Male or Female, shoot or don't shoot?

[bearpaw]

This is a cat that was caught a few weeks ago in Idaho, we normally try to only take toms. So what is this cat, male or female, would you shoot or pass this cat?

You can vote twice and you can change your vote if you wish.

[h20hunter]

No idea male or female. I see nasty conditions and if I'm hunting and have put in the time and cost.....dead kitty.

[PolarBear]

To me it is just another killer of big game, no different than a wolf or coyote and gender does not matter!  Shoot it!

[deltaops]

If it was me, I would shoot this cat since it would be my first. If I was really into cougar hunting  I would kill only Toms once I was proficient at it. 

So I chose Female and shoot it.

[stromdiddily]

Pardon the potentially stupid question...but why do you only take toms?

[BuckNAze]

Can't tell for sure by pics, would need a shot of the ass end to be sure. Looks like maybe a tom but could be a really plump female. Pics can be deceiving at times. Face looks like a female to me though, just a healthy one

[Broken Arrow]

Dead cat either way if me.

[Woodchuck]

Click, Boom 

[Rob]

clearly that is a demonic cat...  I'd either shoot it or perform an exorcism.

[jackmaster]

It looks like a real healthy female or a year and a half Tom, but the face looks female, toms generally seem to be more blocky and older toms have that one look in their eyes. Either way if it is a female and I dont see any kittens around its a dead deer/ elk killer 100 percent

[steen]

I would shoot it regardless of sex. I have never taken a cougar and wouldn't be that picky. Smaller would fit better in our house anyway. I took a small 2 year old bear and made a rug.....that takes up a lot of space! No regrets on shooting that bear, it ate extremely well....way to fast!

[Timberstalker]

The head looks pretty squared off and blocky to me.  Time to drop the hammer!

[CamoDup]

It would look great in my house! SHOOT! Regardless of sex. 

[vandeman17]

clearly that is a demonic cat...  I'd either shoot it or perform an exorcism.

I was going to say the same thing. It looks possessed to me so I would shoot before it's head started spinning and it started spewing pea soup out of its mouth.

Honestly though, I would try my best to identify sex but I am not expert. I would probably end up shooting like most people said.

[bearpaw]

Pardon the potentially stupid question...but why do you only take toms?

Actually a good question. Many hound hunters are very selective and choose to only shoot toms. Other hound hunters are not so selective. It's a personal choice. Most states set seasons based on the number of cougar taken and many states have annual harvest quotas so there is little chance of any population being endangered.

My personal thoughts are that it's good to harvest females from a robust cougar population to keep numbers in check. However, if a cougar population is being hunted hard then you may want to save the females. As outfitters we have chosen in recent years to only hunt toms for our hunters as they are more of a trophy for the hunter.