The Michigan Natural Resources Commission tabled a proposal on Thursday to reinstate a year-round coyote hunting season for the state.

The decision followed public comments made by several residents against a proposed amendment to lengthen the season from nine months to year-round. They urged the board to consider “values” and science in their decision.

Others who attended the Natural Resources Commission meeting Thursday in Lansing expressed support of year-round hunting, including one hunter advocate who asked the board to “do the right thing.”

The NRC — a seven-member body appointed by the governor that regulates the taking of game and sportfish, designates game species and establishes the first open season for animals — voted more than a year ago to close the coyote season from mid-April to mid-July, which is when coyotes typically care for pups.

Natural Resources Commissioner John Walters, who had proposed the amendment to return to year-round hunting, made a motion to table the matter for “further discussion down the road.” The board unanimously approved it. Walters couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.

At least one group that pushed to return to year-round coyote hunting was disappointed by what it called Thursday’s “inaction.”

“Michigan United Conservation Clubs is disappointed in the commission’s inaction and their decision, at least for now, to not right the error that they did in March of 2024,” said Justin Tomei of Michigan United Conservation Clubs. “We really thought that they were lined up to take action today, do what was right for Michigan’s hunter, trappers and anglers and to follow their legal charge and responsibility under Proposal G.”

The Michigan Natural Resources Commission was given the authority to regulate the taking of game in Michigan under Proposal G in 1996, with the condition that their regulations be based on principles of sound scientific management.

Representatives of two hunter groups said previously that the coyote season was closed because of “social pressures” and noted game management decisions should be “rooted in science.” But animal rights advocates have argued it is inhumane to kill coyote parents while they are raising their young.

Mitchell Nelson, the Michigan state director for the nonprofit Humane World for Animals, told The News that ultimately, his organization is hoping that the NRC is going to make a decision that’s “really based in the science and based in common sense.”

“And we think that’s gonna be keeping the status quo and keeping the season where it’s at,” he said. “If they need another month or so to take a look at everything, that’s alright. We trust that they’re going to end up making the right decision.”

He said Humane World for Animals now gets another chance to “really make our case.”

Opposition to year-round proposal

Before the commission’s decision to table the amendment, Nelson said killing coyotes during late spring greatly increases the chance of dependent pups being orphaned “leading to the slow death from starvation.”

“Litters of pups born in the spring in Michigan are still dependent on both parents until weaning and remain under the care and guidance of their parents as they learn to hunt and become independent,” Nelson said.

Trish Marie asked the commission to maintain the “quiet period” for coyote hunting. She said killing coyotes in the spring — “when they’ve made it through the winter and they have the additional stress of trying to raise a family now” — makes “no sense.”

“Their coat’s not worth anything,” she said. “We kill turkeys in the spring, but people eat turkey.”

The commission has gone back and forth on allowing a nine-month hunting season for coyote versus a year-long one. The 2024 vote, which was 4-2, reversed a previous decision made by the Natural Resources Commission in 2016, when the board made the season year-round.

A DNR document from January 2024 said that there is “concern about social perception and future loss of management tools if the open season continues to allow coyotes to be taken when there are dependent young present.”

Keith Shafer, president of the Michigan Bear Hunters Association, asked the commission to stick with the nine-month season. He told them that it’s “important that we maintain” the support of non-hunters.

“I really, really, really would appreciate if we could stay the course, at least in the next cycle,” he said. “Let’s get this through, and see what happens.”

Support for year-round coyote hunting

The commission’s decision to table a vote on extending the season comes as the Michigan United Conservation Clubs and the Michigan Trappers and Predator Callers Association are suing the Natural Resources Commission over its decision in March 2024 to shorten the season.

Tomei, the policy and government affairs manager for Michigan United Conservation Clubs, said at Thursday’s meeting that the idea that “we should wait for a court to intervene on the coyote issue is toxic and counter-productive.” He said that the commission can “do the right thing.”

“Don’t leave hunters in limbo,” he said. “Don’t sacrifice another coyote season. We can do it right. We can do it right today and be done with it.”

The coyote season will close on April 15, so coyote hunters will loose at least a portion of their spring season, Tomei said.

Lance DeVooght, vice president of Michigan Bow Hunters, said at the meeting that the commission should restore year-round coyote hunting.

“As we’ve seen, there’s no reason to shorten the season ? no scientific reason, biological reason, to shorten the season,” he said.

Merle Jones, the public relations director for the Michigan Trappers and Predator Callers Association, told The News that the tabling was disappointing because the commissioners “shirked their responsibility.” He argued that in this case and others, the commission isn’t making their decisions “based upon the rules that they are bound by.”

“They’re making their decisions based upon, literally, political fear,” he said.

Jones said he felt that the matter was tabled because Commissioner David Nyberg wasn’t present at the meeting. Nyberg and Walters were the two commissioners who voted against the closure last year.

There were an estimated 50,131 licensed coyote hunters in Michigan in 2021, according to the Small Game Harvest Survey Report from the Department of Natural Resources.