WA bobcat study

[Humptulips]

An article on the study work on bobcats. Read between the lines and you get the point of trappers cooperating as best we can with getting them jaws and information.
Without good information you can bet there will be pressure to close the season.

https://www.cascadiadaily.com/2025/may/04/numbers-of-bobcats-unknown-in-wa-population-data-impacts-hunting-and-trapping/

[Barehunter]

bobcat harvest reports seem stable over time.

[Loup Loup]

It always amazes me how much of these animal articles these  grant grubbing quasi biological groups are given. And given credence like they are the experts. When they are imagining their “facts”. While trained professtional wildlife biologist are given a token paragraph or two. And while true outdoorsmen, the hunters and trappers of these animals are almost never acknowledged with a comment or concern at all. Especially when oft times we are behind the scenes capturing specimens for these groups. Because quite often, they can’t. Then if they don’t enlist trappers they attribute their lack of trapping success to “well there aren’t any badgers, bobcats, martens, etc because we didn’t catch any”.
Wildlife management by imagination.

[JakeLand]

It always amazes me how much of these animal articles these  grant grubbing quasi biological groups are given. And given credence like they are the experts. When they are imagining their “facts”. While trained professtional wildlife biologist are given a token paragraph or two. And while true outdoorsmen, the hunters and trappers of these animals are almost never acknowledged with a comment or concern at all. Especially when oft times we are behind the scenes capturing specimens for these groups. Because quite often, they can’t. Then if they don’t enlist trappers they attribute their lack of trapping success to “well there aren’t any badgers, bobcats, martens, etc because we didn’t catch any”.
Wildlife management by imagination.

exactly !!

[hunter399]

Can we all say BOBCAT QUOTA.
Better believe it.

[Loup Loup]

I don’t think so. You must keep in mind there’s a difference between the majority of WDFW staff and dept motivations, and the quasi scientific,grant suckleing, poser, “environmental” groups.
WDFW is collecting hold in your hand data from harvesters. Not some imaginary observations from urban people from New Jersey, and other unsavory places. A group of second graders could think up some of the life history data of wildlife that these poser “researchers” come up with.
Remember also that we have harvest data on bobcats since the early 70s. Also 25 years ago we trapped, snared, hunted, and ran with hounds bobcats. With no change in their population.
With cages and boot hunting we don’t harvest a drop in the bucket of what we used to take.
The data WDFW is collecting will justify our harvest at current levels.

[JakeLand]

I don’t think so. You must keep in mind there’s a difference between the majority of WDFW staff and dept motivations, and the quasi scientific,grant suckleing, poser, “environmental” groups.
WDFW is collecting hold in your hand data from harvesters. Not some imaginary observations from urban people from New Jersey, and other unsavory places. A group of second graders could think up some of the life history data of wildlife that these poser “researchers” come up with.
Remember also that we have harvest data on bobcats since the early 70s. Also 25 years ago we trapped, snared, hunted, and ran with hounds bobcats. With no change in their population.
With cages and boot hunting we don’t harvest a drop in the bucket of what we used to take.
The data WDFW is collecting will justify our harvest at current levels.

again Bingo ! I detest having to give them a jaw But if it actually helps us as trappers and hunters fight off the *censored*s I’m for it not happy with how the agency doesn’t know their left foot from the right on collecting the jaws but …

[hunter399]

I don’t think so. You must keep in mind there’s a difference between the majority of WDFW staff and dept motivations, and the quasi scientific,grant suckleing, poser, “environmental” groups.
WDFW is collecting hold in your hand data from harvesters. Not some imaginary observations from urban people from New Jersey, and other unsavory places. A group of second graders could think up some of the life history data of wildlife that these poser “researchers” come up with.
Remember also that we have harvest data on bobcats since the early 70s. Also 25 years ago we trapped, snared, hunted, and ran with hounds bobcats. With no change in their population.
With cages and boot hunting we don’t harvest a drop in the bucket of what we used to take.
The data WDFW is collecting will justify our harvest at current levels.

again Bingo ! I detest having to give them a jaw But if it actually helps us as trappers and hunters fight off the *censored*s I’m for it not happy with how the agency doesn’t know their left foot from the right on collecting the jaws but …

You guys may be correct,I can't argue something that may or may not come up in the future.
Maybe I have trust issues,who knows.
But the same dot ..org groups have tightened cougar quotas to the point that some fall seasons probably won't open for some GMU.
Spring bear GONE.
Even a few years back ,there was proposal for a coyote season.
Not sure a population model is a great thing.

[JakeLand]

I don’t think so. You must keep in mind there’s a difference between the majority of WDFW staff and dept motivations, and the quasi scientific,grant suckleing, poser, “environmental” groups.
WDFW is collecting hold in your hand data from harvesters. Not some imaginary observations from urban people from New Jersey, and other unsavory places. A group of second graders could think up some of the life history data of wildlife that these poser “researchers” come up with.
Remember also that we have harvest data on bobcats since the early 70s. Also 25 years ago we trapped, snared, hunted, and ran with hounds bobcats. With no change in their population.
With cages and boot hunting we don’t harvest a drop in the bucket of what we used to take.
The data WDFW is collecting will justify our harvest at current levels.

again Bingo ! I detest having to give them a jaw But if it actually helps us as trappers and hunters fight off the *censored*s I’m for it not happy with how the agency doesn’t know their left foot from the right on collecting the jaws but …

You guys may be correct,I can't argue something that may or may not come up in the future.
Maybe I have trust issues,who knows.
But the same dot ..org groups have tightened cougar quotas to the point that some fall seasons probably won't open for some GMU.
Spring bear GONE.
Even a few years back ,there was proposal for a coyote season.
Not sure a population model is a great thing.

I don’t like it anymore then you but our hands are tied and we gotta hope it goes our way no other option unfortunately

[hunter399]

I don’t think so. You must keep in mind there’s a difference between the majority of WDFW staff and dept motivations, and the quasi scientific,grant suckleing, poser, “environmental” groups.
WDFW is collecting hold in your hand data from harvesters. Not some imaginary observations from urban people from New Jersey, and other unsavory places. A group of second graders could think up some of the life history data of wildlife that these poser “researchers” come up with.
Remember also that we have harvest data on bobcats since the early 70s. Also 25 years ago we trapped, snared, hunted, and ran with hounds bobcats. With no change in their population.
With cages and boot hunting we don’t harvest a drop in the bucket of what we used to take.
The data WDFW is collecting will justify our harvest at current levels.

again Bingo ! I detest having to give them a jaw But if it actually helps us as trappers and hunters fight off the *censored*s I’m for it not happy with how the agency doesn’t know their left foot from the right on collecting the jaws but …

You guys may be correct,I can't argue something that may or may not come up in the future.
Maybe I have trust issues,who knows.
But the same dot ..org groups have tightened cougar quotas to the point that some fall seasons probably won't open for some GMU.
Spring bear GONE.
Even a few years back ,there was proposal for a coyote season.
Not sure a population model is a great thing.

I don’t like it anymore then you but our hands are tied and we gotta hope it goes our way no other option unfortunately

I hope it stays the same too!
Definitely a robust population in Washington.

[Humptulips]

Think of the alternative. In California they closed the bobcat season, and the reason was, they had no data to support a harvest.

[Loup Loup]

Thanks Humptulips.
What I call “wildlife management by imagination”. This state is leaning that way:
“ Theres been very little harvest of badger since 1996.” “And our graduate students can’t catch any badgers, so we need to arie on the side of caution and outlaw badger trapping.” (I’m paraphrasing)
I could counter: by looking at the harvest data for the eastern wa county’s with badger there are almost zero coyotes trapped, there are almost zero skunks trapped,there almost zero weasels trapped, there almost zero muskrats trapped,there are almost zero beaver trapped, there are almost zero mink trapped.
So the reason for low harvest is either following WDFWs graduate students logic, these species are on the verge of extinction. Or the real world reason is: running cage traps in a high fuel cost, low pelt price world with a 24 trap check law in a large geographical area equals low or no trapper effert.
I pick on badgers as I’ve been involved with our badgers for 40-45 years. As a private trapper, and as a contractor doing predator control for WDFW for the protection of endangered species.
In a nutshell: “ Absence of evidence, is not evidence of absence”.