So.....Are we having a Fall cougar season.

[hunter399]

Sorry if this has been discussed. Also sorry if this has been resolved in commission meeting.

Honestly I haven't kept up with current commission meetings.
If anyone has any news on the subject,I would like to hear about it.
September will be knocking on our doors very soon. Im just curious,or ignorant,.I guess.

[MADMAX]

 
 

[Jake Dogfish]

From what I’ve heard, should have a season that will close early with lower quotas.

[Blacktail Sniper]

Just sent the following email inquiry and will see what, if any response I get.

"Good afternoon,

I have questions regarding the setting of Cougar season for this year (2024) and see there has still not been any action taken or a season set.

1)  Will there in fact be a 2024 Cougar season?

2)  What is the delay that is preventing a season to be set?

3)  When will the final determination be made? 



I am not the only the person wondering why this has not been finialized or published and have concerns about the reasons behind the delay."

[avidnwoutdoorsman]

The last commission meeting not enough people showed up. The room was empty and we left the door open. I was there with my two girls and we spoke to try to change the season as little as possible. They were taking comments after the meeting because there was so many people that wanted to virtual testify at the meeting but not enough time. That is a note to everyone here. From now on we have to show up in person and virtually if not. These comments get sorted out separate and can really make a difference.

The delay is they are taking all these comments into account. They are actually still taking comments right this minute. At least HOWL is still sponsoring comments until 7/19. https://www.howlforwildlife.org/wa_wolf_conservation?utm_campaign=july_15_24&utm_medium=email&utm_source=howlforwildlife

They went from there 6 original stipulations to 5 and now are set at about 4. One is that the cougar season will get moved to Aug 1st so really pay attention because you could be hunting cougars in two weeks.

This was a discussed trade that to keep in line with license year etc if they want to pull the season back to March 31st the should open up the season a month earlier... trade april for august. They had some data that showed the take was so low in April and likely in August that this would be a reasonable tradeoff. Instead of loosing April all together.

This is likely bad for the 13-20 rule though I'm not sure. I would be interested to see when the most non-hunter take is... because say we are at 11% before August and it opens in august and 1 cat dies going over 13% the season is closed. Alternatively the one cat dies and we are at 14% now at the start of September we could take 2-3 cats before the unit would close. So I'm going to say there could be a net wash there?

What's taking so long is they made a very prescriptive rule change so they need to calculate all the new quotas. They also need to retabulate the total take because that is going to be a factor now. Then they can tell us I'm guessing next Wednesday the season will open in a week on Aug 1st, here is the new quotas, here are the units chasing 13% and the ones chasing 20%, here are the ones that are already closed and wont have a season at all this year.

[hunter399]

Thanks for the info, I really appreciate it.
I'd definitely be ok with an August opening, definitely not ok with the quota situation,not opening at all for some areas.

[Jake Dogfish]

The last commission meeting not enough people showed up. The room was empty and we left the door open. I was there with my two girls and we spoke to try to change the season as little as possible. They were taking comments after the meeting because there was so many people that wanted to virtual testify at the meeting but not enough time. That is a note to everyone here. From now on we have to show up in person and virtually if not. These comments get sorted out separate and can really make a difference.

The delay is they are taking all these comments into account. They are actually still taking comments right this minute. At least HOWL is still sponsoring comments until 7/19. https://www.howlforwildlife.org/wa_wolf_conservation?utm_campaign=july_15_24&utm_medium=email&utm_source=howlforwildlife

They went from there 6 original stipulations to 5 and now are set at about 4. One is that the cougar season will get moved to Aug 1st so really pay attention because you could be hunting cougars in two weeks.

This was a discussed trade that to keep in line with license year etc if they want to pull the season back to March 31st the should open up the season a month earlier... trade april for august. They had some data that showed the take was so low in April and likely in August that this would be a reasonable tradeoff. Instead of loosing April all together.

This is likely bad for the 13-20 rule though I'm not sure. I would be interested to see when the most non-hunter take is... because say we are at 11% before August and it opens in august and 1 cat dies going over 13% the season is closed. Alternatively the one cat dies and we are at 14% now at the start of September we could take 2-3 cats before the unit would close. So I'm going to say there could be a net wash there?

What's taking so long is they made a very prescriptive rule change so they need to calculate all the new quotas. They also need to retabulate the total take because that is going to be a factor now. Then they can tell us I'm guessing next Wednesday the season will open in a week on Aug 1st, here is the new quotas, here are the units chasing 13% and the ones chasing 20%, here are the ones that are already closed and wont have a season at all this year.

They are definitely closing the season at the end of March.
I doubt they will open it early, but we will see.

[hunter399]

If they do open in August.
Might be the only year to double down on bear and cougar in August.
They have already talked about moving bear back to September 1.

[BearCreekCookBook]

They just passed the CR102 on cougar season. There was an amendment that keeps the 20% clause (if 13% is reached before Sept 1st, the cap bumps up to 20%) and initiates new rule making for next year. We do get to hunt cougars this year but I haven’t read the full law yet. The commission is coming back from break at 10:15am.

https://tvw.org/video/washington-fish-and-wildlife-commission-2024071053/?eventID=2024071053

And here is the law info: https://wdfw.wa.gov/about/regulations/development/cougar-hunting-seasons

We lost April cougar hunting.
The season now closes when the unit reaches 13% of their population “estimate”, and that includes all known human caused mortality including tribal harvest (that they know about). If anyone has any tribal contacts please encourage them to withhold all cougar harvest data from WDFW.

[CasterlyRock]

I'm so excited that they might let me use my tag I paid for! And they only screwed up the special draws a little!

[hunter399]

They just passed the CR102 on cougar season. There was an amendment that keeps the 20% clause (if 13% is reached before Sept 1st, the cap bumps up to 20%) and initiates new rule making for next year. We do get to hunt cougars this year but I haven’t read the full law yet. The commission is coming back from break at 10:15am.

https://tvw.org/video/washington-fish-and-wildlife-commission-2024071053/?eventID=2024071053

And here is the law info: https://wdfw.wa.gov/about/regulations/development/cougar-hunting-seasons

We lost April cougar hunting.
The season now closes when the unit reaches 13% of their population “estimate”, and that includes all known human caused mortality including tribal harvest (that they know about). If anyone has any tribal contacts please encourage them to withhold all cougar harvest data from WDFW.

I was just looking at GMU 121 ,and there 20 percent quota.
Based on population estimates, that is definitely wrong.
That population estimate should fall in line with 117,124,101 ,same as other GMU in the area. That needs to be bumped up to 11-12 same as the other GMU.  I can say without a doubt that 121 has similar cougar population as the other GMU listed at the 20 percent.
So that isn't right in my opinion.

[BearCreekCookBook]

Watching this commission meeting is a form of torture. There are bitter old women who are openly hostile to hunting deciding our hunting seasons. I’m reaching the point where I no longer care about what these commies vote on.

Yeah their population estimates are retarded. If cougar conflicts are increasing it’s because they’re overpopulated. With out the 20% bump multiple NE units would already be closed. Wouldn’t be surprised if a couple don’t open this year.

[Taco280AI]

If you see a cougar.......

[BearCreekCookBook]

Seriously, how long are we going to let these people decide the future of wildlife in our state?

[CasterlyRock]

If you see a cougar.......