Coyote Hunting Utah, Laws, Regulations, Season, & License Info

Coyote classification & license in Utah

What is the classification of coyotes in Utah?

Coyotes are nonprotected wildlife — everything excluded from the statutory definition of protected wildlife.¹

The distinction that does the work here is the one people miss: coyotes are not furbearers. Utah’s definition is explicit — “Furbearer means species of the Bassariscidae, Canidae, Felidae, Mustelidae and Castoridae families, except coyote and cougar.”²

That matters because Utah’s furbearer rules carry a daylight-hours restriction, and it does not reach coyotes. See legal hours.

Are coyotes protected in Utah?

No. No closed season, no bag limit, and the state pays you to shoot them — see the bounty.

Is a hunting license required to hunt coyotes in Utah?

No license of any kind. DWR states it plainly: “You do not need a furbearer license to hunt, harvest or trap cougars, coyotes, muskrats, raccoons, red foxes or striped skunks.”³

Utah is the only state on this site where a non-resident can hunt coyotes without buying anything at all.

One exception, and it catches trappers rather than hunters: you need a trap registration license to set a trapping device for any species, coyotes included.⁴

Non-residents are on exactly the same footing, with nothing to buy — see non-residents.

Is hunter education required?

Not to hunt coyotes, because no license is required. It becomes relevant in two places — furharvester education if you take up trapping,⁴ and some counties require hunter education before they will issue a night hunting permit. Beaver does.

Can a non-resident hunt coyotes in Utah?

Yes, and without a license.³ Non-residents are on the same footing as residents for coyotes. The county night hunting permits are also open to non-residents, subject to each county’s terms.

“Without a licence” covers hunting only. The one exception in the resident answer applies to you identically: setting any trapping device requires a trap registration license, coyotes included, and furharvester education is required before one will be issued.⁴ A visitor planning to run a short trapline needs to have started that well before the trip. See trapping.

And night hunting is not a state permission here — it turns on whether the county you are standing in has passed an ordinance, and most that have require a permit. Sort that out before you travel, not on arrival. See the county rules.

See also is a hunting license required — the license rules there, and the exemptions and add-ons that go with them, apply to you too.

Coyote season, hours & bag limits in Utah

What is the season for coyote hunting in Utah?

Year-round, statewide. Nonprotected wildlife has no season.

What is the bag limit for coyotes in Utah?

None.

What are the legal hunting hours for coyotes in Utah?

No closed hours — and the widely-quoted answer to the contrary is a scoping error worth understanding, because it appears on most Utah write-ups.

The rule people quote is this: “Harvesting furbearers by shooting or with the aid of dogs is restricted to 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset.”⁵ It is a furbearer rule, and coyote is excluded from the definition of furbearer by name.²

So the hours do not bind you. What binds you is light — see night hunting.

Can you hunt coyotes during deer or big game season?

Yes, with two cautions that both bite in autumn.

Thermal and night vision become a problem if you are also hunting big game. The prohibition runs 31 July to 31 December — see night hunting.

Several counties close their night hunting window over the deer hunt. Duchesne closes 15 August to 15 November; Sevier closes 1 August to 30 November.⁶

Night hunting coyotes in Utah

Can you hunt coyotes at night in Utah?

Only if your county has passed an ordinance allowing it — and this is the answer that makes Utah different. The statute was rewritten in May 2025 and now reads:

A person may engage in night hunting of nonprotected wildlife when allowed by a county ordinance enacted pursuant to this section.¹

Before that amendment the statute was titled “Spotlighting of coyote, red fox, striped skunk, and raccoon.” It is now “Night hunting of nonprotected wildlife,” which is broader.¹

Where a county has an ordinance, the statute forces three terms into it:¹

• you must carry the light enhancement device;
• no motor vehicle headlight, and no light attached to or powered by a vehicle;
• while using the light you may not occupy or operate a motor vehicle.

A county may then add its own time and season limits, closed areas, safety zones, permitted weapons and penalties, may cap the number of permits, may charge a fee, and may require you to notify the sheriff of when and where you will be out.¹

One exception removes all of it. The county-ordinance requirement does not apply to “a person or the person’s agent who is lawfully acting to protect the person’s crops or domestic animals from predation by those animals,” or to an animal damage control agent under an agreement with DWR.¹ Depredation is a different rule set from recreation.

Can you use artificial lights for coyote hunting in Utah?

Same answer: only under a county ordinance, or under the depredation exception above.

The reason a lamp is a problem at all is a probable-cause provision rather than a flat ban. Spotlighting rules are written about protected wildlife — “You may not use spotlighting to hunt or harvest protected wildlife” — but they add that “the use of a spotlight or other artificial light in any area where protected wildlife are generally found is considered probable cause of attempting to locate protected wildlife.”⁷

In Utah, deer are generally found more or less everywhere. That is what makes the county ordinance the practical route.

There is also a 600-foot rule: no spotlighting, without written permission from the owner or property manager, within 600 feet of a house, dwelling or any other building, or of any structure where a domestic animal is kept or fed — barn, poultry yard, corral, feeding pen or stockyard.⁸

Can you use night vision in Utah?

Yes for coyotes, and Utah’s rule is unusually clear about what the term covers. A “Night Vision Device” is “any device that enhances visible or non-visible light, including: night vision, thermal imaging, infrared imaging, or electronics that enhance the visible or non-visible light spectrum.”⁹ Trail cameras are expressly excluded.⁹

That definition and its prohibition both sit in R657-5, Taking Big Game.⁹ The prohibition is that “it is unlawful to possess any type of night-vision device while locating, taking or attempting to locate big game from July 31 to Dec. 31.”¹⁰ There is no general statutory night-vision ban — the statute in this area covers trail cameras and remote-controlled hunting, not optics.¹¹

Coyotes are nonprotected wildlife, not big game. The device rules for big game are scoped to big game throughout.¹²

Can you use thermal in Utah?

Yes for coyotes, by exactly the same reasoning — thermal imaging is named inside the definition of a night vision device, and that definition lives in the big game rule.⁹

Where this bites is the same trap Idaho sets. The prohibition follows what you are hunting, and it prohibits possession. Between 31 July and 31 December, carrying a thermal while hunting big game is the offence, whatever you bought it for.¹⁰ Hunt coyotes with it all year; do not have it on you on a deer hunt in the autumn.

Are there specific weapons restrictions for hunting coyotes at night in Utah?

Not from the state. Counties may specify permitted weapons in their ordinances, so read yours.¹

Night hunting county by county

Utah has 29 counties and the statute makes each one’s ordinance decisive, so this is the section that actually answers “can I hunt at night here.”

Seven are confirmed below from the county’s own published ordinance or sheriff’s office. The other twenty-three are marked pending, which means unknown rather than no. Nobody publishes a statewide list, and county ordinances change without notice — so treat even the confirmed six as a starting point and ring the sheriff before you travel.

Why the gap is this shape. Most Utah counties publish their code through American Legal or Municode, and both sit behind bot checks that this site will not work around. The seven confirmed below are the ones that publish an ordinance PDF, a sheriff’s office page or a permit form on their own domain. That is not a comment on the other counties — it is a comment on their publisher.

Common threads across the seven that are confirmed: a permit is always required, $20 is the usual fee, permits generally run a year, and several counties want either a daily call or a report. Two close their window over the deer hunt.

The coyote bounty

Utah pays for coyotes, which no other state on this site does.

The Utah Predator Control Program came out of the Mule Deer Protection Act in 2012. Participants “receive up to $50 for each properly documented coyote that they kill in Utah,” and “higher bounties (up to $100) are paid for coyotes killed within designated mule deer habitat areas.”¹³

There are real requirements — registration before you start, an orientation, documentation of each animal, and check-in of the required parts at set locations and dates. Rather than reproduce a rulebook that changes annually, go to the source:

• Rules, registration, check-in locations and dates, and the app you need: wildlife.utah.gov/predators

Register before you shoot anything you intend to claim for. Documentation after the fact does not work.

Firearms, ammunition & suppressors in Utah

Are suppressors allowed for coyote hunting in Utah?

Yes. Utah permits hunting with a suppressor, subject to the federal National Firearms Act — the ATF approval and tax stamp. No additional state hunting permit.

What firearms are allowed or restricted for coyote hunting in Utah?

No restriction. Utah’s weapon rules are written for big game and are scoped to it throughout — R657-5-7 opens “A person may not use any weapon or device to take big game other than those expressly permitted in this rule.”¹² Nonprotected wildlife sits outside.

The practical pick is a flat-shooting centerfire in .223, .22-250, .204 Ruger or .243. See the best coyote gun.

Are there any ammunition restrictions?

None for coyotes. The prohibitions on fully automatic firearms and on light-casting aiming devices are big game rules.¹²

Can you hunt using a .22 LR or other rimfire cartridge?

Yes. No caliber restriction attaches to nonprotected wildlife.

Is there a magazine capacity limit for hunting coyotes in Utah?

No — and unlike California or Colorado, there is no general state firearms limit either. Utah sets no magazine capacity restriction, so a standard AR-15 with a 30-round magazine is lawful for coyotes.

Calls, decoys, bait & dogs in Utah

Are electronic calls allowed for coyote hunting in Utah?

Yes. Utah’s electronic call restrictions are written for big game; nothing restricts callers for nonprotected wildlife.

Are decoys allowed for coyote hunting in Utah?

Yes, including motion decoys.

Is baiting allowed for coyote hunting in Utah?

For coyotes, yes — Utah’s baiting prohibitions are written for big game. Land-manager rules can apply on top on public ground, and separate restrictions govern how close a trapping device may be set to bait.¹⁴

Can you use dogs to hunt coyotes in Utah?

Yes. Dogs are unrestricted for nonprotected wildlife.

Private property, vehicles & public land access in Utah

Is it legal to shoot coyotes on private property (e.g. in your backyard) in Utah?

On rural private land with permission, yes. Utah requires written permission to hunt on private land under its trespass rules, and county ordinances add the 600-foot spotlighting setback at night.⁸

In a town, no — municipal discharge ordinances govern, and several county ordinances exclude incorporated areas from night hunting entirely. Duchesne’s does.⁶

Can you hunt coyotes from a motorized vehicle in Utah?

Not at night with a light — the statute forbids occupying or operating a motor vehicle while using a light enhancement device, and forbids vehicle-powered lights outright.¹

By day, the general prohibition on taking wildlife from a vehicle is a protected-wildlife rule. Do not read that as an invitation: shooting from or across a road is a separate offence and a fast way to lose access.

Can you hunt coyotes on public land in Utah?

Yes, and there is a great deal of it — Utah is roughly two-thirds federal land, mostly BLM and Forest Service, and coyotes are on all of it.

Two things to know. Trail cameras are prohibited on public land from 31 July to 31 December, and that prohibition is written about taking wildlife generally rather than big game specifically.¹¹ And trapping nonprotected species on state waterfowl management areas is prohibited unless DWR specifically authorizes it.¹⁵

Is it legal to trap or snare coyotes in Utah?

Yes, with a trap registration license, which is required for any trapping device even though no license is needed to hunt coyotes.⁴ Furharvester education is required before you can be issued one.⁴

And this is where Utah’s classification stops helping you. Everywhere else on this page, “coyote is not a furbearer” is the answer — no license, no season, no limit, no tag. The moment you set a trap it stops being the answer, and DWR says so itself:

Although the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources does not manage these species, it does have responsibility and authority over trapping and the use of trapping devices capable of catching or killing protected wildlife. Trapping devices—even those set for coyotes and raccoons—sometimes capture and kill nontarget animals.¹⁶

So the Furbearer Guidebook binds a coyote trapper in full, not because the coyote is a furbearer but because the device can catch something that is. Read it as a trapping rulebook rather than a species rulebook and it stops being confusing.

The rules that follow from that:

• Foothold traps used for coyotes must carry spacers on the jaws leaving an opening of at least 3/16 inch when closed.¹⁴
• Check every 48 hours. “Any live animal found in a trapping device must be euthanized and removed from the device by the trapper within the 48-hour trap-check period or released immediately by the trapper unharmed.”¹⁷
• You may not take a live coyote out of a trap and keep it. The guidebook lists what may not be removed from a trapping device and then transported or possessed: live protected wildlife, and “a live coyote or raccoon.”¹⁸
• You may authorize someone else to check your line, but only if they hold your written authorization, a valid furbearer license and a trap registration license.¹⁷

Where can’t I set a coyote trap in Utah?

Along four named rivers, and the rule names coyotes explicitly. It exists to protect river otters, and it is the most geographically specific trapping restriction in the state:¹⁹

To protect Utah’s river otter populations, there are trapping-device restrictions for the following areas: Colorado River, between the Utah-Colorado state line and Lake Powell; Escalante River, between Escalante and Lake Powell; Green River, between Flaming Gorge Dam and the Utah-Colorado state line; Middle section of the Provo River, between Jordanelle Dam and Deer Creek Reservoir.

The reach is wide: within 600 yards of either side of those rivers or their tributaries, and up to half a mile from their confluences.¹⁹ Inside it, only four device types are legal:¹⁹

• Nonlethal-set foothold devices with a jaw spread under 5⅛ inches, and nonlethal-set padded footholds. Drowning sets with these traps are prohibited.
• Body-gripping killing-type devices with a body-gripping area under 30 square inches.
• Nonlethal dry-land cable devices with a stop-lock preventing closure to less than a 6-inch diameter.
• Size 330 body-gripping devices modified — the standard V-trigger replaced with one top side-parallel trigger assembly, the trigger within one inch of the side or butted against the vertical turn in the Canadian bend.

There is a coyote-shaped hole in it, and it is worth knowing:

The trapping restrictions in this section do not apply to trapping devices set for coyotes or raccoons, as long as those devices are within 600 feet of a building occupied or used by humans or domestic livestock.¹⁹

Do not confuse Utah’s three 600s. They are different distances, different units and different subjects: 600 feet is the spotlighting setback from a building,⁸ 600 yards is the river-corridor trapping band,¹⁹ and 600 feet again is the building carve-out that switches the river band back off for a coyote set.¹⁹

Is it legal to poison coyotes in Utah?

Not as a private individual. Predator toxicants are restricted-use pesticides confined to authorized agency programs. Contact DWR or USDA Wildlife Services.

Are there protected areas or additional local restrictions in Utah?

Yes — the 600-foot setback,⁸ state park restrictions, municipal discharge ordinances, waterfowl management area rules,¹⁵ and every county night hunting ordinance in the tables above.

After the shot: pelts, bounties & contests in Utah

Are there regulations for possessing or transporting dead coyotes or pelts across state lines?

Coyotes are the easy case in Utah. No furbearer license is needed to possess, sell or export coyote,³ and while a shipping permit is required to export the green pelt of a furbearer, coyotes are exempt from that too.²⁰

If you are claiming the bounty, the required parts have to reach a check-in station intact — see the bounty.

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

You can sell them, and you need nothing. “A furbearer license is not required to sell or possess coyote, muskrat, raccoon, red fox or striped skunk or their parts.”²⁰

That is the opposite of California, where selling coyote fur is unlawful outright.

Is there a coyote bounty program in Utah?

Yes — up to $50, or $100 in designated mule deer habitat. See the bounty for the rules and where to register.

Are coyote contests legal in Utah?

Yes. Utah has not banned predator hunting contests, and given the state pays a bounty per animal it is an unlikely candidate to. It is now one of the few western states where contests remain lawful — California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Oregon and Washington have all banned them.

Coyotes in Utah

Are there coyotes in Utah? How many, and where?

Yes, statewide — West Desert, Wasatch Front foothills, the Uinta Basin, the canyon country of the south-east and the edges of Salt Lake City alike. Utah pays a bounty on roughly 10,000 to 15,000 coyotes a year through the Predator Control Program, which is the closest thing to a harvest figure the state has.

Are Utah coyotes dangerous to people or pets?

To people, very rarely. To unattended pets and to sheep they are a routine threat, and lamb depredation is the reason the depredation exception exists in the night hunting statute.¹

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

Breeding runs through late winter, with pups on the ground in spring. Late winter is the best calling of the year — and in Utah it also falls clear of the autumn windows when several counties close night hunting and when the big game optics prohibition is running.

When are coyotes most active in Utah?

First and last light year-round. For the full breakdown of season, weather and moon phase, see when to hunt coyotes.

What’s changing in Utah

• 7 May 2025 — the night hunting statute was rewritten and broadened. Utah Code 23A-1-204 went from “Spotlighting of coyote, red fox, striped skunk, and raccoon” to “Night hunting of nonprotected wildlife,” extending the county-ordinance framework to all nonprotected species and restating the depredation exception.¹
• 2023 — Title 23 was recodified as Title 23A. Older references to Utah Code 23-13-17 are the same provision under its previous number, which is why most write-ups still cite a section that no longer exists.
• 2022 onward — night vision and trail camera restrictions tightened for big game, with the current prohibition on possessing a night vision device while hunting big game between 31 July and 31 December.¹⁰

These answers get re-checked before they go stale. The verification date at the top of the page is the record of when that last happened, not decoration.

Anything else worth noting about coyote hunting in Utah

Utah is the cheapest coyote state in the country to hunt and one of the most confusing to plan.

No license, no season, no limit, thermal legal, no magazine limit, and a bounty that pays you $50 or $100 an animal. Then night hunting — the thing most people actually want — depends entirely on a county ordinance, and there is no statewide list of which counties have one.

Three things to get right:

Confirm your county before you travel, using the tables above as a starting point rather than an answer. Seven are confirmed, Garfield is probable, and twenty-one are unknown.

Register for the bounty before you hunt, not after.

Keep the thermal off your deer hunt. It is legal for coyotes all year and unlawful to even possess while hunting big game from 31 July to 31 December.

Is it legal to own a coyote as a pet in Utah?

No. Utah does not permit coyotes to be held as pets. Contact DWR before assuming any exception applies.

Know something we missed? Contact me and I’ll get it fixed.