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

Coyote classification & license in Ohio

What is the classification of coyotes in Ohio?

A furbearing animal — but the one that is carved out of the permit requirement. That exception is the most useful thing to know about Ohio’s licensing:

A hunting license and fur taker permit are required to hunt and/or trap furbearing animals (except coyote) in Ohio.¹

So the coyote sits inside the furbearer category for most purposes and outside it for the permit. Read on, though — the exception is narrower than it first appears, because it covers hunting and not trapping. See trapping.

Are coyotes protected in Ohio?

No. The season table records coyote as “No closed season” with “No Limit”, both in the small game listing and in the furbearer listing.²¹

Is a hunting license required to hunt coyotes in Ohio?

Yes, a hunting license — and for hunting, that is all. The resident annual hunting license is $19.00; a resident senior annual is $10.00 and a free senior license is available.³

The fur taker permit is a trapping requirement. Ohio’s trapping rules put it plainly in the list of things trappers may not do:

Trappers may not … Trap coyotes without a fur taker permit. However, anyone hunting, trapping, or snaring coyotes must have a valid hunting license.⁴

So: hunt a coyote, hunting license. Trap or snare one, hunting license plus fur taker permit.

The prices above are resident prices. A non-resident pays more, and should check which license — the cheap three-day tourist one will not work. See what a non-resident needs.

Is hunter education required in Ohio?

Yes, on the standard pattern, with an apprentice license available at the same price as the regular license — $19.00 resident, $10.00 youth.³ Confirm the current terms with ODNR before a first purchase.

Can a non-resident hunt coyotes in Ohio?

Yes, but check which license you buy, because the cheap one will not work.

The non-resident annual hunting license is $180.96.³ Ohio also sells a non-resident three-day tourist license — and it carries this restriction:

Nonresident 3-day license not valid for deer, turkey, or furbearers.³

A coyote is a furbearing animal in Ohio. The fur-taker-permit exception in the furbearer rules exempts coyote from a permit; it does not move the coyote out of the furbearer category. On a plain reading the three-day tourist license will not cover a coyote hunt, and a non-resident needs the annual.

That reading is worth a phone call before you travel — 1-800-945-3543 — because it is the kind of interaction between two rules that agencies answer quickly and websites get wrong.

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.

Season, hours & bag limits in Ohio

What is the season for coyote hunting in Ohio?

No closed season, statewide, all year, with one catch: during the deer gun and deer muzzleloader seasons you may hunt coyotes only with a valid deer permit.^{2 5}

There is no start date, no end date and no zone map. What there is instead is a set of deer-season windows that change the rules while they are open — see below.

What is the bag limit for coyotes in Ohio?

No limit. Ohio sets no daily or seasonal bag limit on coyotes, and the trapping rules confirm that “except for river otters, there are no restrictions on bag limits” for furbearers.¹

What are the legal hunting hours for coyotes in Ohio?

None, outside the deer gun seasons. Ohio imposes no shooting-hours restriction on coyotes — the species may be hunted day or night, which is what makes the state’s night hunting so straightforward.

During any deer gun or deer muzzleloader season the hours become the deer hours, which excludes night entirely:

Rifles and night vision scopes are legal for coyote hunting, except for hunting coyotes during any deer gun or deer muzzleloader season, then the hours and legal hunting devices are the same as for the deer season.⁶

Can you hunt coyotes during deer or big game season in Ohio?

Yes, but on completely different terms, and this is the section to read twice.

The 2026–27 windows when the rules change:

Thirteen days statewide, and three more in the Deer Special Area.²

What changes on those days:

COYOTE — Coyote hunters are required to wear hunter orange clothing and may only hunt during legal deer season hours, using hunting implements legal for that deer firearm season, with a hunting license and valid deer permit.⁵

Four separate requirements, and the last one surprises people: you need an unused deer permit to hunt coyotes during the deer gun season, even if you have no intention of shooting a deer. A “valid deer permit” is one that has not already been filled.

Add the night prohibition from the coyote rule above, and during those thirteen days Ohio goes from one of the most permissive coyote states to one of the most restrictive.

Outside those windows, hunter orange is not required of coyote hunters and there is no hours restriction.

Night hunting in Ohio

Can you hunt coyotes at night in Ohio?

Yes, any night of the year except during the deer gun and deer muzzleloader seasons. There is no permit, no season window and no landowner filing — Ohio simply does not restrict coyote hunting hours.

The one exception is the deer-season switch:

Rifles and night vision scopes are legal for coyote hunting, except for hunting coyotes during any deer gun or deer muzzleloader season, then the hours and legal hunting devices are the same as for the deer season.⁶

Compared with its neighbours that is remarkably clean — no $4 permit as in Maine, no landowner-filed form as in New Hampshire, no three-month window as in Indiana’s neighbour states, and no afoot-and-calling requirement as in Michigan.

Can you use artificial lights for coyote hunting in Ohio?

Yes, and Ohio’s light rule has two halves — a requirement and a permission.

The requirement, which applies to anyone out after furbearers at night:

Persons hunting, trapping, or pursuing furbearing animals at night must carry a continuous white light visible for at least ¼ mile. When two or more persons are hunting or trapping together for furbearing animals, only one light is required and may be carried by any member of the party.⁷

That is a safety-marking rule rather than a hunting light — you must be visible, not merely equipped.

The permission, which is the one coyote hunters actually use:

Persons hunting foxes, coyotes, or raccoons with a call from a stationary position may use a single beam of light of any color.⁷

Read the conditions: with a call, and from a stationary position. Ohio ties the colored-light permission to the way most people hunt coyotes anyway — sit down, call, scan.

The rule behind both halves is one sentence long, and it is worth reading in the original. OAC 1501:31-15-09(C) is where the digest’s two paragraphs come from:

It shall be unlawful for any person to pursue, hunt, or trap furbearing animals from sunset to sunrise, without carrying a continuous white light visible for a distance of at least one-quarter of a mile. However, persons hunting fox, raccoon or coyote with a call from a stationary position may use a continuous single beam light of any color.⁸

Two things the rule makes plainer than the booklet does. The colored-beam permission is an exception inside the white-light sentence rather than a separate allowance, so it does not release you from being visible. And the rule names the same three species the digest does, so there is no wider category to argue your way into.

Two hard prohibitions:

Spotlighting of wild animals from vehicles, including illuminating with headlights, is prohibited.⁷

And a light attached to your bow is out: it is unlawful while hunting to have attached to a longbow or crossbow “any mechanical, electrical, or electronic device capable of projecting a visible beam of light.” A rangefinder using non-visible light is excepted.⁷

Can you use night vision in Ohio?

Yes, expressly. Ohio names the equipment in its coyote rule rather than leaving it to inference:

Rifles and night vision scopes are legal for coyote hunting, except for hunting coyotes during any deer gun or deer muzzleloader season.⁶

That is one of the plainest statements on this site. Two conditions come with it. During any deer gun or muzzleloader season, deer hours and deer guns apply to coyotes too. And at night you must still carry a continuous white light visible for a quarter mile, or a single beam of any color when calling from a stand, because a coyote is a furbearer in Ohio.⁸ The night vision scope does not replace the light; you carry both.

Can you use thermal in Ohio?

Nothing prohibits it, and Ohio’s structure makes that a stronger answer than it would be elsewhere — but the regulations name night vision and not thermal, so be aware of the gap.

Checked, in order:

• The coyote hunting entry, which expressly permits “rifles and night vision scopes” and imposes no other equipment condition outside the deer seasons.⁶
• The general hunting and trapping provisions in the regulations, which prohibit spotlighting from vehicles, drones, deadfalls, poisoned or explosive arrows and lights attached to bows — and name no optic.⁷
• Ohio Administrative Code 1501:31-15-02, the general hunting and trapping rule, whose prohibitions cover deadfalls, motor-driven conveyances, aircraft and drones, taking from roadways, and the visible-beam device on a bow. Night vision, thermal imaging and infrared are not mentioned in it.⁹

Ohio regulates hunting methods by prohibition rather than by permitted list, so a device the rules do not prohibit is not thereby unlawful — which is the opposite of New Hampshire’s enumerated-permission structure. On that reading thermal is lawful.

The honest caveat is that the sentence granting night optics says “night vision scopes,” and a strict reader could ask whether a thermal imager is one. Most people, including most wardens, would say yes. If you are buying a thermal specifically for Ohio, spend two minutes confirming with ODNR on 1-800-945-3543.

The deer-season exception applies to thermal exactly as it does to night vision: during deer gun and muzzleloader seasons you are on deer hours with deer implements.

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

No night-specific weapon restriction — rifles are expressly legal for coyote hunting, day or night.⁶

The restrictions that bite are the deer-season ones: during any deer gun or deer muzzleloader season you may use only implements legal for that deer season, which rules out the rifle, and you may not hunt at night at all.⁶⁵

Firearms, ammunition & suppressors in Ohio

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

Broad, and rifles are expressly permitted — which is worth stating plainly because Ohio restricts rifles heavily for deer and people assume the same applies to coyotes. It does not, outside the deer gun seasons.⁶

Ohio’s legal implements for coyote are the general set: longbow or bow, crossbow, handgun of any caliber, rifle of any caliber, shotgun of 10 gauge or smaller, and air gun.

During the deer gun and muzzleloader seasons, you are restricted to the implements legal for that deer season — shotgun with slug, straight-walled cartridge rifle, muzzleloader, handgun or bow, depending on the season.⁵

Are suppressors allowed for coyote hunting in Ohio?

Yes. ODNR states it directly:

FIREARM SUPPRESSOR — A person authorized through state and federal law to own a firearm noise suppressor is permitted to use it to hunt legal game animals. A valid hunting license is required to hunt with a suppressor. A suppressor is also called a silencer.¹⁰

The old prohibition in Ohio Administrative Code 1501:31-15-02 — which barred using “a gun equipped with a silencer or muffler” to take a wild bird or wild quadruped — is gone from the current rule.⁹

The statute behind the booklet is plain: “A person who holds a valid hunting license issued under this chapter and who hunts game birds or wild quadrupeds may use a suppressor” on a gun legal for hunting, provided it is registered under the National Firearms Act.¹¹ A coyote is a wild quadruped, so it is covered. The license is part of the condition. A landowner hunting coyotes on their own land without a license is outside the wording, so buy one before running a can.

Owning one is lawful only with the registration: Ohio treats a suppressor as dangerous ordnance and exempts owners whose ordnance is “registered in the national firearms registration and transfer record.”¹²

Federal requirements still apply: an approved ATF Form 4 (or Form 1 to build one) and registration. Since January 1, 2026 the federal tax on a suppressor is $0, but the approval and the wait are unchanged.¹³

Are there any ammunition restrictions in Ohio?

None specific to coyotes outside the deer seasons. During the deer muzzleloader season and youth deer gun season it is unlawful to hunt legal game with shot shells containing shot larger than No. 4, and the general deer-season implement rules apply.⁵

Poisoned or explosive arrows are unlawful at all times.⁷

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

Yes. Ohio permits rifles of any caliber for coyote hunting outside the deer gun seasons,⁶ so a rimfire is lawful.

It is also undergunned on an Ohio coyote. Since the state puts no caliber restriction in your way, use a centerfire.

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

No. Ohio sets no magazine capacity limit for coyote hunting, which distinguishes it sharply from its neighbours — Michigan caps semi-autos at six, Maine at five and New Hampshire at six.

A standard AR-15 with a 30-round magazine is lawful for coyotes in Ohio outside the deer gun seasons.

Calls, decoys, bait & dogs in Ohio

Are electronic calls allowed for coyote hunting in Ohio?

Yes, expressly:

Electronic callers may be used while hunting, except while hunting migratory game birds (waterfowl, rails, and shorebirds) and wild turkeys. It is lawful to use electronic callers for crow hunting.⁷

Coyote is not in the exception, so electronic callers are lawful. And a call is what unlocks the colored-light permission at night.⁷

Are decoys allowed for coyote hunting in Ohio?

Yes, including motion decoys. Ohio’s prohibited-methods list does not restrict decoys for coyote hunting.⁷

Is baiting allowed for coyote hunting in Ohio?

Yes on private land, with a caveat about public land and one about how flesh bait is handled.

Ohio does not prohibit baiting coyotes, and the state’s baiting prohibitions are written for other situations. What does apply:

• On Division of Wildlife land, it is unlawful to distribute, place or scatter salt, grain or other feed capable of luring, enticing or attracting wild birds on lands owned, controlled or maintained by the Division, including leased land.
• Flesh bait must be covered when trapping, so an exposed carcass set is a trapping problem even where the bait itself is lawful.⁴

For a caller working private ground, bait is not the tool anyway — Ohio’s night rules reward a call and a light rather than a bait site.

Can you use dogs to hunt coyotes in Ohio?

Yes by day. At night there is a specific restriction and it is easy to misread:

It is unlawful to possess a hunting device while training or working a dog pursuing coyotes from sunset to sunrise.⁷

So running dogs on coyotes at night is not itself prohibited — carrying a weapon while doing it is. Ohio separates the chase from the kill after dark.

Private property, vehicles & public land access in Ohio

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

On rural private land, yes — with written permission if it is not your own:

A person must carry written permission [from the landowner] when hunting or trapping on private land and produce it on demand to a wildlife officer or other law enforcement officer, owner of the land, or the landowner’s authorized agent.¹⁴

That is stricter than the oral-permission standard several neighbouring states use. Get it in writing and carry it.

Municipal discharge ordinances govern near towns.

Can you hunt coyotes from a motorized vehicle in Ohio?

No:

All hunting from motor vehicles, except boats and machinery being used in farm operations, is prohibited.⁷

Spotlighting from a vehicle, including with headlights, is separately prohibited.⁷ Taking wildlife along, on, from or across any public road or highway is unlawful, including the berm and shoulder.⁷⁹

Drones are prohibited: using an aerial drone or aircraft to hunt or aid in hunting a wild animal is strictly prohibited, with a narrow exception for recovering an already-taken deer.⁷

Can you hunt coyotes on public land in Ohio?

Yes on much of it, and Ohio has a large public hunting estate — state wildlife areas, state forests and some state parks.

Two things to check rather than assume. Area-specific rules vary, and the regulations note restrictions applying on public areas including state parks and state forests.⁴ And baiting on Division of Wildlife land is restricted as described above.

There is no separate public-land coyote season, permit or night restriction in Ohio — the statewide answers apply.

Is it legal to trap or snare coyotes in Ohio?

Yes, and this is where the permit exception stops applying:

Trappers may not … Trap coyotes without a fur taker permit.⁴

So trapping or snaring a coyote needs a hunting license and a fur taker permit, even though hunting one does not.

Snare specifications are prescribed:

All snares must have a relaxing lock and a stop to prevent the opening of the snare from closing to less than 2½ inches in diameter, or a relaxing lock system with a breaking point of not greater than 350 pounds.⁴

Traps must be checked and all animals removed once every calendar day, drags may not be attached to foothold traps, and body-gripping trap jaw-spread limits apply.¹⁴

Is it legal to poison coyotes in Ohio?

No. Poison is not a lawful method of take, and Ohio prohibits deadfalls and poisoned arrows outright.⁷⁹ Predator toxicants are restricted-use products handled through USDA Wildlife Services rather than by private individuals.

Are there protected areas or additional local restrictions in Ohio?

Yes, four kinds:

• The deer gun and muzzleloader windows, which change the rules statewide for thirteen days.⁵
• Division of Wildlife lands, where feed placement is restricted.⁷
• State parks and state forests, which carry their own area restrictions.⁴
• Municipal discharge ordinances, and the prohibition on taking wildlife from roads and berms.⁹

Can you use two-way radios while coyote hunting in Ohio?

Yes, and Ohio is the one state so far that says so on the permissive side rather than the prohibitive one. Its list of what a deer hunter may do reads:

“A DEER HUNTER MAY DO THE FOLLOWING: … Possess a communication device.”¹⁵

That is written for deer, which is the more regulated animal. A coyote hunter, who faces fewer restrictions than a deer hunter on nearly everything else on this page, is not in a tighter position.

Nothing in the code restricts it either. Rule 1501:31-15-02, the general hunting and trapping provisions, and rule 1501:31-15-09, the furbearing animal rule that governs coyotes, were both read in full and neither mentions radios or communication devices.

The one live rule in this area is about drones and it is deer-only: aerial drones may aid the recovery of a deer under conditions, and “all other uses of a drone or aircraft to hunt or aid in the hunting of deer are unlawful.”¹⁵ That is an aircraft rule, not a radio rule.

After the shot: pelts, bounties & contests in Ohio

Are there regulations for possessing or transporting dead coyotes or pelts out of Ohio?

No tag or check-in for coyote. Ohio’s tag-and-check regime covers deer and turkey, and the furbearer sealing requirements do not reach coyote.¹

Hides of furbearing animals taken legally during the open season may be sold during that season or held for sale until 15 June following the close of the season. Since coyote has no closed season, that deadline has no practical bite for coyote pelts — but it governs the rest of your fur.

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

Selling your own lawfully taken pelts is permitted. Buying is different: persons desiring to buy green or dried fur must have a fur dealer’s permit.

Ohio coyote fur is middling — better than the Southeast, well short of Michigan or Maine. Prime is January and February.

Is there a coyote bounty program in Ohio?

No state bounty. Ohio manages the coyote with no closed season and no bag limit rather than with a payment scheme. County or township programs appear occasionally; verify locally before planning around one.

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

Yes to both. Ohio has not restricted predator hunting contests.

One scheduling note, and it is the same one that governs everything else on this page: do not schedule a round across a deer gun or muzzleloader window. On those thirteen days your participants need deer permits, must wear orange, cannot use rifles and cannot hunt at night. A February round avoids all of it and lands on prime fur.

Coyotes in Ohio

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

Yes, in all 88 counties. Coyotes were not historically an Ohio animal — they arrived through the twentieth century and were established statewide by the 1990s. They now occupy farm country, the eastern hill counties, the Lake Erie shore and every major metropolitan fringe, Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati included.

ODNR treats the population as secure enough to carry no closed season and no limit.

There are no wolves in Ohio, so the animal to be sure about is a domestic dog.

Are Ohio coyotes dangerous to people or pets?

To people, very rarely. To pets and small livestock, routinely — and in a state as agricultural and as suburban as Ohio, that is where nearly all the conflict sits. Unattended small dogs and cats on the metropolitan fringe are at genuine risk.

For farmers the concern is poultry, sheep and calves.

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

Breeding runs January into February, with pups born in April in litters of five to seven. Juveniles disperse from late summer, which produces a second window of inexperienced, responsive animals.

February is the month to hunt Ohio. The deer seasons are finished, night hunting is open again, breeding has pairs moving and vocal, and the fur is as good as it gets here.

When are coyotes most active in Ohio?

First and last light year-round, with heavy night movement. Because Ohio puts no hours restriction on coyotes for most of the year and expressly permits rifles and night optics, night is a genuinely open option here in a way it is not in most of the Northeast.

For the full breakdown of season, weather and moon phase, see when to hunt coyotes.

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 Ohio

Ohio’s rulebook is short and its answers are mostly yes. The whole page really reduces to one calendar problem and a couple of details.

Five things to get right:

Mark the thirteen days. Youth deer gun 21–22 November, deer gun 30 November–6 December and 19–20 December, muzzleloader 2–5 January. On those days: orange, deer hours, deer implements, valid unused deer permit, no night hunting.

Hunting needs no fur taker permit. Trapping does. The famous “except coyote” exception covers the hunt, not the trap line.

Carry two lights at night. The continuous white light visible for a quarter mile is a requirement, not your hunting light. The single beam of any color is the permission, and it depends on you calling from a stationary position.

Written permission on private land, produced on demand. Oral will not do here.

The non-resident three-day license does not cover furbearers. Buy the annual.

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

No. Ohio regulates the possession of wild animals and a coyote is not an animal a private individual may keep as a pet. Permits exist for rehabilitation, education and research rather than for pets, and local ordinances add their own prohibitions.

If you have found an orphaned pup, contact ODNR at 1-800-945-3543 or a licensed wildlife rehabilitator rather than keeping it.

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