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Coyote calling contest and the US Humane Society

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Faster horses

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Well, looks like we are going to make headlines with our calling contest.
Our committee members have been on the phone most of the day; one with the AP (Associated Press). I spoke with a reporter from Billings Gazette.

The reason this contest was started in the first place is because of a coyote problem. The state was going to send in the state trapper and a helicopter to get them from the air. We were to be assessed a fee to pay for it. We held a town meeting and came up with a calling contest. This will be the 4th year it has been held. Somehow the US Humane Society found out and they wrote a letter to the president of our Chamber of Commerce asking that the event be cancelled. Only the President didn't get the letter. The next step the Humane Society contacted the Billings Gazette and a reporter was assigned to do a story. (I assume that is how the AP got hold of the information as well.)

According to the letter, the Humane Society is against killing contests and that there are other ways of controlling coyotes. According to them, hunting them causes coyotes to breed earlier and have bigger litters, so hunting is not a form of control. They go on to say high fencing material is proven to be effective in reducing livestock kills. My comment to the reporter was that the Humane Society was a big, intimidating organization and what they wrote is merely their opinion. We also have an opinion. We have a coyote problem that we aren't asking the government for help with, we aren't charging taxpayers for, just a little 3 day event that takes place once a year. We decided to let the town and the sportsmen help take care of the problem.

Also, if the Humane Society thought we could put up high fencing material to keep out coyotes, they know nothing about the vastness of our country nor do they know much about coyotes.

I said also that this event was well-executed, well thought out and was a contest of skill, not a killing contest. No varmits are allowed to be shot, no vehicles are allowed, no planes, nothing can be run over. The coyotes must be called and not everyone can do it successfully since it does require a certain amount of skill.

She asked why the Chamber was sponsoring the contest and my comment was that we are in a very remote area and the town depends largely on agriculture for survival. It was a show of support FROM the Chamber to the cattlemen and sheepmen to help with a problem that could be detrimental to their livlihood. It also creates goodwill between hunter and landowner in the fact that hunters are willing to help solve a landowner problem. I also pointed out that residents of Montana have a Coonstitutional RIGHT to hunt.

No one is forced to enter this contest. No one is forced to let coyote callers on their property. Everyone has a choice. We aren't making anyone enter that does not want to. We have a problem that we decided to solve by ourselves.

I also mentioned that we are not alone in holding these contests; that they are held in ND, SD, and Wyoming for sure and probably other states as well. That surprised her, as she said, "Oh, this isn't something that is just unique to your area?"

So folks, how did I do? I want your opinion because this is going to come out in the Billings Gazette and Lord knows where else.
 
FH,
Sounds like you're ready for Congress.
 
You did good FH. I get a laugh at some of their ideas. High fencing. I have some woven buffalo fence where we corral for a wing fence I have seen a coyote go under that fence at a dead run and never miss a beat. I was looking at it cause I thought i must have quite a bit of space under the wire and I think it's not more then 4 inches and coyote run under even some packing lead. I think if you had a fence and threw water at it and some went thru so could a coyote. :cowboy:
 
Common sense should not be so dense about common fence. A coyote goes anywhere the coyote wants to go.

The High Phaluter's Philophy is always so phar off track. Reminds me of back in the early 'sixties, our little town had a resident assistant county agent. The main county extension office was in the county seat, sixty miles away. Anytime of the day, when someone would go into this assistant's office, he could be found propped back in his chair with his feet upon the desk. He was a good guy, so my uncle decided to ask an educated question to give him something to research, to ultimately come up with an educated answer.

The question was, "what do I do about baby calves eating sand?"

After a long week awaiting the answer, the new assistant county agent got a reply back from Lincoln. "We don't know why the baby calves eat sand, but we suggest you confine them to an area where there is no sand."

Yeah, right. :wink:
 
R-Calf they take credit for everything else and they certainly have time on their hands lol. That could be Leo's next crusade "Save a Calf-Condom a Coyote".
 
That would be a good job for Haymaker{or whoever hes claimin to be this week} puttin condoms on coyotes.
 
That maybe fine NR but Idont think those coyotes are scr----- are sheep to death. :wink:
 
Last modified January 10, 2006 - 11:55 am



Coyote killing contest bags 51 animals
Gazette Staff

An annual coyote killing contest sponsored by the Baker Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture attracted more than 100 participants who shot 51 coyotes.

The contest, held this past weekend in Fallon County, drew 121 participants who composed 47 teams, an event organizer said Tuesday. The event "went off as planned'' and participants came from North Dakota, South Dakota, Illinois and Michigan and from as far as Anaconda in Montana, according to organizers.

The event had drawn the opposition of the Humane Society of the U.S. Organizers also got some telephone calls from people objecting to the event but also received calls of support.


The Humane Society, headquartered in Washington, D.C., sent a letter to the chamber president objecting to the event as unethical and asking that it be canceled. The organization said the event showed "a blatant disregard for wildlife and the integrity of ecosystems.''

The event, called the "Coyote Calling Contest – Coyote Hunt,'' offered cash prizes for the top four teams who shot the most coyotes between Jan. 6 and Jan. 8. This was the fourth year of the event. Last year, 96 people participated and 55 coyotes were shot.

The contest is used to control coyote populations, organizers said. Other sponsors included local businesses and ranchers.

Organizes are planning to hold the event again next year.
 
You are on top of things, OT. The Gazette reporter just called this morning and got that information. I would not give them permission to use my name since the last time I talked to them I reminded them Montanans had a "Constitutional right to fish and hunt" and she decided NOT to include that in her story.

I wasn't going to talk to her at all and then thought, "What do we have to be ashamed of?" so I gave her the information she was seeking.

We had asked if we sent pictures of what coyotes do to sheep and cattle, would they print it? Her reply was a resounding, "NO." That is hardly fair.

Great Falls Tribune ran a Reader Survey; "Should Baker host a Coyote Calling Contest?" As of this morning, the results were almost 2-1 in favor of holding it.

We have received some more letters to the editor at the local paper. The latest one suggests we use "high-fence, bells and strobe lights" to keep the coyotes away. I wonder what they think we would use for electricity for the strobe lights? A currant bush?

That is how ridiculous this whole thing is.

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And DAMN, she called it a KILLLING CONTEST again. That makes me mad. It is not a killing contest. You cannnot run over them, shoot them from the air, use dogs or kill other animals. She just doesn't get it.
 
These type of people are so niave that they can't be fair but their intent to slant things in their favor is inexcusible. They have no idea of what a calling contest is but they don't really want to learn either.
 

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