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

Coyote classification & license in Washington

What is the classification of coyotes in Washington?

Coyotes are unclassified wildlife in Washington — the catch-all category for anything the state has not made a game animal, a furbearer or a game bird.¹

That sounds like it should mean “unregulated”. It does not, and this is the single most common mistake made about hunting coyotes in this state. WDFW puts it plainly: “Washington state does not classify coyotes as game animals, but a state license is required to hunt or trap them.”²

Are coyotes protected in Washington?

No. There is no closed season and no bag limit.³ Coyotes hold no protected status anywhere in the state.

Is a hunting license required to hunt coyotes in Washington?

Yes. Unclassified wildlife requires a “small game license or big game license for hunting, or trapping license for trapping.”⁴

A resident small game license is $55.13 and a non-resident is $252.47. There is also a non-resident 3-Day Small Game license at $93.08, which is the sensible buy for a short trip.⁵

There is one narrow exception, and it is a damage exception rather than a general one: “The owner, the owner’s immediate family, employee, or a tenant of real property may kill or trap a coyote on that property if it is damaging crops or domestic animals.”⁶ That covers a rancher with a depredation problem. It does not cover recreational hunting on a friend’s land.

The prices above are resident prices. A non-resident pays more, and may need a different license — see what a non-resident needs.

Is hunter education required?

Yes, if you were born after 1 January 1972. It is unlawful to “purchase a hunting license for the first time if you were born after Jan. 1, 1972, unless you have successfully completed” hunter education.⁷

Can a non-resident hunt coyotes in Washington?

Yes, on a non-resident small game license — $252.47 for the year, or $93.08 for three days.⁵ The rules are identical to those a resident hunts under. No additional permit or tag is needed for coyotes.

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 Washington

What is the season for coyote hunting in Washington?

Year-round, statewide.³ There is no opening day.

What is the bag limit for coyotes in Washington?

None.³

What are the legal hunting hours for coyotes in Washington?

There are no daily hour restrictions on coyotes for most of the year — they may be hunted at night. The exception is October and November, and it is a significant one. See night hunting and the October–November trap.

Can you hunt coyotes during deer or big game season?

Yes, but this is where Washington gets genuinely restrictive, and it catches out people who have hunted easier states. Three separate rules bite at once during modern firearm deer and elk general seasons:

1. No night hunting.⁸
2. No rifle .24 caliber or larger, unless you hold a big game tag.⁹
3. Hunter orange is mandatory — 400 square inches of it.¹⁰

All three are covered in the October–November trap. If you are planning an autumn trip to Washington specifically for coyotes, read that section before you book anything.

Night hunting coyotes in Washington: lights, night vision & thermal

Can you hunt coyotes at night in Washington?

Yes, for ten months of the year. WDFW states it directly: “Coyote may be hunted at night with lights year round, EXCEPT it is unlawful to hunt coyote at night during modern firearm deer or elk general seasons that occur in October and November in eastern and western Washington.”¹¹

The underlying rule is broader than coyotes: “It is illegal to hunt wildlife at night during the months of October and November in any area open to modern firearm deer or elk hunting.”⁸

Note what that turns on — it is not a statewide blackout for two months. It applies in areas open to modern firearm deer or elk hunting, during those seasons. Outside those units and dates, night hunting continues. Working out which GMUs are open on which dates is the actual planning problem, and it is worth an email to the regional office rather than a guess.

If you are new to it, start with how to hunt coyotes at night.

Can you use artificial lights for coyote hunting in Washington?

Yes. The coyote rule says so in as many words — “may be hunted at night with lights year round,” subject to the October–November exception.¹¹

Washington’s artificial light prohibition is written for big game only: “Hunting big game with the aid of an artificial light, spotlight, or night vision equipment is prohibited.”¹² Coyotes are unclassified wildlife, not big game, so it does not reach them.

Can you use night vision in Washington?

Yes for coyotes — and this is the answer most likely to be reported wrongly, so here is the reasoning in full.

Washington has two night-optics prohibitions, and both are scoped to big game:

• RCW 77.15.450 bans hunting big game with “an artificial light, spotlight, or night vision equipment,” and defines the term broadly: “Night vision equipment includes electronic light amplification devices, thermal imaging devices, and other comparable equipment used to enhance night vision.”¹²
• WAC 220-414-010 makes it “illegal to hunt all big game with the aid of infrared night vision equipment or with laser sights.”¹³

Coyotes are unclassified wildlife.¹ Neither prohibition applies to them.

One reason this reads as ambiguous: the pamphlet prints that big-game definition immediately above the sentence permitting coyote hunting at night, so at a glance the ban appears to cover coyotes too.¹¹ It does not — but if a warden and I disagreed about it at 1 a.m., I would rather have already asked. A note to your regional WDFW office before an expensive thermal trip is two minutes well spent.

Can you use thermal in Washington?

Yes for coyotes, by exactly the reasoning above — thermal imaging is named in the prohibition, but the prohibition is a big game rule.¹² Coyotes sit outside it.

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

No night-specific weapon rules apply. The general firearm rules in firearms and suppressors apply after dark as they do at noon — and during modern firearm deer and elk seasons the caliber limit applies whatever the hour, because night hunting is closed then anyway.⁹

The October–November trap

Washington is an easy coyote state for ten months and a genuinely awkward one for two. Everything below applies during modern firearm deer or elk general seasons in October and November, in areas open to them.

Three consequences worth spelling out.

Your .243 is out. The rule bars hunting wildlife “with any firearm .24 caliber or larger or containing slugs or buckshot for big game” unless you hold a valid big game license, permit and tag.⁹ A .243 is .243 caliber — over the line. A .223, .22-250 or .204 Ruger is under it and stays legal. If you own one coyote rifle and it is a .243, buy a deer tag or hunt a different two months.

The orange requirement is not a big-game rule. It is unlawful “to hunt wildlife, except migratory birds, during those times and in those places open to taking of deer or elk during nonmaster hunter, modern firearm general seasons, unless the hunter is wearing fluorescent hunter orange and/or fluorescent hunter pink clothing.”¹⁶ Wildlife includes coyotes. It must be 400 square inches, worn above the waist and visible from all sides, and “A hat, by itself, does not meet this requirement.”¹⁰

“After legal hunting hours” closes too. During any modern firearm deer or elk season “it is illegal to hunt any wildlife after legal hunting hours.”⁹

Firearms, ammunition & suppressors in Washington

Are suppressors allowed for coyote hunting in Washington?

Yes, with the federal paperwork. Washington’s prohibition on suppressors carries an exception that swallows it for anyone who has done things properly — using a device to suppress a firearm’s noise is unlawful “unless the suppressor is legally registered and possessed in accordance with federal law.”¹⁷

Nothing in WDFW’s hunting equipment rules restricts suppressors.¹⁸ Get the ATF stamp and you are fine.

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

Outside October and November, almost anything except a machine gun — it is unlawful to hunt “wildlife with a fully automatic firearm.”¹⁴ Shotguns may be no larger than 10 gauge.¹⁹

During modern firearm deer and elk seasons, the .24 caliber ceiling applies. See the October–November trap.

The practical pick is a flat-shooting centerfire in .223, .22-250 or .204 Ruger — all three stay legal year-round, which is a real argument for them over a .243 in this state specifically. See the best coyote gun.

Are there any ammunition restrictions?

None specific to coyotes. There is no lead restriction on coyotes in Washington. The slug-and-buckshot half of the caliber rule applies during modern firearm deer and elk seasons.⁹

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

Yes. Washington’s rimfire prohibition applies to big game,¹⁸ not to coyotes — and during deer and elk seasons a rimfire is one of the few things that stays under the .24 caliber ceiling. Whether it is enough cartridge is another matter; I would not take a .22 LR past 75 yards.

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

Not for using one — but you cannot buy one in Washington. Two separate rules, and only the second is in the hunting pamphlet.

The hunting rules cap nothing for coyotes. The only magazine limit in the pamphlet applies to game birds, where a shotgun may not be “capable of holding more than three shells.”¹⁹ Coyotes are not game birds, and no rule caps rifle magazine capacity.

Washington firearms law is the part that catches people, and its scope is narrower than most summaries suggest. RCW 9.41.370 makes it unlawful to “manufacture, import, distribute, sell, or offer for sale any large capacity magazine” — that is, one holding more than ten rounds.²⁰ Possession is not prohibited. A magazine you already own stays lawful to own, to carry and to hunt with; what you cannot do is buy or sell one in this state.

The Washington Supreme Court upheld the law 7–2 in State v. Gator’s Custom Guns in May 2025.²¹ So: bring the magazines you have, and do not plan on replacing one mid-trip.

Calls, decoys, bait & dogs in Washington

Are electronic calls allowed for coyote hunting in Washington?

Yes. Washington restricts electronic calls to three species, and coyote is not among them: it is unlawful to “hunt waterfowl, wild turkeys, or deer with the use or aid of electronic calls,” with a narrow snow goose exception.²²

Are decoys allowed for coyote hunting in Washington?

Yes, including motion decoys. The electronic-decoy prohibition covers “waterfowl, turkey, or deer” only.²³

Is baiting allowed for coyote hunting in Washington?

Yes. Washington’s baiting prohibition is written for game birds — it is unlawful to “hunt game birds over bait or baited areas, or areas posted as upland bird feeding sites”²⁴ — and the separate baiting rules in the big game pamphlet govern deer and elk. Neither reaches coyotes.

Can you use dogs to hunt coyotes in Washington?

No. This is one of the sharpest breaks from most of the country: “It is unlawful to use hounds to hunt black bear, cougar (EXCEPT as pursuant to RCW 77.15.245), coyote, and bobcat year-round.”¹⁵ The small game pamphlet repeats it in the coyote entry itself: “Coyote may not be hunted with dogs.”³

Year-round, statewide, no permit that changes it. If hounds are how you hunt coyotes, Washington is not your state.

Private property, vehicles & public land access in Washington

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

On rural private land with permission, yes. Where land is posted “Hunting Only by Written Permission,” you must carry “a permission card signed by the landowner on your person.”²⁵

In a backyard inside city limits, almost certainly not. State wildlife law is not the binding constraint there; the municipal firearm-discharge ordinance is, and every Washington city of any size has one. WDFW’s rules tell you the coyote is fair game. They do not let you fire a rifle inside Spokane.

Can you hunt coyotes from a motorized vehicle in Washington?

No. It is unlawful to “hunt wildlife from a vehicle (except authorized disabled hunters) or from a boat propelled by a motor, unless the boat’s motor is shut off and progress due to the motor has stopped.”²⁶

Washington also bars carrying a loaded rifle or shotgun in a vehicle at all — unlawful to “carry, transport, convey, possess, or control in or on any motor vehicle, a rifle or shotgun containing shells or cartridges in either the chamber or magazine.”²⁷ Unload between stands. It is a separate offence from the hunting-from-a-vehicle one.

Can you hunt coyotes on public land in Washington?

Yes — Washington has a great deal of it, between WDFW wildlife areas, DNR land and the national forests. Two rules catch people:

• State parks are closed. It is unlawful to “hunt or trap on state park lands.”²⁸
• Stay on the roads. On WDFW land it is unlawful to “operate a motor vehicle on lands owned, controlled, or managed by the WDFW, except as authorized,” and off-road travel is usually prohibited.²⁹

Individual wildlife areas add their own rules. Check the specific area before you go.

Is it legal to trap or snare coyotes in Washington?

Trapping, yes, with a trapping license — but with the most restrictive trap rules in the country. Washington voters banned body-gripping traps by initiative, and the rule is broad: “It is unlawful to use a steel-jawed leghold trap, neck snare, or other body-gripping trap to capture any mammal.”³⁰

Snaring coyotes is therefore out. In practice that leaves box and cage traps, which are a poor tool for coyotes. Most people here hunt them instead.

Is it legal to poison coyotes in Washington?

No. Two statutes cover it. Specific poisons are banned outright: it is unlawful “to poison or attempt to poison any animal using sodium fluoroacetate, also known as compound 1080, or sodium cyanide.”³¹ More broadly, it is unlawful to lay out “a drug, poison, or other deleterious substance that kills, injures, harms, or endangers fish, shellfish, or wildlife,” except in compliance with label instructions and state and federal law.³²

Are there protected areas or additional local restrictions in Washington?

Yes — three kinds. State parks (closed to hunting entirely),²⁸ municipal firearm-discharge ordinances, and posted safety zones, where it is unlawful to “hunt or shoot behind a Safety Zone sign.”³³

None of those is the restriction most likely to cost you. That one is a species rather than a place: gray wolves are endangered under state law across the whole of Washington, and WDFW asks coyote hunters statewide to be sure of identification before they shoot. See how to tell a coyote from a wolf.

After the shot: pelts, bounties & contests in Washington

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

Coyotes carry no sealing or tagging requirement. That is worth stating explicitly because their nearest look-alike on the license does: bobcat pelts must be sealed by WDFW, and “Submission of the dried lower jaw is required at the time of pelt sealing.”³⁴ Coyotes have no equivalent rule.

If you hunt both, keep them separated and identifiable — WDFW’s own advice is “Be sure of identification if you are hunting coyote or bobcat.”³⁵ That sentence sits on a page about wolves and lynx, and the half of it that matters most is the half about wolves: see how to tell a coyote from a wolf.

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

Coyote pelts may be sold, and unlike bobcat and river otter they need no seal before sale.³⁴ Buying and selling furs commercially is a licensed activity in Washington, so if you are dealing rather than selling your own catch, confirm the current license class with WDFW before your first transaction.

Is there a coyote bounty program in Washington?

No. WDFW operates no bounty, and given the contest rules below, the state has moved firmly in the opposite direction.

Are coyote contests legal in Washington, or can I hunt in WA for an out-of-state contest?

No — coyote contests are prohibited in Washington. The state banned them in 2020, and the rule is aimed squarely at species like coyotes: “Contests involving unclassified and classified wildlife species without a bag limit are prohibited and will not be permitted.”³⁶ Coyotes are unclassified wildlife with no bag limit,¹ which puts them exactly inside that description.

Any hunting contest at all needs a permit — “It is unlawful to participate in a hunting contest for which no permit has been issued by the department”³⁷ — and only non-profits may even apply.³⁸

Hunting Washington coyotes to enter an out-of-state contest is the same activity the rule prohibits. Do not.

Coyotes in Washington

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

Yes, essentially everywhere. WDFW describes coyotes as “present across nearly all of Washington, including many urban and suburban parks, greenbelts, and other wooded spaces,”³⁹ occupying “almost every conceivable habitat type, from open ranch country to densely forested areas to downtown waterfront.”⁴⁰

They are not in decline: “Despite ever-increasing human encroachment and past efforts to eliminate coyotes, the species maintains its numbers and is increasing in some areas.”⁴⁰

Are Washington coyotes dangerous to people or pets?

To pets, yes, routinely: “If left outside at night in an unprotected area, cats and small to mid-size dogs may be killed by coyotes.”⁴¹

To people, very rarely — but Washington has a documented case rather than a hypothetical one. There were no recorded attacks on humans in the state until 2006, when WDFW officers euthanized two coyotes in Bellevue “after two young children were bitten while their parents were nearby.”⁴² The pattern behind incidents like that is consistent and worth knowing: habituation through feeding, deliberate or not.

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

“Breeding occurs in late winter. After a gestation (pregnancy) of 63 days, an average of four pups are born from early April to late May.”⁴³

Late winter is the best calling of the year for that reason — males cover far more ground and answer far more aggressively through the breeding window. It is also, conveniently, well clear of the October–November restrictions.

When are coyotes most active in Washington?

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

How do I tell a coyote from a wolf in Washington?

WDFW prints this question in both pamphlets, under the heading “Wolf or coyote?”, and it is aimed at you specifically. The big game book puts the scope in brackets:

Wolves and Lynx are in Washington. Both are protected by state and federal laws so they cannot be shot or killed. Be sure of identification if you are hunting coyote (statewide), or bobcats (northern WA).⁴⁴

Read the brackets. The bobcat warning is regional; the coyote warning is statewide, and it is the only species-identification instruction in either pamphlet that WDFW extends to the whole state.

Wolves are protected everywhere in Washington, under two separate regimes:

• State. The gray wolf “was listed as endangered by the State of Washington in 1980” and “receives protection under state law from hunting, possession, malicious harassment, and killing.” That listing covers the entire state.⁴⁵
• Federal. Wolves are federally listed west of Highway 97 from the British Columbia border south to Monse, Highway 17 from Monse south to Mesa, and Highway 395 from Mesa south to the Oregon border. East of that line they are federally delisted and WDFW is the management authority; west of it the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is.⁴⁵

There is no open season anywhere in Washington and no license that authorizes taking one. “Penalties for illegally killing a state endangered species range up to $5,000 and/or one year in jail” — before any federal exposure west of the highway line.⁴⁵

WDFW’s own comparison:

Every figure is WDFW’s.⁴⁶

Why this matters more in Washington than in most states. For ten months of the year you may hunt coyotes here at night, with lights, and with thermal and night vision that carry no coyote restriction at all — see night hunting. Washington is one of the few states that pairs unrestricted night optics for coyotes with a wolf that is endangered on every acre. Through a thermal there is no color, no coat pattern, and no reliable size reference; the tube renders a wolf at 200 yards and a coyote at 120 as much the same animal. The paw and the snout are daylight tells. At night you have the animal’s behavior, whatever it is standing next to, and your own patience.

There were 270 wolves in 49 packs counted by WDFW and the tribes in 2025, concentrated in the north-east and the southern Cascades⁴⁷ — which is the same country as most of the state’s serious coyote ground.

If you see one, report it at wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/at-risk/species-recovery/gray-wolf/observations.⁴⁶ If something has gone wrong — a wolf shot, caught or found dead — WDFW runs a 24-hour line on (877) 933-9847.⁴⁸ Call it. The same number reports a violation, which is the point: the outcome of a misidentified shot depends heavily on whether the department hears it from you first.

Anything else worth noting about coyote hunting in Washington

Washington rewards planning more than most states. For ten months of the year it is genuinely good — night hunting with lights, thermal and night vision unrestricted for coyotes, e-calls legal, no season, no limit, cheap resident license. Then modern firearm deer and elk season arrives and three rules land at once: no night hunting, no .24 caliber or larger, and 400 square inches of orange.

Add the two permanent restrictions — no hounds, ever, and no contests — and the shape of the state is clear. Hunt it hard from December to September, and in October and November either buy a deer tag or go somewhere else.

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

No, and the prohibition is unusually broad. Washington’s rabies rules bar “acquiring, selling, bartering, exchanging, giving, purchasing, distributing, or trapping to retain any bat, skunk, fox, raccoon, or coyote,” with exceptions only for zoos, licensed animal exhibitors, research facilities and wildlife rehabilitators.⁴⁹

Importing one is separately prohibited without an entry permit from the Department of Agriculture.⁵⁰ Note that this reaches retaining a live trapped animal as well as buying one — a coyote you catch is not yours to keep.

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