<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/1/1610144486227.png" alt="U.S. Fish &amp; Wildlife Service" />
 <figcaption>U.S. Fish &amp; Wildlife Service</figcaption>
 </figure>By DAVID CONDOS <a href="https://www.hppr.org/post/kansas-coyote-killing-competition-so-serious-youll-have-pass-lie-detector-test-win">Kansas News Service</a>The art of calling and killing coyotes is competitive stuff.&nbsp;Sometimes people cheat — bagging kills before a contest and then trying to pass them off as fresh at the final check-in.&nbsp;So
 this year for the first time, when contestants gather in Kismet, 
Kansas, the three teams with the most coyote kills will each send one of
 their members to sit down for a lie detector test.&nbsp; “We’ve
 never done that in the past,” said Bryan Garrison, who founded the 
Southwest Kansas Coyote Calling Contest five years ago. “I want 
everybody to be on the same page and it to be as fair as you can get 
it.”The polygraph examiner will drive five-plus hours
 to give the tests on Sunday evening when all contestants present their 
coyotes at the Kismet Community Pavilion to be counted, weighed and 
inspected.But Garrison says he understands that lie detector tests aren’t foolproof.&nbsp; “It’s
 a little bit nerve-wracking,” Garrison said. “If you sat me down and 
started drilling me with questions, I think I’d fail.”So
 any team that believes the polygraph misread its member’s honesty can 
pay $200 to have a second member tested and get a shot at redemption.Coyote
 calling contests stem from the common practice of ranchers hiring local
 hunters to kill coyotes to protect their livestock.&nbsp; &nbsp;A
 2015 report from the USDA says coyotes accounted for 40.5% of cattle 
deaths due to predators nationwide. There are conflicting opinions among
 wildlife experts, however, as to whether killing coyotes actually 
protects livestock or just leads to larger coyote populations in the 
long run.But Garrison said coyotes are largely viewed
 as pests by the farmers and ranchers he knows. When his neighbors in 
southwestern Kansas have coyote problems on their property, they call 
Garrison.“I’ve been out three times this week,” he 
said. “The other night, a guy said, ‘I’ve got 50 coyotes in my yard at 3
 a.m., and we can’t even sleep.’ And I said, ‘I’ll be out tomorrow.’”The
 groups at Garrison’s contest have two days to find and shoot as many 
coyotes as they can. They use calls that mimic the sound of distressed 
rabbits, squeaking rodents and other coyotes to draw the animals within 
firing range. The team that brings the most coyotes back to Kismet wins,
 with total weight serving as a tie-breaker.But 
keeping a coyote calling contest fair is a challenge. Even before he 
called the polygraph examiner, Garrison already added a number of rules 
over the years to crack down on the cheaters.&nbsp; First,
 each contestant needs to write the time of a kill on a wooden block and
 zip-tie the dead coyote’s mouth shut around it. This gives Garrison a 
better idea of when rigor mortis set in, so he can work out the actual 
time of death.“That’s how you know that somebody 
didn’t go shoot coyotes last week,” Garrison said. “If it’s new, you got
 to really want to get it out of there. It’s that tight.” Rigor mortis 
eventually passes, and the jaws loosen up after a few days.Temperature
 core readings offer another safeguard against cheating. Garrison 
determines the temperature of each coyote brought to check-in and 
compares it to the kill time written on the block in its mouth.“If
 I shoot a coyote at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday,” Garrison said, “that coyote
 should be way cooler than the coyote I shot on Sunday at 2.”As
 long as they follow the rules, the contestants are free to chart their 
own path. They can use whichever type of coyote call they want. Garrison
 says electronic calls have gained popularity in recent years, but he 
still prefers a hand or mouth call because it requires a finer touch and
 allows him more flexibility to tweak the sounds he creates.Callers
 can also hunt wherever they choose, as long as they have permission. 
Garrison says some contestants travel in from out of state for 
registration Friday night and then drive back home to hunt before 
returning on Sunday.The winning team gets a cash 
prize that grows as more groups join and pay the $200 entry fee. But 
it’s not easy money, based on the serious hunters Garrison has seen in 
past years.“If you couldn’t put up 10, 15, 20 coyotes
 in a weekend, you wouldn’t even think about winning,” Garrison said, 
“or even being in the top three.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/1/1610144556887.jpeg" alt=" Hunters surround 103 coyotes at the 2019 contest. Credit Bryan Garrison" />
 <figcaption> Hunters surround 103 coyotes at the 2019 contest. Credit Bryan Garrison</figcaption>
 </figure>Even though coyote calling takes place outdoors, COVID-19 
has still had an impact on this year’s season. One of the region’s 
largest coyote contests, presented by outdoors retailer Cabela’s in 
Oklahoma City, hasn’t announced a date for this year.&nbsp; &nbsp;At
 the Kansas contest, which has drawn hunters from as far as Wyoming and 
New Mexico,&nbsp; Garrison will encourage face coverings and sanitize shared 
areas where the group gathers for registration and a shared meal Friday 
night.Garrison said the contest’s registration 
numbers trail the previous year’s. That may be partly because of the 
pandemic. But he also said the lie detector may have kept away some 
serious hunters who don’t want to risk the stain of a false-negative 
test result on their reputation.“I have some pros that I don’t have this year,” Garrison said. “And I think the lie detector kind of scared them off.”But
 Garrison said the group that shows up this weekend will not only be 
part of the fairest contest he’s hosted yet, but also have the chance to
 connect with a growing community of coyote callers.“The
 first year, nobody knew anybody. But now they come in, and we’ve all 
known each other for five years,” Garrison said. “My true goal with this
 contest was getting people out together to teach them something new.”David
 Condos covers western Kansas for High Plains Public Radio and the 
Kansas News Service. You can follow him on Twitter @davidcondos.

Kan. coyote-killing competition: You have to pass lie detector to win