Wyoming Houndsmen Association

[Wyoplott]

You are miss understanding the point the numbers and the cycle of bobcats have forever been effected by man and the numbers harvested and hide prices have little to no correlation the numbers are a 1/3 of what they were even when hide prices were at their highest we were still down from the year beforeI have been in contact with the president of the WTA and I am getting a perposal together that we all can get behind but not doing anything and not changing with the times is a fools game the lion hunting regulations are next year and there are major changes we need to go through to adapt to the times the hunting pressure the loss of habitat and game i want us all to support one another but thinking your just going to fold up your hands and say we aren't changing anything is what gets them the win being able to have an alternative to their argements cause the data is in untrapped and the huggers favor not ours so like I said it is in the best interest of every person who hunts or traps that there is solid management and populations for generations to enjoy

[Cal Taylor]

WyoPlott, I think you are the one that needs to research your facts. The Wy G&F data shows this...

In the 10/11 season there were 377 bobcat trappers who harvested a total of 1411 bobcats which was an average of 3.7 cats per trapper.

In the 14/15 season there were 287 bobcat trappers who harvested a total of 1060 bobcats which , guess what, is an average of...... exactly 3.7 cats per trapper.

As I stated the trapper numbers would be down for the 14/15 season because of prices being down and fuel being high. But the trapper average was exactly the same.

[BAR BAR 2]

[Wyoplott]

Could not have said it better my self

[BAR BAR 2]

2007
License Holders - 1844
Successful Lic. Holders - 639
Percentage Who Reported Success - 34.65%
Total Number of Bobcats Tagged - 3036

2008
License Holders - 1850
Successful Lic. Holders - 513
Percentage Who Reported Success - 27.73%
Total Number of Bobcats Tagged - 2978

2009
License Holders - 1902
Successful Lic. Holders - 483
Percentage Who Reported Success - 25.4%
Total Number of Bobcats Tagged - 1609

2010
License Holders - 1881
Successful Lic. Holders - 487
Percentage Who Reported Success - 25.9%
Total Number of Bobcats Tagged - 1606

2011
License Holders - 1948
Successful Lic. Holders - 585
Percentage Who Reported Success - 30%
Total Number of Bobcats Tagged - 1875

2012
License Holders - 2340
Successful Lic. Holders - 579
Percentage Who Reported Success - 24.7%
Total Number of Bobcat Tagged - 1872

2013
License Holders - 2560
Successful Lic. Holders - 522
Percentage Who Reported Success - 20.4%
Total Number of Bobcat Tagged - 1571

2014
License Holders - 3928
Successful Lic. Holders - 334
Percentage Who Reported - 8.5%
Total Number of Bobcat Tagged - 1140

Those are the numbers available for anyone interested in looking them up. Please note, the information comes in document form and will download when you click the link for each year.

https://wgfd.wyo.gov/web2011/hunting-1000184.aspx




Tex

[BAR BAR 2]

Back to actual association business -

I have to apologize for not getting on here and reporting sooner. Things have been busy around the ranch and I am running behind.

Due to our last meeting on April 22 being in the middle of the week, we only had 10 members in attendance. Rather than try to get into too much that will permanently set the course for our association, we opted to take an abbreviated vote on a few issues just to get by and keep things going until we can hold a meeting with a better representation of our membership.

A simple election was held to keep current board member/officers in place until July of next year. JD is still ramrodding things with his wife acting as secretary/treasurer. I will have to ask him, but I believe we have each section of the state represented on the board now.

It had been planned to go over and vote on association rules and by-laws, but due to the low turn out and time constraints, the voting for that was put on hold.

After the official business was completed, the floor was opened for discussion to determine our position in regards to urging the Wy G&F to implement a management plan for bobcats. Many different options and issues were discussed, but at this time, our official stance was to simply ask the G&F to consider implementing a management plan for bobcat due to falling populations.

This position was stated to the G&F Commission at their meeting, which we went to immediately following the adjournment of the Houndsmen meeting. Dan White acted as our spokesman at the commission meeting and read our mission statement and then stated our desire to see some sort of management plan put in place to better protect this resource. There were no specific ideas or management tools discussed with the G&F Commission. It is simply the goal of Wyoming Houndsmen Association to see the game resources managed to better insure a healthy population for all to enjoy.



Tex

[Cal Taylor]

License sales have nothing to do with cat trapping. The license is a furbearer license not a cat trapping license. It has to be bought for many other reasons. The only data relevant is that pertaining to cats. And I'm checking into the data further since I believe this years total number was incorrect. There is no reason for the huge spike this year in license sales since it was steady for years before that. I'm guessing a clerical error. I have no doubt that your numbers are dropping for interested members. The handful of your members I have talked to are mostly dropping away due to not wanting to be involved in this conflict. I have posted some factual info here and it falls on deaf and unchangeable ears so I'm pretty much done arguing on here. I have much more interesting things to do with my time and I will work on this issue where it will do some good. With the WTA and the G&F. Thanks for taking the time to read my opinion.

[BAR BAR 2]

I am supposed to be visiting with JD by phone this evening and I was wondering if there is anything someone may want addressed during that conversation. Our rep for the northeastern part of the state spoke with him back in July about the time of the last F&G meeting, but not since. There are a few different issues I intend to bring up, but will wait until after he and I talk to list them on here. Hopefully all is well for him and we can start making some progress and get discussions going for the different topics needing addressed with the Wyo F&G next year.

If anyone has something they want discussed, shoot me a pm and I will give you my phone number so we can talk. Let me know.



Tex

[wyohunter12]

I just got this today October 5, 2015 from the SD Game Fish & Parks

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, October 5, 2015
CONTACT: Rachel Comes at Rachel.Comes@state.sd.us or 605.773.3718
GFP Commission Proposes Increases for State Parks and Boating Fees
GFP Commission Proposes Spring Light Goose, Spring Turkey and Custer State Park Turkey Seasons
South Dakota Bobcat Hunting and Trapping Seasons Set
South Dakota Mountain Lion Hunting Season Set

PIERRE, S.D. – The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Commission voted to modify the Mountain Lion Hunting Season by decreasing the total harvest limit from 75 to 60 mountain lions and the female harvest limit from 50 to 40 female lions for 2015-16 within the Black Hills Fire Protection District. The Commission also voted not to allow nonresidents to hunt mountain lions in the state.

Custer State Park will have a decreased number of hunting intervals which do not allow the use of dogs from four to three and a decreased number of access permits per interval from 30 to 15. The number of intervals allowing the use of dogs remains at four, but the number of access permits for each interval has been decreased from four to three. Hunting intervals will rotate after every 14 days, beginning with an interval allowing the use of dogs.

Mountain lion hunting within the Black Hills Fire Protection District will begin Dec. 26, 2015 and end March 31, 2016, or until either the total harvest limit of 60 or the female harvest limit of 40 is reached.

[wyohunter12]

Turnabout is fair play! If Wyoming game and fish has the balls to do the same, it will keep those greasy rabbit chokers where they belong with their dogs! Which is not Weston county or Crook County

[BAR BAR 2]

This coming year the Wy G&F will be discussing regulations regarding the hunting and harvest of mountain lion. The Wy Houndsmen Association is already starting to discuss possible measures and ideas to bring up before the G&F Commission. An email will soon be going out to all members asking for input and I will also copy and post the letter on here for other Wyoming residents to chime in on and give their thoughts and input. These are the sort of issues we need to stay ahead of.

The guys who hunt over in the Blackhills region know just how aggravating it is to compete with hunters from other states where we aren't allowed to hunt.



Tex

[BAR BAR 2]

Hey Guys, I have to apologize for taking so long to get everyone caught up on things, although there hasn't been much going on as far as association business. I have talked to JD a few times and we are trying to get some particulars figured out as to having a meeting here soon. We have discussed, either a meeting of the full membership, or possibly just having the board members get together.

If we do have a meeting of just the board members, we want to try and schedule it so that they may get in contact with the membership in their area to discuss the different issues that are important to everyone. We need to start getting our heads together so that we will be prepared for the Commission meetings this next year.

2016 is when the Wyoming Game & Fish Commission will be discussing issues related to the mountain lion. I know there are several ideas and issues that have came up in conversations among members and if we want to get some things done, we need to get it all figured out before we meet with the Commission.

What do you guys think about a meeting? Do you want to have a meeting of the full membership, or would you rather get with the board member in your area and let him represent your thoughts at a get together among board members?

What ideas/issues would you guys like to see brought up and discussed?

We need some feedback here, so please don't hesitate to jump in and let me know what you guys want.

I'm now doing the PR work for the Wyoming Houndsmen Association, so if anyone would like to get ahold of me directly, shoot me a pm and I will be glad to give you my contact information.


Thanks
Tex

[wyohunter12]

I would like the following topics discussed:
-Pursuit season for Bear and Lion
-Bobcat Quota
-Only grant Out-of-State lion licenses to states that grant Wyoming Reciprocity as far as hunting is concerned
-Female Quotas for more areas, there has to be a healthy female population to sustain quality hunting

[BAR BAR 2]

Wyohunter, with the exception of the bobcat issues, the topics you brought up are the very core of what we plan to bring before the commission this coming year. The Wyoming Fish & Game Commission discussed issues concerning bobcat and other furbearers earlier this year. We tried to get a few things done in that regard, but we were admittedly pretty green at how the process works in regards to bringing issues before the commission. Having learned our lesson on that is why we are trying to get started so early in preparation for next year's meetings.

I have been talking to a few people in recent months about a possible bear season, so I'm glad to see others have thought about it too. Several have given every reason under the sun why they don't think it will work, but I'm of the mind they are right if we don't atleast try. I have a friend who is a board member with the Wisconsin Bear hunters Association. He and I have discussed this some and I've been leaning on him for research numbers and different avenues that may help us achieve our goals here. It won't be a quick process, but if we do our homework, I think getting a bear season could be a possibility.



Tex

[BAR BAR 2]

JD has sent me a couple different documents with a membership list and contact information for everyone, but I am missing several email addresses. I am going to be sending an email out to all of the membership and I want to be sure that everybody is included.

For those interested in being on email/contact list, I need you to PM me your -
First and Last Name
Mailing Address
Phone Number
Email Address

As soon as I can get everyone's contact information gathered up there will be an email going out. I spoke with JD just now and we need to nail down a date that is convenient for each of the board members, so that we can all get together. Whatever date is decided upon will go out to all of the membership and anyone who wants to attend is welcome, but for those who can't make it, we ask that you get with the rep from your area so he can pass on your concerns.



Thanks
Tex