Bulloch County, GA Animal Ordinances: Coyote Management (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.
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?
Does Bulloch County have a coyote hazing policy?
Is it illegal to feed coyotes in unincorporated Bulloch County?
Who decides a coyote is a nuisance under county law?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Bulloch County
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