Stevie Foodstamps sent the link for this story after I ran something about the hunt this morning.
I bet these folks are going to be overrun next year.
GRADY, N.M. (AP) — A coyote hunt around Grady that raised the ire of a resident went on over the weekend as scheduled.
A ranching family stepped in to sponsor the annual hunt after Grady newcomer Cliff Sagnotty questioned whether the public school district should sponsor a hunt.
The district had used the event in the last several years to raise money for girls' athletics in the community, which has a population of about 100.
Sagnotty had said the contest was outside the boundaries of what he thought a school should be doing for the community and was teaching students "just to kill."
His concern also brought publicity to the event.
Coyote conservation groups criticized it, saying hunting coyotes is cruel and ineffective at controlling the coyote population.
But Grady athletic director Alicia Rush said she was inundated with support.
"A lot of people are saying, 'Please don't not have the contest, we want to be in it,'" Rush said.
Eighteen teams signed up this year, compared with about nine last year.
"We were actually worried about it getting too big," Rush said.
Organizers would not estimate how much the contest made, but said it was on course to raise more than ever before.
Teams of hunters had two days to bring in as many coyotes as they could.
The first- and second-place teams brought in four carcasses each during the hunt Friday and Saturday. The tie was broken by the weight of the heaviest animal.
Kodi Mackechnie Chapman said she and her husband stepped in to sponsor the event because they wanted to make sure it didn't end. The Chapmans live in Lubbock, Texas, but often visit Grady, where Mackechnie Chapman has family.
"We believe this hunt is a necessity for this community, and we believe in girls' athletics," she said.
Ranchers said coyotes prey on their livestock, and Mackechnie Chapman's husband, Baker Chapman, said they harm farmers by eating or destroying crops.
"Coyotes come in there and really do a lot of damage to a watermelon crop," Chapman said.
Mackechnie Chapman took issue with the idea that young people involved in hunting are being taught to kill. She said they know the difference between managing predators and wanton killing.
"These are good kids out here," she said. "They know the reason behind it."
http://www.necn.com/11/28/10/Criticized-praised-coyote-hunt-goes-on-i/landing_scitech.html?&blockID=3&apID=768fe761d15f47ff9918f02ca869858b
