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CENTRAL OREGONIAN FILE PHOTOEach of the two house bills proposed will reintroduce cougar hunting with dogs in different fashions

Jason ChaneyApril 04, 2011

For almost two decades, Oregon law has prohibited cougar hunting using trackingdogs.

Two recently-proposed bills aim to partially reverse that law in the interest oflowering the growing population of the predatory animal.

In 1994, voters passed Measure 18, which outlawed the hunting method, and sincethat time, cougar populations have steadily escalated. According to Michelle Dennehy, wildlife programs communications coordinator for the Oregon Department ofFish and Wildlife (ODFW), the state cougar population has grown from 3,000 during the mid-1990s to 5,700.

Both legislators representing Crook County point out that the increasing amountof cougars represents a growing threat to other native species.

In my opinion, they are the largest force taking out the deer and elk population,said Senator Doug Whitest (R-Dist. 28). I think the population of cougar is way t

oo large to maintain an optimal deer and elk population.

As far as Representative Mike McLane (R-Dist. 55) is concerned, the rules on cougar hunting need to change.

One thing is for sure, he asserted, the current solution is not working.

Whitsett pointed out that cougars are difficult to hunt when dogs are not involved, which has played a role in their population uptick.

They are a very secretive animal, he said. They are hard to find.

ODFW officials appear to share that same viewpoint.

The most efficient and effective way to hunt cougars is with dogs, Dennehy wrote in an e-mail recounting the history of cougar hunting in Oregon. Hounds can pick up a cougars scent and help the hunter track and tree a cougar.

House bills 2337 and 3326 each reintroduce cougar hunting with dogs in differingfashions. HB 2237 would require ODFW to recommend rules to the State Fish and Wildlife Commission regarding the creation of a pilot program that allows dogs for cougar hunting.

I support the pilot program on a limited basis, McLane said. Population can be controlled that way.

Whitsett supports the bill as well, saying that the State Fish and Wildlife Commission must be able to use dogs to control the cougar population.

HB 3326 would allow the use of dogs during final three months of general cougarhunting season if the State Fish and Wildlife Commission determines that the harvest quota for a particular hunt zone might not be met.

At this point, both bills are fairly new and early in the legislative process. Each received a public hearing on March 7, but no other action has taken place onthem since that time.

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Unless one or both laws pass, cougars will have to be hunted using the same methods allowed since Measure 18 passed nearly two decades ago.

Now, sport cougar hunters use methods like predator calls, tracking in the snow,or hunting near areas of deer and elk activity, Dennehy said.

But for Whitsett and others who are concerned with the rising number of cougarsin Oregon, these hunting methods are simply not enough.

The cougar population is expanding, Whitsett said. The only effective way to reducecougar population is using dogs.