Coyote Hunting Laws in Alabama: Season Dates, Licenses, and Rules You Need to Know

Alabama gives hunters more flexibility on coyotes than almost any other game species in the state. There is no closed season, no bag limit, and a wide range of legal methods — but that freedom comes with a specific set of rules that differ depending on whether you hunt by day or night, on private or public land, and whether you hold the right license for the right season.

Whether you are a resident hunter, a visiting predator caller, or a landowner dealing with livestock losses, understanding Alabama’s coyote regulations before you head out protects you from steep fines and license revocations. This guide walks through every major rule for the 2025–2026 season using information from the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) and the official Alabama Administrative Code.

Important Note: Alabama hunting regulations are updated annually. Always verify the most current rules at outdooralabama.com or in the official Alabama Hunting and Fishing Digest before heading afield.

Is Coyote Hunting Legal in Alabama?

Alabama does not classify coyotes as a protected game species like deer or turkey, and they do not appear on the state’s list of protected nongame mammals. There is no closed season for hunting or trapping them, and no limit on how many you can take.

Coyotes are designated as game animals in Alabama, and they are also designated as furbearing animals under Alabama law. That dual classification means coyotes fall under both hunting regulations and furbearer trapping rules, depending on how you pursue them.

Alabama’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources classifies coyotes as both game animals and furbearers, which means they can be hunted year-round with no bag limits. The ADCNR actively encourages population control because of the damage coyotes cause to livestock and native wildlife. For a broader look at how Alabama manages all game species, see our guide on hunting laws in Alabama.

Coyotes (Canis latrans) are highly adaptable predators found throughout Alabama in rural, suburban, and even urban areas. They favor edge habitat — places where fields meet woods, creek beds snake through pine stands, or brush borders hay pastures. Understanding their behavior is as important as knowing the law before you pursue them.

Coyote Hunting Season Dates in Alabama

In Alabama, coyotes may be hunted year-round during daytime hours only — 30 minutes before official sunrise time until 30 minutes after official sunset time — with no closed season or bag limit. This applies to both private and public land during the standard season.

A separate Special Nighttime Season adds an additional window on private land. The Special Nighttime Season on privately owned and leased lands begins at 12:00 am on the day after the last day of gun deer season in that zone and ends 30 minutes prior to sunrise on the opening day of archery deer season in that zone. Because Alabama uses multiple deer zones with different gun season closing dates, the nighttime window opens and closes on different calendar dates depending on where you are hunting.

Pro Tip: Because the Special Nighttime Season is tied to deer season dates by zone, confirm your specific zone’s gun deer closing date on the ADCNR website before planning a night hunt. The window varies across Zones A through E.

Nighttime hunting for coyotes is not allowed on public land. Alabama offers several Wildlife Management Areas open to predator hunting, although rules and dates vary, and some areas require special permits. If you plan to hunt coyotes on a WMA, check that specific area’s permit requirements before going out.

Season Type	Allowed Hours	Land Type	License Required
Standard Daytime Season	30 min before sunrise to 30 min after sunset	Private and public	Standard hunting license
Special Nighttime Season	After last day of gun deer season through day before archery opener	Private and leased lands only	Nighttime feral swine and coyote license

License and Permit Requirements for Coyote Hunting in Alabama

All Alabama hunters aged 16 through 64 must have a valid hunting license. For coyotes specifically, a Small Game or All Game license covers daytime hunting. The Resident All Game Hunting License costs $34.35 for the 2025–2026 license year and covers deer, turkey, dove, quail, rabbit, squirrel, feral hog, coyote, and all other legal game species.

If you only want to hunt coyotes and other small game without pursuing deer or turkey, a less expensive option works. Alabama residents need a Small Game Hunting License, which costs $22.75 per year. Non-residents pay more: $130.25 for an annual license, $79.35 for a 10-day trip license, or $57.40 for a 3-day trip license.

Night hunting requires a completely separate license. Nighttime feral swine and coyote hunting requires a separate license — $18 for residents and $61.65 for non-residents (as of the 2025–2026 license year). One critical exception: none of the standard license exemptions cover nighttime coyote hunting. Every hunter who wants to hunt coyotes at night must purchase the nighttime license regardless of age or landowner status.

Several groups are exempt from standard license requirements for daytime hunting. Residents under 16, residents aged 65 and older, and resident landowners along with their immediate family hunting on their own property are exempt. Alabama residents home on military leave with proper identification also qualify for the exemption.

If you were born after August 1, 1977, you must complete a certified hunter education course before purchasing a license. All hunters — resident or non-resident — must hold a valid hunting license, available online through Outdoor Alabama or at local probate offices.

Legal Methods and Weapons for Coyote Hunting in Alabama

Alabama places very few restrictions on how you can hunt coyotes during the standard daytime season. There are no restrictions on the methods used to hunt coyotes, meaning you can use firearms, archery equipment, decoys, electronic game callers, or other legal hunting equipment to pursue them.

Specific weapon options include:

• Rifles: Rifles of any caliber are allowed for coyote hunting in Alabama. A .223 or .243 with a quality scope works well for open-country shots, while heavier calibers handle longer distances.
• Shotguns: Legal and effective in thick cover with buckshot or heavy loads.
• Archery: Centerfire rifles, shotguns, and archery gear are all legal for coyote hunting. Legal bows include longbow, recurve, compound, and crossbow.
• Suppressors: Suppressors are permitted with proper federal paperwork.

A few general firearm rules apply regardless of species. Fully automatic firearms are prohibited for hunting in Alabama. You may not hunt or discharge a firearm within 50 yards of the right-of-way of any public road, highway, or railroad with a centerfire rifle, a shotgun using slugs or shot larger than number four shot, or a muzzle loading rifle .40 caliber or larger.

Poison, explosives, and pitfalls are strictly prohibited for taking any wildlife in Alabama. These prohibitions apply to coyotes just as they do to any other species.

For hunters pursuing coyotes alongside deer or other game, check out our guide on bow hunting laws in Alabama for archery-specific rules that may apply to your setup.

Night Hunting and Electronic Call Rules in Alabama

Night hunting for coyotes is legal in Alabama but only during the Special Nighttime Season, only on privately owned or leased land, and only with the correct license. Alabama’s governor signed Senate Bill 264 to allow feral hog and coyote hunting at night, which answered the call for exceptions to existing law prohibiting nighttime hunting of these species without an appropriate license.

Possession of thermal optics and laser sights and lights on firearms is allowed for hunters who hold the license to hunt feral swine and coyotes at night, during the designated season, when conducting those activities. Outside of that licensed nighttime season, using laser sights or forward-projecting lights on a firearm for hunting is prohibited.

Hunters who possess a current nighttime feral swine and coyote license, hunting those species during dates of the established special nighttime season, are exempt from the general prohibition on laser sights, attachments, and light sources that project a beam forward of a gun or bow.

Electronic calls are legal for coyote hunting in Alabama during both the daytime and nighttime seasons. During the daytime, hunters can use electronic calls and hunt coyotes while pursuing other game as well. There is no specific prohibition on electronic calls for coyotes in Alabama’s regulations, unlike some states that restrict their use.

Pro Tip: During the Special Nighttime Season, dogs cannot be used to hunt in areas where spring turkey season is open. Plan your methods around the spring turkey calendar in your zone to stay compliant.

The night hunting legislation only relates to feral hogs and coyotes — all other birds and animals covered under Alabama state law remain illegal to hunt during nighttime hours. Violations carry serious consequences. Any person violating the nighttime hunting statute is guilty of a Class B misdemeanor, punishable for a first offense by a fine of not less than $2,000 nor more than $3,000 and up to six months in county jail. The court shall also revoke all hunting license privileges for three years from the date of conviction.

To see how Alabama’s night hunting rules compare with neighboring states, see our guides on coyote hunting laws in Tennessee and coyote hunting laws in Georgia.

Trapping Coyotes in Alabama

Trapping coyotes is legal year-round with no closed season. There is no closed season for beaver, coyote, raccoon, opossum, and nutria, per the Outdoor Alabama trapping page.

License requirements for trapping depend on your purpose. To take, capture, or kill fur-bearing animals for commercial purposes, a fur-catcher’s license is required. If you are not being paid to trap and are not selling the fur or carcass, no license is required. The fur catcher license has a base statutory fee of $20 for Alabama residents. Non-resident trapping fees are based on reciprocal pricing with the trapper’s home state and are never less than 10 times the resident fee.

Alabama regulates trap types carefully under Alabama Administrative Code Rule 220-2-.30. The key specifications are:

• Leghold traps used on land cannot have an inside jaw spread greater than six inches, and traps with teeth or serrated jaws are banned.
• Body-gripping traps on land cannot exceed five inches in jaw width. Standard snares are prohibited on land, though powered foot snares with a maximum loop of five and a half inches are allowed.
• Land-based traps must be checked at least once every 24 hours, while traps set in or under water must be checked every 72 hours.

It is unlawful to possess a furbearer alive beyond the confines of the trap without a permit from the Commissioner of ADCNR. All furbearers must be immediately dispatched or released at the trap site. Any person trapping fur-bearing animals in Alabama must carry a choke stick while running traps. When trapped fur-bearing animals are dispatched with a firearm, only standard .22 caliber rimfire firearms may be used.

If you plan to sell coyote hides or fur, you need additional licensing. A fur catcher who ships their own catch out of state operates under the fur catcher license. Anyone buying, trading, or dealing in raw furs must obtain a Fur Dealer License.

For comparison with how other states handle coyote trapping and hunting regulations, see our guides on coyote hunting laws in North Carolina and coyote hunting laws in Virginia.

Landowner Rights and Depredation Rules in Alabama

Alabama gives landowners substantial authority to manage coyotes on their own property. Alabama resident landowners and their immediate family do not need a license to hunt coyotes on their own property during regular daylight hours. This exemption covers the standard daytime season but does not extend to nighttime hunting.

When coyotes are causing damage beyond what standard hunting and trapping can address, landowners have a separate pathway through the depredation permit system. Protected wildlife causing crop damage, property damage, or a reasonable concern for human safety may be taken at times and by means otherwise unlawful by first procuring a permit from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

Feral swine and coyotes are species for which the necessity of demonstrating specific damage is not required. Such permits will only be issued to the person owning the land or his or her official agent, or to any person who has a lease on such lands, provided the lessee has the permission of the landowner to remove protected wildlife.

A landowner and his or her agents who possess a valid permit to take protected wildlife causing crop damage, property damage, or concern for human safety are exempt from the requirement to purchase the nighttime feral swine and coyote hunting season license. This is a meaningful distinction — a depredation permit effectively replaces the nighttime license for qualifying landowners and their authorized agents.

Landowners or their official agents may obtain a permit through the local ADCNR district office for nuisance control hunting outside of the dates of deer gun season. Contact your local Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries District Office to apply. Landowners dealing with persistent coyote predation on livestock can also contact the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries or ADCNR for assistance with management strategies beyond what individual hunting and trapping can accomplish.

Alabama does not require hunters to report harvested coyotes, and there is no statewide bounty program, though some local hunting organizations occasionally run their own coyote control incentive programs.

One important transport restriction applies to all coyotes regardless of how they were taken. Alabama Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Regulation 220-2-.26 states that no person, firm, corporation, partnership, or association shall transport live coyotes within the state. All coyotes must be dispatched at the site of capture or kill.

If you hunt coyotes in multiple states, our guides on coyote hunting laws in Texas, coyote hunting laws in Ohio, coyote hunting laws in Indiana, and coyote hunting laws in Illinois provide state-by-state comparisons. For additional context on how the Southeast approaches predator management, see our guides on coyote hunting laws in Pennsylvania and coyote hunting laws in Michigan.

Alabama’s coyote regulations give hunters and landowners a genuinely open framework — year-round access, no bag limit, and a broad range of legal weapons and methods. The rules that do exist center on two things: making sure you carry the right license for the right season, and keeping nighttime hunting confined to the designated window on private land. Get those two things right, and Alabama is one of the most accessible states in the country for coyote hunting.