This indiscriminate slaughter is an embarrassment to a state that prides itself on its hunting ethics and traditions.
Opinion: Coyote killing contests have no place in Maine
Special to the Press Herald - Posted 2/24/25
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Robert Fisk Jr. is founder and executive director of Maine Friends of Animals. He is also a former state legislator from Falmouth.
One of Maine Friends of Animals’ first pieces of legislation in 1999 was an intense two-year campaign to end the gruesome activity of coyote snaring. Every year since then, hunting and trapping groups and legislators have continued to sponsor countless bills on various forms of coyote killing, while time after time there has been no scientific evidence that showed any of these ideas or practices had any meaningful effect on deer populations or coyote numbers.
In 2005, then-Gov. John Baldacci and many legislators came out against the most egregious of these practices, coyote killing contests. Sportsmen’s groups did nothing, and in fact increased the number of contests. Moreover, since 1972, when coyotes were first trapped in Maine, we have seen nearly a hundred bills to kill coyotes come before the Legislature.
Besides the flurry of legislative activity, there have been countless studies, plans, working groups, legislative reviews, species assessments and programs all prioritized on coyote control. Nothing has been left to chance.
We have trapped coyotes, we have snared them, changed and increased the hunting seasons on them, we used hounds on them, we allowed night hunting and increased that season, we have baited them, used bounties on them, used calling devices and, worst of all, we have used killing contests.
In Maine now it is open season on coyotes. The grand result? We have more coyotes today than ever. Despite every piece of legislation imaginable and countless studies, programs and methods, 50-plus years later we continue to hear the same hollow arguments and largely anecdotal evidence of temporary improvement in wintering habitat or “it’s better than doing nothing.”
Is this our basis for wildlife management? Not to mention the wasted time by the Legislature and the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. It is time to rethink this endless, ineffective, inhumane cycle and focus instead on living with this important component of nature’s ecosystem.
Coyote killing is often organized by private hunting groups, as are the killing contests. These derbies or tournaments are events that reward people with cash prizes, weapons or other incentives for killing coyotes such as the biggest, the most or the most by different methods, during an established time period.
These events only serve to perpetuate a culture of violence and send a message that wild animals have little intrinsic value and are disposable. They are promoted as “wildlife management” programs, conducted for profit, entertainment and the “fun” of killing. They are often sponsored by hunting outfitters and hosted in places like restaurants and bars.
Private hunting groups have evolved to fulfill coyote killing, including sponsoring and funding these contests, and they operate without the official support of state government.
This is yet another test for Maine hunters, their lobbyists and legislative allies, as to whether they will continue with the antiquated notion that there can be no changes in any hunting practice regardless of how cruel, useless or unethical it is.
Any bill to deviate from that mindset is automatically deemed “anti-hunting.”
Will this extreme hunting lobby continue to try to defend the defenseless? Not only is this mass indiscriminate slaughter an embarrassment to a state that prides itself on its hunting ethics and traditions, but it is also a public relations problem for a sport that is already at all-time low numbers.
Now there is pending national legislation and 10 other states, including Vermont and New York, ban some form of killing contests. Five other states, including Maine, are considering it. A common refrain in past state testimonies has been, “It is a black eye for hunting.”
There is a national trend to end these blood sport activities and it is past time for Maine to follow suit. Please contact your state legislators and ask them to support “An Act to Prohibit Coyote Killing Contests,” which have no place in modern civilized society
