I started hunting with my Uncle Tom Parra when I was 11 years old. Since I have started hunting I have hunted game such as small game birds, turkey, deer and moose. For the first time this year I started hunting coyote with him and a group of other guys after the wrestling season got over.

Some people look at coyote hunting as a controversial issue. Which one guy expressed as we were hunting a 1,000 acre piece of land on the 11th of March. He drove up to us and got out of his car to express his opinion about what we were doing. His first comment had to do with us driving up and down the road. That was something that he shouldn’t have brought up because that made a few of the guys upset. We have every right to drive up and down that road as we please, however he didn’t give us the chance to tell him we were all done hunting we were just trying to get the last dog.

Some people don’t take the time to stop and ask questions before they start accusing hunters of things they are not doing. It’s people like that that are ruining the hunting tradition in Maine. After reading a current article out of a new magazine called the “Bangor Metro,” I wanted to write an article on coyote hunting because it emphasizes the issue with coyotes. Coyotes feed on small to medium size game such as rodents, grouse, turkeys, squirrels, rabbits and deer. They have also been known to feed on house cats as well as small dogs. The state of Maine started a state wide trapping season in areas were the deer herds had suffered during the winter. However the program was suspended in 2003. The outbreak in small animal deaths caused the state to rethink this idea. The Coyote season last year round with your normal hunting license, and for an additional $4 you can purchase a permit for night hunting. I wanted to write an article about what coyote hunting consists of; it’s actually a highly exciting sport of hunting.

Usually we all meet around 5:30 in the morning at a chosen destination. There are about 14 guys on average that hunt with us and around 12 dogs. We hunt many areas around Waldo and Knox County. Weeks before we start hunting those areas we put out a “Bait Pile”. These piles consist of meat and fish, which has gone bad and stores owners cannot put on the shelf. They attract the coyotes since they are meat eating mammals. Most of the guys in the group carry VHF radios often called marine radios. Throughout the day we communicate back and forth to see where each other are and especially where the dogs are. Most mornings someone will walk in towards the bait pile with a couple dogs and see if the dogs can’t pick up a scent. The dogs burry there faces into the ground and take of through the woods starting what will hopefully be an exciting run.

A run is when the dogs catch up to a coyote and open up (start barking); we can then hear them and try to get in front so we can get the coyote. Some runs can last anywhere a few minutes to a full day. However, some mornings the dogs can’t pick up a scent around the bait pile, so we take the dogs and start looping out around the pile to see if they can pick up anything out around it. The dogs are trained not to bark until they get close to the coyote, so you wait and once they open up we all try to position ourselves so they don’t get by. I’ve learned the sound of most of the dogs' barks, so I can tell which dogs are on a coyote. It’s an amazing sound when the dogs up on a run, the woods start to echo with the howling of these beagles. The group has been nicknamed the “Bent Barrel Gang”, this nickname originated from how the guys don’t let up on shooting when the coyotes come through ahead of the dogs. (The barrel on guns heat up after continuous fire, causing them to bend occasionally.)

That brings up an important factor of the hunt. The dogs are usually right behind the coyote as they are running through the woods, so it’s very important we find the right shot and not take the risk of injuring any of the dogs. Some of the guys keep the coyotes and get them mounted (stuffed) or have the hides tanned to make a leather like felt, and others may sell the hides. The hunting in these areas should help the small animal population as well as the deer herds. The most impacted area will be on Coggins Hill in Union, we have now taken 18 coyotes off of that hill.

Coyote hunting has now become a Saturday tradition to many hunters around the state, and should continue to grow as the results will hopefully bring back the population numbers of many animal species.