Game and Fish has always monitored harvest, and established trapping and hunting seasons for furbearers and predators, but it wasn't until 30 years ago that much research or population monitoring began. In fact, it wasn't until the late 1960s that the legislature classified fox and coyotes as game animals and gave the Game and Fish Department management authority.
"We didn't know much about them," says furbearer biologist Steve Allen, "other than the fact they were "out there."
A major piece of work in the 1970s involved live-trapping fox and coyotes, fitting them with radio collars, and monitoring their movements after release. Through this research the Department learned that both fox and coyotes live as part of social families and occupy distinct territories.
Coyote families are neighborly to other coyotes, and fox are neighborly to other fox, but pity the poor fox caught traipsing into coyote territory. "The coyotes hate the red fox," Allen said. "They'll kill 'em if they can get hold of them."
The research also showed that coyote territories are much larger than those of fox, and that in areas where both furbearers lived, fox territories were set up between coyote territories. That information in hand, the Department has been better able to manage fox and coyote hunting and trapping seasons.
There is an interesting difference between furbearer and deer or game bird management. For birds and big game, the goal is often a high population. Predation by fox and coyotes on bird nests and young deer or antelope can reduce those populations. Consequently, predator management is often designed to direct as much hunting pressure as possible on fox and coyote.
When pelt prices are high, like they were in the 1970s, hunting pressure increases dramatically. To keep the pressure on when prices are low, the Department has lengthened the season, and expanded shooting hours during winter. "Just about everything we can do, we have done it," Allen says.
One significant piece of work was a predator hunting study Allen initiated in the early 1980s. Hundreds of hunters participated in a post-card survey intended to determine factors involved in fox and coyote response to calls. "A lot of people didn't have a clue," Allen said, about how to hunt predators.
Through this study, the Game and Fish Department was able to share with prospective hunters information on how to call fox and coyote. "That kind of...improved people's ability to go out and have some success," Allen stated. In turn, more hunters took up predator calling as a winter activity, and therefore increased mortality pressure on fox and coyotes.
While this Pittman-Robertson study didn't have much to do with improving a game population, it nonetheless benefitted hunters by creating interest and sharing know-how for species that have always been there. Since hunters foot the bill with special taxes and state license fees, whether the long-term result is more animals to hunt, or new ways to enjoy hunting and the outdoors, that's what the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act is all about.