Predator bounties have been around for over a hundred years. Maybe PA has never had one before, but it's nothing new to the US.

Most of the time, bounties aren't really big, two years ago one county I hunt in KS was paying $20 a coyote. When I was in high school, we could get "county bounties" of $50 an ear in western KS.

Local farmers used to pay bounties as well, and I'm sure some still do, or would. In the late 1990's, I got paid $100 a coyote by a group of 20 farmers in central KS because livestock depredation was so bad. Bought a new rifle and a used pick up after that winter...

I think we'll see bounties come and go, but more likely stay longer than they used to in the past. With more and more hunters looking for instant gratification jumping on the predator calling bandwagon, we're seeing more and more hunters that don't put up fur, or even sell the green hides. Then it gets expensive, and they stop hunting. Bounties are a way for the county or the state to encourage hunting to control livestock depredation, and it bridges the gap for hunters that don't take the time to earn the income by putting up the fur.

Bounties always come with mixed feelings. It encourages guys that just want to shoot something, cut off an ear, and scrap the rest to buy a rifle and drive around educating coyotes. BUT, for those of us raising livestock, sometimes it's nice to have more guns in the field to deal with an overpopulation of game.

And at the end of the day, always keep in mind that bounties are based on overpopulation. Get them while you can, because once the county or state decides things are back in balance, the bounties dry up. Some of us will keep calling coyotes to prevent population overgrowth again, some will stick the rifle in the closet when the bounty goes away.