Coltons first cougar

[chilcotin hillbilly]

Took my son out yesterday to look for a cat. We found a good tom track from the day before with 2" of snow in it. We followed it for a couple of miles before the track heated up. I had two of my dogs and one of my 7 month old pups with me. It was the pups first time out. When we hi the fresh track I let the dogs go, 5 minutes later they had this nice tom treed in a leaning pine tree. Colton made a good shot and the dogs had a good chew. What a great day! the skull green scored 15 3/8", the cat measured 9'1" and wieghed 175#. Colton and the dogs did awesome.

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm194/skinnercreek/004email.jpg

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm194/skinnercreek/006email.jpg

[Steeleco]

Great work gang, nice looking kitty.

[sako7mm]

Way to go Colton, you can be proud as thats one nice cat. Don't get concerned about what others say either, some people just don't understand the concept of a person harvesting the odd cat.

[mark]

What a waste!!!!!!

Care to explain yourself looser!


Awesome Cat! Big Congrads to the kid!

[jessbennett]

What a waste!!!!!!


and why is that??????

[bigwhiteys]

That's Awesome, Way to go Colton! It's snowing like a bugger here again so later today/tomorrow I'll go out and have a little look for tracks too.

Carl

[Kody94]

Way to go Colton. Nice cat! Congrats. http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon14.gif

[brno375]

Well done. And the meat tastes great too.

[moosinaround]

What a waste!!!!!!
Hey bud head over to the knitting web site! Beauty cat Colton!! Moosin

[The Hermit]

Awesome... can't wait to get out there for one myself.

Mods - Suggest that Wolfie either explain himself/herself or be banned!

[bigben]

Nice cat there kid .. you done good...... many more happy returns .........nothing beats the fresh air the baying of the dogs and the beating of your heart when your chasing these cats and all the sweat that goes with it ............Congratulations

[Blainer]

What a waste!!!!!!Wrong site
I believe you were looking for peta.com,jacka$$.
Great tom,I would love an opportunity like that,good on ya.

[whitetailsheds]

Nice cat, congrats!

[ROEBUCK]

Mods - Suggest that Wolfie either explain himself/herself or be banned![/quote]

x2, this great hunting site does not need anti hunters on it, it shoud be a place were we can all talk freely about our chosen sport!

[Huey]

Very nice.... sooooo jealous!! Wish I had some dogs to help out my cougar hunting. Way to go!!!

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Awesome cat !!
Congrats CHB and Colton!!

Some great eats too!!

SSS

[stickbow]

What a waste!!!!!!
Ignorance is bliss. Way to go Colton nice cat

[Sitkaspruce]

Great job CHB and Colton!!!!

Great cat, good eats and some nice picts.


Cheers

SS

[Wild one]

Nice kitty !!

Ps Ignore the looser

[TIKA 300]

Sweet

Nice kitty,looks like alot of fun.

Just ignore the JACKASS comments.

[hunter1947]

Nice cat ,40 more deer saved for the year ,congrats to your son.

[Caveman]

Nice Job Colton!! Beauty Cat!!

For you Naysayers, have you ever tried cougar hunting or the meat. Both are very enjoyable, so if you don't have anything nice to say Sh*t the F*ck Up!!!
Cat populations are sustainable enough to allow hunting, it is legal and those same cats are not depleting your opportunities to harvest your deer, so in essence he's doing you a favor

[moosinaround]

Wolfie, read carport cougar in the posts for today! Guess the german sheppard was a waste too?? Moosin

[killman]

Good job Colton, Awesome kitty.

[chilcotin hillbilly]

Wolfie, you unintelligent moron. You have no idea how many cats I have around my place. Often I have 6 cats within 3 miles of my house that has really put a hurting on the deer in the area. Use your head before commenting on a thread. It makes you look like an idiot.

[Alpine85]

Big Time congrats!!! nice looking kitty Colton.

[Mik]

Congrats Colton, great lookin cat.

[maouser]

nice looking kitty colton. cant wait till i get my first.

[Bighorn hunter]

Its guys like wolfie that make me want to stay away from here. Its guys like everyone else on this thread that make me want to stay.

Well done on a great cat, can't wait for my turn.

[Johnnybear]

Way to go Colton!!!! Nice cat. That is a special trophy right there. Great pic's. Thanks for sharing.

[6616]

What a waste!!!!!!


Sure you're on the right forum Wolfie? Maybe you though you were here:
http://www.peta.org/forums/index.asp

[GoatGuy]

Congrats to your kid.

[Freshtracks]

Congrats to the lads first cat. Great looking tom. Love the tree photo.

[Wolfie]

first off----Junior member ,does not mean junior hunter......having said that, I've hunted many animals in my life time and all over the world, and I have worked as a biologist together with Hunting Outfitters, but also and more important over the past years I have learned to see the whole picture in the aspect of hunting. Don't get me wrong I like a Venison roast just like you,and I love hunting for meat, but it is our duty to also work on conservation so we have a future in hunting. When I talk to Outfitters they all say the same, animals all over the province are in decline,(Sheep,mule deer,cougar and so on, if we like it or not,sure there are allways some heavy populated area's the question is how long?

My intention was not to sound like a Jack.....s, my appologies to the Kid,the comment was more towards the actual problem we have in our province.
Cariboo decline not because of to many Wolf's in the Area ,they are rapidly declining because of pipe lines going through they're migrating routes,or mining and logging, just to give you one example.

Here is a good read ,....there is a reason for everything.
You take some, and we should give it back in some way.
As a Hunter it is our responsibility..would you not agree?

Killing large numbers of cougars creates social chaos, Wielgus and his students found. Trophy hunters often target adult males, which act as a stabilizing force in cougar populations. The adults police large territories and kill or drive out young males. With the grown-ups gone, the "young hooligans" run wild, Wielgus says.
"Every time you kill a dominant male, about three of these young guys come for the funeral."
Evidence suggests cougars under two years of age, just learning to live on their own, account for the majority of run-ins with people and domestic animals. "You don't get to be an old cougar by doing stupid stuff like hanging out in backyards and eating cats," Wielgus says.
In the Selkirk Mountains at the confluence of Washington, British Columbia and Idaho, Wielgus and his students discovered the cougar population was actually crashing at a time when everyone assumed it was booming — because complaints were off the charts.
Hunters had killed all the older males. Then they targeted adult females, whose numbers were plummeting. "About all that was left were these teenagers, and that could well be the reason there were so many complaints — even though there weren't many cougars," Wielgus says.
Another project focused on a smaller area in the Colville National Forest, also in northeastern Washington, where the state opened emergency hunts to reduce cougar numbers in response to complaints. But the cougar population didn't drop at all. Instead, young males from a hundred miles around moved into the territories vacated when adults were killed.
"The only change is that the problematic component — the younger males — increased," Wielgus said.
By contrast, the cougars Maletzke studies along the Interstate 90 corridor have been subject to light levels of hunting. Yet conflicts are rare.
"When you've got a population of smart, resident cats, that's a stable situation," he says.
"Respect for that cat"
Sometimes Maletzke wishes the cougars weren't quite so clever. Jane has learned how to lead the dogs in circles — and leave them barking up the wrong tree.
"We've got a lot of respect for that cat," Maletzke says as he sets out on his fourth attempt this winter to nab her.
He pulls his truck to the side of the road and holds up a small antenna, trying to pick up a signal from the cougar's collar.
Sporadic beeps lead him to a hillside above the Yakima River.
Maletzke and his assistants strap on snowshoes while dog handler Dallas Likens unloads his three fastest hounds. The dogs' frenzied barks explode like gunshots in the cold air. They strain at their leashes, dragging Likens behind them.
Most hunters used to rely on dogs to track and tree cougars, which are so elusive they are otherwise hard to find and shoot. But in 1996, Washington voters overwhelmingly passed a citizen initiative that banned the practice, which some consider cruel.
If voters thought they were putting an end to cougar hunting, though, they were wrong.
The number of cats killed by hunters in Washington has climbed in recent years, exceeding levels in the 1950s when the state paid a $75 bounty to encourage eradication.
Before 1996, hunters killed an average of 156 cougars a year. Since the initiative, the harvest rate increased more than 40 percent, to an average of 225 animals a year.
That's because state wildlife managers, worried cougars would proliferate when hound-hunting ended, liberalized the rules for so-called "boot" hunters: Those who walk or drive the woods primarily in search of deer or elk.
The state raised the bag limit to two cougars, doubled the length of the season, and cut the cost of a cougar tag to $10. Before the initiative, the state issued about 600 cougar permits annually. Now, more than 60,000 hunters have license to kill cougars every year.
State lawmakers also enacted several bills to allow hound hunting in counties where complaints about cougars killing livestock or menacing people were high — leading to the heavy kill rate in northeastern Washington and British Columbia.

By the Way :Members with rude comment's should be taken of the website

[Bighorn hunter]

Maybe you should have stated your case in your first comment rather that just mouthing off . It is also part of this site that if its legal then keep your negative opinions to yourself

[Caveman]

By the Way :Members with rude comment's should be taken of the website

Starting with yours???

Maybe if you had explained yourself first, and not on this thread, you might have found a lot more understanding in your comment, but you won't be jumping on a kid who just accomplished something that many never will

[BCLongshot]

Well...

I read and research like crazy on top of doing a lot of other useful things like work and raise a family.

You've had some bad water along the way.

I'm more motivated than before and I'll try my hardest to tag out on cougar which will be 2.

Nice cat and congratulations.

[mikethemilkman]

nice tiger!! beautiful pics:mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen: never mind what others say

[TRIPALM]

great job,good cat, young legs and youg dogs you should be proud,dont let negative comments rain on your day,been there before us houndsmen can go from heros to as! holes in seconds

[thecoug]

Beats the crap out of baiting and sitting in a stand waiting like other provinces and states.... This IS a HUNTING forum last time I checked!!
PETA disguised as a Wolf... what is next...
Either way you got a very respectable cat there... Gotta keep those hounds on their toes... Excellent experience for your lad too!!! Keep up the good work...coug

[Ddog]

nice post wolfie,however, most of that was about americans, personally i think we live in BC and think that your post was pretty much irrelevant to most of British Columbia. There are alot more ranges in BC than the selkirks. and a lot more cougars than you realize. Personally i dont hunt cougars and probably never will because i think they are awesome creatures, however, those that do hunt them have the right to do so with whatever means necessary to them as long as it is legal.
Perhaps you should try and find a study done in all of BC before posting your comments.

[Brizz]

Wolfie, do you have any sources for your declining animal #'s? EVERYONE I've talked to since I've gotten into hunting this year have stated the EXACT OPPOSITE. My CORE instructor along with a few other experienced hunters have told me that animal #'s are at a HISTORIC ALL TIME HIGH in BC. I was also told conservationists are worried about the decline in cat hunters because the population of cougars is getting out of control in BC, especially the Island.

Can someone clear this up for me?

[Stone Sheep Steve]

I have worked as a biologist together with Hunting Outfitters,.........

Cariboo decline not because of to many Wolf's in the Area ,



I have a hard time believing a biologist would not know how to spell "Caribou" (the animal") as opposed to "Cariboo" (the area). Laymen make that mistake not professionals.


I call BS on your entire post:neutral:.

Back to the thread........

SSS

[Caveman]

I have a hard time believing a biologist would not know how to spell "Caribou" (the animal") as opposed to "Cariboo" (the area). Laymen make that mistake not professionals.


I call BS on your entire post:neutral:.

Back to the thread........

SSS


The Cariboo is be threatened by the encroachment of the Thompson and Skeena Regions, taking up greatly needed Cariboo habitat, where have you been hiding!! :mrgreen:

[325]

Wolfie is a TROLL........don't get into an exchange with him/her....

[chilcotin hillbilly]

Wolfie maybe as a biologist you should start your own study as most of what you posted is from the states and does not hold water as far as BC is concerned. Its funny that the only problem cats I had to harvest since I moved to the chilcotin have all been mature toms. This goes against everything said in your previous statement. As a cougar hunter I pride myself in trying to maintain a healthy population of cats and never over harvest, as that would hurt the long term population and my ability to harvest mature toms for clients.

[Jelvis]

Big monster cat-way to go to the chilcotin boy-Colton-
Great cat.
Jelvis--way to go Colton

[bighornbob]

Wolfie

Could you care to explain what happens in a normal cougar population??? Where do the young males go if the older males are not shot?????

In the real world, the cats are going to continue to mate and produce offspring. This ever increasing population lends to animals needing to expand (common sence). I agree with your comment that a mature male will not tolerate younger males in his territory. So all these young males wander until they find their own territory (happens in most species that have territories). So you have all these older males with established home ranges and young males looking for ones. Well guess where there are no old males hanging around, yup on the fringes of towns and cities and thats where the young cats end up trying to make a life for themselves. Well they become problem cats as they feed on pets and kids.

When an older male is shot the area is taken over by a younger male or a few younger males spilt up the area. So shooting the older male provides an area for the younger males so they dont end up in someones backyard.

BHB

[Wolfie]

nice post wolfie,however, most of that was about americans, personally i think we live in BC and think that your post was pretty much irrelevant to most of British Columbia. There are alot more ranges in BC than the selkirks. and a lot more cougars than you realize. Personally i dont hunt cougars and probably never will because i think they are awesome creatures, however, those that do hunt them have the right to do so with whatever means necessary to them as long as it is legal.
Perhaps you should try and find a study done in all of BC before posting your comments.

To: Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia
To the Honourable the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, in Legislature Assembled:

The petition of the undersigned, residents of the Province of British Columbia, states that:

Where as it is estimated that Vancouver Island’s cougar population has dropped by 50 per cent in the last five to ten years with an estimated 300–400 individuals remaining, AND the Island’s wolf population has also dropped by 50 per cent in the last 20 years with an estimated 150 wolves remaining;

Where as these dramatic declines are linked to a decline in black-tailed deer which is the primary prey base of both wolves and cougars;

Whereas the best available scientific evidence suggests the most significant threat to viable wolf populations in the Pacific Northwest is clearcut logging and loss of ancient forest habitat, which is thought to reduce the forest’s long-term carrying capacity for deer; and whereas nearly 75 per cent of the Island’s productive ancient forests have been logged, primarily by clearcutting, in the last 150 years;

Whereas Vancouver Island’s remaining ancient forests, found largely in draft Forest Ecosystem Network reserves (forested links within logged landscapes); draft Ungulate Winter Range reserves; and intact valleys such as East Creek, Schoen Creek, the upper Walbran, and Clayoquot Sound, continue to be approved for logging by the provincial government; and

Whereas the effectiveness of predator culls and/or contraception as strategies for restoring prey populations remains unproven;

Your petitioners respectfully request that the Government reject any proposal for the culling or contraception of wolves and cougars on Vancouver Island, and instead, immediately implement a change in forest policy to restore viable deer, wolf and cougar populations on Vancouver Island by both protecting remaining old growth habitats, and restoring old growth structures to uniform second growth stands.

[horshur]

congrats to your son Colton..not every 12 year old has that story to tell.

[Kody94]

http://www.accuratereloading.com/forums/troll2.gif (javascript:void(0))

......................

[BlacktailStalker]

Wolfie what are the points of the posts you are copying/pasting?
Your first one was completely out of context, your second one completely irrelevant as to why you made your first post and this one is further in left field.

YOU arent saying anything so speak up or post a picture of you with a dead animal or something so we know you arent a peta supporter or troll etc or its quite possibly bye bye !

I've got no powers in the mainland section...

[mark]

To: Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia
To the Honourable the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, in Legislature Assembled:

The petition of the undersigned, residents of the Province of British Columbia, states that:

Where as it is estimated that Vancouver Island’s cougar population has dropped by 50 per cent in the last five to ten years with an estimated 300–400 individuals remaining, AND the Island’s wolf population has also dropped by 50 per cent in the last 20 years with an estimated 150 wolves remaining;

Where as these dramatic declines are linked to a decline in black-tailed deer which is the primary prey base of both wolves and cougars;

Whereas the best available scientific evidence suggests the most significant threat to viable wolf populations in the Pacific Northwest is clearcut logging and loss of ancient forest habitat, which is thought to reduce the forest’s long-term carrying capacity for deer; and whereas nearly 75 per cent of the Island’s productive ancient forests have been logged, primarily by clearcutting, in the last 150 years;

Whereas Vancouver Island’s remaining ancient forests, found largely in draft Forest Ecosystem Network reserves (forested links within logged landscapes); draft Ungulate Winter Range reserves; and intact valleys such as East Creek, Schoen Creek, the upper Walbran, and Clayoquot Sound, continue to be approved for logging by the provincial government; and

Whereas the effectiveness of predator culls and/or contraception as strategies for restoring prey populations remains unproven;

Your petitioners respectfully request that the Government reject any proposal for the culling or contraception of wolves and cougars on Vancouver Island, and instead, immediately implement a change in forest policy to restore viable deer, wolf and cougar populations on Vancouver Island by both protecting remaining old growth habitats, and restoring old growth structures to uniform second growth stands.

Its estimated??? who made these estimates? This letter looks like something PETA would dream up! Its a bunch of shit! Dig yourself a deeper hole! This just back up what I said earlier!

[Ddog]

wolfie,,,,what are you trying to prove? were you born dumb or did it take you your whole life to become dumb?
another meaningless post on your behalf. congratulations.

[Bighorn hunter]

Wolfie, why don't you start your own thread and enlighten us with your vast knowledge instead of hijacking this one or anyone else's that is doing something they love and is totally legal?

[hunter33]

I agree we should ban Wolfie and say congrats to colton on a great cat.
THIS IS COLTON'S thread, Wolfie get your own, or even better just go away!!!

Once again great job Colton.

[nomad]

Way to go on that gorgeous cat!! Thanks for sharing the pics too! Congrats!

[sparky300winmag]

Thats a beauty of a cat.Congrats Colton..Its too bad this thread got trampled like that.

[dana]

The moderation on this site is utter BS. Time to get your shit together Marc and kick your moderators asses.

Colton, Congrats on a great tom. That is quite the acomplishment for a kid. Way to go!!!!

[Gateholio]

Moderators are you sleeping????????


The moderation on this site is utter BS. Time to get your shit together Marc and kick your moderators asses.

Colton, Congrats on a great tom. That is quite the acomplishment for a kid. Way to go!!!!


You guys are pathetic.

Both of you know there is a "REPORT A POST" feature on HBC, I've pointed it out to you guys many times. It sends an email to all the mods, so we know something is up and can go take a look.

You've got time to make multiple bitch posts about the mods at very chance you get, but don't have time to hit one little button to help out.:roll:

You remind me of the people that can't get off their ass to vote, but bitch about government whenever they can.

[daycort]

Jelousy is sinking in a little. Way to go young fella!!!! That is a very good acomplishment and good job to your ol man for getting ya out there.

[Gateholio]

Wolfie has a time out for now....

Maybe everyone can help out get back on track with the topic of the cougar hunt.

thanks

[dana]

And again Gate comes to the rescue and plays the 'dumb' card as to the fact that not a single moderator knew about this post. Funny how he chimes in when called out eh? Do you job and stop being such a pussy.

[BlacktailStalker]

Pretty sure I acknowledged it, infracted someone and couldnt do anything in this section other than that.

[Gateholio]

And again Gate comes to the rescue and plays the 'dumb' card as to the fact that not a single moderator knew about this post. Funny how he chimes in when called out eh? Do you job and stop being such a pussy.


Dana, there is a forum you can't see, it's the Mod forum. Blacktailstalker made a post in there, that is what alerted me to this thread. There is not a mod searching every thread, 24/7...:rolleyes:

Half your posts are bitching about how bad HBC and the mods are, you've been trying to test our patience (especially mine) for ages. So you have earned yourself a time out for now.

[ElectricDyck]

9'1" 175lbs:shock: Wow nice cat! Congrats Colton (and Dad)!

[NaStY]

Congrats there young man. Thats one big kitty!!!!:mrgreen:

Dont let the negative people from this site get to you. People like that come and go in life. Only the good people really stick around........

[srupp]

WOW cat..... COLTON...WELL DONE....

hmmmmm gotta try that eventually..looks like fun..

cheers

Steven

[#1fishslayer]

Good job boys

[stanway]

Congrats Colton on that awesome cat. Way to go!

[NaStY]

Bullshit moderation to allow the wolf fellow to continue posting...



The moderation on this site is utter BS. Time to get your shit together Marc and kick your moderators asses.



And again Gate comes to the rescue and plays the 'dumb' card as to the fact that not a single moderator knew about this post. Funny how he chimes in when called out eh? Do you job and stop being such a pussy.



Come on guys, cant you at least take care of your crap on another thread or in pm's. Pretty childish if you ask me........

[BiG Boar]

Great cat! To bad this thread turned to scat. Just know that there is one more peta member out there who has given us all one more reason to bag an extra animal next year! GOOD WORK!

[bsa30-06]

congrats on an awesome cat,great pictures thanxs for sharing.

[riflebuilder]

congrats...great looking tom.

[Will]

Great Looking Tom !

Congrats on the Cat !

[mcrae]

Awesome cat...

Someday I want to try hunting cougar with hounds...

[Brambles]

Fantastic Cat, What a monster, big congrats. Don't let the PETA trolls piss in your soup, you did good kid.

[frenchbar]

Congrats on your cat Colton !!

[Laurence_Erickson]

great cat chb and colton. I have been away from hounds for awhile now and remembermy sons first cat like it was yesterday.Nice cat colton. wolfie when I did hunt problem cats it seemed that the older toms pushed the young cats out of thier teritory,I must say I killed more young cats causing problems than older ones. your little postit show for the Island . I have to dissagree with I was here whenthe wolves started really multiply here I watched deer numbers crash like hell. If there is less cats and wolves on the Island it might have something to do with no food? Unless of course they sustained themselves on the Island marmomt. just my 2 cents

[Elkhound]

geeze...dont check my email for a few hrs and look what happens. Did not even know what was going on till someone reported the post
Dec29th 11:53pm to be exact on when it was reported

[hunter1947]

first off----Junior member ,does not mean junior hunter......having said that, I've hunted many animals in my life time and all over the world, and I have worked as a biologist together with Hunting Outfitters, but also and more important over the past years I have learned to see the whole picture in the aspect of hunting. Don't get me wrong I like a Venison roast just like you,and I love hunting for meat, but it is our duty to also work on conservation so we have a future in hunting. When I talk to Outfitters they all say the same, animals all over the province are in decline,(Sheep,mule deer,cougar and so on, if we like it or not,sure there are allways some heavy populated area's the question is how long?

My intention was not to sound like a Jack.....s, my appologies to the Kid,the comment was more towards the actual problem we have in our province.
Cariboo decline not because of to many Wolf's in the Area ,they are rapidly declining because of pipe lines going through they're migrating routes,or mining and logging, just to give you one example.

Here is a good read ,....there is a reason for everything.
You take some, and we should give it back in some way.
As a Hunter it is our responsibility..would you not agree?

Killing large numbers of cougars creates social chaos, Wielgus and his students found. Trophy hunters often target adult males, which act as a stabilizing force in cougar populations. The adults police large territories and kill or drive out young males. With the grown-ups gone, the "young hooligans" run wild, Wielgus says.
"Every time you kill a dominant male, about three of these young guys come for the funeral."
Evidence suggests cougars under two years of age, just learning to live on their own, account for the majority of run-ins with people and domestic animals. "You don't get to be an old cougar by doing stupid stuff like hanging out in backyards and eating cats," Wielgus says.
In the Selkirk Mountains at the confluence of Washington, British Columbia and Idaho, Wielgus and his students discovered the cougar population was actually crashing at a time when everyone assumed it was booming — because complaints were off the charts.
Hunters had killed all the older males. Then they targeted adult females, whose numbers were plummeting. "About all that was left were these teenagers, and that could well be the reason there were so many complaints — even though there weren't many cougars," Wielgus says.
Another project focused on a smaller area in the Colville National Forest, also in northeastern Washington, where the state opened emergency hunts to reduce cougar numbers in response to complaints. But the cougar population didn't drop at all. Instead, young males from a hundred miles around moved into the territories vacated when adults were killed.
"The only change is that the problematic component — the younger males — increased," Wielgus said.
By contrast, the cougars Maletzke studies along the Interstate 90 corridor have been subject to light levels of hunting. Yet conflicts are rare.
"When you've got a population of smart, resident cats, that's a stable situation," he says.
"Respect for that cat"
Sometimes Maletzke wishes the cougars weren't quite so clever. Jane has learned how to lead the dogs in circles — and leave them barking up the wrong tree.
"We've got a lot of respect for that cat," Maletzke says as he sets out on his fourth attempt this winter to nab her.
He pulls his truck to the side of the road and holds up a small antenna, trying to pick up a signal from the cougar's collar.
Sporadic beeps lead him to a hillside above the Yakima River.
Maletzke and his assistants strap on snowshoes while dog handler Dallas Likens unloads his three fastest hounds. The dogs' frenzied barks explode like gunshots in the cold air. They strain at their leashes, dragging Likens behind them.
Most hunters used to rely on dogs to track and tree cougars, which are so elusive they are otherwise hard to find and shoot. But in 1996, Washington voters overwhelmingly passed a citizen initiative that banned the practice, which some consider cruel.
If voters thought they were putting an end to cougar hunting, though, they were wrong.
The number of cats killed by hunters in Washington has climbed in recent years, exceeding levels in the 1950s when the state paid a $75 bounty to encourage eradication.
Before 1996, hunters killed an average of 156 cougars a year. Since the initiative, the harvest rate increased more than 40 percent, to an average of 225 animals a year.
That's because state wildlife managers, worried cougars would proliferate when hound-hunting ended, liberalized the rules for so-called "boot" hunters: Those who walk or drive the woods primarily in search of deer or elk.
The state raised the bag limit to two cougars, doubled the length of the season, and cut the cost of a cougar tag to $10. Before the initiative, the state issued about 600 cougar permits annually. Now, more than 60,000 hunters have license to kill cougars every year.
State lawmakers also enacted several bills to allow hound hunting in counties where complaints about cougars killing livestock or menacing people were high — leading to the heavy kill rate in northeastern Washington and British Columbia.

By the Way :Members with rude comment's should be taken of the website

Wolfie man kind has interfered with every kind of animal on the planet and have done good and bad.

Its up to us as the superior race to do something when it is wrong.

When an predator gets out of hand in some areas its up to us the man to control them so they don't get out of hand as for when the population of the prey go down in numbers its up to us man kind to do something about it.

The only way we are going to do the right thing for predators and prey is to not drive cars ,trucks etc anywhere.
Don't build pip lines ,roads ,logging ,develop new areas for building .

We should all give up hunting and let nature look after itself ,NO we all know that this will not happen so its up to us to look after ALL.

The way I look at it is if there are to many cats out there in a area where it is over populated as for wolf bears then it is up to us to control them ,this is the way I see it and the way I look at it its the right thing to do http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon7.gif http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon12.gif.

[hunter1947]

Wolfie maybe as a biologist you should start your own study as most of what you posted is from the states and does not hold water as far as BC is concerned. Its funny that the only problem cats I had to harvest since I moved to the chilcotin have all been mature toms. This goes against everything said in your previous statement. As a cougar hunter I pride myself in trying to maintain a healthy population of cats and never over harvest, as that would hurt the long term population and my ability to harvest mature toms for clients.

Well said chilcotin hillbilly ,the same goes for Marten ,Fisher ,Mink ,Beaver etc when you trap them you make sure you don't take to many of the male or female to hurt the female to male ratio http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon12.gif.

[hunter1947]

Again congratulations on taking a very nice cougar Colton ,your dad and you did the right thing taking this fine animal http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon14.gif http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon14.gif http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon14.gif http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon14.gif http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon7.gif http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon6.gif.

[Caveman]

Wolfie, you unintelligent moron. You have no idea how many cats I have around my place. Often I have 6 cats within 3 miles of my house that has really put a hurting on the deer in the area. Use your head before commenting on a thread. It makes you look like an idiot.

If you're looking to take someone out sometime, I'd love to hook up with you. Help keep that population under control. ;)

Seriously!!

[kennyj]

Wow ! Thats a wopper! Way to go guys,thats a big old tom.
kenny

[mikethemilkman]

i am with sparky300winmag get over it nice tiger!! way mto go

[wildman 22]

well done colton, i hope to get a coug one day.wolfie, in his first post , was just describing his life thus far.

[Rattler]

Wow...big cat! Congrats Colton.

[Kitimat Killer]

very nice cat way to go one day i hope i can go chace those kittys i was going to guide for them this jan but can't get time off from work yet any ways way to go Colton you got alot of guys beat thats for sure

kk

[Mr. Dean]

Nice Cat!!

[proguide66]

I want one!!....just like yourse!!!........one BC game animal i dont have...you guy's want someone who WILL keep up with the dogs (and has a tag)..dont be shy on PM'ing.
As far as the 'Wolfie' stuff...lol...made for some great comedy...still laughin....

[bridger]

congrats on a nice cat and good outing. always wanted to chase cats like that but never had the opportunity

[Mtnhunter]

Congratulations on a great cat Colton! I'm hoping to get my son one real soon!
Cheers!!!