You sure about that?
If you want to get technical, and by going off of what is in the regs, I would say you are correct... I just don't believe you are and there is a grammatical error in the regs. Here is what is in the regs, and there may be something else that is more explanatory, but on a quick search this is what I found.
COYOTE
Dates & Open Areas
Open year-round, except it shall be unlawful to hunt, take or attempt to take coyotes from dark to daylight with the aid of any artificial light and any sight dog.
So... to be unlawful from dark to daylight, you must be using artificial light AND any sight dog. That means the combination of the two. If you were just using artificial light, OR a sight dog, you would be legal. However, this is not true, and I called the local GW to verify. He understood what I was saying, but said you cannot hunt after dark with a light, without a permit, dog or not.
Roosta7 - So what you are saying is that we need a further clarification of the regs with a slight change. That is easy to do.
Everyone interprets the regs differently, including GW's. To be safe, contact the local GW in the area you'll be hunting in and get his interpretation. After all, he'll be the one writing the thicket. The GW in my area will not alow lights at night, and I have no desire to contest him in court.
Possibly... if I am interpreting the regs correctly and there are no other regs that cover the topic. I am just applying Boolean logic gates to their statement of "it shall be unlawful to hunt, take or attempt to take coyotes from dark to daylight with the aid of any artificial light and any sight dog."
I doubt it would hold up in court to say, "I was hunting after dark with the aid of artifical light but without a sight dog, therefore I was legal" OR "I was hunting after dark without the aid of artificial light but with a sight dog, therefore I was legal", but that's how the regs read. Forgive me, I am a computer guy... there is a big difference between AND and OR.
Personally, I don't think there should be any room for interpretation of the regs, by a game warden or individual. They should be clear and concise and not allow for any misconstruance by anyone. Just because they may have put an AND in there where there should be an OR would never be enough for me to break out the spotlight!
I doubt it would hold up in court to say, "I was hunting after dark with the aid of artifical light but without a sight dog, therefore I was legal" OR "I was hunting after dark without the aid of artificial light but with a sight dog, therefore I was legal", but that's how the regs read. Forgive me, I am a computer guy... there is a big difference between AND and OR.
Personally, I don't think there should be any room for interpretation of the regs, by a game warden or individual. They should be clear and concise and not allow for any misconstruance by anyone. Just because they may have put an AND in there where there should be an OR would never be enough for me to break out the spotlight!
This is what i know. I have hunted coyotes at night and have spoke to several GW about this. You are only allowed to hunt coyotes at night with a shot gun and NO atificial light. We hunt in the snow and during a full moon only. Its really the only way to see anything to shot it. I have tried. Plus you must call your local GW and let him know what you are doing. Its more of a courtesy call but it keeps you out of trouble.
Can you hunt Coyotes at night on land where the coyotes are harming livestock with the permission of the landowner?
This was bugging me so I just called three more GW's to get more clarification. Bottom line is, you cannot hunt coyotes at night, without a permit. All three game wardens said that they rarely issue those permits. If there is such a problem with coyotes, they will call in trappers, but there are exceptions.
As far as the reg that says "it shall be unlawful to hunt, take or attempt to take coyotes from dark to daylight with the aid of any artificial light and any sight dog"... this is specifically targeted towards running them with greyhounds, so the reg as stated is correct.
According to the game wardens I spoke to, if you do get a permit to hunt them at night, then you CAN use a light, but you have to use a shotgun and #6's or smaller. But the ones I spoke to all agreed this is rare. GW's differ though, so I can't speak for them all, just what I was told.
Not without a permit from the GW.
As far as the reg that says "it shall be unlawful to hunt, take or attempt to take coyotes from dark to daylight with the aid of any artificial light and any sight dog"... this is specifically targeted towards running them with greyhounds, so the reg as stated is correct.
According to the game wardens I spoke to, if you do get a permit to hunt them at night, then you CAN use a light, but you have to use a shotgun and #6's or smaller. But the ones I spoke to all agreed this is rare. GW's differ though, so I can't speak for them all, just what I was told.
Not without a permit from the GW.
First of all I never said you didn't have to have a permit. If you are hunting coyotes at night you must get one and you must get it 24 hours in advance.Keep in mind that not all of the regs are listed in the book that is published every year. You can find a complete list on the departments site.People just assume because it is not in that book it isn't legal.
Secondly it is not up to the game warden if you can get a permit to hunt at night.I have been down that road more than once and I have always gotten a permit.They cannot pick and choose which regs they want to enforce, and that came from the director himself.I have hunted coyotes at night in Oklahoma for over 25 years and will continue to do so. All I'm saying is if you want to do it, it is legal.
Scott
Secondly it is not up to the game warden if you can get a permit to hunt at night.I have been down that road more than once and I have always gotten a permit.They cannot pick and choose which regs they want to enforce, and that came from the director himself.I have hunted coyotes at night in Oklahoma for over 25 years and will continue to do so. All I'm saying is if you want to do it, it is legal.
Scott
Sorry man, I wasn't trying to say I'm right and you're wrong. I was just going off of what was in the regs. And you are correct, the regs that you pick up are not the complete listing of regulations.
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