"Your ignorance of predator management in WA, and of cougars specifically, is staggering. The elimination of hounds for hunting in 1996 is causal to a steady and overwhelming increase in the cougar population statewide. Hounds are the primary method of hunting in states where cougar populations are maintained at a healthy level. In WA, cougar/human conflict has increased drastically and the affect of our predator spiral on ungulate herds is marked. It’s quite clear that the models the state has used to estimate cougar numbers is flawed and the DFW has admitted as much by thankfully increasing quotas on both cougars and black bears. We need more effective means of hunting these predators to bring the populations down to manageable levels and that means a return to hound hunting. Until that happens, we will absolutely experience increased incidences of predator/human conflict as dominant males push more adolescent males out of wild spaces and closer to population areas. You can wait until the kids start dying or you can take preemptive action. But decrying the killing of one cougar and the tragedy of that death (sarc), only spreads your ignorance of wildlife management to the general and misinformed public."
