Animal Rights Group Sues After MI Expands Coyote Hunting Season

An animal rights group is suing the Michigan Natural Resources Commission after it expanded coyote hunting season in the state.

The commission ruled last month that coyotes can now be killed all year round, whether on public or private property. The move is another attempt to control the coyote population in Michigan.

Previously, hunters could only kill coyotes outside of hunting season if the animals were damaging or posed a threat to livestock on private land.

Coyote hunting and trapping season is from Oct. 15 through March 1.

The commission tried this in 2016, but reversed it in 2024 because they said hunters did not kill enough coyotes.

Humane World for Animals, formerly called the Humane Society of the United States, reiterated that admission in its lawsuit, arguing expanding the hunting will not reduce the coyote population or stop conflicts with farm animals.

"The Natural Resources Commission is bowing to the demands of hunting groups for a return to cruel, pointless, year-round coyote killing that will leave dependent pups to starve," Mitchell Nelson, Michigan state director for Humane World for Animals, said. "This is not responsible stewardship; it's shameless pandering to special interests at the expense of the public's wildlife."

Animal hunting groups praised the commission's ruling in 2016 when it allowed year-round coyote hunting in Michigan. But the ruling drew public backlash, and the commission eventually reversed its ruling in 2024. They decided to prohibit hunters from killing coyotes during breeding season, which is from mid-April through mid-July.

Those limitations upset hunting groups and the Michigan Trappers and Predator Callers Association went on to sue the commission. An Ingham County judge ruled in favor of the commission.

Even with that ruling, the commission backtracked and will again allow open coyote hunting all year round. Hunting groups immediately praised the move.

"The 2024 commission violated their legal charge and responsibility when they closed the coyote season based on unsubstantiated social and political pressures," Michigan Trappers and Predator Callers Association's President Joe Velchansky said. "This commission made good on their promise to Michiganders and as part of a larger approach to management of coyotes and reinstated the management opportunities lost to us in 2024."