Doggin' Coyotes?

I know that it's illegal to use sight hounds to hunt coyotes but what is the regulation concerning the use of other dogs to essentially act as......dare I say it......decoys? I don't mean tying up Fifi to act as bait but using the territorial nature of coyotes against them with another canine.

I've got a video put out by the guys that make the E.L.K Coyote calls called Doggin' Coyotes. They use a couple of different breed of dogs to attract and distract coyotes with good results. The video was shot in Montana and North Dakota. Does it happen here in Alberta? Anyone know?

It's not illegal to use dogs to chase coyotes you just need the permit to do it. 1st there has to be perdation on livestock and then get the permit from a Municipal Ag Fieldman. The dogs than have to stay on the perscribed land listed on the permit.

Turney

Thanks, Turney. I didn't realize that it was still allowed. If I remember correctly, there was a video of a chase shown on the news in Calgary a few years ago, where Russian Wolf Hounds were used. There was a mini campaign to ban the practice. I guess they weren't entirely successful.

The method that I'm talking about is not an actual full on chase but where the dog is out in a coulee and actually entices the coyotes to get within gun range by barking, chasing and running from them. On the video, some of the coyotes are so focused on the dog that they totally ignore the hunter.

Is the permit from the Ag Fieldman intended to support this method or the actual chasing and eventual capture of the coyotes by the hounds?

there is a section in the Wildlife act that says you can't use live animals for bait.
Grizz

When the public was outraged at the sight of hounds ripping apart coyotes a few years ago there were little regulations on this. The Ag fieldmen had already looked after coyotes complants regarding predation against livestock. The province figured if people had to go though all the red tape to get a permit it would die a slow death without taking away the priviledge to hunt coyotes with dogs. And now after 3-4 years of having to get a permit it is pretty much dead, hardly nobody uses the permits anymore.

The video I have would be a method that falls in between what Grizzly seems to be referring to and what Turney describes with the sight hounds.

My brother in law told me about a guy that had hunted his farm and his dog was allowed to run ahead of him and once a coyote saw the dog the coyotes ended up chasing the dog back to the shooter. This is essentially what my video shows.

In my opinion it's not baiting. The coyote isn't intending to eat the dog but to drive him out of his territory, much in the same way that it would chase another coyote out of his territory.

It reminds me of those Nova Scotia Duck Tolling dogs that splash around and swim in circles amongst the decoys in order to attract ducks. The ducks are attracted to the motion in the spread and come in to take a look.

Inevitably, some people will comment on the ethics of either method but if it's legal I would consider doing it if I had the dogs to do it.

Word from F/W is no!
Like electronics, it is a very effectve and fun way to hunt coyotes, but unfortunately in Alberta, both methods are not allowed.

Thanks for clarifying that Redfrog. It's too bad though. It looks like an interesting method.