A bill that recently passed the Utah legislature would remove all bag limits for mountain lion hunting and extend the current season from seven months to year-round. House Bill 469, which has passed both the Utah Senate and the House of Representatives, would also lessen the permit requirements for cougar hunting by allowing anyone with a base hunting license to pursue the big cats through methods that include hounding, trapping, and spot-and-stalk hunting.
Since passing in the legislature, the bill has garnered a fair amount of opposition from people inside the hunting community. Corey Huntsman, President of the Utah Houndsmen Association opposes the bill. He told Field & Stream he’s more concerned with the lifting of lion quotas than the extension of the season from seven months to a full year.
“We have not had a change this radical in the wildlife management of any species in Utah in 56 years,” Huntsman said. “And this was done with zero public input. The legislators did not seek out Utah Division of Wildlife biologist experts for opinion or cause and effects. They didn’t reach out to our universities that are doing studies on deer and lions. This was all legislators managing wildlife by slipping an amendment into an unrelated bill at the last hour.”
In 2019, the UDWR estimated Utah’s cougar numbers at around 2,000 individual animals. According to the department, 667 cougars were harvested in 2021, while only 491 of the big cats were taken during the 2022 hunting season. UDWR spokesperson Faith Heaton Jolly told the Deseret News that the drop in harvest from 2021 to 2022 wasn’t an indicator of a decline in cougar numbers, but more likely a reflection of just how hard the big cats are to successfully hunt.
Read Next: Two Hunters in Iowa Bag Rare Mountain Lion While Hunting Coyotes
Huntsman, who typically spends about 150 days a year on the mountain chasing cougars with his hounds, disagrees. “Wouldn’t that be an indicator that we’re decreasing the population?” he asked. “We’ve had the best snow year we’ve ever had this year. The snow is so good that you can go out and track them without a dog. She’s saying that the drop in numbers is because they’re so hard to hunt, but I could go out and catch one with a Labrador right now. We’re decreasing the population. There is data to support that.”
The bill would go into effect if it’s signed into law by Utah Governor Spencer Cox, who also has the power to veto it. If signed, the new regulations would be folded into the Utah Division of Wildlife’s (UDWR) hunting regulations on May 23, 2023.
The post Utah Bill Could Open Unlimited, Year-Round Mountain Lion Hunting—To the Dismay of Some Hunters appeared first on Field & Stream.
Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.