Utah opens cougar hunting year round

[MuleyFever]

Good news for deer and elk but its not really the way it should be done. Bypassing the DWR on wildlife management sets a bad tone.

Gov. Cox signs bill allowing yearlong cougar hunting

Governor Cox signed a bill Friday to allow yearlong cougar hunting, Utah Mountain Lion Conservation, and the Humane Society of Utah oppose it.

www.abc4.com

 

[mtnrunner260]

Yeah whether pro or anti hunting ballot biology is a scary prospect.
Letting everyone Tom, Dick and Harry shoot a cougar with their hunting license won't result in a significant increase in cougar harvest.
Now the right guys could certainly take a lot of cats trapping. Will the wildlife board set or quota though?

 

[packer58]

I would agree with that, no question an open season on the big cats will be beneficial to the big game in the state .....However, when politicians make wildlife management decisions outside the umbrella of the states DOW it definitely sets bad precedence.

 

[HighUintas]

Very bad. I think baiting and trapping are allowed. Bad that the state just circumvents the DWR and bad that it seems it's just open season.... The numbers could get low enough some animal group will get them listed threatened and then zero hunting them

 

[sneaky]

It's open season on them year around, true, but they also have to be checked in so they can keep up with harvest numbers so they can adjust take as needed.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[WBrim]

I’ve heard some buzz about expecting some guidelines on annual bag limits or something, but really haven’t seen much of anything official.
I believe this goes into effect in a few more days (5/4/23?)

 

[rousseb]

wow that's exciting.

 

[WBrim]

Just because the date where this takes effect is so close, I’m surprised the UT DWR hasn’t edited the cougar section- still showing the ‘23-‘24 guide book that hasn’t been edited since January

 

[Dioni A]

I wouldn't be very surprised if this didn't make that much of a difference in annual harvest. Most guys aren't out all year long packing a rifle. You're going to get the most take during historical hunting season and it's going to be a lot of coincidental harvest. Other than that the guys who already killed mountain lions will continue to kill mountain lions.

 

[WBrim]

I wouldn't be very surprised if this didn't make that much of a difference in annual harvest. Most guys aren't out all year long packing a rifle. You're going to get the most take during historical hunting season and it's going to be a lot of coincidental harvest. Other than that the guys who already killed mountain lions will continue to kill mountain lions.

I agree. One aspect that may make a big difference is trapping. But, it’s not very common to see a lion, particularly when you are looking for one spot and stalk style.

I do expect they see me A LOT more than I see them.