A bill that will go to public hearing in Augusta on Wednesday would prohibit coyote killing contests in the state if enacted.
LD1293, “An Act to Prohibit Coyote-killing Contests in Maine,” targets a longtime practice in the state in which private rod and gun clubs or other nonprofits will award prizes or honors or otherwise compensate hunters who kill coyotes to support popular game animals such as deer.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Pinny Beebe-Center, D-Knox, would make it a Class E crime to hold coyote killing contests defined as “an organized or sponsored competition with the objective of killing coyotes for prizes or entertainment.”
It makes allowances for defending a person or property or culling sanctioned by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
This is the first time the controversial issue has been brought before the Maine Legislature, but it could have implications for fishing derbies, Big Buck clubs and similar activities if it passes.
The hearing comes up on the heels of a bill that would have established a coyote hunting season that lasted only half a year. The committee voted LD716 ought not to pass.
Coyotes are known predators of deer, turkeys, snowshoe hare and other animals that hunters like to pursue. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife manages the state’s wildlife for multiple purposes including hunting, but in areas where game animal populations are marginal, especially deer, rod and gun clubs have stepped in to help reduce the number of animals killed by coyotes.
One such group is the Aroostook County Conservation Association, a nonprofit focused on helping the deer herd repopulate and grow in The County, where it had been depleted by predation and lack of wintering yards.
That group calls it a coyote control management program, in which participants hunt or trap the animals for six months in the fall and winter and are reimbursed for time and expenses based on how many coyotes they kill. The program relies on sponsors to provide the funding needed to pay between $20 and $30 per coyote.
Animal rights advocates see the control programs and contests as exploitative, cruel and unsportsmanlike.
A petition similar to the coyote contest bill was not adopted in 2020 when animal rights advocates brought it directly to the DIF&W’s Advisory Council, according to Mark Latti, the department’s director of communications.
The department doesn’t comment on current legislation until it is heard, Latti said Monday, so did not offer any details on how the DIF&W might view LD1293 or whether it would support it or speak against it.
The Legislature’s Standing Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife will hold the public hearing at 1 p.m. Wednesday in Room 206 of the Cross Building in Augusta.
The bill is cosponsored by Sens. Stacy Brenner, D-Cumberland; Mark Lawrence, D-York; Joe Rafferty, D-York; and Reps. Janice Dodge, D-Belfast; Michelle Boyer, D-Cape Elizabeth; Gary Friedmann, D-Bar Harbor; Amy Kuhn, D-Falmouth, and Dylan Pugh, D-Portland.
