Illegal to hunt coyotes at night.

[BlackRidge]

Way to handle the situation Kain, well done

All over coyotes.... 

[Kain]

yeah I dont get it either.  Ask a simple question and open a can of worms.  Seems like "Legal Services Lori Preuss, Criminal Justice Liaison/Rules Coordinator" wants to reinvent the wheel.  

We will fix this discrepancy.  In the meantime, to be safe, you shouldn’t hunt coyote at night.

You believe that?  Will I be breaking the law or not?     It would be funny if it wasnt so sad.

[Machias]

This is from the WDFW's own website: 

Legal Status

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife does not classify coyotes as game animals, but a state license is required to hunt or trap them (RCW 77.32.010).

[Kain]

I quoted that in my reply to the enforcement dept.  Thats when they sent it off to Lori for clarification.

[Machias]

You don't need to make an exception for coyotes, like they did for coons and bobcats, BECAUSE they are NOT game animals.

[BlackRidge]

Until they've updated the 2011 regs and its in writing... I'll gladly take the ignorant route and continue spotlighting yotes

Lori didn't even sound sure, so until they have this worked out internally and make it official, no dice wdfw.

[Special T]

You have to remember that WDFW employees have no reason to stick thier head out and make a decision... If they screw up and say something wrong in writing then the WDFW has a spokesman making policy in writing... Gov Beurocracies will ALWAYS lean twoard CYA rather than an honest judgement call... Its just not in an employees best intrest... Just look at past member WDFWinsider... He tried to just answere boilerplate questions when he worked their and got canned... Now he's looking for a job and the WDFW is F-ing him when his prospective employers call his reference... So how is it in thier best interest? Stupid huh? 

[wastickslinger]

What  fricking crock of crap. Sounds like Lori as her own thoughts on this.

[Kain]

They are going to adopt an emergency rule to say what the regs already say.     Ah tax dollars hard at work.

On Thu, Dec 2, 2010 at 10:34 AM, Preuss, Lori (DFW) <Lori.Preuss@dfw.wa.gov> wrote:
Hi, Naithan.  I believe our Wildlife Program is going to issue an emergency rule to clarify that you can hunt coyote at night during established bobcat and raccoon seasons, with the exception of the months of September, October, and November in any area open to a centerfire rifle deer or elk season.  The Governor’s rules moratorium does not kick in until 2011, and it exempts emergency rules, which is why we have the authority to do this.  You might want to check our Website’s rule-making pages at http://wdfw.wa.gov/about/regulations/ starting tomorrow, to see if the emergency rule has been implemented.

[Curly]

Unbelievable. 

[bobcat]

    LMAO

I bet they read this thread. And I agree, it's stupid to make a new rule that doesn't change anything. 

[bobcat]

I still don't get what it has to do with bobcat/raccoon season   What about AFTER bobcat/raccoon season is over? Can you no longer hunt coyotes at night?

[Kain]

I still don't get what it has to do with bobcat/raccoon season  What about AFTER bobcat/raccoon season is over? Can you no longer hunt coyotes at night?

You could before maybe they are going to mess with that now.  Machias posted an email earlier in this thread where he was told night hunting was legal year round for coyote except where prohibited.

[tlbradford]

I still don't get what it has to do with bobcat/raccoon season   What about AFTER bobcat/raccoon season is over? Can you no longer hunt coyotes at night?

You could before maybe they are try to mess with that now.  Machias posted an email earlier in this thread where he was told night hunting was legal year round for coyote except where prohibited.

That is exactly right.  Since coyotes are not classified as a "game" species, they only let you know when it is prohibited to hunt them.  Everything else is fair game.

[bobcat]

I understand that but I still don't see why the phrase "during established bobcat and raccoon seasons" needs to be in there   Maybe I'm just slow.