• The Michigan Natural Resources Commission passed a resolution saying commissioners are committed to finding a way for coyotes to be killed on public land year-round
• In March 2024, the fishing and hunting regulator shortened the coyote season from a year to nine months
• Hunting and trapping groups sued the state over the move, saying it wasn’t based on science, but a judge ruled in June the decision was sound

Michigan’s Natural Resources Commission has signaled support for year-round coyote killing, passing a resolution Thursday saying it’s “committed to” allowing people to take coyotes 12 months of the year through a combination of hunting, trapping, and the killing of nuisance animals. 

The commission said it would act on the matter before it finishes reviewing its 2026 furbearer rules.

According to Commissioner John Walters, the NRC isn’t planning to extend the hunting and trapping season from nine months to a year. Instead, during the three-month “offseason,” it wants to allow coyotes causing a nuisance on public land to be killed.

Currently, coyotes causing problems on private land can be killed year-round, but killing troublesome coyotes isn’t allowed on public land, unless they are hunted or trapped during the season. 

“I think we would have preferred some definitive resolution today,” said Justin Tomei, policy and government affairs manager for the Michigan United Conservation Clubs, which sued the state over coyote hunting regulations and lost. He said the conservation clubs will hold the commission accountable to make sure they follow through on their word.

“The Natural Resources Commission’s announcement is a step in the right direction, but it was not the final decision we were hoping for,” state Rep. Michele Hoitenga, R-Manton, said in a statement. “Its original repeal lacked any scientific basis and essentially opened the floodgates for coyotes — which can reproduce at an extremely fast rate — to wreak havoc on farmers and landowners, spread disease and harm the natural balance across Northern Michigan and throughout the state.”

RELATED: 

• Michigan’s shortened coyote hunting season stands, judge rules
• Groups sue Michigan wildlife regulators over shorter coyote hunting season
• Michigan shortens coyote hunting season, irking some hunters

Hoitenga and state Rep. Parker Fairbairn, R-Harbor Springs, previously introduced Senate Bill 366 and House Bill 4554 to allow year-round coyote hunting. Both bills are stuck in committee.

The controversial topic has seen a lot of back and forth. 

In 2016, the NRC voted to extend the coyote hunting season from nine months to year-round in hopes doing so would reduce nuisance issues.

In 2024, the commission voted to shorten the season back to nine months after concerns about killing mother coyotes when they’re with young pups. 

The NRC is mandated by state law to make decisions based on sound science. Some hunting and trapping groups said the commission’s 2024 decision didn’t do that. So they sued, but a judge ruled in June that the commission’s decision was sound.

“It was affirmed by the courts,” Mitchell Nelson, the Michigan director of Humane World for Animals practically yelled Thursday while speaking during the public comment portion of the NRC meeting. “It’s bizarre to me that this commission would even consider essentially undermining its own authority by going back on a decision they made just a year ago, made entirely based on science and public perception.” 

But others, like deer hunter Dave Buikema, disagreed. He told the commission before it voted that it had an opportunity to right a wrong.

“The reason that I and so many other people have gotten involved with this issue is because of — we see the precedent that potentially could be set,” Buikema said. He asked the audience to imagine if fishing were banned because people were worried about the pain of a hook. 

Coyote population unknown

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources does not know how many coyotes live in the state. But Wildlife Division Director Sara Thompson told Bridge “the population is above where we would like it to be.”

She said the decision to extend the coyote season in 2016 “was kind of an experiment” to see if adding more hunting days could result in more coyotes being killed. It didn’t.

Every other year, the department randomly surveys people who purchase its fur harvest license. The most recently analyzed data showed that, between 2016 and 2020, after the season was extended, there was no significant increase in the number of coyotes trapped or hunted.

“Our data proves that whether you hunt nine months of the year or 12 months of the year, the population doesn’t significantly increase or decrease. So we’re neutral on this,” Thompson said.

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