned, but most were tossed to rot.

New Mexico Desert Dogs holds coyote-killing contests around Las Cruces and bills itself on a Facebook page as a “hunting club for those folks that have a passion, appreciation, fondness … for coyote hunting.”

A co-founder of the club who identified himself only as Ruben said the group was not behind the dumped carcasses. He defended coyote-killing contests as “a way for people to gather and share the same culture and love for the sport” and said such dumping – instead of burying the animals or donating pelts to apprentice taxidermists – is “a shame on the hunting community.”

“It is a sport,” he said in a telephone interview. “It takes precision and skill and timing and effort to go and harvest coyotes.”

The legislation the wildlife advocacy groups are backing would ban coyote-killing contests for material gain but would not prohibit killing coyotes that threaten property, such as livestock or pets.

“They are commercial events: killing animals for the purpose of entertainment, prizes and publicity,” said Guy Dicharry of the Los Lunas-based Wildlife Conservation and Advocacy Southwest. “You’re really out there trying to win. This is not focused on predator management. It’s random.”

 

Wolf-Kill Derby Promoted for Salmon Area This Weekend

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Last year’s contest poster

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http://www.boiseweekly.com/boise/wolf-kill-derby-promoted-for-salmon-area-this-weekend/Content?oid=3376227

According to its website, Idaho for Wildlife is “dedicated to the preservation of Idaho’s wildlife.”

By

Organizers of a controversial Idaho predator derby—which was barred from Bureau of Land Management property in November—are going forward with their hunt, scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 1-Sunday, Jan. 4 and limited to U.S. Forest Service and private land near Salmon.

The event, sponsored by Idaho for Wildlife, is dubbed “Predator Hunting Contest and Fur Rendezvous” and has special prizes for most wolves killed ($1,000), most coyotes killed ($1,000), and separate prizes for hunters 10 to 13 years old and 14 to 17 years old. Organizers are not charging an entry fee but are taking donations at registration, which begins 6 p.m., Jan. 1 at the Steel and Ranch store in Salmon.

Organizers promise that licensed fur buyers will be on site “to pay $$$ for your furs (whole or skinned).”

According to its website, Idaho for Wildlife is “dedicated to the preservation of Idaho’s wildlife,” and “to fight against all legal and legislative attempts by the animal rights and anti-gun organizations who are attempting to take away our rights and freedoms under the Constitution of the United States of America.”

BLM canceled the 2015 wolf-killing “derby” on 3 million acres of public land near Salmon in response to a lawsuit from the Center for Biological Diversity, Advocates for the West, the Western Watersheds Project and Project Coyote. During the inaugural event in December 2013, no wolves were killed, but 21 coyotes died during the hunt. The $1,000 prize for killing the largest wolf went unclaimed.

Idaho Wolf, Coyote Derby Starts Tomorrow Morning!

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January 1, 2015 at 10:12 AM | Page modified January 1, 2015 at 12:33 PM

 http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2025361121_idahowolfhuntxml.html

Idaho hunting derby targets wolves, coyotes

A hunting derby with $1,000 each for whoever kills the most wolves and coyotes is scheduled to start at sunrise Friday in east-central Idaho. Organizers say withdrawal of a permit to hunt on federal lands may spark greater participation.

By KEITH RIDLER

Associated Press

A hunting derby with $1,000 each for whoever kills the most wolves and coyotes is scheduled to start at sunrise Friday in east-central Idaho.

Idaho for Wildlife’s three-day Predator Hunting Contest and Fur Rendezvous is planned on private ranch land and U.S. Forest Service land around Salmon.

“I think we’re going to have a good turnout,” said Steve Alder, organizer of the contest. He didn’t have an estimate on the number of hunters though due to the remoteness of the area.

The group earlier this year received permission to include land administered by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management but the agency withdrew the permit in November following two lawsuits by environmental groups.

Losing the 3.1 million acres of BLM land cut the area for the derby in half, and also eliminated lower elevation areas likely to have more coyotes and wolves. A coalition of environmental groups, as well as Democratic U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon, tried but failed to get the Forest Service to revoke the permit it issued.

“The world is looking at this with a lot of dismay,” said Amy Atwood, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “We’re not going to go away and we’re going to keep fighting.”

She said the group has a litigation strategy to prevent another derby but declined to go into details.

The derby last year drew 230 people, about 100 of them hunters, who killed 21 coyotes but no wolves. Alder said the BLM’s revoking the group’s permit might have persuaded more hunters to take part this year. He said 40 hunters from outside Idaho have committed.

He said ranchers have also been contacted in advance so hunters can use that land. Also, he noted, possible wolf sightings are being tracked.

“We’ve heard some reports and we’re trying to pinpoint where those are so we can put in hunters,” he said.

Besides the $1,000 prizes, Alder said, fur buyers will also be available with the potential pay for a black wolf pelt up to $600.

“People love the black ones,” Alder said. “And the pure white. If you can find a big white pelt, that’s beautiful. That’s worth quite a bit.”

The region where the derby is planned is considered a key area for wolves that could grow in number, with some pack members dispersing to surrounding states. At least one Oregon environmental group that would like to see more wolves in that state is involved in the lawsuits against the derby for that reason.

“As we learn more about these animals, the more we’ve come to revere them,” said Atwood. “When you remove them from the landscape it upends the order of things.”

3b. Fur buyer dumps coyote in rig

Organized coyote and wolf hunt planned in Sanders County

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copyrighted Hayden wolf in lodgepoles

TROUT CREEK — One of the organizers of the first Great Montana Coyote and Wolf Hunt in Sanders County says the event — scheduled for Jan. 16-18 — took shape after local hunters noted a lack of big game in the mountains this hunting season.

“Deer, elk and moose numbers are going downhill, and (bighorn) sheep are way down,” John Harris said Monday. “Between the mountain lion population blowing up and the number of wolves — hunters noticed a lack of game up in the mountains this year. There’s a lot more in the valley floors.”

The hunt, Harris said, is a way to “get sportsmen out and about.”

“We checked with (Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks) to make sure we were abiding by all laws,” Harris said. “They do this in eastern Montana all over the place, and they have them in Idaho and Wyoming, too.”

Harris said response to the hunt has been “really good, and we’ve had a few negative comments.”

Some conservation groups oppose such organized hunts. WildEarth Guardians calls them “wildlife killing contests” and says they “give ethical hunters a bad name and serve no legitimate management purpose.”

Harris said all prizes awarded will be through random drawings and will not be associated with numbers, weights or colors of predators killed. A notation on a flier promoting the event that says that in addition to random drawings, prizes will be be awarded based on sizes and colors is wrong, he added.

“The way I understand it, you can’t pay for a wolf or coyote to be brought in,” Harris said. “All the prizes will be from random drawings, whether you’re hunting or trapping, and whether you get one or not. It’s a way to get people out in the woods for a fun weekend.”

Organizers will weigh and measure all predators turned in during the contest.

Properly licensed hunters and trappers will pay $5 to participate in the Sanders County predator hunt. All entry fees will be returned in the form of prizes.

Registration is Friday, Jan. 16, at 7 p.m. at the Lakeside Resort and Motel in Trout Creek. Any coyotes or wolves taken Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 17 and 18, must be submitted to event officials by 6 p.m. each day.

More:

http://helenair.com/lifestyles/outdoors/organized-coyote-and-wolf-hunt-planned-in-sanders-county/article_e4b81f29-f86a-5df9-9a52-36c0e5573877.html

Local coyote hunt draws some controversy

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Petition to stop this: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/925/824/605/stop-the-nv-coyote-killing-tournament/?taf_id=13277304&cid=fb_na

Article:

Local hunters have organized a coyote hunt, which has raised hackles of animal protection groups.

The Saturday event, called a coyote calling contest, is similar to hunts in other parts of Nevada and Western states. Coyotes are an unprotected species in Nevada; a license or permit is not required to hunt them, according to the Nevada Department of Wildlife.

“This was set up for local people to get together,” said Jason Schroeder, one of the organizers. “It’s a very small gathering of probably 20 to 40 people.”

The hunting will take place on BLM land around the state, Schroeder said. A post-hunt party and game feed is planned at a Lemmon Valley bar.

Hunters will pay $25 to $30 each to join the contest, and after the day of hunting, they’ll weigh their coyote carcasses to determine who wins. All the money collected will be awarded as prizes, organizers said.

The controversy kicked up when copies of a flier announcing the event landed in the email boxes of Nevadans for Responsible Wildlife Management and Nevada Votes For Animals.

“This is really just killing for entertainment,” said Gina Griesen, president of Nevada Votes for Animals. “This is an organized hunt where prizes are awarded, and that is unethical.”

California banned similar contests earlier this month, the first state to do so.

More: http://www.rgj.com/story/news/2014/12/26/local-coyote-hunt-draws-controversy/20918965/

Making Contest Hunts History

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On December 3rd, we made history for wildlife! After a long and hard fought battle, the California Fish and Game Commission voted 4 to 1* in favor of a rule that closes the loopholes permitting prizes and inducements for wildlife killing contests, derbies and tournaments that target nongame mammals and furbearers. Read more here in the Huffington Post.

The Commission received tens of thousands of letters in support of our petition calling for a ban on this cruel practice that awards cash and prizes to those who kill the most and largest coyotes, foxes, bobcats and other wild animals.

As President of the California Fish and Game Commission, Michael Sutton said in this exclusive video message, Project Coyote was a leader in this effort and is being increasingly recognized as a leader in state and federal wildlife management reform. President Sutton commends Project Coyote for using science and education to push our predator advocacy platform. That’s what we do best.

We are already working with allies to repeat this victory in other states and regions across the nation. And in California, this is just the first step in predator management reform.  But we need your help to do this! 

photo by Jim Robertson

photo by Jim Robertson

Wildlife-killing Contests Targeting Nongame Animals Banned by CA

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Jim Robertson-wolf-copyright

For Immediate Release, December 3, 2014

Contact:  Amaroq Weiss, (707) 779-9613

Wildlife-killing Contests Targeting Nongame Animals Banned by
California Fish and Game Commission

VAN NUYS, Calif.— In response to overwhelming public support for banning wildlife-killing contests, the California Fish and Game Commission voted today to adopt regulations prohibiting hunting “derbies” targeting species such as coyotes, raccoons and badgers. The ban came after thousands of Californians expressed opposition to the killing competitions.

“We’re grateful that the commissioners responded to the public’s call for science-based, ethical and ecologically sound stewardship of California’s wildlife,” said Amaroq Weiss, the Center’s West Coast wolf organizer. “Banning contests that reward people, including children, for killing animals is the right thing to do.”

Few Californians knew that existing state law allowed wildlife-killing contests. That changed in early 2013 after wildlife conservation groups pushed to increase public awareness of an annual “coyote-drive” killing contest held in Northern California. While wildlife-hunting contests occur throughout the state, the location of the coyote-killing competition sparked additional attention because it was held in Northern California counties frequented by OR-7, the dispersing Oregon wolf who became California’s first confirmed wild wolf in 87 years.

Outrage over the antiquated killing contests, including the threat to dispersing wolves like OR-7, resulted in public outcry for a statewide ban.

Under California law species such as coyotes, raccoons, badgers and others are designated as “nongame mammals” or “furbearers” — both of which can be killed in any number without limit. The commission’s decision to ban competitions targeting those two categories of animals was based, in part, on its recognition that subjecting the species to contest hunts does not reflect good sportsmanship. The commission’s vote does not ban contest hunts of species that are designated as game mammals, such as deer and elk.

“Today’s vote adds a measure of restraint and respect for species that are highly persecuted by some members of society and revered and loved by others,” said Weiss.  “The commission and the state wildlife agency it oversees are required by state law to manage our natural resources, including wildlife, according to ecosystem-based management based on credible science, and these contests don’t come close to meeting those standards.”

Additional efforts across the country to end wildlife contest-hunts are meeting with success. In response to a lawsuit filed by the Center and allies, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management decided last week to withdraw a permit it had issued to a private party for a predator-killing contest in Idaho. Earlier this year a coyote-killing contest in Oregon was shut down after public outcry, and Washington residents spoke out at a commission hearing against similar contests.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 800,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.