Coyote Harvest Incentive Program
The Coyote Harvest Incentive Program was created in 2016 by a Budget Provision (47.10), which directed SCDNR to develop and implement a coyote tagging and reward program. Annually, SCDNR traps, tags and releases four coyotes per game zone (16 total). Anyone who successfully takes and reports a tagged coyote will be rewarded with a free lifetime hunting license. The person reporting the tagged coyote has the option to designate anyone for the lifetime license such as a child, relative, or friend.
Over the last three years, a total of 64 coyotes have been tagged and released, with another 16 coyotes to be tagged in 2020. To date, approximately half of the tagged coyotes have been reported taken. Coyotes tagged in any year are eligible for the lifetime license incentive. The specially marked tags provide contact information directly on them. Only the uniquely identifiable SCDNR coyote tags are eligible for the lifetime license as there are potentially some coyotes that have been tagged for research purposes.
| Year | Reported Trapped |
Estimated Shot from Hunters' Survey |
Total Harvest Estimate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 1,039 |
20,159 |
21,198 |
| 2006 | 1,112 |
20,194 |
21,306 |
| 2007 | 1,223 |
23,957 |
25,180 |
| 2008 | 1,520 |
25,526 |
27,046 |
| 2009 | 2,384 |
29,783 |
32,167 |
| 2010 | 2,123 |
30,800 |
32,923 |
| 2011 | 2,205 |
32,204 |
34,409 |
| 2012 | 2,584 |
28,211 |
30,795 |
| 2013 | 2,595 |
30,076 |
32,671 |
| 2014 | 2,500 |
31,306 |
33,806 |
| 2015 | 2,751 |
29,027 |
31,778 |
| 2016 | 2,429 |
28,513 |
30,942 |
| 2017 | 2,159 |
22,441 |
24,600 |
| 2018 | 2,619 |
22,731 |
25,350 |
Based on current harvest estimates, the overall coyote population appears to be down over 25% since 2014. This indicates that control efforts by hunters and trappers are having an impact.