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

Coyote classification & license in Oregon

What is the classification of coyotes in Oregon?

Coyotes are unprotected mammals in Oregon: “badgers, coyotes, gophers, moles, mountain beavers (boomers), nutrias, opossums, porcupines, spotted skunks, striped skunks, weasels and yellowbellied marmots for which there are no closed seasons or bag limits.”¹

They are also predatory animals — and Oregon switches them between the two categories based on who is holding the rifle and whose land it is. This is the most easily missed sentence in the Oregon rulebook, and it sits in the second half of the same definition:

For any person owning, leasing, occupying, possessing or having charge or dominion over any land (or an agent of this person) who is taking or attempting to take coyotes, gophers, mountain beavers (boomers), yellow-bellied marmots, nutrias, or porcupines on that property, these six species are considered to be predatory animals.¹

Read that carefully, because it is more generous than it first appears. It carries no damage test. A landowner, lessee, occupier or their agent taking a coyote on that ground does not have to show the animal was destructive to anything — the reclassification is automatic on the facts of who and where.

There is a separate, general definition of predatory animal that does carry a damage test: “feral swine … or coyotes, rabbits, rodents (except beaver), or birds … that are or may be destructive to agricultural crops, products or activities.”² That is the one that reaches a person who is not the landowner or their agent.

Two provisions on this page turn on which of those two routes you are in — the motor-vehicle exception and the seven-day trap check. See vehicles and trapping.

One thing coyotes are not in Oregon is a furbearer. The list is closed and specific: “Beaver, bobcat, fisher, marten, mink, muskrat, river otter, raccoon, red fox and gray fox.”³ This trips people up constantly — including in the comments at the foot of this page — because coyotes are sold through the same fur channels and appear in the same regulations booklet.

Are coyotes protected in Oregon?

No. The name of the category says it: unprotected mammals, with “no closed seasons or bag limits.”¹

Is a hunting license required to hunt coyotes in Oregon?

Yes. Any one of three licenses works, and ODFW spells out which does what: coyotes require the “appropriate Furtaker’s License to trap (also allows hunting), or appropriate Hunting License for Furbearer’s or general Hunting License to hunt these species.”⁴

For most people the general hunting license is the answer — $39.00 for residents and $193.00 for non-residents in 2026.⁵ You only need a Furtaker’s License if you intend to trap: it “allows the holder to trap, hunt, and pursue,” where the hunting license for furbearers “allows the holder only to hunt and pursue.”⁶ A resident Furtaker’s License is $54.50; a non-resident one is $407.00.⁷

No tag is required for coyotes.

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 in Oregon?

For juveniles, yes — “Juveniles 17 and younger must have completed hunter education to obtain a furtaker’s license.”⁸ Juveniles under 12 do not need a license at all except to hunt or trap bobcat and river otter.⁹

Can a non-resident hunt coyotes in Oregon?

Yes, on a non-resident general hunting license at $193.00.⁵ The rules are identical to those a resident hunts under.

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 Oregon

What is the season for coyote hunting in Oregon?

“Open season entire year.”⁴ There is no opening day and no closure.

What is the bag limit for coyotes in Oregon?

None — the definition of an unprotected mammal is one for which “there are no closed seasons or bag limits.”¹

What are the legal hunting hours for coyotes in Oregon?

There are none. The sunrise-to-sunset window that governs game mammals does not reach unprotected mammals, so coyotes may legally be hunted at any hour.

Whether you can see one is a different question, and the answer is the most important thing on this page. See night hunting.

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

Yes, but not with a centerfire rifle in the units that matter. It is unlawful “to hunt with a centerfire rifle during the deer and elk seasons and dates in the Wildlife Management Units listed in Table 1 … without a used or unused deer, elk, pronghorn, antelope, bighorn sheep, or Rocky Mountain goat tag valid for the dates and area being hunted.”¹⁰

So in a listed WMU during those dates, your options are a big game tag, a rimfire, a shotgun or a bow. Check Table 1 in the rule for the current unit list before you travel — it is the single most common way an out-of-state coyote hunter gets a citation here.

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

Can you hunt coyotes at night in Oregon?

Legally, yes — and practically, this is the most restrictive night-hunting state covered on this site. You may hunt coyotes after dark. You may not use anything to see them with.

There is no closed hour for unprotected mammals, so the act of hunting at night is lawful. But every tool that makes it work is prohibited: artificial light, night vision and thermal are all out, as set out below. What remains legal is a battery-lit reticle,¹¹ moonlight, and your own eyes.

That combination is unusual enough that it is worth stating plainly rather than burying: if you were planning to bring a thermal to Oregon, do not. How to hunt coyotes at night covers the parts that transfer to states where the equipment is legal.

Can you use artificial lights for coyote hunting in Oregon?

No. Oregon prohibits artificial light for hunting, with a three-species exception that pointedly does not include coyotes. It is unlawful “to use an artificial light for hunting any wildlife, except raccoon, bobcat, and opossum provided the light is not cast from or attached to a motor vehicle.”¹¹

The statute behind it is just as blunt: “no person shall hunt wildlife with the aid of any artificial light.”¹²

The prohibition reaches further than a lamp. The same rule bars “laser sights or any other sights which project a beam to the target, including scopes with electronic rangefinders and scopes that receive information from a rangefinder or any electronic device,” and then carves out the one thing that stays legal: “This does not include battery operated sights which only light the reticle.”¹¹

A correction worth making, because it circulates widely: there is no landowner exception permitting lights on coyotes. The landowner exception that exists is a vehicle rule — “Landowners or agents hunting predatory animals on land they own or lawfully occupy … may obtain an Oregon Disabilities Hunting and Fishing Permit to hunt from a motor vehicle.”¹³ Separately, a landowner on their own land is exempt from the statute against shining a light on predatory animals near a vehicle.¹⁴ Neither of those authorizes hunting a coyote by artificial light.

Can you use night vision in Oregon?

No. The rule is short and admits one exception: it is unlawful “to hunt or locate or scout for the purpose of hunting any wildlife with infrared or any other ‘night vision’ sight or equipment except trail cameras.”¹⁵

Read the verbs. It is not only unlawful to shoot an animal with night vision — locating and scouting are named too, which means glassing a field with a night vision monocular is an offence whether or not you fire.

Can you use thermal in Oregon?

No, and Oregon enforces this one. Thermal falls inside the same rule — ODFW states it directly: “It is illegal to use a thermal device to hunt, locate, or scout for the purpose of hunting any wildlife.”¹⁶

Three points people get wrong:

• It applies to any wildlife, not just big game — unprotected mammals included.
• It is illegal “to use thermal devices when recovering harvested wildlife or tracking an injured animal.”¹⁷
• It is illegal “to use a thermal device off-season to scout wildlife in an area in which the user intends to hunt or trap.”¹⁸

Trail cameras are the only exception in the rule.¹⁵

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

No night-specific weapon rules exist, because the equipment prohibitions above do the work instead. The daytime rules in firearms and suppressors apply unchanged after dark.

Firearms, ammunition & suppressors in Oregon

Are suppressors allowed for coyote hunting in Oregon?

Yes, for any game, with the federal paperwork. Oregon makes possessing a firearms silencer a Class B felony, then takes registered owners out of it twice: “A peace officer may not arrest or charge a person” who has “documentation showing that the … firearms silencer is registered as required under federal law” in their immediate possession, and registration is an affirmative defense.¹⁹ Nothing in ODFW’s hunting rules restricts them.

Carry the approved form, not just the can. The arrest protection only works if the papers are on you. Since January 1, 2026 the federal tax on a suppressor is $0, but the approval and the wait are unchanged.²⁰

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

Oregon’s weapon specifications — the caliber minimums, the “not fully automatic” requirement, the ammunition rules — are written species by species for game mammals: elk, deer, pronghorn, bear, cougar, bighorn sheep, Rocky Mountain goat and western gray squirrel.²¹ Coyotes are unprotected mammals and sit outside that rule entirely.

The one restriction that genuinely bites is the centerfire rifle ban in listed WMUs during deer and elk seasons.¹⁰ Outside those units and dates, a flat-shooting centerfire in .223, .22-250, .204 Ruger or .243 is the practical pick — see the best coyote gun.

Are there any ammunition restrictions in Oregon?

Not for coyotes. Oregon’s prohibition on tracer ammunition and full metal-jacket bullets sits inside the game-mammal weapon rule,²¹ so it does not reach unprotected mammals. There is no lead restriction on coyotes.

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

Yes — and in Oregon a rimfire has a specific use, because it is one of the few things you may still carry in a listed WMU during deer and elk seasons without a big game tag.¹⁰ Whether it is enough cartridge is another argument; I would not take a .22 LR past 75 yards on a coyote.

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

Not today, and this is the answer most likely to change. Oregon’s five-round semiautomatic limit applies to game mammals — elk, deer, pronghorn, bear, cougar, sheep and goat²¹ — and coyotes are not among them. A 30-round magazine is legal for coyotes here, which is exactly what a reader confirmed with Oregon State Police in the comments below.

Watch Measure 114. The 2022 ballot measure bans magazines holding more than ten rounds, and it has never taken effect. A Harney County court blocked it, the Court of Appeals reversed and upheld it in April 2025,²² and the case is now with the Oregon Supreme Court.²³

The Legislature then settled the timing regardless of how that comes out. HB 4145, signed in the 2026 session with an emergency clause, “provides that the provisions of Ballot Measure 114 (2022) apply to firearm transfers conducted, and large-capacity magazine manufacture, importation, possession, use, purchase, sale or transfer occurring, on or after January 1, 2028.”²⁴

Note that the bill names possession and use, not just sale — so if Measure 114 survives, an over-ten-round magazine you already own becomes a problem in 2028, unlike in Washington, where possession was never restricted. The cap is not in force now and cannot be before 2028. If it arrives, this answer flips and the five-round game-mammal rule becomes the least of it.

Calls, decoys, bait & dogs in Oregon

Are electronic calls allowed for coyote hunting in Oregon?

Yes — mouth-blown and electronic calls are both legal for coyotes. No rule restricts callers for unprotected mammals.

One practical warning that is genuinely an Oregon problem: a coyote stand will pull in bobcat, bear and cougar, all of which are regulated species requiring the right license and tag. If one walks in and you do not hold the tag, you watch it leave.

Are decoys allowed for coyote hunting in Oregon?

Yes, including motion decoys.

Is baiting allowed for coyote hunting in Oregon?

Yes for coyotes, with one absolute prohibition to know about: it is unlawful to possess or use “commercial cervid attractants containing cervid urine,”²⁵ a rule aimed at keeping chronic wasting disease out of the state. That applies whatever you are hunting.

Can you use dogs to hunt coyotes in Oregon?

Yes. ODFW is explicit: “Use of dogs is permitted to hunt or pursue bobcat, raccoon, fox, and unprotected mammals.”²⁶ Coyotes are unprotected mammals.

This is the opposite of the rule in neighbouring Washington, where hounds are banned for coyotes year-round — worth knowing if you hunt both sides of the Columbia.

Private property, vehicles & public land access in Oregon

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

On rural private land with the landowner’s permission, yes.

Inside a city, no — and in Oregon that is a wildlife rule as well as a municipal one. Land “within city boundaries” is closed to the hunting and trapping covered by these regulations.²⁷ Municipal firearm-discharge ordinances apply on top.

Can you hunt coyotes from a motorized vehicle in Oregon?

No, with one narrow exception. “No person shall hunt any wildlife from a motor propelled vehicle. Exception: Landowners or agents hunting predatory animals on land they own or lawfully occupy, or a qualified disabled hunter may obtain an Oregon Disabilities Hunting and Fishing Permit to hunt from a motor vehicle except while the vehicle is in motion or on any public road or highway.”¹³

Note that the landowner half of that exception depends on the coyote being a predatory animal. For a landowner, lessee, occupier or their agent taking a coyote on that property, it simply is one — the unprotected-mammals definition reclassifies it automatically, with no damage test to satisfy.¹ For anyone else, the general predatory-animal definition applies and the animal must be one that “is or may be destructive to agricultural crops, products or activities.”²

So this is a landowner’s permission rather than a damage permission, and the distinction matters: a hunter with permission to be on the ground is not the landowner’s agent unless the landowner has actually engaged them to control the animals.

There is a second, separate offence: casting a light on predatory animals from within 500 feet of a vehicle while armed. Landowners are exempt from that one “on land owned or lawfully occupied by that person.”¹⁴

Can you hunt coyotes on public land in Oregon?

Yes — Oregon is roughly half public land, and most BLM and Forest Service ground is open. But a long list of specific areas is closed to all hunting and trapping, including Denman, Sauvie Island, E. E. Wilson, Fern Ridge, Irrigon, Jewell Meadows, Klamath, Ladd Marsh, Rimrock Springs, Coyote Springs, Summer Lake and Power City wildlife areas, plus “National, state and public parks,” “Public campgrounds,” “Cemeteries,” “City and municipal watersheds declared to be in refuge” and land “within city boundaries.”²⁷

Furbearers and unprotected mammals may still be taken in state refuges that are not on that closed list, but only between November 1 and March 31: “during open harvest seasons between November 1 and March 31.”²⁸ On those refuges the year-round coyote season shrinks to five months.

Is it legal to trap or snare coyotes in Oregon?

Yes, with a Furtaker’s License.⁴ Oregon is one of the states where snaring coyotes remains lawful, which puts it in a small minority — its northern neighbour bans body-gripping traps outright.

Traps and snares set for unprotected mammals “shall be inspected at least once every 48 hours and all trapped animals removed.”²⁹ Where the trap is set by the landowner or their agent on that property, the coyote is a predatory animal by definition¹ and the check interval is every seven days instead.³⁰

That is a 48-hour rule for a visiting trapper and a seven-day rule for the landowner on the same fence line, which is worth knowing before you agree to run somebody else’s line for them.

If you trap coyotes anywhere in Oregon, read the wolf question first. ODFW publishes trap-specification guidance aimed squarely at coyote sets, and it is the most consequential unpaperworked advice in the booklet.

Is it legal to poison coyotes in Oregon?

Not as a private individual. Oregon’s prohibition on “poisoning, immobilizing, or tranquilizing substances” is written for game mammals,³¹ but the products used on predators are restricted-use pesticides governed by federal and state pesticide law regardless of what the wildlife rules say. If traps and rifles are not solving a depredation problem, contact ODFW or USDA Wildlife Services.

Are there protected areas or additional local restrictions in Oregon?

Yes, and the list is long — see public land above for the closed wildlife areas. Add municipal discharge ordinances, ODFW posted refuges and safety zones, and ODOT property including highway rights-of-way, which needs a permit.²⁷

One statewide caution that is not about paperwork: gray wolves are present in Oregon and are protected — federally endangered west of Highways 395/78/95 on top of state protection.³² A wolf and a large coyote are not easy to tell apart at distance in poor light, and you will be doing this without a thermal. See how to tell a coyote from a wolf for ODFW’s own comparison and its trap-specification guidance. If you are not certain, do not shoot.

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

Yes. ODFW’s Furbearer Trapping and Hunting Regulations 2026–28 do not restrict two-way radios or cell phones. In a state that bans lights, night vision and thermal for coyotes, the radio is one of the few electronics you can bring.

After the shot: pelts, bounties & contests in Oregon

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

Coyote pelts carry no tagging or sealing requirement in Oregon — unlike bobcat and river otter, which need ownership tags. It is unlawful to waste the pelt of a furbearer,³³ but coyotes are not furbearers,³ so that rule does not reach them.

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

You may sell them, and for trapped animals the Furtaker’s License is what covers the activity.⁶ Confirm the current license class with ODFW before your first sale — as one of the commenters below puts it, keeping a hide for yourself is a different matter from selling it.

Is there a coyote bounty program in Oregon?

Not from the state, but county bounties do exist here — which makes Oregon unusual. ODFW notes that “Some counties have placed bounties on coyotes to help control predation on livestock.”³⁴

That is a county-by-county matter, so ask locally rather than assuming. And note that a bounty is not a contest — see below, because the difference is now legally significant in this state.

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

No. The Fish and Wildlife Commission adopted rules on 15 September 2023 that “make it unlawful to organize, sponsor, conduct, or participate in a contest that has the objective of killing unprotected mammals native to Oregon.”³⁵

Two things to be clear about, because this rule is often described inaccurately:

• It is statewide, not public-land-only. The prohibition follows the species, not the ownership of the ground.
• “Participate in” is in the operative sentence. Hunting Oregon coyotes as your entry in a contest run from another state is the conduct the rule names.

The Commission was explicit that its reach stops at predatory-animal control on private agricultural land, where ORS 610.060 provides that “nothing in the wildlife laws is intended to deny the right of any person to control predatory animals.”³⁵ That is a damage-control carve-out, not a contest exemption.

Coyotes in Oregon

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

Yes — coyotes “are common in Oregon, where they are widely distributed across the landscape.”³⁶ ODFW puts the range in terms a hunter can use: they “can be seen roaming range and prairie lands in eastern Oregon, the high deserts of central and southeast Oregon, open farmland in the Willamette Valley and the dense forest lands of Cascade” country.³⁷

Worth knowing before you try to identify one at distance: west-side coyotes run “with more brown coloration, which blends better with the habitat on the west side of the state.”³⁸ An eastern Oregon coyote and a Willamette Valley coyote do not look the same.

Are Oregon coyotes dangerous to people or pets?

To people, almost never: “While coyote attacks are extremely rare, they are possible. Like any wild animal coyotes can behave unpredictably when cornered, sick or hurt.”³⁹

To pets and small livestock they are a routine problem, and that is what most conflict reports involve — ODFW notes that the clearest examples of human–coyote conflict “are those cases where a coyote has attacked a pet or domestic livestock.”⁴⁰

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

“Coyotes typically mate in February and give birth to pups 63 days later. Average litters are four pups but can be as high as 11 pups, depending on population density, abundance of food and other factors.”⁴¹

February breeding puts pups on the ground in April. Late winter is the best calling of the year for the same reason it is everywhere — males cover more ground and answer harder — and in Oregon it has the added advantage of falling well clear of the deer and elk season rifle restrictions.

When are coyotes most active in Oregon?

First and last light, year-round. Given that lights, night vision and thermal are all prohibited here,^{11 15} those two windows are not merely the best time to hunt Oregon coyotes — they are most of the practical opportunity. For the full breakdown of season, weather and moon phase, see when to hunt coyotes.

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

This is the question ODFW cares most about, and it devotes a full page of the furbearer regulations to it under the heading “Wolves in Oregon: what trappers need to know.”³²

Gray wolves are protected in Oregon, and the protection has two layers:

Gray wolves are managed and protected under the Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management Plan and associated technical rules. Also, west of Oregon Highways 395/78/95, wolves are federally listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the lead management agency.³²

So the western two-thirds of the state carries federal endangered status on top of state protection. There is no open season anywhere and no Oregon license authorizes taking one.

ODFW’s own comparison:

Every figure is ODFW’s.³²

The two sentences to actually carry into the field:

Wolf pups in the mid-summer and fall can closely resemble coyotes, and it can be difficult to tell them apart.

While hunting coyote in wolf country, you should not shoot unless you are sure of your target.³²

That first sentence is the one that gets missed. Adult wolves are two to three times a coyote’s weight and hard to mistake — but a pup in September is in the coyote size range, and Oregon coyote hunting is a first-and-last-light activity with no lights and no thermal permitted. You will be making this call in poor light with an unaided eye.

Maps of Areas of Known Wolf Activity are published at go.MyODFW.com/AKWA, but ODFW is explicit that “furtakers could observe wolves or wolf sign anywhere in Oregon.”³² Treat the map as a heat map, not a boundary.

What should a coyote trapper do differently in wolf country?

ODFW publishes trap specifications aimed directly at coyote sets, and they are the most useful unpaperworked advice in the Oregon booklet:³²

Look before you set. “Avoid trapping in areas with common or recent wolf sign… Before setting coyote or other large furbearer traps, look for wolf sign in the area. Wolves are highly mobile and can travel large distances daily.”

Use a smaller trap. “Smaller traps for coyotes (#3 or smaller) reduce the chance of holding a trapped wolf.”

Anchor properly, because a wolf will pull out what a coyote will not. “Double staking or cross pinning stakes (metal, 18-24 inches long) can prevent trap loss. Wolves are strong enough to pull out shorter stakes, especially in soft ground. Staked traps should have about eight inches (8”) or less of chain and a stout swivel system. Reinforce links by welding if necessary.”

On a drag system, size for the bigger animal. “The drag system should be heavy enough to hold a 100+ pound animal. Traps anchored to a drag should have a minimum of seven feet (7’) of chain.”

Snares need breakaways. “Use a high-quality snare with breakaways. Snares should be well anchored and have a long cable. Be mindful of where and how the snare is placed relative to obstacles such as logs, as these could entangle an animal caught incidentally.”

If you catch one, do not try to handle it. ODFW asks you to call immediately — your local ODFW office, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on (503) 231-6179, or the Oregon State Police Dispatch Center on (541) 664-4600.³²

And report what you see even when nothing is caught. ODFW says licensed trappers “can play an important role in the conservation and management of wolves in Oregon” because of their knowledge of predators and animal sign, and asks for observations at go.MyODFW.com/WolvesinOregon — “the number and description of animals observed, track measurements, and other sign is extremely valuable.”³²

Anything else worth noting about coyote hunting in Oregon

Oregon is a daylight state. The season never closes, there is no limit, dogs are legal, snares are legal, calling is unrestricted and the license is cheap — and then the equipment rules remove the entire night-hunting toolkit that the rest of the West takes for granted. Plan around first and last light, not around a thermal.

Two other things separate it from its neighbours: contests are unlawful statewide, and a centerfire rifle is off the table in listed units through deer and elk seasons. Get those three facts right — optics, contests, autumn rifles — and the rest of Oregon is straightforward.

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

No. Oregon law is general on this point rather than coyote-specific: “No person shall remove from its natural habitat or acquire and hold in captivity any live wildlife in violation of the wildlife laws or any rule adopted thereunder.”⁴² Nothing in the hunting or furbearer rules authorizes keeping a coyote, so there is no route by which a private individual may hold one.

The license that lets you take a coyote lets you take it. It does not let you keep it alive.

Know something we missed? Contact me and I’ll get it fixed.