Coyote Season by State: Mating, Pups and Pet Safety
What coyotes are doing this month where you live, from winter mating to spring pups and fall dispersal, with each state agency’s own advice for keeping dogs and cats safe.
October across the country: Dispersal
The usual coyote year
The young of the year leave home to find their own ground, crossing roads and turning up in neighborhoods new to them.
For pets: Young coyotes new to a place are still learning what to avoid: keep cats indoors and walk dogs on a short leash at dawn and dusk.
Across the country, dispersal usually runs from October to December. Pick your state for its agency’s own months.
Next comes mating season, from January.
The coyote year
The coyote year, month by month
Mating in late winter, pups in spring, families together through summer, and the young of the year leaving home in fall. Pick a state above and the months below follow its agency’s own calendar.
JanMating
FebMating
MarMating
AprPups
MayPups
JunPups
JulFamily
AugFamily
SepFamily
OctDispersalNow
NovDispersal
DecDispersal
Mating season: January to March
Pup season: April to June
Family season: July to September
Dispersal: October to December
February
Top mating month
All 37 states that date it include it
April
Top month for pups
30 of the 31 states that date it
44 states
Hunting open all year
of the 49 with coyotes
86,842
Coyote sightings logged
iNaturalist research grade, 2016 to 2025
A coyote howling in the Lamar Valley, Yellowstone, in February. Photo: Jim Peaco, National Park Service. “Coyote (7437504050)”, Yellowstone National Park, Public domain
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Dogs and cats
How to keep pets safe from coyotes
Pet advice from wildlife agencies and extension services in 49 states, grouped by what it asks of you, the most common first. The count is how many states give that advice; the lines under it are theirs, word for word.
Four pups outside their den in the bank above Big Dry Creek at Metzger Farm Open Space, Colorado, in mid May. Photo: Jim Kennedy. “Four Coyote Pups by Den in Metzger Farm Open Space, Colorado (17614272575)”, nature80020, CC BY 2.0
Hazing
What agencies mean by hazing a coyote
Advice from 38 states says to scare off a coyote that comes too close, and 34 of them say to make noise. In their words:
Chase coyotes off your property. Keep coyotes wild by "hazing" them, which means doing things to scare them or chase them away.
Do not run or turn your back on a coyote that has approached you. Face the coyote, shout at it, be as big and loud as possible, wave your arms and back away slowly.
C-144, a coyote the National Park Service followed by GPS, crossing a street in the Westlake neighborhood just west of downtown Los Angeles. “C-144 crossing street (19896711640)”, National Park Service from USA, Public domain
Hunting and trapping
Coyote hunting and trapping by state
44 of the 49 states keep coyote hunting open all year. Each state’s page gives the season year, the license and the agency’s own words.
Read from each agency’s regulations on October 13, 2026. Seasons, methods and night rules can differ by unit and by public or private land, so read the agency’s page before you go out.
Late winter. Across the 37 states whose wildlife agency or extension service dates it, February is the month named by every one of them, and 35 put mating entirely between January and March. It is the loudest stretch of the coyote year, when pairs court, howl and travel farthest.
In spring. Across the 31 states with a published month, April is the month named by 30 of them. The Alabama Cooperative Extension System puts it this way: “In Alabama, pups are usually born in April.”
Young coyotes are on the move. The young of the year leave home to find their own ground, crossing roads and turning up in neighborhoods new to them. The Alabama Cooperative Extension System puts it this way: “Pups remain with their parents until autumn or early winter, at which time they disperse.”
The same advice runs through state after state: walk dogs on a leash (28 states), stay with pets outside (24 states), bring pets in at dawn, dusk and night (25 states) and fence or kennel pets (26 states). ODFW in Oregon: “Walk your dog on a leash when outdoors.”
Make it uncomfortable. Advice from 38 states says to scare off a coyote that comes too close, and 34 of them say to make noise; several agencies call it hazing. California Fish and Wildlife: “Make loud noise—yell, clap, blow a whistle.”
Yes, in all 49 states where coyotes live. 44 of them keep coyote hunting open all year (Alaska in most units); Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey and New York set a season, which in each runs through the winter. In Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, a resident needs no license to hunt them.
No. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission puts it plainly: “Coyotes now live in every state but Hawaii.” Delaware was the last state to fill in; the DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife writes: “Delaware is recognized as the 49th state populated by the species.”
Do not run. Advice from 10 states says so in those words. Wild Aware Utah: “Do not run or turn your back on a coyote that has approached you. Face the coyote, shout at it, be as big and loud as possible, wave your arms and back away slowly.”
Hunters in Hawaii go after other game, and the Hawaii hunting license guide has the license and the tag. The most recent state coyotes reached is Delaware:
Delaware is recognized as the 49th state populated by the species.
Every fact links to the agency, extension or statute page it was read from, each read October 13, 2026. Mating, pup and dispersal months are the state agency’s own where it prints them; the national calendar fills the rest. Sighting counts are iNaturalist research grade records, which count sightings, not coyotes.
