SANTA FE (KRQE) Should New Mexicans be allowed to hold contests to see who kills the most coyotes?A pair of lawmakers say no and their bipartisan bill had both sides speaking up at the Roundhouse Tuesday.

Its not a good wildlife value, its not a good sportsman value, and the idea of killing anything as a contest is such a primitive message, Sierra Club member and former Santa Fe mayor David Coss said.

A hearing was held on the bill Tuesday afternoon in front of the Senate Conservation Committee.The bill, introduced by Republican Sen. Mark Moores and Democratic Rep. Jeff Steinborn would ban these coyote killing contests. They have almost a dozen groups backing them.

If passed into law, it would make the contests illegal and a misdemeanor if one were to be held.

Last November, Larrys Gun Shop in Roswell held its third annual coyote killing contest.As it stands, there is no limit on how many animals can be killed during these events. In the past, winners usually won firearms.

On the other side, many land and livestock owners spoke out against the bill.The New Mexico Cattle Growers Association and the Northern New Mexico Stockmens Association were among them, saying the contests are necessary.

One landowner KRQE News 13 spoke with pointed fingers at the state for this problem.

If they did a better job of managing all of these populations, we wouldnt have these problems, said Carlos Salazar with the Northern New Mexico Stockmens Association. Thats the bottom line to everything is managing. There is no managing. There is a big lack of management from the New Mexico Game and Fish (Department).

In New Mexico, there have also been contests for killing prairie dogs.

California was the first state to ban wildlife killing competitions.

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Coyote killing contest ban stirs big debate