Twisp cougar kills calf

[villageidiot]

A male cougar killed a ranchers calf Sunday that was just born hours before.  The farmer saw the mother cow coming over to eat from the edge of the field looking back and mooing.  He grabbed his bander and ear tagger and went to work the calf only to find he was about 10 minutes too late.  The cougar had snuck in and grabbed the calf by the throat and drug it about 200 feet away and it was dead with a broken neck.  WDFW  came quickly and confirmed it was a cougar which was very easy since it had just dumped 2 inches of snow and the tracks were very clear.  A hound was used and the cat caught within 100 yds and shot.  The agent said this was the 7th depredation from cougars he had caught in the Methow this winter and in fact had another dog attacked this same day but he came to the calf kill first.

[bearpaw]

You must be misinformed, WSU Professor Weilgus who seems to be in charge of cougar management at WDFW says those cats will self regulate if we don't hunt too many of them. I think that rancher may have just upset the balance. 

All joking aside, sorry to hear of the loss. Glad the depredating cat was caught and killed. Good dog work! 

[mountainman]

Wilgus is in another world!
On a sidenote, I know and have been on hunts with the rancher back when he was the go-to guy in the Methow for hunting cats and bear with hounds...back when we could! Seems rather ironic huh? It was his grandson who was " allowed" to shoot it after wdfw caught it...

[BOWHUNTER45]

To bad for the calf and what a loss for the rancher ..Just to bad a hunter could not be called in to claim the kitty and have it as a trophy  I sure hope this helps for giving out some tags soon  This area always grows big cats !

[villageidiot]

Just a little side note on this cougar.  The ranchers other grandson actually found a smaller track Sunday morning crossing his driveway and walked it out and caught up with a female about 85 to 90 lbs and shot it on the ground.   Then right after noon when grand dad got home from church and spotted this cow coming across the field from the woods looking back knew she had a calf and headed over to band and tag it is when he jumped the tom off the calf.   On Monday morning, one day later another cougar track crossed the driveway almost the same place the first grandson walked his out.   There are way too many cougars in the Methow Valley.  The WDFW agent said there is a depredation fund set up but the legislature has not put any money in it.  This is another evil scheme by the anti group to destroy hunting and rural agriculture.  Force the farmers to feed the predators, dont allow them to protect their animals, dont allow management of predators and dont pay for any depredations.  "Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of the dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms"  Ephesians 6:12

[netcoyote]

"Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of the dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms"  Ephesians 6:12

 
We are living in Biblical times.

[mulehunter]

     Congt,  very very sorry about loss calf,  good job to dog work!  His dog must be very old to chase!     proud of ya. 

[jason stevens]

Glad they got it hopefully they don't loose more beef with the other cats running around.

[jackmaster]

poor little calf, i also hope this helps with bringing hounds back on some level, it would be awesome for guys with hounds to be able to whack a bunch of cats, i just hope it isnt just likited to the eastside, we are having are own problems with cats here on the westside as well... a quick question is the methow area the same place that a pic was put up on here that had like 8 cats all in one picture, there might have been more in the pic, i tried to find it but cant, maybe one of the mods know the pic i am talking about and put it on this thread if it is from the methow... is there alot of beef type farms in the methow?

[Dan-o]

Just a little side note on this cougar.  The ranchers other grandson actually found a smaller track Sunday morning crossing his driveway and walked it out and caught up with a female about 85 to 90 lbs and shot it on the ground.   Then right after noon when grand dad got home from church and spotted this cow coming across the field from the woods looking back knew she had a calf and headed over to band and tag it is when he jumped the tom off the calf.   On Monday morning, one day later another cougar track crossed the driveway almost the same place the first grandson walked his out.   There are way too many cougars in the Methow Valley.  The WDFW agent said there is a depredation fund set up but the legislature has not put any money in it.  This is another evil scheme by the anti group to destroy hunting and rural agriculture.  Force the farmers to feed the predators, dont allow them to protect their animals, dont allow management of predators and dont pay for any depredations. 

What's the problem?

It sounds like cougars are self regulating all over this guys place....

[woodywsu]

Wielgus is an idiot. Deport him back to Canada with Justin Bieber

[Elkpiss]

looks like a pretty good size cat...  I bet the other calfs thank you for killing it..

[boneaddict]

You can point this to all sorts of screw ups......  no deer on the hill thank you to the wolves so predators move to the next food source.......or, due to the lack of hunting and pressure, thanks to the loss of hounds either by voters, or the lack of the WDFW to continue with the pilot program, a surplus of cats.     Sorry about the calf loss.   Glad the grandson knows how to get it done.  Can thank a Methow Family for that!

[villageidiot]

    A foot hunter tracked another cougar on this ranchers place on Tues. 2 days after the calf kill and said it joined up with another cat all on this ranchers property.  Game agent said there are actually 3 more.   This is not on the list of WDFW to remove any more.   Very questionable call it appears!!

[mulehunter]

You can point this to all sorts of screw ups......  no deer on the hill thank you to the wolves so predators move to the next food source.......or, due to the lack of hunting and pressure, thanks to the loss of hounds either by voters, or the lack of the WDFW to continue with the pilot program, a surplus of cats.     Sorry about the calf loss.   Glad the grandson knows how to get it done.  Can thank a Methow Family for that!

Well said.