Coyote killing contest matter of perspective

A coyote killing contest, held over the weekend in northcentral Montana and sponsored by a local American Legion chapter, is being attacked by critics for insulting patriotism and disregarding life.

Organizers aren’t standing down, strongly defending the coyote derby as a way to protect the livelihoods of farmers and ranchers from the wily and abundant predators while at the same time raising money for worthy causes.

The Big Sandy American Legion conducted its second annual Coyote Derby from Friday through Sunday.

It drew 146 hunters who killed 191 coyotes.

Teams of hunters in two classes spanned across northcentral Montana hunting on private land, said Lindsay Boyce, a member of the local Legion post who helped organize the derby.

She ranches 40 miles outside of Big Sandy.

“Local ranchers have had a severe problem with coyotes, and calving season is coming up,” said Boyce, explaining the purpose and timing of the contest. “So we put together this contest to help farmers and ranchers, as well as a fundraiser.”

Farmers and ranchers opened up property to the hunters during the three-day hunt, she said.

“Without the local farmers and ranchers, we have no derby,” she said.

This year, $8,000 was raised for the Big Sandy American Legion Post 50, up from $4,500 raised in the first coyote derby in 2017, Boyce said.

KC York of Hamilton, who runs Trap Free Montana Public Lands and Trap Free Montana, calls it blood money, and the killing contest an insult to patriotism.

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She contacted state and national America Legion officials and asked them to put a stop to the contest. They refused.

“My ancestors are rolling over in their grave,” said York, a military brat whose grandfather and father served in the military as well as her children.

York personally finds killing for competition and prizes appalling, noting that calls mimicking pup and prey distress calls are used in some instances.

Coyotes serve an important role in the ecosystem by feeding on rodents, York adds.

As a strong believer in the military, York said, the involvement of the American Legion bothers her, arguing the killing derby sets a bad example for kids and also harms the image of a state where wildlife is a big attraction.

She doesn’t plan to let the matter drop.

“I’m going to be reaching out to the American Legion and find out, is this really what their membership would endorse?” she said. “Because I don’t think so.”

The hunts help both ranchers and veterans, said Boyce. She and her husband, Stephen, are both ranchers and veterans who are active in American Legion Post 50.

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Proceeds will be used to replace aging guns and uniforms used by Legion members at memorial services and the Big Sandy parade, Boyce said.

“Half of them don’t even fire,” she said of the guns.

With last year’s proceeds, a $1,000 scholarship was donated to a senior at Big Sandy High School, and $1,000 was given to the Montana Veterans Home in Columbia Falls.

With fewer coyotes around to attack livestock, farmers and ranchers will benefit, too, she said.

“Coyotes pick on weak calves,” Boyce said. “That’s our livelihood.”

Critics have assumed “it’s the Big American Legion” behind the contest but that’s not the case, Boyce said.

“The people in our post are the ones that are affected by this, as well as with the coyote problems,” she said.

Larry Dobb of Great Falls, the state commander for the Department of Montana American Legion, sees the controversy as a culture clash.

“It’s perfectly legal in Montana to shoot coyotes anytime,” Dobbs said. “Every ranch truck you see has a rifle hanging in the back window. Basically, that’s what they use them for.”

Coyote derbies in rural Montana are not uncommon, he said.

The state office in Helena was swamped with phone calls and emails calling for the state Legion to stop the local contest after critics attacked it via social media, he said.

He personally received emails and phone calls about it as well.

Most of the complaints came from people living outside of Montana, he said.

Under the organization’s constitution, local posts have autonomy as long as they aren’t breaking the law.

“We can’t tell them to stop doing it,” Dobbs said. “They are not doing anything wrong."

York said she contacted Legion officials and notified members of the anti-trapping groups she runs about the contest but was not involved with an anti-coyote derby petition circulated via social media that did include support from out of state.

In Montana, there is no season or bag limit for coyotes, which is designated as a predator, said Bob Inman, carnivore-furbearer coordinator for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

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The coyote population isn’t known, but FWP classifies its status as “common, widespread, and abundant.”

“What we know is people have been trying to eradicate coyotes for 150-plus years and have never been able to do it even with using poisons and things that can’t even be used today,” Inman said. “There really is no overt concern for coyote populations ever reaching a point where they're in such decline where we are concerned about their existence.”

How people view coyotes often depends on where they live, Inman said.

“If you’re somebody who is growing livestock for a living, they have one perspective and view that’s very different from somebody who lives in an urban area,” he said.

York doesn’t think the hunts are ethical. Besides that, she doesn’t think they work. She points to research showing that killing coyotes may increase litter sizes in the long run.

“Sometimes the argument they are out of control, or we have to manage them this way, is actually counter-productive,” York said. “They are also territorial. So when you remove these animals not only do they increase litters but others come in and take over those areas.”

Clete Ophus, who has 300 head of cattle a mile north of Big Sandy, says his family members have witnessed coyotes stealing chickens from the coop.

“You have to protect your livelihood, your cattle, your chickens, your sheep,” he said.

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Coyotes and fox eat the afterbirth of cattle and try to eat calves, Ophus said.

Coyotes killed 12,300 sheep and lambs in Montana in 2016, the most recent statistics available, according to the Montana field office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.

The annual surveys are conducted at the request of the Montana Wool Growers Association.

Similar surveys are not conducted for cattle.

Montana sheep and lamb producers lost 44,000 animals to weather, predators, disease and other causes worth $7.8 million in 2016, according to USDA data.

“It’s not like we’re a bunch of hillbillies out to kill coyotes just for fun,” Ophus said.

Besides protecting the livelihood of ranchers, the derby is a way to reduce reliance on taxpayer-funded government trappers with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services, Ophus said.

The contest was intentionally scheduled in advance of calving season with the goal of reducing attacks on calves, he said.

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Also, the fur also is valuable at this time of year, so there’s demand from fur buyers, Ophus said.

Coyote pups are weaned by now, Ophus said.

Ophus loves to hunt and fish, he says, and respects animals.

Some people, he adds, push it too far.

In cities, dog catchers are available to take care of problems they cause, but not out in the country, he notes.

York notes that Section 8 in the Legion constitution says the Legion and its posts should not become involved in any controversy without first getting approval from a Department Executive Committee.

“Clearly, it is a controversy,” York said. “A lot of people don’t support it, including veterans.”

The contest is out of the scope of the two group anti-trapping groups she runs but the coyote derby caught her eye because some trappers were promoting it, she said.

“Then it became personal because it was the American Legion that was sponsoring it,” York said.

Shooting coyotes is controversial to some people, said the state Legion Commander Dobb, but not to the majority of Montanans.

“Montana people in general tend to be very independent and stubborn,” Dobbs said. “And anytime they see people trying to bring in ideas or viewpoints from outside of the state, they don’t like it.”

