Coyote hunt doesn’t sit well with neighborhood

By Jeremy Twitchell

Tuesday, March 3, 2009 | 2 a.m.

A Henderson outdoors shop is bringing back an old Nevada tradition, but residents of a nearby rural neighborhood are feeling anything but nostalgic about it.

When residents of River Mountain Ranch Estates, a rural preservation neighborhood in southeast Henderson, caught wind of a coyote hunting competition March 13-15 sponsored by the new Sportsman's Warehouse at 390 W. Lake Mead Parkway, they were immediately concerned about hunters tracking animals nearby.

The event's organizer, however, said residents have nothing to worry about. Matt Judd, the hunting floor manager at Sportsman's Warehouse, said the competition is governed by a strict set of rules, including one that states no hunting may take place within the Las Vegas Valley.

Judd said hunters will be heading to remote locations outside the Las Vegas Valley and to neighboring states to find coyotes in their natural habitat. Judd said every participating team will receive a map of the no-hunting zone as an added precaution.

"We don't want to hunt neighborhoods," Judd said. "In the hunting community, that sounds absurd because that's not where the coyotes are."

Diane Booker, president of the neighborhood's homeowner's association, said coyotes are frequently seen wandering through the neighborhood at night and in the early mornings, and residents were concerned that hunters would be in the area stalking the animals.

"We don't want to see people who live out near the foothills having their homes shot at," Booker said. "People here are very upset."

Judd said he doesn't know where the neighbors got the impression that hunters would be in or near their neighborhoods. It was likely a false assumption that was blown out of proportion, he said.

According to Nevada law, Sportsman's Warehouse does not need any type of permit for the event, and competing hunters do not need a license. Doug Nielsen, spokesman for the Nevada Department of Wildlife, said coyotes are considered a varmint, so their hunting is not regulated.

The only exception, he said, is if the coyotes are being hunted for their fur, in which case the hunter must have a trapper's license.

Nielsen said coyote hunts are fairly common, especially in the western United States, but that they are generally done in more rural areas. He said this is the first one he's aware of in Southern Nevada in several years.

Nielsen said the event is not big enough to have a significant impact on coyote populations, which he said grow at rapid rates. His only issue with the event was an early flyer that claimed the Department of Wildlife would be judging the competition, which he said was never true. The department will have no official capacity in the hunt, he said, but some of its officers may be watching the hunters as part of their regular patrols.

Judd said the flyer's statement was a misunderstanding and that it has been corrected.

The hunt begins March 13 at the Sportsman's Warehouse store. All teams must be present at the kickoff, and they will have two days to hunt before they will be required to check in by 2 p.m. March 15 with their kills.

Teams that have trapper's licenses will be able to sell their coyotes to fur traders, Judd said, while the remaining ones will be bought by Sporstman's Warehouse and local taxidermists for stuffing. None of the coyotes will be wasted, he said.

"Not only are we trying to promote ethical shooting sports in the area; we're trying to become an intricate part of the community," Judd said.

Jeremy Twitchell can be reached at 990-8928 or [email protected].