WA Hound Hunting

[KillBilly]

Absolutely, the only way to control population is to eliminate the ("Populaters") females. For every female killed, there are most likely two young not born.

[Cougeyes]

Yep thats about right, i think its something like 90% of a females life is spent raising litters, that must suck. 

[TONTO]

Ok maybe not the "only way",but what I was refering to is more along the lines of the article as it refered to public safety and killing of cats that aren't  problem cats(randomly killing).In the name of public safety the cats that are targeted now are the ones that pose a threat to the general public by moving closer to town(young cats).The way I see to controll these numbers is by removing the dominate males so the young cats aren't forced to move closer to town in search of new territory.Yes each female is a breeding machine producing new kittens useualy twins every other year,but without having these dominate toms harvested where are these young toms going to call home?They are forced out of the mature toms territory and end up on the fringe areas of suburbia.Sure one way to control the population is just to kill lots of cats,male, female ,young ,old..etc.,but killing of these young cats is a temporary fix.The next year there are more young cats looking for a new home.Here is where "the only way "comes into play,the ONLY WAY to harvest these mature toms is by the use of hounds and selective harvest.Yes I belive that any dead cat is a good cat and this is what boot hunting ,chance encounters,acomplish,but by being able to put a cat in a tree by the use of hounds you can choose which cats to take and harvest these mature cats,opening new territory for the young cats.

[Cougeyes]

You have a good point.  I just dont think anyone really knows forsure which cats i.e. age and sex are problem cats.  People speculate its the younger 2 yrs or so males, but on the westside where they are doing a cougar study even adult cougars are inhabiting the urban-wildland interface, not necessarily causing a problem to the public, but more on the lines of they are they and they could cause a problem.  I think it all depends on the environment for the cougar as well to decipher b/w problem and non problem cats.  I agree with the point about in areas where dominant toms are and the younger ones are forced into non- optimum areas such as more urban-fringe areas where the probability of becoming a problem cat is higher.  But then again, what is a problem cat?  Is just the mere presence of being in a urban-wildland interface a problem or does the cat have to kill pets, or livestock to finally be called a problem?

[WAcoyotehunter]

Absolutely, the only way to control population is to eliminate the ("Populaters") females. For every female killed, there are most likely two young not born.

I think you're missing the point...we want cougars, we kust don't need too many of them, and we want to hunt them effectively.

[KillBilly]

Crazy.... kill a tom and leave the females to raise more toms to breed and raise more toms... how does anyone do the math and come out with less Cougars? the females will usually have twins but have been known to have more. The worst part is that the female is the one that teaches the young to hunt. During this educational period, they will kill many deer and or elk just for practice. They will not even eat all of the kill. I have seen several fresh kills by a cougar family in the wilderness area near Lake Quinalt. Pure carnage plain and simple. It definitely needs to be controlled.

[boneaddict]

What in the hell does AHE got to do with hound hunting.....eyes in the woods, pick up trash blah blah blah. 

[WAcoyotehunter]

What in the hell does AHE got to do with hound hunting.....eyes in the woods, pick up trash blah blah blah. 

i'm not sure about that either...maybe just to keep the numbers down??

[Cougeyes]

Yeah I failed to make the point of, people, especially the hound hunters want cougars to exist, sure in some areas their populations may need to be reduced in order to help deer or elk popultions rebound, but I wouldn't suggest any sort of management that decreases statewide populations, I would like to see them maintain the numbers we have and address the areas of "problems". 

[WAcoyotehunter]

Yeah I failed to make the point of, people, especially the hound hunters want cougars to exist, sure in some areas their populations may need to be reduced in order to help deer or elk popultions rebound, but I wouldn't suggest any sort of management that decreases statewide populations, I would like to see them maintain the numbers we have and address the areas of "problems". 

Me too! This isn't an extermination program- it's another tool for management.
Most hound hunters would be tickled just to get a "pursuit only" season and catch and release!