WHEATLAND – In an update to the Platte County Commissioners last week, predatory animal board treasurer Bill Klein said his annual report has similar numbers as last year. Klein said the bounty for coyotes is currently $30 per verified Platte County-killed coyotes, which has been increased over the years as funding has allowed. He mentioned there is only minimal funding to work with.
For example, one year there were a lot of bounty receipts and not enough for each bounty to be paid in full, so the funds were divided equally until the funds were gone. This year, though, the $30 seems like it will be sufficient.
Commissioner chairman Steve Shockley mentioned the program seemed to be helping keep the number of coyotes down west of town. Klein responded, near the Albany County line the coyote population is down, but there are still enough around to be predating on deer fawns.
Klein said the program to reduce the number of coyotes in the county has been working, but there are still areas where there are a lot of predators. He added, the predator board has had good success in utilizing local trappers to assist landowners’ efforts to control coyote populations. One of those trappers is Brian Matthews, who Klein said has gained respect not only for successful trapping efforts, but also because of his consideration of the landowners’ property.

“It’s been better to use him than for us to hire a plane to fly….If we do flying, [we’d have to] go in with the state because $27,000 would never cover it,” Klein said of occasional requests from landowners with significant predation on their herds who inquire into possibly using planes to kill the nuisance predators.
Though coyote bounty hunters would like an increase in bounties to cover all their costs, Klein said, from the landowners’ perspective – yes, they’d like more predators killed, but they don’t have the money to pay more for it. He added, the main group of hunters collecting bounties is about 50-strong, and they are “a good group” and understand there’s only so much money to give out in bounties.
Klein reported he hasn’t heard any reports of wolves in the area, but commissioner Ian Jolovich said he’s heard of some male wolves near the county, but they “are not quite here.” He added, wolves travel long distances and are mostly solitary.
Shockley inquired if the predatory animal board has considered applying for state grant funds to increase available funding for a more robust program. Klein said the question comes up sometimes, but historically the board has wanted to maintain totally local control on management plans. However, the board would possibly welcome a visit with Wyoming Game and Fish to see what the attached requirements would be with any options for state grant assistance in predatory management.
Funding for the Platte County Predatory Animal Board comes solely by a fee assessed at the time of livestock brand inspections at area sale barns (around 55¢ per head of livestock), which results in a fluctuating, but minimal budget.
A short discussion about the increasing prairie dog populations revealed commissioners’ concern about the significant increase in prairie dog towns, and the signs of them attempting to increase their territory, but it was agreed there were no conclusive answers to the problem.
The annual public meeting of the predatory animal board will be in December. Officers will be elected, the official records approved, and the bounty for 2025 will be set.