ND Lion Season

[iminrut]

Well our second ever lion season is already over.....we have a 5 cat limit for now....I'm guessing next year it will be going up. The season runs from the begining of September and into March

Last years first season saw it taking nearly the entire season to fill the quota.......this year is only took two months, with the 5 cats being killed before our rifle opener even began.....two of the cats were killed by pheasant hunters.........and this one was killed only 20 miles from me, nearly in the city limits of New Salem....

Here's a link to the story as well.........http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2006/11/10/news/topnews/123732.txt

Since that day, there already have been numerous confirmed sightings, and I saw my first track this morning while walking a river bottom..........kinda has me excited to get into hound hunting.....

 

[wilecoyote76]

You take 'em when you can, even if it is inside a culvert. Is the 5 cat limit set statewide or are there different boundaries with set quotas?

BTW, that is one big holstein cow on the skyline! WHOA!

 

[iminrut]

It is a statewide limit....but I am guessing that number will be going up next near, considering how early the season ended this year and how many confirmed sightings there have been since......

On another note, the tin foil crusaders are claiming that the ND G&F is transporting this cats from California, hence the increase in numbers we've been seeing.....

 

[TheGreatwhitehunter]

so many people will never see one in their life thats kinda neat

 

[coonhunter]

importing lions

Would like to know where you heard they were importing lions. I also have heard an interesting story about a boy getting to close to a game n fish truck at a truckstop in N.D. and they told him to get back from the truck. When the game n fish guys went inside the truck stop, the boys dad looked in the back of the truck and they had several mountain lions in it.

 

[Ithaca 37]

If the F&G Dept. in ND was transplanting lions from Cal. and releasing them on public land I think they'd have to file an EIS first. If they had people who would let them release lions on private land they wouldn't need an EIS. Lions are very prolific, though, and that's probably where the increase is coming from. I doubt they're being imported. Why don't you ask a reputable ND newspaper to investigate the rumors. It would make a great story!

 

[T Bone]

That's a mean looking holstein on the horizon!

SD's 2nd annual cat season went real fast too. No hounds allowed though. Most were taken by deer hunters who bumped into them. Some were called in by people intentionally hunting them.

 

[iminrut]

That's a mean looking holstein on the horizon!

SD's 2nd annual cat season went real fast too. No hounds allowed though. Most were taken by deer hunters who bumped into them. Some were called in by people intentionally hunting them.

Why no hounds ??

The conspiracy theory about G&F is running rampant.....I highly doubt it's true myself....it's just people are having a hard time beleiving that urban sprawl is the reason for all these critters moving (errrrr. being pushed) into the area.....people also forget this area was once covered in elk, bear and lion.......looks like the critters are out to reclaim their grounds.....

 

[MarvB]

people also forget this area was once covered in elk, bear and lion.......

red deer too! ....but that's another thread

 

[MNHunter]

That's a mean looking holstein on the horizon!

SD's 2nd annual cat season went real fast too. No hounds allowed though. Most were taken by deer hunters who bumped into them. Some were called in by people intentionally hunting them.

I saw 3 diff cats in one week in SD in 2001

 

[Dangerous Dave]

I live deadcenter in the middle of a mountian lion hunting ban train-wreck here in what's left of California. The Director of the local Humane Society and the president of the Mountain Lion Foundation constantly threaten me with lawsuits whenever I blast them in the local paper. Big deal...#&%@ 'em.
Depending upon which warden you talk to (and as long as you don't quote them), just as many "nuisance" lions are being "culled" as compared to the old lion hunting season: to the tune of 200-250 cats per year. A buddy of mine up north had a cat chasing his stock around and snagging his pets and he applied for a depredation permit and wanted me to help bait and set the cat up. A neighbor knocked the cat over and that was the end of that.
A couple of wardens I've talked to candidly told me that they are constantly assisting landowners and ranchers in either getting lion depredation permits, or actually shooting the problem cats. A few others say that nothing like that ever happens. I believe the other guys.
Other wardens I've talked to do say that if they can trap a cat, they usually transport it to the nearest National Forest and kick it out somewhere. I did ask about releasing it in other states, and one guy told me that it wasn't done in case the lion had wierd fleas, ticks and other parasites that might cause big trouble elsewhere. Still, he didn't say that it never happens. You guys are lucky to have a cat season at all. Dave

 

[Ike]

I went to the RAC meeting last night where the Division of Wildlife Resources takes public comments and reviews and puts out their presentation for the 2007 Black Bear Proclamation. They always do their little talks with the slide show about cub survival, harvest and whatever else they want to throw in there.hump They had a photo of a lynx that had travelled down from Idaho Through Nevada, then had taken up residency in Central Utah I believe. I wonder if the fish and game checked that cat for fleas?|oo

Keep'em treed!
ike

 

[iminrut]

I hear ya Ike.....one cat that was radio collared in Sd, was tracked through ND, into Minnesota only to end up in NW Manitoba.....and I hear tell that a couple others made it down to Oklahoma.....one as road pizza......but no border checks that I'm aware of, LOL........I think G&F officials just like to hear themselves talk......