Hunters and trappers can still pursue coyotes and fox

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Hunters and trappers can still pursue coyotes and fox Jan 21, 2020 20:27 ET Original: Hunters and trappers can still pursue coyotes and fox [Reprinted from original] West Fargo While game bird and big game seasons are now closed, North Dakota hunters and trappers still have plenty of opportunities to pursue coyotes, fox and other furbearers throughout much of the winter. Stephanie Tucker, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s furbearer biologist, recently provided some status updates on the agency’s weekly webcast, “Outdoors Online.” Here’s some excerpts: Coyote populations Coyotes are our most popular furbearer in North Dakota. We have a lot of them. The market value for coyote pelts the last several years, including this year, continues to be good and strong. So there's a lot of interest by hunters and trappers in going after coyotes and pursuing them for their fur. Our coyote trends this year, our statewide and regional trends, indicate that coyote numbers are probably going to be similar to last year, if not slightly lower in some regions. Now, there's always exceptions to that. Some people might have better coyote numbers in a local area, but statewide trends are similar to last year or a little bit lower. Coyote hunting and trapping seasons Hunting and trapping for coyotes is year-round, although we do have separate night hunting and cable device seasons, and those start right after deer gun season closes and go to March 15. New legislation for coyote night hunting Several years ago, via proclamation, we started allowing the use of night vision and thermal imaging equipment for the night hunting season for coyotes and fox. And there's been a lot of interest and popularity in that night hunting and using that equipment for coyotes since then. Hunters can also now use infrared illuminators with night vision equipment, you can also use red or green filtered lights for night hunting of coyotes and fox during the night hunting season. Mountain lion season We had five mountain lions taken in the zone 1 early season. There was a limit of eight, so the limit was not reached during that early season timeframe. We also had one mountain lion taken in zone 2 during the early season timeframe (and one in the late season time frame through Jan. 10. We have two zones in the state. The badlands region is zone 1. That is where our breeding population of mountain lions resides, and where we restrict the harvest to allow for a sustainable population year after year. Whereas zone 2 is the rest of the state, not suitable mountain lion habitat, but we do get mountain lions that wander out across the rest of the state. When the deer gun season closes, our late season opens. You can use hounds in the late season and the harvest limit is seven. (Status update: the late season harvest limit of seven mountain lions was reached on Dec. 15., triggering a conditional season to allow the harvest of three additional lions that were not taken in the early season. One lion was already taken in the conditional season, so hunters can still take two more until the season ends March 31.)

Hunters and trappers can still pursue coyotes and fox Jan 21, 2020 20:27 ET Original: Hunters and trappers can still pursue coyotes and fox [Reprinted from original] West Fargo While game bird and big game seasons are now closed, North Dakota hunters and trappers still have plenty of opportunities to pursue coyotes, fox and other furbearers throughout much of the winter. Stephanie Tucker, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s furbearer biologist, recently provided some status updates on the agency’s weekly webcast, “Outdoors Online.” Here’s some excerpts: Coyote populations Coyotes are our most popular furbearer in North Dakota. We have a lot of them. The market value for coyote pelts the last several years, including this year, continues to be good and strong. So there's a lot of interest by hunters and trappers in going after coyotes and pursuing them for their fur. Our coyote trends this year, our statewide and regional trends, indicate that coyote numbers are probably going to be similar to last year, if not slightly lower in some regions. Now, there's always exceptions to that. Some people might have better coyote numbers in a local area, but statewide trends are similar to last year or a little bit lower. Coyote hunting and trapping seasons Hunting and trapping for coyotes is year-round, although we do have separate night hunting and cable device seasons, and those start right after deer gun season closes and go to March 15. New legislation for coyote night hunting Several years ago, via proclamation, we started allowing the use of night vision and thermal imaging equipment for the night hunting season for coyotes and fox. And there's been a lot of interest and popularity in that night hunting and using that equipment for coyotes since then. Hunters can also now use infrared illuminators with night vision equipment, you can also use red or green filtered lights for night hunting of coyotes and fox during the night hunting season. Mountain lion season We had five mountain lions taken in the zone 1 early season. There was a limit of eight, so the limit was not reached during that early season timeframe. We also had one mountain lion taken in zone 2 during the early season timeframe (and one in the late season time frame through Jan. 10. We have two zones in the state. The badlands region is zone 1. That is where our breeding population of mountain lions resides, and where we restrict the harvest to allow for a sustainable population year after year. Whereas zone 2 is the rest of the state, not suitable mountain lion habitat, but we do get mountain lions that wander out across the rest of the state. When the deer gun season closes, our late season opens. You can use hounds in the late season and the harvest limit is seven. (Status update: the late season harvest limit of seven mountain lions was reached on Dec. 15., triggering a conditional season to allow the harvest of three additional lions that were not taken in the early season. One lion was already taken in the conditional season, so hunters can still take two more until the season ends March 31.)