1965 Beaver Island coyote hunt ends with a hunter and coyote in open water

Locator map: Beaver Island highlighted within the Beaver Island archipelago — Took place at Beaver IslandLocator plate © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0); depths NOAA; names USGS GNIS. How the plates are drawn.

Event

Date: circa 1965-02
Kind: Accident
Where: Beaver Island
Eras: Modern era
Concepts: conservationenvironmentcommunity
Within: Beaver Island

Summary

An organized Beaver Island coyote hunt reported in February 1965 ended unusually: after the dogs drove a coyote onto Lake Michigan ice, Roy Chambers and the animal went into open water beyond an ice ridge. The report says Chambers dragged the coyote back onto the ice and that it was the only coyote taken.

Evidence and limits

This is a vivid newspaper account, not a wildlife-management, medical, or incident record. It does not establish the coyote’s condition beyond the reported hunt outcome or provide independent confirmation of the episode.

Sources

Beaver Beacon, February 1965, “Game News.”
Recounts a coyote hunt led by Archie LaFreniere and Roy Chambers of Indian River, with Sports Illustrated writer Bill Gilbert and Hugh Staples. The coyote was chased across Lake Michigan ice; after a shot only wounded it, Chambers and the coyote went into open water beyond an ice ridge, and Chambers dragged the animal back onto the ice. The notice says it was the only coyote taken and supplies no wildlife, medical, or incident record.
data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1965-02_Beaver-Beacon
Beaver Beacon, February 1965, held issue PDF, source scan.
The held eight-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1965-02_Beaver-Beacon

Added 2 August 2026 · revised 3 August 2026. Recent changes

Cite this article

Beaver Island Archive, “1965 Beaver Island coyote hunt ends with a hunter and coyote in open water”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/beaver-island-coyote-hunt-1965/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Beacon, February 1965, “Game News.” (and 1 further source listed on the page).

Last revised 2026-08-03. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.

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