Cougar Seasons - Year Round/No Weapon Limits for Boot Hunters - Lets Change It!

[carpsniperg2]

That map makes me laugh! What a bunch of nuts I once talked to a bio that was in town and he said they were flying in choppers to spot cougars Give me a break

[bearpaw]

Bobcat thanks for posting the cougar map from the WDFW.

I would like to point out that we have all seen the photos of the group of cougar (I think it was 8 of them), wasn't those  photo taken in the middle of the white area where there are supposed to be no cougar.... 

If that is the case, we definitely have more cougar than WDFW claims.

Kain, if I am correct about this, it would make a very good argument that WDFW is under estimating Washington's cougar population. 

[denali]

I would like to point out that we have all seen the photos of the group of cougar (I think it was 8 of them), wasn't those  photo taken in the middle of the white area where there are supposed to be no cougar.... 



hey.. don't leave us out, a cougar was found in a house under construction in Richland recently, the Tri-Cities is one of those white areas on the map.    

[jackmaster]

i would also like to point out that when we have a deer or elk sighting that we dont close schools down, i read a thing the other day that a bear or a cougar was spotted the other day and they locked up 3 schools and then the game department showed up tranked the animal and it ran off into the woods and they couldnt find it,  way to go wdfw,atta boy.... they didnt release the schools until 4:30 in the after noon. if someone could help me out with an address of who we gotta bug the hell out of to try to get are hound huntn and baiting back could post it please, i will be like ANDY DUFRAIN, and send a letter a day......

[bearpaw]

OK guys, you need to use these facts to disprove the WDFW population estimates and show cougar are being undermanaged based on under estimation of the population.

I have to go to work, talk later.

[hogsniper]

Im curious as to where these overpopulated areas of cougars are that many of you speak of.  I understand there are area's where more complaints are occuring and that is largly due to the urbanization of the state.  If you are that worried about ungulate populations maybe you should worry about poaching and regulating specific gmu's a little better.   With that said I am all for the cougar pilot program and it is a shame that it is being put aside.   

[MtnMuley]

Im curious as to where these overpopulated areas of cougars are that many of you speak of.  I understand there are area's where more complaints are occuring and that is largly due to the urbanization of the state.  If you are that worried about ungulate populations maybe you should worry about poaching and regulating specific gmu's a little better.   With that said I am all for the cougar pilot program and it is a shame that it is being put aside.   

   That's the most intelligent statement I've ever seen you make!  That "buy you books and send you to school" program seems to be really working!  By the way, I completely agree with your post.

[rasbo]

I will not support a year round hunt for cougar,Aug 1st to march 15 would be fine with me...if we get the populations down to much then I believe only those with hounds will stand a chance at getting them.and I myself cannot afford to pay someone to hunt them for me...even the cats need some down time from pressure if we want to maintain a huntable amount of cats for the boot guys

[rainshadow1]

HS, the very fact that there are transient Cougars in (human) populated areas clearly indicates that the "prime habitat" has a 'no vacancy' sign hanging out front. Cougars self regulate their density by their territorial nature. Historically, the only way for the population to increase is for the population to spread geographically. We know that urban growth has forced this to change a little, and the density is increasing some... but even with that, we've got transient cats (usually young males) making trouble. Clear indication that remote territories are saturated. Bios know this, but politics take the front seat.

[Kain]

Im curious as to where these overpopulated areas of cougars are that many of you speak of.  I understand there are area's where more complaints are occuring and that is largly due to the urbanization of the state.  If you are that worried about ungulate populations maybe you should worry about poaching and regulating specific gmu's a little better.   With that said I am all for the cougar pilot program and it is a shame that it is being put aside.   

Haha this stuff always cracks me up.  So the state does not have to have any hard fast numbers but if we have a problem with their management and estimations we have to show what they cant.  Kill sites, tracks, trail cam pics, news reports, incident reports, sightings, drop in deer and elk numbers, hounds treeing lots of cats in last years season ALL point to higher than estimated numbers.  I have attached a word document that has 579 reported cougar incidents since March of 2010.  These are only the ones that got reported.  Any guesses how many didnt get reported?

Large predators in urban/suburban areas and poaching is a major problem.  Why would you feel that if we want cougars managed properly that we dont want poachers dealt with also.  If we were trying to get more enforcement officers due to poaching couldnt some one just come in and point out there are too many cougars and that is a bigger problem? 

Do you have a plan or group that wants to deal with the poaching problem because I would love to offer my support?

[Kain]

I will not support a year round hunt for cougar,Aug 1st to march 15 would be fine with me...if we get the populations down to much then I believe only those with hounds will stand a chance at getting them.and I myself cannot afford to pay someone to hunt them for me...even the cats need some down time from pressure if we want to maintain a huntable amount of cats for the boot guys

 
I agree with you.  I dont think a year long season in certain areas is out of the question though just as I wouldnt be against a limited season in areas that need that.  I want to be fighting for a good healthy sustainable population in every area that can benefit from cougars.  I think they are far beyond that though.

I fully support hound hunting but I do notice boot hunters kinda get thrown under the bus when they start arguing the benefits of hounds.   

[Kain]

HS, the very fact that there are transient Cougars in (human) populated areas clearly indicates that the "prime habitat" has a 'no vacancy' sign hanging out front. Cougars self regulate their density by their territorial nature. Historically, the only way for the population to increase is for the population to spread geographically. We know that urban growth has forced this to change a little, and the density is increasing some... but even with that, we've got transient cats (usually young males) making trouble. Clear indication that remote territories are saturated. Bios know this, but politics take the front seat.

Well said.  What kind of a hunting season or harvest level would it take to make a dent in the current population?  It seems like no matter how many cougar hunters take, it will only be taking away from the numbers of cougar that kill each other.  Then the population stay relatively unchanged. 

Oregon has switched to a year round season in some areas.  I think Im with Rasbo on this but Im wondering if that isnt what might be needed just to make a dent.  It is never good for an animal to be at or over carrying capacity.  Everybody looses in that case.

[Curly]

Corruption or incompetence?  You decide.

I used to think it was incompetence.  I'm now starting to think it's a bit of both.

[Houndhunter]

i would like to get involved in this, im not sure how much i can help but i do have some old info that i dont believe is available anymore on the wdfw site. i think what we need to do is compose a well written and professional artical and try to get it published as much as possible. i know from the report i did it was quite easy to show that the population estimates are not accurate and manageing them the way we are know is not effective. if i was able to change the minds of my classmates at one of the most liberal colleges in the state, i think we have a good chance at changing the minds of others that we need some major changes in controlling the lion population. from my, although some what small, expeirence in discussing this topic with the non-hunting community is that they will support us to a certain extent if properly informed. getting the wdfw involved would be the next step, but i think we should start out with informing the public and getting responses to show our game dept that this is an issue that needs to be addressed

[jackmaster]

i am with ya houndhunter i would be willing to help as well, whtever it takes getn signatures writing letters whatever, i will be glad to help