Amid legal challenges, Michigan considers reinstating year-round coyote hunting

• A year after shortening Michigan’s coyote hunting season to protect newborn pups, wildlife officials are considering an about-face
• The proposed reversal comes as hunting groups sue the state, contending the state failed to scientifically justify the shorter hunting season
• Animal rights groups argue year-round coyote hunting is inhumane and counterproductive

A year after shortening Michigan’s coyote hunting season in an effort to protect spring-born pups that depend upon their parents for survival, Michigan wildlife officials may reverse the policy amid lawsuits from hunting groups.

The Michigan Natural Resources Commission on Thursday considered a proposal to reinstate year-round hunting, which was drafted at the request of commissioner John Walters. 

Commissioners are expected to vote on the proposal next month, just days before the three-month period when hunting is not allowed is slated to begin.

In a rarity for the NRC, they didn’t discuss the matter amongst themselves at Thursday’s meeting or seek input from staff experts within the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

They did, however, hear an earful from the public.

Related:

• Michigan shortens coyote hunting season, irking some hunters
• Groups sue Michigan wildlife regulators over shorter coyote hunting season
• Podcast: The south Michigan mystery of a wolf killed during coyote hunt

Animal rights advocates argued its inhumane and counterproductive to kill coyotes while pups are in the den. 

“The vilification of animals is an absurdity, propped up by the stubborn myopia that claims that killing is the default response to so-called conflict,” said wildlife advocate Lisa Carlson.

Hunting and trapping advocates argued that policies limiting coyote hunting are motivated by emotion rather than science.

“Why are we protecting this animal when they're doing the most damage to a great deal of our wildlife?” said hunting advocate George Lundquist.

In a written memo accompanying the proposal, DNR staff raised concerns about any abrupt changes to the regulations, which are normally revised every two years. 

“More consistent regulations provide for better understanding by hunters and trappers, as well as facilitate monitoring the impacts of regulation changes,” the memo stated. 

The proposed policy reversal comes amid heated debate about the role predators play in Michigan’s food web, and whose priorities matter most when deciding how to manage fish and wildlife. 

The Natural Resources Commission last year voted 4-2 to close the recreational coyote hunting season from April 15 to July 14 to prevent hunters from orphaning newborns in the den.

That vote essentially reinstated a previous policy that was abandoned in 2016, when Michigan switched to year-round coyote hunting amid fears that ballooning populations had become a nuisance. But the longer season failed to shrink the population or increase the number of coyotes killed each year, prompting questions about its justification.

The reversion to a 9-month season prompted lawsuits from hunting and trapping groups, who argued commissioners had been motivated by social concerns, rather than sound science. The legal challenges are pending.

“The Commission committed a grievous error” when it shortened the hunting season, said Justin Tomei, policy and government affairs manager for the Michigan United Conservation Clubs, which is suing the state. 

“The 2024 partial season closure was not a closure of science or management. It was a closure of fear and social assumption.”

Walters appeared to sympathize with that point of view. 

“We, as a commission, have an ability to make decisions and structure those decisions based on sound biological science,” he said. “There was no sound biological science in March of last year. It was all perception and it was all on social opinion.”

Coyote advocates disagreed. During comments on the proposal, they argued overly aggressive hunting disrupts pack dynamics and prompts more breeding. 

“If your goal is to control coyote populations and make them smaller, a longer hunting season won't do it,” said Naomi Louchouarn, a representative from the group Humane World for Animals.