Wyo. county launches coyote bounty program

Jimmy Owens shoots coyotes on sight. Ranching a herd of 3,000 sheep, he has to. In the past two months, he said, he has lost at least 30 ewes to coyote attacks on the family ranch north of Casper. “Coyotes are the hardest thing on sheep,” Owens said. “It’s money out of your pocket every time they kill.” Owens and other Natrona County Predator Management Board members spent their Saturday afternoon at Sportsman’s Warehouse in Casper, doling out checks to any hunter wanting to cash in on a $20 bounty offered for each coyote killed in Natrona County. It was day one of Natrona County’s first bounty program, and the board raked in 36 sets of coyote ears. The Predator Management District wants to use the bounty to connect with new sportsmen and to gather data about exactly where in the county coyotes are killed...more