Well, I just got home and I did have the opportunity to talk with a DOW Officer today.
As it turns out, dmpowder is 100% correct in what he stated:
Quote:Chapter 3 Article 1 section 300 Definitions
B:"Furbearers" means those species with fur having commercial value and which provide opportunities for sport harvest including mink, pine marten, badger, red fox, gray fox, swift fox, striped skunk, western spotted skunk, beaver, muskrat, long-tailed weasel, short-tailed weasel, coyote, bobcat, opossum, ring-tailed cat and raccoon.
Section 303 Manner of take
E. Furbearers
1. Any rifle or handgun.
2. Any shotgunI did do a little highlighting for you in his statement.
I walked into the office and asked to speak with an officer. They called for one.
I just cut to the punch line and asked if I had to have my shotgun plugged to hunt coyotes.
Without hesitation, the officer said No. No plug is required for hunting furbearers in general. (Yes for small game mammals though)
I explained to him my previous experiences with the field officer and the former head officer of that office and he had no comment as to why they would tell me I did need a plug. We carefully dissected the verbiage of the law for about 20 minutes, referring to the definitions, etc and he felt it was clear that you do not need a plugged shotgun to harvest furbearers. He did say he would forward all this information to the Chief DOW law advisers (not the correct term, but you get my point) for review and perhaps some clarity and he would forward any comments by them to my email, which I provided.
So...in spite of my prior encounters with DOW Officers and what I was told at that time, it is now clear to me that no plug is needed.
Lastly...to dmpowder...thanks for setting us all straight on this as you were 100% correct in your information. I learned something today, as I'm sure others did as well.
Good hunting to y'all!
Mark