Bounty Placed on Coyotes to Protect Mule Deer in Utah
OutdoorHub Reporters 07.03.12
Part of Utah’s new Mule Deer Protection Act is the Predator Control Program. The new program is meant to open coyote control to the public for the benefit of mule deer.
After completing an online registration form and a training program, hunters can begin to remove coyotes. Participants of the program will receive $50 for each properly documented coyote they kill in Utah. July 1 is the first day to register, but reimbursements will not be distributed until after September 1, 2012. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) is targeting coyotes in a recommended removal zone based on the areas that are important to mule deer.
Coyotes have high reproductive potential and have proven to be difficult to hunt. Typically they produce more than six pups per year often kill deer fawns. On an informational website about the Predator Control Program, the DWR admits it will be impossible to remove all coyotes from Utah.
To be most effective, the DWR suggests taking the coyotes between December through June. Coyotes mate during the winter, usually in January and February, so the most effective control method will be to remove coyotes after pairs bond and territories are set and before pups are raised. Late summer is generally a less effective time for removing coyotes. This is when most wander and disperse, dying of natural causes as they try to find new territory.
Governor Gary Herbert signed the Mule Deer Protection Act (Senate Bill 245) into law on March 17, alongside a bill to fund the predator program by adding a $5 fee on big game permits (Senate Bill 87).
Find out more on Utah’s information page by clicking here.
