Waters & Woods: Will West Virginia’s Coyote Hunters Catch a Break?

With having posted a second set of coyote pictures on Trail Cam Tuesday yesterday, I thought it would only be fitting to pass along this article for anyone hunting coyotes in West Virginia. This article covers the current regulations and the newly proposed regulations that would take effect in 2012 if approved.

In summary, the original regulations set forth in 2006 had decent reasonings, but they still hampered hunters trying to pursue coyotes at night. The current regulations arm hunters with inferior spotlights (red or amber colored only) and .22 caliber rim fire rifle that has a higher probability of wounding the coyote than killing it instantly. They list the reasons for these restrictions in the article, but it is time to give coyote hunters a fighting chance at night. With the new regulations that are proposed not being discussed till most likely July, we can only hope that the members of the state Natural Resources Commission choose to help the hunters. 

Will West Virginia’s coyote hunters catch a break?

March 11, 2011 by John McCoy

Image from 

Trail Cam Tuesday - Feb. 22, 2011

West Virginia’s coyote hunters might be getting a little regulatory relief soon.

“For what?” I hear you ask. “They can hunt the critters at night for half the year, they can hunt them during the day all year long, there are no closed counties and there’s no bag limit.”

Even so, there are restrictions hunters consider onerous. Daytime coyote hunters can do pretty much as they wish, but nighttime hunters say they’re handicapped by regulations that restrict them to spotlights with red or amber lenses and to firearms no more powerful than .22 caliber rimfire.

The regulations were put into place to prevent deer from being spotlighted under the guise of coyote hunting. Regulators figured the amber or red lights would help law enforcement officers distinguish coyote hunters from deer spotlighters, who usually use powerful white lights. Regulators also figured .22-caliber rimfires would be too light for use on deer.

Since those regulations went into effect in 2006, Division of Natural Resources officials have had a change of heart. They’ve come to realize that the restrictions were too — well, restricting. Hunters discovered that the amber or red lights weren’t powerful enough, and that .22 caliber rifles didn’t pack enough wallop to kill coyotes on the spot. To continue reading, click here.