Coyote hunt takes a turn

Organizer says pelts will become fur clothing

The promoter of a coyote hunt this weekend says he will hire a taxidermist to salvage the pelts and hides, his answer to critics who called the event blood sport.

“There are people who still enjoy wearing furs. I’ll pass them out to the homeless if I have to,” hunt organizer Mark Chavez said in an interview.

Chavez, 50, owner of Gunhawk Firearms in Los Lunas, has faced two weeks of protests from people who said he was organizing a mindless slaughter, not a hunt in which the animals would be used for food.

In addition to pledging to make use of the pelts, Chavez said he had renamed the event to more accurately describe it.

“We’re not calling it a coyote contest anymore. It’s a coyote management hunt,” he said.

Chavez says he likes to hunt mule deer, but their population in New Mexico has dropped by two-thirds in the last 50 years, to about 100,000. In that span, coyotes adapted and flourished, in part by preying on fawns.

The hunt has purpose in keeping wildlife populations in better balance, he said.

Many have urged Chavez on, calling his detractors tree huggers. But none of his explanations has satisfied critics of the coyote hunt. They have organized on websites, in person in Los Lunas and on the opinion pages of newspapers.

Cindy Roper says she is happy that coyotes roam and howl near her home in Santa Fe County. She called Chavez’s event an excuse for bloodlust.

“I don’t disagree with their right to hunt or to bear arms. But they want to use coyotes for target practice,” she said.

The hunt is legal. It is not right, Roper said.

Wendy Keefover, director of carnivore protection for WildEarth Guardians, said opponents could not stop the hunt. New Mexico allows hunting of coyotes every day of the year.

But, Keefover said, the attention cast on Gunhawk Firearms had exposed its contest as something most state residents would not embrace.

“My guess is that the amount of interest generated by the event has hurt the contest's sponsors,” she said. “Most New Mexicans are vehemently against contest hunting. We know that even gun owners and hunters oppose this.”

Chavez said nearly all the protesters were from one demographic.

“For the most part, it’s been a lot of women,” he said. “Probably 90 percent of the people against this are women.”

Though the state allows unlimited kills of coyotes, Chavez’s hunt has brought a warning from a federal agency.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management sent Chavez a letter telling him that he needed a permit for a hunting contest on its property.

Chavez has promised to award the team with the most coyote kills a Browning Maxus 12-gauge shotgun or two AR-15 semiautomatic rifles.

Since receiving the BLM’s letter, Chavez is telling contestants to avoid its land. He said the U.S. Forest Service had not contacted him about any such restrictions.

To properly manage the hunt, Chavez said he decided to limit it to 60 teams of one or two people. Each team paid a $50 entry fee.

These hunters will help small-town economies over the weekend, Chavez said. Purchases of gasoline, meals and supplies will be good for businesses, he said.

But Roper said the hunt will extend a daily shame in the state — people killing coyotes for no good reason.

She said coyotes are a magnificent part of the New Mexico wilds. Deer are but one part of their prey, she said. Near Cerrillos, where Roper lives, she says coyotes check rodent and rabbit populations, and eat as many berries as they can find.

“I have a love for the natural world, and I can see it from my backyard. It bothers me that coyotes are seen as cockroaches,” she said.

The hunt will end at 2 p.m. Sunday. Chavez said had not decided whether he would release the total number of kills or the winners’ tally.

“Hunting is very private for me. I don’t really flaunt it, going down Main Street for people to see,” he said.

As for hiring a taxidermist to convert the coyotes’ pelts into clothing, Chavez said he cared not about the money it will cost him.

“This was never about profits,” he said.

Rather, he said, he took a stand for the rights of hunters. An Albuquerque gun shop initially announced it would sponsor a coyote-hunting contest, but backed down in the face of protests.

Chavez said his shop and staff had remained resolute, even after receiving a written threat and one called in from a pay phone.

The threats were reported to the FBI. Now the hunt goes on, Chavez said.

Comments

[Rod]

This event needs infiltrators who will report to the (unbiased) media the location of the drop-off point for the carcasses so that all the world can see the actual bloody result of this killing contest. We estimate between 1,000 to 2,000 carcasses will be delivered to that drop-off point. Coverage of this scene posted to YouTube, Facebook, and other similar avenues of independent media is exactly what this sort of event needs in order to shut it down in the future.

[Louise Kane]

This is a disgraceful event. It has no basis in management. People don't need coyote fur. Coyotes need it. This man deserves to lose all of his sponsors. If it goes forward, it will be a stain on New Mexico. The tourism departments, DNR and governor should stop this. This has nothing to do with a right to hunt its a killing contest, period.

A shameful barbaric horrific atrocity!

[Doug Patrick]

Mark Chavez should have his pelt removed. Give it to the homeless...

[H. Hooper]

I own ranchland in the Galisteo basin and have a variety of animals. While I am watchful about coyotes, I view them as part of my world, and I respect them and all the other creatures who survive out here. I disapprove of and disagree with the so-called "right" people like Chavez who believe they have to go out and engage in mass killings of ANY species. It's unhealthy for the environment, and based on pure ignorance -- big surprise.
Far from "asserting" hunting rights, these kinds of killing raids for no reason (deer population drops are not due to coyotes.) actually endanger hunting "rights."

[Kirkpotitt]

A moron by any other name...............still a moron

[Whittler]

Chavez would eat the pelts if he thought he could get people to rationaize the slaughter the way he does. It's ludicrous. These people are so fearful about their hunting "rights" yet it has nothing to do with that at all. Personally, I believe they are fearful in general of predators as well, but that would take a book.
And so what if "women" comprise 90% of the demographics in this issue? It was WOMEN that turned the tide on the presidential election! Oh yes, Mr.Chavez, we are a tenacious bunch...and will grow as our "sister" learn about your slaughter plans and your poorly phrased "coyote management hunt". That's not what it is at all - and you know it.

[Kevin]

Dear fellow humans. I have noticed that the killing of coyotes has an ill effect on some. There is a management need where the coyote is concerned. It may not be a pleasant thing to consider, yet here it is: hunters losing too many deer to coyotes, newborn cattle that are taken by coyotes, coyotes coming in close contact in city trash containers and the people putting trash into them. People using coyotes for target practice is not proper management. The fact of the matter is that your laws may think that they manage, but it ends up taking rights given to us all. Sad really, for all of us.

[Gregory]

This is not target practice but a decrease of an overpopulation of coyotes in the area. There will be plenty of coyotes left in the area, and they will have more food available to them after the hunt. I cannot count the number of people I know who have lost a pet cat to a coyote. A woman who lives on the outskirts of Las Cruces said she gave up the idea of having a cat after her third cat was killed and eaten by coyotes. Coyotes are animals that prey on other animals. So are humans.