Coyote Hunting British Columbia, Laws, Regulations, Season, & License Info

Classification and licence

What is the classification of coyotes in British Columbia?

Coyote is small game. The synopsis defines the category by list, and the coyote is in it:

“SMALL GAME - includes fox, raccoon, coyote, skunk, snowshoe hare and game birds.”¹

That single line does most of the work on this page, and it cuts the opposite way from most of the western United States. In Nevada, Idaho or Montana the useful discovery is that a coyote sits outside the category a restriction names, so the restriction falls away. In British Columbia the coyote is squarely inside game, which means the general prohibitions on hunting hours, artificial light and infrared optics all reach it.

Coyote is not Schedule C wildlife. Schedule C is the short list you may hunt without a licence — bullfrogs, opossum, eastern cottontail, nutria, grey and fox squirrels, starlings and rock doves — and coyote is not on it.²

Under a trapping licence the coyote is a furbearing animal instead, and a different rulebook applies. Ask which licence you hold before asking which rule you are under.

Is a hunting licence required to hunt coyotes in British Columbia?

Yes. You need a B.C. hunting licence, which in turn requires a Fish and Wildlife ID (FWID) with resident and hunting credentials.³ There is no separate species licence for coyote — species licences attach to big game.

Since 1974 the Conservation and Outdoor Recreation Education (CORE) programme has been the hunter safety training route for residents, and proof of hunter safety training is required to purchase most hunting licences.⁴

The prices above are resident terms. A non-resident faces a materially different requirement, not merely a higher fee — see what a non-resident needs.

Can a non-resident hunt coyotes in British Columbia?

Yes, and unguided — but only on one specific licence.

“Non-resident and non-resident alien hunters must hold an unrestricted hunting licence to hunt small game unaccompanied by a guide outfitter, assistant guide outfitter or a holder of a permit to accompany non-residents or non-resident aliens. To obtain an unrestricted non-resident/non-resident alien hunting licence, you must show proof of successful completion of hunter safety training.”⁵

Read that twice before you book anything. “Non-resident alien” means you if you are American — it is Canada’s term for a hunter from outside Canada. Plain “non-resident” means a Canadian from another province, and the two pay different fees under different rules, so read for the word alien on any fee table. Coyote is small game, so you may hunt it without a guide — but the unrestricted licence is the thing that permits it, and you cannot obtain one without documentary proof of hunter safety training. Turning up with a restricted licence means hiring a guide outfitter to shoot a coyote.

Firearms are federal in Canada. A visiting hunter must declare non-restricted firearms to the Canada Border Services Agency on arrival — the form, the fee and what a past conviction does to your trip are all on the Canada regulations index. Handguns are a separate matter and are useless here anyway, because hunting with a handgun is prohibited outright.

What does a licence cost?

Basic hunting licences, which is all a coyote needs:⁶

• B.C. resident — $32.00 to hunt all game
• B.C. resident 65 or over — $7.00
• Non-resident (another province) — $75.00
• Non-resident alien (from outside Canada) — $180.00
• Youth, 10 to 17 — $7.00
• Small game species licence — none required

Two things to take from that table. A visiting American pays $180 where a resident pays $32, and that is before the federal firearm declaration fee. And there is no species licence for small game, so the basic licence is the whole cost — coyote hunters are not buying tags the way a sheep or moose hunter is.

The $32 resident figure is $25 of fee plus a $7 conservation surcharge that goes to the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation.

All hunting and species licences expire 31 March, whatever date you bought them.⁶ Buy in February and you have six weeks, not a year.

Season and limits

What is the season for coyote hunting in British Columbia?

There is no province-wide season. British Columbia runs eight regions and sets coyote seasons by management unit, and the dates differ by nearly four months between them.

Two things in that table are easy to miss and expensive to get wrong.

Region 6 is the one region with a bag limit. Everywhere else in the province coyote is no-bag-limit; in the Skeena it is ten.

Region 1 has no coyote hunting season listed. Vancouver Island and the coast do not appear in the hunting schedules at all. Do not read that as an open season — read it as no open season, and confirm with the regional office before you plan a trip there.

Always check your specific MU. The ranges above skip numbers — Region 3 jumps from 3-20 to 3-26, Region 4 from 4-9 to 4-14 — and an MU that is missing from the range has no open season, not an unlisted one.

What is the bag limit for coyotes in British Columbia?

No bag limit in every region except Region 6, where it is ten. See the table above.

What are the legal hunting hours for coyotes in British Columbia?

See can you hunt at night — the hours rule is the night rule.

Night, lights and thermal

Can you hunt coyotes at night in British Columbia?

No. The synopsis makes it an offence:

“To hunt game, except migratory game birds from one hour after sunset to one hour before sunrise.”⁷

Coyote is small game, small game is game, and the prohibition has no predator exception. This is the single biggest difference between British Columbia and the western United States, where night hunting is the core of the sport. If night work is what you are after, hunting coyotes at night covers the states where it is legal.

Note the window is one hour either side of sun, not the half hour that applies to migratory game birds.

Can you use artificial lights for coyote hunting in British Columbia?

No.

“To hunt wildlife by the use of, or with the aid of a light or illuminating device.”⁸

The prohibition names wildlife, not game, so it is broader than the hours rule. There is no predator exception.

There is one landowner exception, and it is in the Act rather than the synopsis. Section 26(1) of the Wildlife Act is where both prohibitions actually live — (d) hunting with a firearm or bow during the prohibited hours, (e) hunting “by the use or with the aid of a light or illuminating device” — and the subsection immediately after it carves out a narrow case:

Subsection (1) (c), (d), (e) and (h) does not apply to a person who hunts or traps wildlife that is on the person’s property and is a menace to a domestic animal or bird.⁹

Read the conditions before relying on it, because all of them bind at once. It is your property, and the animal has to be a menace to a domestic animal or bird — livestock, poultry, a working dog. That is a depredation provision, not a night-hunting permission: it does nothing for a hunter on Crown land, nothing for a hunter on someone else’s ground, and nothing for a coyote that is simply present rather than a menace.

The synopsis does not mention it, which is the ordinary relationship between a summary and a statute. If you are a rancher losing calves, this is the sentence to take to a conservation officer. If you are a hunter looking for a way to run thermal in BC, it is not one.

Can you use night vision or thermal in British Columbia?

No — and the rule reaches further than use.

“To use or possess infrared optics on a hunting expedition.”¹⁰

Possession is the offence. You do not have to switch a thermal on, or even take it out of the pack, to be committing one. A hunter driving up from Idaho or Washington with a thermal scanner in the truck should understand that carrying it on a hunting trip in British Columbia is itself the violation.

Firearms

What firearms are allowed or restricted for coyote hunting in British Columbia?

The synopsis sets the limits in one block, and several of them will surprise an American hunter:¹¹

• No handguns — "To hunt wildlife with a handgun" is a listed offence
• No short barrels — nothing under 305 mm, and nothing designed to be aimed and fired one-handed
• No full metal jacket — non-expanding FMJ, tracer, incendiary and explosive bullets are all out
• Shotguns plugged to two — a pump or auto-loader must carry a plug limiting it to two cartridges
• No electronically controlled firing mechanisms

The FMJ prohibition is worth pausing on because it is written into the general firearms rules rather than a big game section, so it reaches coyotes. Bring expanding bullets. Anything you would sensibly shoot a coyote with — a polymer-tipped varmint bullet — complies comfortably.

Are suppressors allowed for coyote hunting in British Columbia?

No. Suppressors are prohibited devices under federal Canadian law, which is a different statute from the provincial hunting rules on this page. This is not a provincial decision and no B.C. licence changes it.

Is there a magazine capacity limit?

Yes, and it is federal rather than provincial — so it is the same in every province, and it turns on what the magazine was designed for, not what you put it in.

• Semi-automatic centre-fire long gun — capped at five cartridges
• Manually operated centre-fire rifle — bolt, lever or pump: no limit
• Semi-automatic rim-fire — no limit
• Shotguns, in B.C. — plugged to two cartridges, under the provincial rule above

That is a genuine argument for a bolt gun on a Canadian trip: a manually operated centre-fire rifle sidesteps the magazine question entirely, where an AR brings it with you. Note too that many semi-automatic rifles are prohibited or restricted in Canada outright, and only non-restricted firearms may be used for hunting at all.

Full cross-border detail — the firearm declaration, the fee, and what a past conviction does to your trip — is on the Canada regulations index.

Calls and dogs

Are electronic calls allowed for coyote hunting in British Columbia?

Yes — and the coyote is named. This is the one place British Columbia is more permissive than it first appears:

“To use recorded or electronic calls to hunt wildlife except wolf, coyote, cougar, lynx, or bobcat or any bird listed in Schedule C.”¹²

Electronic calls are prohibited across the province for everything else. Coyote is one of five named exceptions, sitting with the other predators. Read the sentence to the end — the exception is buried after the prohibition, and a reader who stops at “to use recorded or electronic calls to hunt wildlife” gets the answer exactly backwards.

If you are choosing a caller for a province where you cannot use light and cannot hunt after dark, sound quality and remote range matter more than they would elsewhere: see the best coyote call.

Can you use dogs to hunt coyotes in British Columbia?

Yes, and off leash.

“Unleashed dogs may be used to hunt small game, lynx, bobcat, black bear, or cougar.”¹³

Coyote is small game, so it falls inside that permission. The leash requirement is written for deer, elk, moose, sheep, goat and caribou.

Note the separate rule that a trapping licence does not authorize dogs on furbearers — another case where which licence you hold changes the answer.

Methods and access

Is it legal to poison coyotes in British Columbia?

No. “To use poison for the hunting, trapping, taking or killing of any wildlife” is a listed offence.¹⁴

Is it legal to trap or snare coyotes in British Columbia?

Yes, under a trapping licence — and this is where the coyote’s second classification takes over.

For trapping, coyote is a Class 3 species, a category it shares only with the wolf:

“CLASS 3 SPECIES - also move between and among traplines but generally are not vulnerable to over-trapping. This class includes the wolf and coyote. Trappers will be encouraged to trap these species, especially in areas of chronic animal damage control problems.”¹⁵

That is the province actively encouraging harvest, which is a different posture from most of the furbearer list.

Three things differ from the hunting side and catch people out:

• The licence year is different — trapping runs 1 July to 30 June, hunting expires 31 March
• A harvest report is mandatory — due by 31 July, required even if you caught nothing, and a late report means a $460 fine and no licence next year
• Trapping seasons are their own table — shorter than the hunting seasons above, so the open dates for a trap are not the open dates for a rifle

Electronic calls are permitted for trapping coyote too — the trapping rules ban them for furbearers “other than for trapping wolf, coyote, bobcat, or lynx,” which is the same five-name pattern as the hunting side.¹⁶

Can you sell coyote pelts, and do you need a fur handler’s licence?

Yes, and the rule is unusually clear about when a royalty is owed:

“If the pelt or skin of a furbearing animal was lawfully taken under a person’s HUNTING licence, a royalty does not need to be paid, unless that person intends to offer the pelt or skin for sale.”¹⁶

So: shoot a coyote on a hunting licence and keep the fur, no royalty. Decide to sell it and the royalty applies, set at 3% of the average price paid at auction for that pelt.

Taking fur out of the province is a separate permit. Any raw fur or skin of a furbearing animal shipped out of British Columbia for commercial purposes must travel with an Export Permit.¹⁶ A visiting hunter carrying a personal pelt home should confirm both that permit position and the US import requirements before crossing — do not assume a personal trophy is exempt.

Is baiting allowed for coyote hunting in British Columbia?

Yes — and again the coyote is named. The general prohibition is on feeding dangerous wildlife, with an exception carved out:

“To intentionally feed or attempt to feed dangerous wildlife (cougar, coyote, wolf, and bear), except when lawfully engaged in hunting or trapping where baiting is authorized (cougar, coyote, and wolf only).”¹⁷

Read the two lists carefully, because they are not the same list. Bear is in the first and not the second — baiting bears is separately prohibited outright. Coyote is in both.

Are decoys allowed for coyote hunting in British Columbia?

Yes. The synopsis defines a decoy as “any material or manufactured product that simulates the appearance or has the form of wildlife,” and the only decoy prohibition is on live birds as decoys for game birds.¹² Nothing reaches a coyote decoy.

One rule that will surprise people, and it is not about decoys but sits next to them: wireless cameras are prohibited for hunting from 1 August to 10 December, everywhere except Region 1.¹⁸ That covers the cellular trail cameras a lot of hunters now scout with, across most of the season.

Can you hunt coyotes from a motorized vehicle in British Columbia?

No. “To shoot wildlife from a motor vehicle or a boat propelled by a motor” is a listed offence, as is using a vehicle, boat or aircraft “to herd or harass wildlife,” and hunting or transporting hunters by helicopter.¹⁹

There is also a carry rule that trips visitors: it is an offence to have a loaded firearm, or one with its magazine attached, in or on a vehicle. Cased and unloaded between stands.

Is it legal to shoot coyotes on private property, and can you hunt public land?

Most of British Columbia is Crown land and generally open to hunting, but two categories need permission first:

“A person is not permitted to hunt on cultivated land or on Crown land which is subject to a grazing lease while the land is occupied by livestock, without the consent of the owner, lessee, or occupant of the land.”²⁰

Note what that covers. Cultivated land needs consent whether or not it is posted, and Crown land you would otherwise be entitled to hunt becomes off-limits while a grazing lease has stock on it. Ask.

Is there a coyote bounty program in British Columbia?

No. There was one — the province paid bounties and employed predator hunters into the early 1960s, and the government’s own furbearer guidelines describe the whole effort as having been “to no apparent avail.”²¹ Coyote has been managed as a game species since 1966 and as a furbearer since 1976.

Do you have to hunt in blaze orange?

No. The synopsis carries no hunter-orange requirement — the word does not appear in it. That is unusual coming from the United States, where most states mandate it during firearms deer seasons, and it is worth knowing if you plan to hunt coyotes while other people are hunting big game.

Coyotes in British Columbia

Are there coyotes in British Columbia, and where?

Yes, and the range has grown. Coyotes occurred in Canada only in the southern prairie provinces once; they now occupy “almost all habitats that support prey populations, from remote boreal forests and alpine tundra to rural and urban areas.”²² In British Columbia they range through much of the interior, favouring the open, unforested country they hunt best in.

They avoid what you would expect them to avoid — high-precipitation country, dense wet forest, deep soft snow — and in the mountains they move to lower elevations or to slopes that sun and wind have cleared. That is a useful thing to know when you are choosing where to sit: in winter, hunt the ground the snow has left workable.

There are two subspecies, one occupying the northern two-thirds of the province and the other the south of it. Northern coyotes are larger and paler than southern ones. A British Columbia adult runs 1 to 1.3 m in total length including the tail and weighs 10 to 14 kg — 22 to 31 lb — with males about 15% bigger than females.²³

When is coyote mating season in British Columbia, and when do pups arrive?

Breeding runs early February to mid-March, with pups born in April and May, later further north, after a 60 to 63 day gestation. Litters average five or six, larger when food is plentiful, and litters of twelve or more have been recorded. Most adult females and up to 70% of yearling females produce a litter in a given year.²⁴

That breeding window matters for calling. Territorial and pair-bonding behaviour peaks through February, which is exactly when the southern regions are still open — see when to hunt coyotes for how to use it.