Lander County approves ordinance allowing limited nighttime hunting of predators

The Lander County Board of Commissioners voted to approve Ordinance 2025-O2, amending Chapter 9.16 of the Lander County Code to add an exception allowing the nighttime hunting of coyotes, bobcats and badgers — and to add kit fox and gray fox to the list — under specified conditions.

The ordinance allows night hunting with night-vision or thermal devices provided hunters keep a safe distance from residences and structures, obtain prior permission to hunt on private land and comply with all state and local hunting regulations. A motion to approve the ordinance, which included a safety buffer of 2 miles from occupied dwellings and 1 mile from any structure, passed by voice vote.

During a lengthy public hearing, ranchers and farmers described repeated problems with daytime trespass and damage to farm equipment and property. Dennis Course of Course Farms said hunters have entered posted lands and caused damage, and warned that missed shots can ricochet and destroy irrigation equipment, which he estimated could cost tens of thousands of dollars: “When you ricochet, you hit 1 of my variable speed drives that control the pumps. They’re $30,000, and I can't run into Battle Mountain and pick 1 up for a replacement.”

Other speakers supported allowing night hunting under restrictions. Jacob Marble, who described his own long-range night hunting practices, said he scouts areas ahead of time and stays well away from dwellings: “I’ll then start at dusk, and I will sit there until dawn, and I will hunt all night long... I will go approximately about 3 miles out from that radius to make sure that there's someone not camping.”

Speakers who identified with predator-hunting organizations argued that responsible nighttime hunters can help control predators and may serve as additional eyes for law enforcement. George Forbush of the Betta Predators Hunting Association said thermal optics allow precise shooting and suggested legal nighttime hunting could even help report other criminal behavior witnessed during outings.

Sheriff Ron Unger told the commission deputies respond to complaints but cautioned that locating and apprehending people in remote areas at night is difficult: “We respond to all calls of service... the chances of us finding somebody is slim to none. We may catch them. We may not.” He also confirmed the department has some thermal/ night-vision equipment but said manpower limits and the remoteness of incidents reduce the likelihood of immediate enforcement.

Commission discussion focused on balancing public safety and property protection with Second Amendment concerns and on whether the local advisory vote held previously should bind the commission. Commissioners settled on a distance-based safety standard and explicitly required prior permission for hunting on private land.

The ordinance text adopted by the commission includes the species list (coyote, bobcat, badger, kit fox, gray fox), permits the use of night-vision and thermal optics, requires prior permission from private landowners, requires compliance with hunting regulations, and sets a 2-mile buffer from occupied dwellings and a 1-mile buffer from other structures when hunting at night. The commission voted in favor of the motion; the motion passed by voice vote.

The commission thanked speakers on both sides and recessed following the vote. The ordinance will be codified in Chapter 9.16 of the Lander County Code and is subject to the usual publication and implementation steps for county ordinances.