Free: Contests & Raffles.
An idea I have talked up with the Department for a number of years, trapping season on Cougar. The Commission has the power to do this without going to the Legislature. All they would need to do is reclassify cougar with the dual classification of big game/ furbearer and set a season. It would be cage traps only, but I believe it would be possible to catch cougar in a cage trap. Many units never reach their target harvest. Why not open those units to trapping? I had thought in the past if the Department would give a nod to it the Commission might listen. I have pretty much gotten the cold shoulder from the Department. With the current makeup of the Commission, I would have less hope. I think the idea still has merit though. Personally, I think anything that would increase the harvest of cougar would be a good thing. I'm not sure how many cougar might be taken this way but it is worth a try IMO.
We want any and every prudent management practice we can get for predator control that we can get.
Quote from: Timberstalker on January 11, 2022, 07:56:36 PMWe want any and every prudent management practice we can get for predator control that we can get.So you want trapping of cougar,even though you may lose all trapping seasons later on.When all the anti-hunters throw a big fit,protest,email,and convince governor inslee to do so.All I'm saying is ,you have to think things through a bit.And this is the reason WDFW won't support trapping of cougar, are you willing to risk a whole user groups season over a few cougar.
Quote from: hunter399 on January 11, 2022, 08:13:23 PMQuote from: Timberstalker on January 11, 2022, 07:56:36 PMWe want any and every prudent management practice we can get for predator control that we can get.So you want trapping of cougar,even though you may lose all trapping seasons later on.When all the anti-hunters throw a big fit,protest,email,and convince governor inslee to do so.All I'm saying is ,you have to think things through a bit.And this is the reason WDFW won't support trapping of cougar, are you willing to risk a whole user groups season over a few cougar.Did you ever witness the elk herds in the Blues in the early 2000’s?Kill every rotten predator we legally can.
Quote from: hunter399 on January 11, 2022, 08:13:23 PMQuote from: Timberstalker on January 11, 2022, 07:56:36 PMWe want any and every prudent management practice we can get for predator control that we can get.So you want trapping of cougar,even though you may lose all trapping seasons later on.When all the anti-hunters throw a big fit,protest,email,and convince governor inslee to do so.All I'm saying is ,you have to think things through a bit.And this is the reason WDFW won't support trapping of cougar, are you willing to risk a whole user groups season over a few cougar.The Antis are more organized in Wa now. What makes you think that they are not intent on banning live cage traps now? How would live cage trapping cats as a season change that?The antis are coming for ALL hunting. Boot hunting cats is not effective, we arnt getting hounds back. Perhaps thenproblem is we just arnt pushing back enougj.
You can thank the WA Supreme court jesters for not overturning the Initiative!! They couldn't count! Our state claims to have "single" issue Initiative system. To bad the court jesters couldn't count past ONE! But then the WDFW didn't fight very hard either!
We need to win some elections if we are going to turn things around. That many are not aware that voter initiatives against hunting and trapping had passed, I know that they have not voted as they have not been paying attention to politics. That most of our people don't vote is why the Left has put restrictions on hunting/trapping, while introducing wolves to eliminate hunting as a management tool for populations of ungulates.
WDFW is doing a great job and are headed exactly where they want to be - no hunting. It's full of leftist, anti hunting activists.