Yote whacking

WHAT IS YOTE WHACKING?

Yote whacking is the killing of coyotes or wolves by running them down and running them over repeatedly with snowmobiles.

Despite being the subject of statewide, national and international outrage, yote whacking continues to be legal in the state of Wyoming, with no animal cruelty laws in place to protect wolves, coyotes and other predators* from torture or animal cruelty.

*Other animals that are considered predators in Wyoming include red foxes, raccoons, porcupines, skunks, jackrabbits, and domestic stray cats.

LEGISLATURE 2025 UPDATE:

HB275 Treatment of animals – Passed.

House Vote: Ayes 57, Nays 3, Excused 2. Senate Vote: Ayes 27, Nays 4.

Bill sponsor Rep. Bryan. Co-sponsors Reps. Schmid, Singh, Williams, and Senators Barlow, Hutchings, Nethercott, and Olsen.

After ten months of deliberations, HB275 was proposed to deal with the public outcry about the “wolf incident” in Daniel, Wyoming, in February 2024. After Cody Roberts chased down a young wolf on his snowmobile he ignited a nationwide outcry about Wyoming’s treatment of predators. He took the injured wolf to his home, taped its mouth shut, and then took it to a local bar where the injured and dying wolf was taunted for several hours before it was killed in the back of the bar. Because the incident was filmed by a bar customer and it became a headline article in the news, the public were once again exposed to a Wyoming ‘sport’ called yote whacking or yote mashing.

Afraid of losing millions of dollars of predator control funds, initially state agencies in charge of managing wildlife asserted openly that this incident was not typical Wyoming behavior. However, vivid examples of this sport available on social media immediately cast another dark shadow on the state agencies. Unable to quiet global outrage and the national public outcry, they eventually admitted that running over predators with snowmobiles is a lucrative sport in Wyoming and has been practiced for over 50 years. In fact, spokesmen for the agricultural industry admitted that yote whacking is practiced as a useful tool to control predators, especially coyotes. This sport, along with wildlife killing contests, brings in wildlife mercenaries from other states as well as Wyoming enthusiasts. It is big business.

Adding to the disturbing news, the public learned that although the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) fined Mr. Roberts $250 dollars for possessing a live wild animal, he could have been taken to court and issued a larger fine. When it was revealed that Mr. Roberts was employed by WGFD as a contractor, the issue became more unsettling. To this day the Sublette County (sparsely populated rural county with 8,728 residents) Sheriff’s Office and the prosecutor’s office have not concluded their investigation. It is anticipated that in an isolated area where everyone knows each other, the case will be left open indefinitely.

The legislature’s Travel, Recreation, Wildlife, and Cultural Resources Committee (TRW) was assigned the job of settling this public conflict. The TRW’s working group, overseen by the agricultural industry and allied agency representatives such as the Wyoming Farm Bureau and Wyoming Wildlife Federation, initially proposed bill HB0003, Animal abuse-predatory animals. This bill explicitly sanctioned the practice of recreationally running over wildlife with snowmobiles but stiffened penalties for keeping struck, wounded animals alive. It was later replaced with HB275.

In discussions about proposed legislation, the main issue was that the agriculture community will not accept any changes to statutes that allow for running over animals with snowmobiles or other motorized vehicles. It wants to keep running over predators a legal practice. HB275 requires that the snowmobilers who intentionally strike animals must make a reasonable effort to immediately kill the injured or incapacitated animal. The focus is on rapid killing of a predator run over by a snowmobile. This ludicrous statement “if you kill the animal as quickly as possible, there is no torture involved” angered a public already incredulous about the TRW committee’s product outcome.

The fact is that the HB275 bill does not address the public’s concerns. Arguments presented during committee hearings included: First, that yote mashing and killing wildlife for sport, outside of hunting season, is not acceptable. Second, the act of running down wildlife with a 700-pound machine until the animal is exhausted, running back and forth over it and smashing it, reducing it to ‘possession’, is torture. Third, public lands and wildlife are held in trust for the public. A shared wildlife plan with public input is lacking in Wyoming. Fourth, ethical hunters never chase or harass wildlife with a machine. This behavior violates a basic tenet of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation: wildlife should be killed for legitimate purposes only. Fifth, killing wildlife when confirmed livestock losses are documented is understandable. But killing for fun is not acceptable. Sixth, it is well documented that torturing animals often leads to increased infractions of unacceptable behavior such as abusing humans, often in intra-familial crimes such as incest, rape and assault. Seventh, it is well established in science that unregulated killing of predators does not regulate numbers. Predators self-regulate. Nonlethal predator control should be pursued. Eighth, the control of predators is well funded by the Wyoming Animal Damage Management Board (ADMB) and the 19 county-based predator management districts (four counties lack such districts). Because predator control activities are well funded by federal and state funds, supplemented by a predator fee levied on livestock, and in some years, cash transfers from WGFD to the ADMB, why does the agricultural community need to condone yote mashing on public lands?

Recognizing that HB275 does not address the public’s definition of wildlife torture, Rep. Schmid introduced HB331, the taking of predators on public lands. He suggested to the Legislature that Wyoming has developed a negative public opinion which will not change until this issue is resolved. The public will not allow it to disappear. HB331 would have made it illegal to conduct yote whacking on public lands but allowing the agriculture community to maintain this practice on private land. But HB331 failed.