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There’s a lot of talk around the West right now, largely due to current legislative proposals, about shaking up apex predator management by eliminating or vastly liberalizing harvest, such as eliminating quotas and creating open seasons on predators such as mountain lions and bears. Utah opened the door for this last year by allowing year round mountain lion harvest in hopes of mitigating the downward spiral of their mule deer herds.
This legislative chatter generates conversation about predator management and there’s been pushback from the hunting community around unlimited lion and bear harvest. Many arguing that this is a step backward, will negatively impact predator numbers and give the hunting community a black eye. I don’t agree and here’s why.
Incidental take of predators such as lions and bears is extremely low. I am blessed to spend a lot of time in the field each year and I used to spend even more before I got married and had children, I can count on exactly four fingers how many opportunities I’ve had to take a lion or a bear while engaged in other activities such as elk hunting or fishing, with really only one being a high percentage chance on a lion. I didn’t have a tag on the only good opportunity I was presented and it taught me a lesson about having valid tags for predators in my pocket but another chance has never materialized.
For a concrete example let’s look at Utah who legalized year round mountain lion harvest in 2023 and has no plans to change their approach at this time.
“We didn’t want to make any drastic changes and collect data for another year and then make some determinations about how those legislative changes and how our rule changes last year are impacting cougar harvest…”
“Biologists have been monitoring harvest rates since the law went into effect in May of 2023 and DeBloois said, so far, harvest numbers are similar to previous years. From May 2022 to May 2023, 512 cougars were harvested in Utah. From May 2023 to May 2024, that number was one less at 511.”
Interesting, as it seems that year round cougar hunting has had zero impact on overall harvest numbers.
When this topic came up here around the office, Dan Pickar was the only one of us with multiple opportunities to take happenstance predators but even those encounters were in the single digits and he spends more time afield with a weapon in hand than almost anyone I personally know.
Another comparison point is coyotes. In Wyoming we can kill coyotes 24/7/365 and they are extensively managed by wildlife control agents but we have a robust population of coyotes anyway. Apex predators are very good at not being seen and therefore, unless specifically targeted, the numbers of them incidentally harvested each year is ridiculously low and has zero impact on overall populations.
In my opinion, opening up unlimited lion and bear harvest would not have an impact on overall populations. As for helping mule deer herds rebound, according to California Fish and Wildlife a mountain kills 48 “deer sized” animals a year. So you know that’s a minimum number being it’s coming from California. Simple math. . . killing more lions WILL reduce predation on mule deer. It’s an inarguable fact.
What about giving hunters a black eye or tarnished reputation? That’s a tough one because hunting is already under attack, with predator hunting in particular, directly in the crosshairs of animal rights groups. This is not going to change and as American populations continue to become more urban the realities of having large numbers of apex predators on the landscape continue to become increasingly cloudy for the majority of people. I firmly believe that the rise of predator protection and reintroductions is a move toward ending ALL hunting. The mindset being that if there are apex predators on the landscape to “control” game animal populations, then there is no need for regulated hunting and the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation can be done away with.
This is a fight where if we give an inch, the proverbial mile is snatched from our grasp. Perhaps it’s time we go on the offensive in the apex predator battle and stop trying to please people who hate us simply for how we view the world and the wildlife it is our responsibility to steward.
As always, I’d love to hear your take.
Chute chute chute.. save the mule deer from extinction!
I previously resided in Maryland and have said for years, the progressive movement is ALL FOR the reintroduction of predators. That way, when populations of game species become low enough, hunting will cease to continue. And if you don’t need guns for hunting, well then, you don’t need guns. That’s the ultimate goal!