Predator & Furbearer
Canis latrans
Photo: Steve Thompson, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via Wikimedia Commons (PD) · PD · Source: commons.wikimedia.org
Conservation status
Least ConcernTag difficulty (general)
Varies by stateVaries by state and unit.
Methods generally used
The coyote is the most expanded mammal in North American history. A medium-sized canid — twenty-five to forty-five pounds in most of the country, slightly larger in the eastern hybrids that carry some wolf admixture — it has spread from a pre-Columbian range centered on the open West to a present range covering every state in the lower 48, every Canadian province, and most of Mexico and Central America. It is also the most diversely regulated huntable animal in the country. In some states the coyote is a managed furbearer with seasons, methods restrictions, and reporting. In others it is treated as an unprotected predator under broad authorities. In yet others it sits somewhere in between, with year-round hunting but specific weapon, baiting, or night-vision rules that change from county to county. Because that variance is so wide, this page does not attempt to summarize what is or isn't legal in your state — regulations vary widely and change frequently, so see your state hunting page for the current rules. Methods nationwide center on predator calling, spot-and-stalk with a flat-shooting rifle, trapping for fur, and night hunting where permitted. Coyotes educate fast; the same setup rarely works twice.
Continuous across the lower 48 states, all of Canada south of the boreal tree line, and through Mexico into Central America. Filled the historic wolf range in the East after wolf extirpation; eastern populations carry partial wolf and dog admixture. Densest in mixed open habitat — agricultural land, sage steppe, pinyon-juniper, eastern farm-forest mosaic.
Generalist: prairie, sage steppe, pinyon-juniper, mixed agricultural land, eastern hardwood with field edges, desert, suburban parkland, urban corridors. Avoids only the deepest closed-canopy forest and the highest alpine. Den sites in dirt burrows, brush piles, or thick cover.
Foothold traps in dirt-hole or flat sets baited with gland lure and coyote urine are the bedrock furbearer method. Snares where legal in winter on coyote runs. Trapping is regulated separately from hunting in every state and is the principal legal tool in some agricultural-damage contexts.
Where state regulations permit — and the rules vary widely — coyotes are also taken at night with thermal or night-vision optics, often over electronic calls. Rules around lights, optics types, calibers, and reporting differ significantly between states and sometimes between counties.
Glassing open country at dawn and dusk for coyotes hunting field edges or sage flats, then stalking into rifle range. Most common in the Mountain West and on the northern plains. Same flat-shooting rifle as calling.
The dominant method continent-wide. Hunters set up downwind of likely coyote travel or rest cover and play distress sounds (cottontail-distress, jackrabbit-distress, fawn-distress, bird-distress) on mouth or electronic calls. Coyotes respond from up to a mile in open country, less in cover. A flat-shooting centerfire — .223, .22-250, 6mm, 6.5 Creedmoor — and quality optics are typical. Decoys (motion or static) help close skeptical coyotes.
Legal methods, weapons, and seasons vary by state and unit — confirm with the issuing agency before you hunt.
William Warby via Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-2.0) · CC-BY-2.0
11 states