The New Mexico Land Office signed an executive order banning “killing contests” on state trust lands. In a press conference Stephanie Garcia Richards announced the signing of executive order 1.

Richards started off by thanking some anti hunting groups and then Richards said, ” It is said that a country will be judged by how they treat the most vulnerable among us .This executive order is not to say that the New Mexico Sate land office does not support hunters. hunters who hunt ethically.”

She goes on tho claim that coyote hunting contests are not part of sound land management. She then announces that 9 million acres of state trust land will no longer allow hunting contests.

Coyotes are brutal predators that happen to look cute to the average American. Many people see piles of dead coyotes and relate that to the dog that is part of their family. That makes these kinds of hunting contests unpopular with many Americans. It is important to remember that these coyotes are not like your pet and kill many deer, rabbits, birds, cattle, dogs, and cats.

The press conference tried to frame the contests as “killing contests”. These contests are said to be “barbaric and inhumane.” Let me suggest that these contests are very different in reality. They are hunters getting together to have a good time hunting coyotes. The coyotes need killed in order to prevent depredation, and hunters get together with other hunters to have a good time doing what needs done.

Predator hunting is a complicated topic for hunters. It is something that needs done but is not popular with the general public. I absolutely support killing coyotes as much as possible, but also understand we need to explain the benefits of it to the general public in a delicate way. If we do not do this we will see more and more support for banning predator hunting like this executive order.