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Bulloch County, GA Animal Ordinances: Coyote Management (2026)

Light Restrictions
Compiled from the official code textEditor Martyn O'NeillLast verified September 2026

Key Facts

Governing section
Bulloch County Code § 8-161
Coyotes
Exempt from humane-treatment restrictions
Who decides nuisance status
Appropriate governmental officials
Also exempted
Beaver, poisonous snakes, rodents
Hazing/feeding rules
None exist in this code
Enforcement
Sheriff's office, dog control officer
Max penalty (outside exemption)
$1,000 fine, 60 days jail

Summary

In unincorporated Bulloch County, coyotes aren't a protected species under the county's animal-cruelty rules. Code § 8-161 exempts the eradication or control of coyotes, beaver, poisonous snakes and other nuisance wildlife from Chapter 8's humane-treatment restrictions once an appropriate governmental official determines the animal is a nuisance. The county runs no separate hazing program, cull calendar or feeding ban of its own.

These county ordinances apply to unincorporated areas of Bulloch County. Incorporated cities within the county may have their own rules that take precedence over county-level regulations.

Notwithstanding any other provision, the provisions of this article shall not apply to: ... (1)The eradication or control of rats, mice gophers, moles, other rodent pests, coyotes, beaver, poisonous snakes and insects and other animals and birds which have been determined by appropriate governmental officials to constitute nuisances.

Full Breakdown

2). ' That single sentence is the entirety of the county's coyote-specific text. It authorizes government-directed control rather than granting residents blanket permission to trap or kill coyotes on their own. The related nuisance-animal section, § 8-156, addresses domesticated or caged wild animals that attack, chase vehicles or damage property, but free-roaming coyotes fall outside that definition. Enforcement of the animal article generally runs through the sheriff's office, the dog control officer, or other designated county officials under § 8-156(c). Nothing in Chapter 8 sets hazing standards, discourages feeding wildlife, or schedules organized culls; those are simply absent from the code. Coyote hunting and trapping outside this exemption is governed by separate state wildlife law, not by this county ordinance.

Violations & Fines

Killing, maiming or inhumanely treating an animal outside the § 8-161 exemption is punishable under § 8-163.2 by a fine up to $1,000, imprisonment up to 60 days in the county jail, or both, prosecuted in Magistrate Court. Eradication or control of coyotes and the other listed nuisance species, when carried out by appropriate governmental officials, carries no such liability under this article.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I shoot or trap a coyote on my property in unincorporated Bulloch County?
The county's animal ordinance doesn't grant or deny that authority to private residents; Section 8-161 only exempts eradication or control of coyotes by appropriate governmental officials from Chapter 8's humane-treatment rules. Sheriff's deputies and the dog control officer, not individual homeowners, are the officials the exemption references.
Does Bulloch County have a coyote hazing policy?
No. Chapter 8 has no hazing standard, coexistence guidance, or wildlife-feeding restriction. Section 8-161 exempts government-authorized eradication from the humane-treatment article, but it doesn't set out any procedure residents are told to follow.
Is it illegal to feed coyotes in unincorporated Bulloch County?
The code has no feeding ban aimed at coyotes or wildlife generally. Section 8-158's requirement that owners provide 'adequate food and water' applies to animals and birds a person keeps as their own, not to wild coyotes, so feeding wildlife isn't addressed either way.
Who decides a coyote is a nuisance under county law?
Section 8-161 leaves that determination to 'appropriate governmental officials,' not individual residents. Once officials make that call, eradicating or controlling the coyote is exempt from the humane-treatment and forfeiture provisions found in Sections 8-157 through 8-163.

Sources & Official References

Other rules in Bulloch County

All Bulloch County rules

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