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Trapping BMPs and Coyote Hunting Regulations Updates

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Act No. 159 (S.201). An act relating to best management practices (BPMs) for trapping

Act No. 165 (S.281). An act relating to hunting coyotes with dogs

Best Management Practices for Trapping (Act No. 159)cover of Best Management Practices for Trapping

This act requires the Fish and Wildlife Department to work with the Legislature and the Fish and Wildlife Board to establish rules that implement best management practices that modernize trapping and improve the welfare of wildlife taken with the use of traps. 

Timeline:

December 2023 - 

November 2023 - 

October 2023 - Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules (LCAR) put forth several requests to the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department to provided additional information/clarification on the proposed furbearer rule. Below are LCAR's memos, the department's responses and the revised proposed furbearer rule.

August 2023 - Proposed furbearer rule submitted to Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules (LCAR)

June 20 - 22, 2023 - Two in-person and one virtual public meetings were held. Below is a recoding of the department's presentation as well as public comments received at the two in-person hearings.

Furbearer Presentation Made at the Public Hearings

Recording of the June 22, 2023 public hearing

May and June 2023 - The department will accept public comment on new proposed regulations on trapping and will make additional recommendations to the proposal advanced by the board on April 5, 2023. As drafted, the proposal will:

  • Create a safety buffer between public highways, trails on most state lands, and places where most traps can be set, to reduce the risk of pets or people encountering traps.
     
  • Prohibit the use of body-gripping traps on the ground except when certain safety criteria are met, to reduce the risk of pets or non-target species being killed in traps.
     
  • Require that all traps used in Vermont meet mechanical standards that reduce the risk of harm to trapped animals.
     
  • Require that meat-based baits used to attract animals to traps be covered from sight, to reduce the risk of attracting birds of prey.
     
  • Require that live-trapped animals be killed immediately by the trapper, with a firearm, muzzleloader, bow, or crossbow, to give the animals a more humane death.

Read the Full Proposal Advanced by the Board

View a table comparing the legislature’s directives, the board’s proposal, and the department’s additional recommendations.

February- March 2023 - The department began the rule making process with the Fish and Wildlife Board. It is expected that new rules from this process will be finalized and become effective during the 2024 trapping season. No changes to trapping regulations will be made during the 2022/23 season.

January 17, 2023 - A report to the Legislature was submitted

November 29, 2022 - A public meeting to collect feedback was held

November 22, 2022 - A first set of draft recommended rule changes became available 

August 4 – September 27, 2022 - The department convened a stakeholder working group to identify potential areas of common ground for updated regulations

June 1, 2022 - The process to establish these best management practices was initiated

See also:

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Hunting Coyotes with Dogs (Act No. 165) 

This act created a moratorium on hunting coyotes with dogs, effective July 1, 2022, until new regulations were adopted in December 2023. 

What Has Not Changed Regarding Hunting Coyotes

  • There is no closed hunting season on coyote.
     
  • Coyotes may be hunted at any time under natural light. Artificial lights and sighting devices that project a beam of any kind of light are prohibited when shooting at a coyote. 

What Has Changed Regarding Hunting Coyotes

Timeline:

December 2023 - 

November 2023 -

October 2023 - Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules (LCAR) put forth several requests to the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department to provided additional information/clarification on the proposed furbearer rule. Below are LCAR's memos, the department's responses and the revised proposed furbearer rule.

August 2023 - Proposed furbearer rule submitted to Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules (LCAR)

May and June 2023 - The department will accept public comment on new proposed regulations on hunting coyotes with dogs advanced by the board on April 5, 2023. As drafted, the proposal will:

  • Create a 100-permit limit on the number of hunters licensed to hunt coyotes with the aid of dogs in Vermont, to track the scope of this practice.
     
  • Establish a season from December 15 through March 31, and a training season from June 1 through September 15, to define the time of year when this practice may happen.
     
  • Require that hunters register their coyote hunting dogs, and limit the number of registered dogs each hunter may use to four or fewer, to ensure a standard of fair chase.
     
  • Require that all dogs wear GPS and a control-collar units at all times during a hunt, to allow hunters to track and call off their dogs to minimize the risk of dogs trespassing on posted land.
     
  • Require that all coyotes killed during hunts with dogs be reported to the department.
     
  • Require that coyotes hunted with dogs must be killed with a gun, muzzle loader, bow, or crossbow.

Read the Full Proposal Advanced by the Board

View a table comparing the legislature’s directives and the board’s proposal

January 10, 2023 - the stakeholder group meeting to provide comment on the draft rule, prior to the draft being finalized for the Fish & Wildlife Board’s consideration.

Recording of 1/10/2023 Working Group Meeting (+2hours)

October 2022 - A stakeholder group was established and surveyed for on their regulation preferences to inform the development of a draft rule.

See also:

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