Jake's Outdoors

A Win for Washington Hunters?

The Seattle Times has an interesting story posted this morning. It seems that hunters are actually being given some leeway to hunt cougars with dogs. We all know how hound hunting has fallen under the ire of anti-hunting organizations. Personally, I currently do not hunt anything with dogs, but I have hunted birds over dogs, as well as rabbits on occasion. It is interesting that hunting those game animals has not fallen under the same criticism that hunting deer, bear and cougars have.

It appears that the number of cougar attacks have gone up in the state, and so lawmakers are reconsidering the idea of banning hunting with dogs. As this article points out, since banning the use of dogs for hunting the cougars, the number of cougars killed has actually gone up. That is a result of some of the other changes that have been made in Washington, such as cheaper tags, and more available tags. However, there have also been a lot more younger cats shot, and a lot more females. You see, when hunters are using dogs to hunt with, they have the ability to examine an animal that is treed, and can decide if it is a good animal to shoot, or not. Now that the number of cougar attacks have increased the lawmakers want to use dog hunting as a tool for chasing “problem animals”. In other words, the hunters had been keeping the animals in control, but when their conservation method was taken away, the number of problem cats increased. Now, the lawmakers want their help, so they are giving the hunters their tool back once again.

Sometimes, those of us who are so far away from the situation may have a harder time trying to figure out what is best. But, then we read an article like this one, and quickly discover what is right. Anytime I see that the Humane Society of United States is opposing the legislation, I know it must be good. So, I am happy to see that hunters in Washington State may have this method of hunting returned to them, both for the sake of the sport, the sake of the health of the cougar population, and the safety of the communities that are troubled by dangerous cats.

The ranchers of this area also came out to support the legislation. These are people whose lively hood and safety are directly impacted by the cougars, and their attacks. One rancher had this to say concerning the statement made by the Humane Society of America representative:

“She sits in an office somewhere, clapping her hands and saying we should leave the cougar alone,” said former Okanogan County Commissioner Ed Thiele, describing livestock predation on his brother-in-law’s ranch. “Let her come out and see what is happening out there in the real world.”

Unfortunately, the problem is that people in the “real world” don’t get to make the rules most of the time. How often is it that legislators in big cities have more control over what happens with wildlife than those who are out there working to make it the best it can be? How often are those same legislators more influenced by big organizations with deep pockets (but no real experience when it comes to dealing with conservation), than they are with those of us with little money to contribute, but who work hard on conservation issues? When animal control becomes a problem for these people, then and only then will they suggest dealing with it in reasonable ways. They don’t care if a rancher’s sheep are destroyed by rogue cats…that one cat is more important to them than all the sheep on the West Coast. They often do not even care if a human is maimed or killed by a rogue animal. Question that? What happened when a tiger killed a man in a zoo recently? There were groups who gathered for a vigil for the tiger! Who thinks of these things?  I am all for showing compassion, but lets have a bit of common sense.  Which is more important?  A human life lost, or a tiger life lost?  I am afraid that in our deluded society, we often think of the animal life as more important than the human.

I am glad to see steps in the right direction for Washington.  It will be interesting to see how many rural counties sign up for the “program” that allows for the hunting of cougars for dogs, at least under certain situations.