BigGameHoundsmen.com

I found this site about two months ago, so I guess I am a newbe. However I started hunting cats in the mid 60's I am responding to a question about the populations of cats in Mt. I would like to give a little histery on how we got to where we are today with the cats. I started to hunt cats shortly after they removed the bounty on cats, they were paying $50 for every cat that was shot. At that time there were very few cats left. i get a chuckle whenever I hear somebody complaining about taking a day or two to find a fresh cat track. In the old days it took 8 or 9 days, 4 to 5 hundred miles per day to find one track We did not care how old the track was, we were greatfull just to find one. There was only a hand full of cat hunters back in those days. We did not need a cat license back then and we could shot as many as we wanted. they finally went to a 5 month hunting season in the later part of the 60's. Thats when they started to look at the cats as a big game animal. In 1974 or 75 about 7 or 8 of us got together with the fish and game for the first ever cat meeting in region 1 to figure out how to increase the cat population. over the next several years we would meet and brain storm ideas. At the time you could hunt up through April. In the early 80's we cut the season back to february 15th. Up to that point the state wide harvest was 50 cats a year, give or take a couple. most of those cats were shot in region one with a few in region two and that was it. the cats have been on the increase ever sense and they have expanded through out the state. i have been strongly involved with the season structure that we have today. for better or worse. the cat population goes up and down depending on the pray base and a few other minor things. As the pray base goes up and down so the cats follow behind. The cat population will be in trouble if we do not get the wolf population under control. thats all there is to it.

old timer wrote:I found this site about two months ago, so I guess I am a newbe. However I started hunting cats in the mid 60's I am responding to a question about the populations of cats in Mt. I would like to give a little histery on how we got to where we are today with the cats. I started to hunt cats shortly after they removed the bounty on cats, they were paying $50 for every cat that was shot. At that time there were very few cats left. i get a chuckle whenever I hear somebody complaining about taking a day or two to find a fresh cat track. In the old days it took 8 or 9 days, 4 to 5 hundred miles per day to find one track We did not care how old the track was, we were greatfull just to find one. There was only a hand full of cat hunters back in those days. We did not need a cat license back then and we could shot as many as we wanted. they finally went to a 5 month hunting season in the later part of the 60's. Thats when they started to look at the cats as a big game animal. In 1974 or 75 about 7 or 8 of us got together with the fish and game for the first ever cat meeting in region 1 to figure out how to increase the cat population. over the next several years we would meet and brain storm ideas. At the time you could hunt up through April. In the early 80's we cut the season back to february 15th. Up to that point the state wide harvest was 50 cats a year, give or take a couple. most of those cats were shot in region one with a few in region two and that was it. the cats have been on the increase ever sense and they have expanded through out the state. i have been strongly involved with the season structure that we have today. for better or worse. the cat population goes up and down depending on the pray base and a few other minor things. As the pray base goes up and down so the cats follow behind. The cat population will be in trouble if we do not get the wolf population under control. thats all there is to it.

It does seem hard to figure how to manage a lion population with a overwhelming wolf population at hand. Its almost hard to go a day with snow on the ground and not find a lion track. But for every lion track you find there is ten plus wolf tracks you'll find. Thanks for your knowledge its always good to get a opinion from someone that has lived it.

Old timer - thanks for your foresight!

Old Timer- Thank you for your help with the lion situation-both then and now. Without dedicated houndsmen such as yourself to work with the fish and game, our lion population would not be where it is today. Your hard work has paid off and we have a great sport that many houndsmen are able to enjoy.

We definetly don't want to see the lion population in the shape it was when you first encountered it in the 60's. With continued support from dedicated houndsmen we can work together to manage a healthy lion population.

The wolf issue is having a dramatic effect upon all wildlife populations. Our deer and elk numbers have seen a drastic decline in the past few years. Our lions are and will continue to struggle with the lack of prey. There is no doubt that their population will be declining due to the wolves influence. Yet as Lost River said in the other post, "A proposed quota of 517 lions for the state... A wolf quota of 220." You see who is still getting the rap for killing ungulates.

Harvest quotas and numbers continue to have the greatest effect upon the lion population. How we want to manage it is up to us, much like it was up to the dedicated houndsmen of the 60's. There is a lot to learn from what happened in the past, if we aren't careful history can repeat itself. Mabey not to the extent it once was, but it is us houndsmen that will take the rap. Many states have already shut down hound hunting in the woods. We need to be proactive and work for the future of our hound hunting.

Interesting.........

I have a book on the history of cougar hunting on Vancouver Island in BC. It is written, that some of the bounty hunters of the time killed upwards of 200 lions per year, EACH. They counted any lion old enough to have it's eyes open. This went on for years. Of course, the deer pops were much higher at the time too. How the lion pops survived, I have no idea. Would be interesting to know the stats for lions killed today, and how it compares to yesteryear.

I can not speak for Vancover Island, but here in Mt. it went from about 50 cats a year to anywhere from 400 to 700 cats a year. it happened within a 10 to 12 year window

I guided under Cap Atwood in Colorado and Utah in 69 to 71. We hunted hard to find a track. The first winter hunting we treed 9 lions, two packs of dogs hunting most days. I hear guys complaining about the lion population I wish we would of had it this hard.I got room and board and $100 a lion. $900 for three months work. What I know now I could of made a lot more money bobcat hunting. Dewey

Hi Dewey. I have been reading a few comments about you. I have not been on this site long enough to know much about you. Sounds like you have alot of knowledge about cat hunting, thats great. The way we hunt cats today in Mt. is so different than the way we use to. We learned from or predecesser that took cat hunting very serious. There lively hood depended on it. If they found a female with 2 kittens that was a $150 day.That was a lot of money in them days.In those days there there were very few roads, no snowmobiles and no tracking collars. If you let your dog loose to soon it might take you 3 to 14 days to get your dog back.( thats the longest i ever lost a dog.) In the early 80's the logging hit it's peak and made this area more accesible. When we found a track no matter how old it was we tracked it out. This could take anywhere from 3 to 10 days. Up to the late 80's I never used more than 2 dogs, most of the time only 1. We never turned a dog loose untill we jumped the cat, usually off a kill. Our intent was to always kill the cat, it was not untill years later that we treed cats just for the fun of it. There was very little dog work, thats the way we learned. It was not untill the late 80's that I ran with a guy that had multiple dogs. he had just moved here from Idaho and he use to run bears. By then there were a lot of cats around you could be more picky. Put I still ran the old fashion way. When he turned all his dogs loose it was quite the thing, it was a lot of fun listening to them dogs work longer than 10 or 15 minutes which was about all it took the old fashion way. You can teach an old dog new tricks I guess. But there is an element of the old ways that I miss.

Old Timer, are you Jerry Lewis or did you learn from him?