Outdoors: Instituting a bounty an unlikely solution for coyote problem in South Carolina

Judging by the feedback from last week’s column on the status of coyotes in South Carolina, the non-native species is a hot-topic issue in the Palmetto State.

The effect of coyotes in the state is so wide-ranging, there are more details to discuss.

Many hunters and concerned citizens are in favor of the state instituting a bounty on coyotes. Charles Ruth, Deer and Wild Turkey Coordinator for the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, is on record stating the agency isn’t considering a bounty at this time.

“Bounties have been around out west since people have been out there in an effort to try to control coyotes,” said Ruth, who noted such control efforts haven’t kept them from migrating eastward.

As the S.C. DNR notes, bounties have been used in numerous western states over the last 200 years. In some states, the bounties were written into law but are now inactive or antiquated.

The issue comes down to whether a bounty will truly increase the number of coyotes harvested, which is what all parties want.

Ruth refers to one of those western states – Utah – where one of the country’s few current and active bounty programs for coyotes is in place.

Utah’s program started in 2012 as part of the state’s Mule Deer Protection Program in which $50 is offered for each coyote harvested.

In years prior to the bounty being instituted the average annual coyote harvest in Utah by licensed trappers was 7,397. In 2014, Utah paid out over $492,000 for the removal of 7,396 coyotes.

“Thinking in that direction [in favor of a bounty] isn’t bad,” Ruth said. “You can trap them and you can shoot them. But it’s a cash cow and it looks like you’re paying for what people are already doing at no cost.”

One ill-conceived notion by some residents about coyotes is that the S.C. DNR officials intentionally brought coyotes into the state years ago to help curtail what was then a plentiful and growing deer population.

Simply put, the S.C. DNR did not release coyotes into South Carolina. There are, however, documented cases from the mid-1980s where coyotes were illegally transported into the state by residents for dog-running purposes, including cases in the Pee Dee area.

Otherwise, the large-scale arrival of coyotes in the state has been a natural movement of the species from the west beginning when they were first documented here in the late 1970s.

Many deer hunters are concerned about the decline in the state’s white-tailed deer population and the impact the establishment of coyotes has had on the population. The state’s deer population topped out at 1 million in the late 1990s and is now estimated at 750,000.

Ruth notes the current population was considered excellent 25 years ago, in 1990, when the number was the same but the population was on the upswing.

Ruth also points out the current deer harvest in South Carolina ranks No. 1 among states in the Southeast, based on the number harvested per unit area, or one square mile.

“We don’t have as many deer, but Lord we’re still leading the way in the Southeast,” Ruth said.

In addition, more bucks were entered into the S.C. Antler Records Program during the period 2008-2012 than any other five-year period in the program’s history.

Regardless, coyotes are here to stay and seriously curtailing their numbers is a tough, if not impossible, proposition.

While he is all for hunters and residents doing all they can legally to kill coyotes by hunting and trapping, Ruth is in favor of tweaking deer management to help the state’s deer population.

“Now that coyotes are playing a role in management, it’s almost a necessity we change how we manage deer,” said Ruth, who is in favor of limiting the number of does harvested. “Hunters are still at the top of the list of killing deer. If we tweak how we harvest deer, we’re going to come closer to stability, if not increasing the deer population.”

Tiger Anglers Outdoor Expo

This fishing seminar will be held on Saturday, 8 a.m. to noon, at Eastern Sales, located at 1301 E. U.S. 501 in Conway near the intersection of U.S. 501 and S.C. 544.

The event will feature speakers on bass fishing and hunting. Proceeds go to the Tiger Angler Fishing program of Conway High, Conway Middle and Whittemore Park Middle schools.

Details of the speakers include:

“The seminar’s bass topics are geared toward catching fish in the next month or two for immediate results,” said Coach Rayburn Poston, coach of the middle and high school teams and coordinator of the seminar.

The event will also include raffles, and Pro Staff will be available to answer questions about hunting and fishing.

For more information, call 843-902-4274.

This story was originally published January 29, 2015 at 7:23 PM with the headline "Outdoors: Instituting a bounty an unlikely solution for coyote problem in South Carolina."