Nevada Lion hunting in jeopardy

[savage]

Hey folks, here we go again. The comission is planning to try to delist the Mountain lion again.They are going to discuss this at the meeting in Vegas on sept. 24-25. You guys all need to go to your county advisory boards and speek out!! Any one who can write a letter please do so and anyone who can show up to the meeting in Vegas please let me know. We need someone to speak out for us. Here is a link to their agenda.(item #15)

http://www.ndow.org/learn/com/mtg/

They can cost us all the right to hunt lions in Nevada if they do this.The trappers asso. has already stated that they, as a group, do not even want to trap lions either.

[Miede]

thanks for the update, your lion hunting friends in n. nv. need to contact your board members. I will do the same in s.nv. that all we need is more traps on every road and trail. thanks again, jim

[houndnhorse]

Are you going to be at the Game Board meeting Wednesday Paul? I'll be there so we can go at them again. I'm getting kinda tired of these guys trying to ram this through every year. Hopefully our new Governor will have a little more on the ball when he appoints people to the commission. We'll see.

[savage]

Yeah Mike, I'll be there. I just feel that it doesnt matter much what happens out here at the county levels cause the commission does what ever they want no matter what the CABs say.You saw how they acted at the meeting in Reno. Anyone in So. Nv. that could speak out at the big meeting would be the best help.I would go but I have my last Idaho bear hunt planned for this weekend.

[Josh Kunde]

Well let me know if you need a wingman mike. I won't say much but I can sure lean against a wall and look pretty hell I might even shave my miners beard and dress up a little. I want to see how these meetings work and find out exactly what's going on for myself.

[Benny G]

I wish the lion was delisted in NM & AZ. I do understand that the population would suffer from the snow hunters, but perhaps my desires are selfish -- I have only hunted snow twice, so for me, I wouldn't be have to sit around and wait for another year to pass from one lion to another. It also seems that the states that would like to see an increase in the number of lions harvested have the most issues in the dryer areas of their states. Texas doesn't regulate lions, and their lion numbers are stable, and even increasing in a lot of areas. If you guys are concerned about the availability of lions to hunt, I would challenge you to focus on dryer conditions, and enjoy watching the dogs sort out a track that's not smokin hot from a couple inches of snow. I'm sure not trying to put anyone down, or start a fight, but if you would try some dry groundin, you would probably find things a lot less crowded.

Maybe the answer would be better addressed if the lions were delisted only in the dryer parts of the states. Then the guys that have dogs that could catch lions in those conditions could enjoy more opportunities, and the states could see a difference in the harvest numbers where they seem to have the issues.

The bottom line is, we won't all get what we want. Even the Game Departments can't agree within their own circles on how to address the so-called issues. No one seems to believe that the coyote numbers are having a bigger effect on deer populations right now than lions. Science doesn't seem to exist in these eitist circle right now. Just like me, "the know it alls" have thier own agenda, and science has nothing to do with it.

[savage]

Benny, I respect your opinion but I disagree.The problem is a bit worse than you think. You see, we already have an open season on lions 24 hrs a day 7 days a week 365days a year here. In fact you can buy 2 tags over the counter per year and hunt all you want STATEWIDE!! It sounds as if your complaint there is more with the length of your season not delisting the lion.

You see , by delisting the lion you make it unprotected so anyone can kill every lion they see.It takes away tags(revenue for NDOW) and it removes the ability to track lions with the data that is collected at check in. This opens a door for the antis to sue us saying "nevada has no idea how many lions they have ,where ,ect." They will get lion hunting stopped all together with a lawsuit.
Delisting also makes them inelegible for record books, taking away the trophy quality of a guided hunt.Most people who hire a guide are only interested in getting record book quality animals.This will hurt the guide industry and the rual communitys who make money from out of state hunters.
There are plenty more reasons that I dont have time to list but these are the top ones to me. The commission here just wants more mule deer and they blame mountain lions for the current trend in deer numbers.
Just remember the anti's have lots of money and are just sitting out there waiting for a reason to "save " animals.

[savage]

BTW, The current Deer numbers are just a hair below average for the last 30 years or so (excluding the peak year or two.). I'm not really sure why this constitutes wiping out the lion population as the commision would like to do.They think the deer numbers should be as high as they were in the 80's when they spiked to 240000 deer. The average is about half of that and i think we had 116000 or so at last count.

This is our 3rd year fighting these fellows and their single species approach to game management. They refuse to listen to the public or bioligists on these issues. Its really a rather large problem with people who should be serving sportsmen and they insted insist on pushing through their own personal agenda.

[Benny G]

Paul,
I understand your point of view, and as I stated earlier, the biggest problem for the deer herds seems to be the coyote numbers. There has been a trend for years now. It is popular, even expected, to worship the cute, cuddly predators -- no matter which ones they are. By calling coyotes coyoteees, we make them sound warm and fuzzy and even cuddly. This also is a form of desensetizing the general public, so that "the agenda" can be accepted by a larger majority, and then voted into law. I am in no way trying to dictate to you, or anyone else in NV how your lions should be managed. Good luck.

[savage]

Yep, I agree. I blame Walt Disney for smoe of our problems. If he didnt make all these cartoons of talking animals like Bambi then maybe city folk wouldnt think of them as if they were human.

[houndnhorse]

Hey Josh, I won't be able to make it tonight, but just go to the new Nannini building and hook up with Paul. You'll see how these things work.

[savage]

well guys, The meeting was full of animal rights activists so the comm. decided to table the lion issue.
The response from the hsus was "you dont think that will stop us do you? we will be at EVERY meeting from now on!".
The houndsmen were not represented very well. I think Bdog was the only houndsman there.

I guess I should have canceled my bear hunt in Idaho and went.......

[M Evertsen]

Now it looks like we are definately fighting on two fronts!

Just checked my schedule for the rest of the year. It looks like I will be off on the 4th of December for the meeting in Reno, but my last day off is that Friday, the 3rd. Will see what is on the agenda, and hopefully everything regarding this will be put on for Saturday, and I can make a run over there and make it worth my while.

Later,

Marcial

[southwestwalkers]

Sorry I missed it...I was just up there at a wedding. Does anyone know the results of the meeting? Hope we had some faces and a say..