Cougar Harvest question

[Bob33]

http://search.leg.wa.gov/pub/textsearch/default.asp

This is a search engine for all Washington WACs and RCWs.

Look it up for yourselves.

There is nothing in the WACs or RCWs that specifically addresses cougar meat.

"Reckless waste" of a big game animal is not legal. A cougar is a big game animal, the same as a deer, elk, or bear.

There is no definition of "reckless waste" in written law. It is up to the discretion of the enforcement officer, and ultimately the judge if a citation is taken to court.

[bobcat]

Sounds like they need to re-write the law then. I doubt the intention was to require people to eat the meat of a cougar that they killed. But they got lumped into the "big game" category, and that's the problem.

[pianoman9701]

Why is there a season on cougar at all. You would think june and july with the baby deer and elk they would be in season I saw a really big one yesterday that we could have got while looking for bear. He sat cleaning himself on top of a slash pile about 2oo yars away for about 15 minutes enough time to call home to see what the season was but like pike minnow that they pay to get out of the river but yet have a season on them some things just don;t make since. I guess if they can;t figure the wolf thing out they could;nt figure cougar either.

I agree. They should be open year round. Without hounds people don't kill enough of them to make a difference anyway.

There may well be an open season eventually. With the strides that people like Kain have made by staying in the DFW's face about predator management, the season has been restored to it's old dates. The main reason I believe it's closed now between April 1st and Aug 31st is that if a mother with kittens is accidentally shot, the kittens have a better chance of survival in the fall. That's my guess.

Kittens can be born anytime of the year. Cougar are like housecats, they can cycle anytime and kittens can be born anytime.

http://wdfw.wa.gov/living/cougars.html
• Cougars can breed year-round, but breeding is more common in winter and early spring.

Y

I did not know that. Thank you, Bearpaw. I love learning new stuff about animals.

[Blacktail Sniper]

http://www.exoticmeatsandmore.com/lion.aspx

 

[bearpaw]

cat chops are pretty good.... 

[Outdoor Guardian]

cat chops are pretty good.... 

Humptulips got it right with regard to it's illegal to sell cougar meat..............on the wastage issue, intentionally leaving a cougar to go to waste in the field would qualify (big game) .

[grundy53]

Thank you for clearing that up