In this Feb. 10, 2013, file photo, A coyote stands in a field in this undated file photo. Hunters are tromping through the countryside of a remote Northern California county, as they compete in a controversial contest to see who can kill the most coyotes. Organized coyote hunts that award prizes to the top marksman have sparked a culture clash in California between wildlife advocates who value the animals as an essential part of the landscape and people who view coyotes as wily varmints to be hunted down to protect livestock. On Wednesday, Dec, 3, 2014, the California Fish and Game Commission will consider banning prize hunts for coyotes as well as foxes and bobcats, which also are legal to kill year-round in unlimited numbers. (AP Photo/Daily Inter Lake, Karen Nichols, File)
California wildlife officials have banned coyote hunting contests that offered cash and prizes up to $500 to the top marksman and sparked a culture clash in the state.
A vote Wednesday by the state's Fish and Game Commission allows hunters to shoot as many of the predators as they wish year-round in unlimited numbers, but there may no longer be prizes awarded.
Camilla Fox of the Coyote Project led the move to ban the hunting derbies, which she considers immoral and reprehensible.
She says the killing contests should be relegated to the history books.
Cattleman Buck Parks, who organizes an annual hunt in Northern California, says people opposed to the hunts don't understand the damage coyotes do to livestock.
In this January 2014 photo provided by Curtis Wright shows Wright holding up a coyote he shot during a prize hunt near California City, California. Curtis shot the large coyote, weighing 45 pounds, from a distance of 60 yards. Wright says he has participated and won many prize coyote hunts. The California Fish and Game Commission is considering a ban on awarding prizes for coyote hunting, which critics considered to be cruel and unsportsmanlike. (AP Photo/Terry Wright)
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California bans coyote hunts that offer prizes (2014, December 3)
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