6th Annual Coyote Cull Winners Announced

We have our winners from the drawing for the 6th annual GON Coyote Cull. Thanks to the support of our sponsors, we were able to give away some great prizes, while continuing efforts to raise awareness about the changes that coyotes have brought to the Georgia woods. Make sure to support these sponsors if you want the Coyote Cull to continue and to grow

And why aren’t there more groups and companies stepping up?

GON organized the Coyote Cull to provide incentive for hunters and trappers to get after coyotes during the fawning and turkey nesting seasons. Research shows killing coyotes, particularly this time of year, can make a real difference in fawn and poult survival.

To reiterate some points made last month: the Coyote Cull was created to get this issue in front of sportsmen and to offer incentive for sportsmen to do something. This was never designed to produce the maximum number of dead coyotes. The primary reason we limit the entries to one per month per household is because we didn’t want the Coyote Cull to be overrun and dominated by entries from professional trappers, who are out there catching hundreds of coyotes a month and getting paid well to do it—that’s their incentive. We want to give incentive to the average sportsman.

And again, the primary purpose of GON’s Coyote Cull is to bring awareness to the damaging impact this non-native, invasive species is having across Georgia. The Coyote Cull does that. Meanwhile, others do nothing—or for some reason they even try to minimize the impact.

For the Coyote Cull, we conducted a random drawing from among the 106 entries. Here are the 2019 coyote hunters and trappers who won great prizes:

Michael Warrak, of White, was the first entrant picked in the random drawing. Michael won a Franchi rifle from Adventure Outdoors. Michael shot the coyote in Bartow County.

• Franchi Momentum 6.5 Creedmoor Bolt-Action Rifle: Adventure Outdoors and Franchi helped us give away a 6.5 Creedmoor bolt-action rifle. The winner of the random drawing was Michael Warrak, of White, who entered with a Bartow County coyote.

Michael’s new rifle, the Franchi Momentum, features a black synthetic stock, 24-inch barrel and 44.3-inch overall length. The gun retails for $609. For more info, visit www.franchiusa.com/momentum. Also visit Adventure Outdoors in Smyrna to thank them for their support of the Coyote Cull since the first year, or visit www.adventureoutdoors.us.

Matthew Wooten, of Lula, said he was doing some “hobby trapping” on his Banks County hunting club. It’s paying off. Matthew won the $500 cash prize from Trinity Custom Homes.

• Trinity Custom Homes $500 Cash Prize: Offering more than 70 customizable home designs, Trinity has helped countless Southerners complete their dream of building on their own land. They’ve also been a Coyote Cull sponsor since day one. For more info, call 888.818.0278 or visit TrinityCustom.com.

The winner of the $500 cash prize from Trinity Custom Homes was Matthew Wooten, of Lula, who entered with a Banks County coyote.

• Southern Snares & Outfitters Trapping Package: A great package that includes six No. 2 Bridger Dogless traps to get after the coons, a dozen trap anchors and nine great lures and baits for predator trapping was won by Ray Schmeck, of Fayetteville, who entered with a Taylor County coyote.

Ray Schmeck killed this coyote in Taylor County, and Ray won the trapping package from Southern Snares.

When Ray learned he had won the drawing, he said, “Thank you. I entered hoping that removing a coyote or two would help in getting a few more turkey poults to survive. I have seen a hen and several survivors on trail cameras, so I’d like to think coyote culling helped. I wish I could have gone out more and taken several more of the critters.”

The retail value of the prize package is $210. Thank Southern Snares for their support, and see all of their great products at www.southernsnares.com, or call 912.288.6542.

GON is aiming for an expanded Coyote Cull next year, with additional months to enter and more sponsors.