SC Might Offer Coyote Bounty

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You might soon be able to not only hunt coyotes, but get a fee for a coyote kill in South Carolina.

Coyote

Image: Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY

SC Senator Stephen Goldfinch, who represents District 34 in the Charleston area, is making a proposal that hunters get $75 each time they kill a coyote under a new bill in the state senate.  It's because, he says, complaints have been mounting over the years throughout the state that there are a growing number of coyotes in the area.  Complaints have come in from the Upstate to the Low Country and, with no predators to take the coyotes out, hunting might be the only option.

Goldfinch is proposing adding another dollar to the state hunting license fee to pay for the bounty and open up the trapping season for coyotes to year-round.  Of course, hunters would still have to abide by county and local laws about when and where people can hunt.

Goldfinch, speaking with WMBF-TV in Myrtle Beach, said that coyotes are eating deer turkeys and even our pets, both cats and dogs. “The state’s perspective is every coyote needs to be a dead coyote. Trap them, shoot them, kill them, however you want to get rid of them," said Goldfinch. "We need to get rid of them." 

Goldfinch says he used a 2013 law in Utah to model this law.  It involves taking a photo of the dead coyote and using the geotags from that picture to determine location and time of the kill.  The bounty pay would be based on that data.

The state Department of Natural Resources offers information on coyotes.