Cougar killed.

[mechanic]

http://www.lagrangenews.com/pages/full_story?page_label=home_top_stories_news&id=704501-Hunter-bags-cougar-at-West-Point-Lake&widget=push&article-Hunter-bags-cougar-at-West-Point-Lake%20=&instance=home_news_lead&open=&

Don't know if this link will work, you may have to copy and paste.  Photos of a cougar killed in Troup County, Ga. last weekend.  Since there are no cougars supposed to be here, it came as a surprise....

Ben

[Mack in N.C.]

he ought to be locked up......if you read the article they said that because of its low parisite level and its pads that it seemed to be a captive one let loose or escaped but they do not know that for sure............if i was in the woods and saw the same thing i would let it go.......i would like to see them back here in the east..i dont care if it comes form escapes or natural disperson...the hunter and i use that term loosely out to be fined..........did he have a tag for it.....no ..did he have a mountain lion liscense...no.....was he in any danger...no.......i have killed 3 deer this year and i had tags.........from mack a legal hunter............mack

[AtlLaw]

he ought to be locked up......

While I agree with your feelings in general, I don't believe he violated any law.  Officially, the species doesn't exist in Jawja.  Therefore they are not covered by any game law.  Kind of like shooting a Tyrannosaurus Rex if you see one.  Nothing wrong with it since they're extinct in Jawja also.   

[mechanic]

As an update, the hunter did not know for sure if he was being stalked or not.  The cat was acting strangely to him.  After pausing behind his stand out of sight for a while, (he thought it sounded like a deer), the cat walked by, and then paused to stare at him directly in the stand.  We have no native population here in Ga.  There are cats in the Okefeenokee Swamp area of South Ga, but the few I have seen there are much smaller and darker in color than this cat.

If I had been in the stand with a muzzle loader, I would have been thinking, is this thing about to jump me?

I would have taken the shot.  On the other hand, I wonder why someone would release a cat like that into the wild?  If raised as a pet, it would have no fear of humans, and placed both itself and the humans in danger.  If I had been stupid enough to raise it illegally, I would have taken it out and shot it myself rather than release it in the area they did.

Some here don't believe it was anything but a wild animal and the DNR is not wanting to tell us...another one of those conspiracy theories that have no end.

If more cats appear, the DNR was wrong.  If no more appear, they were right I guess.

Ben

[JKump]

I talked with a fellow from up there and he told me that the shooter was fined about $800 dollars. Don't know what I might have done, but, I might have shoot it also.  Down here in middle Ga. we have several reports of Black "Panthers" around. However, according to DNR they do not live in this area.  I have spoken with several eye witnesses and have seen a trail cam picture,it sure looked like a big cat to me.

[mechanic]

I've heard no reports of any fines.  The only way I can see they could fine the man was if it was his cougar, and nothing of the sort has been reported.  The following is from DNR:

"The hunter who killed the male cat was in a tree stand on Army Corps of Engineers land in Troup County and became afraid when the cat approached him. He faces no charges for killing the panther, Barnes said."

http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2008/11/23/pav_501203.shtml

he ought to be locked up......

While I agree with your feelings in general, I don't believe he violated any law.  Officially, the species doesn't exist in Jawja.  Therefore they are not covered by any game law.  Kind of like shooting a Tyrannosaurus Rex if you see one.  Nothing wrong with it since they're extinct in Jawja also.  

AtlLaw is correct, here it would be sort of like shooting a T Rex, they simply ain't supposed to exhist here.

I've had a bunch of folks tell me that it was a shame he shot a pet.  How would he know?  Would you get down from your stand, hold out your hand and say "here kitty kitty kitty"? 

Ben

[Graybeard]

They aren't supposed to exist in Alabama either but if you shoot one here you will be fined heavily and likely tossed into jail. Like bears they are protected here even tho they are not supposed to exist here. Ruffed grouse are also protected here tho not supposed to exist here.

[mechanic]

They aren't supposed to exist in Alabama either but if you shoot one here you will be fined heavily and likely tossed into jail. Like bears they are protected here even tho they are not supposed to exist here. Ruffed grouse are also protected here tho not supposed to exist here.

You are correct.  I was perusing the Ala. hunting regs. a while back, and they are very extensive in listing the specie that are legal / protected. 

I may be wrong, but I believe the shooter here was not looked at too harshly because he felt threatened, or said he did. 

I'm still waiting for the testing to come back to determine where this cougar originated.  Interesting situation. 

A few years back I spotted a black bear here, where none are supposed to exhist.  Since this was a WMA, I reported it to the range officer on duty as I left.  He said there were no bears.  I asked him what would have happened if I had shot the non-existent bear.  He said I would go to jail.  Go figgure....

Ben

[Mack in N.C.]

like i said he ought ot be hevily fined or go to jail.....someone mentioned about cats of the okfenokee swamp.........i read several years ago where the us fish and wildlife was going to take some florida cats from south florida and put then in that swamp...dont know if they did it or not.........anyways big cats will dispearse from there bitrth place hundereds of miles............if it is not against the law in ga they need to make it against the law..........alligators are found pretty much east of instertate 95 in north carolina,,,,,,,but some always show up alot farther inland.........you know whay ahhappens when one of these wanderers gets shot.........hevy fines,,,,,,just because something isnt suppossed to live here does that make it oh to shoot...heck,,,,,,,lets shoot the first ivory billed woodpecker we see since they are suppossedly extinct.................oh yeah and i will say it was going to peck me on the head.........i dont care if that cat was staring at him, he should not of shot it unless charged.........what a chump.....mack

[AtlLaw]

lets shoot the first ivory billed woodpecker we see

I hear they taste like chicken 

[Casull]

dont care if that cat was staring at him, he should not of shot it unless charged.........what a chump.....mack

What a load of bull.  That's like saying that if a burglar is in your house with gun in hand, you can't shoot him unless he shoots first.  Like hell!!!  If I'm in the woods and see a cougar looking like he is even thinking about having me for dinner, I'm going to shoot first and dig the hole later.

[Mack in N.C.]

wow, lets go shoot every predator(the ones without seasons) that stare at us!.........he was up in a tree...i dont care how fast they are or how high they can jump he shouldnt of shot unless charged .........and last he wasnt in his house ..........we are in their house!!..................i am glad to know there are people in the woods like you casull................remember this cat was not in his house.........i hope you dont live in nc......theres nothing more i would love to do than to go out west, run a lion and shoot it.........i problay will never have the money....if i see one in nc i will not shoot it.........any ethical huter would not shoot it unless charged.........i guess there are alot of unethical and scared hunters out there.........you are more likely to die by the hands of your own mother than from a mtn lion....check the facts..... deer kill more people than mtn lions.........its the same old  story...ignorance.........thats why they cant make a comeback...one shot in tennesee a few years ago...one in virginia....and the list goes on....we ought to be proud.........casull rules!!!!!!!!!!!

[Casull]

wow, lets go shoot every predator(the ones without seasons) that stare at us

Wow Mack, how about stating something as it happened and not based on your preconceived opinions.  The cat first circled around behind him and then came in from his front, while facing off with him.  So, does he have to wait until it starts running at him (at what, about 30 to 35 miles an hour from a distance of 15 or 20 yards)?  Or does he have to wait until it has closed the distance to 7 yards?  5 yards?  2 yards?

and last he wasnt in his house ..........we are in their house!!

Now I get it.  You're starting to sound like one of those Sierra Club types.  So, we are in "their house", huh?  As if humans are not part of nature.  I have as much damn right to be in the woods as a mountain lion.  As part of the animal kingdom, the woods are as much my house as they are his.

any ethical huter would not shoot it unless charged.

Again, at what point would you consider it a "charge"?  Is approaching enough?  crouching for a spring?  walking toward you licking his chops?

deer kill more people than mtn lions

Now there is a truly nonsensical argument.  How many millions of hunters and non hunters are in close contact with deer every year?  Now, how many people are in close contact with mountain lions each year?  Maybe hundreds?  I will guarantee you that if you look at the percentages you would not even try to make that argument.  Kind of like those that say "well you're more likely to be struck by lightening than eaten by a shark".  Well, pretty much everbody goes outside practically every day, while not that many (as a percentage of the entire population) go swimming in the ocean.

Hope that helps.   

[Mack in N.C.]

not a sierra type at all...come look at my tropy room....i have only 1 cat in it though ...1 30 lb bobcat and it was legal and it was stalking me as i was calling it..............thrown the lead to 4 deer this year, countlees doves, several fox squirrels, i even almost pulled the trigger on 1 big old ground hog today that was right outside its hole but i was feral pig hunting....i am also a certified animal damge control agent  by the state of north carolina so countlees animals have been trapped and killed by me..........you can argue all you want..you are wrong.......if it circled and he was scared he should of thrown some lead in the ground right in front of the cats face and  blown dirt right in its face..............thats what i would of done....if the cat didnt high tail it out of town then maybe i would of shot it...........why dont you go on a blck bear hunt in alaska and have a grissly stare at you(you have no tag for a grissly)..then shoot it and see what the guide and the law does....go to africa on safari and try for a buffloe and have a lion stare at you(you have no lion tag)........see waht happens if you shoot it and its not charging..................i will argue this till the end of time...he was wrong.....if he was on the ground , i probaly would not even question it but give me a break.....he was probaly 15 plus feet up a tree and armed................i wonder how many grissleys would be left if they all got shot when they stared at a person flyfishing with a 44 mag or something bigger on their side................and yes i do love animals........all hunters should,,,,every time one dies because of me i say a prayer for the animal.....i dont put a piece of evergreen in the animals mouth like the germans do but i do say a little prayer for the animal and 1 for god blessing me with the animal.....................not ashamed.......mack

also i will concede the point about percentages about mountain lion- people interaction but what about mothers??mothers kill more of thir own children than mountain lions could ever try to........lets all go shoot mothers who stare at us...........wow..........

[Casull]

also i will concede the point about percentages about mountain lion- people interaction but what about mothers??mothers kill more of thir own children than mountain lions could ever try to........lets all go shoot mothers who stare at us...........wow..........

If you'll concede the point about percentages, then how can you even try to make the argument about mothers?  EVERYONE has a mother.  How many encounter a mountain lion in the wild?  As for your insistence that the cat be "charging" him before the shot, if the cat is facing off while walking towards him, just how close does it have to get to warrant a shot without a charge?  As for his being in a tree, I do believe that mountain lions can climb trees.  Now if the cat had circled me, then faced off with me and started approaching my tree, would I shoot as it got very close, or would I wait until it was exploding up the side of the tree and hope that I hit a bounding, vertically climbing cat?  Hmmmm.  What if the cat started to very slowly climb the tree he was in?  That's not a charge.  Distance can clearly negate the need for a charge.  As far as Alaska, if I shot a grizzly at thirty or forty yards because it looked at me, yes I would be in trouble, but if I made a frontal shot on a grizzly that was walking towards me at a distance of ten or fifteen feet, I doubt I would be fined.  Again, a charge is not required if the proximatey is dangerously close and the animal continues to approach.

[jlbeebe]

Here in Iowa there have been several big cats killed in the last few years. There is no law protecting them and if I see one I will shoot it. The DNR says they got here naturally. I don't know if I believe that but they are here.

[Mack in N.C.]

we are no match for a cougar on the ground but when we are ina tree 15 feet up, a cougar cannotkill l;ike it usually does as it would have to hold on the tree and still do the killing.........he was probly preety safe up inthat tree....yes he could of been killed but i will still argue that he was safer in that tree than lets say in his vehicle on his drive home.............as for iowa i do beleive they  got there natuarlly......they can travel to a ne w home 4-500 miles........it has been done on radio collared animals...........iowa ought to be ashamed that they are not protected........evry hunter should want to see the natuarel world restored as much as we can and that includeds cougars in as much places as we can get them....also her in nc we have more bears than anywhere in the southeast.....probaly more than anywhere in the east except maybe maine....we also have the largest  blaqck bears   on the coast...600 lbers get killed fairley often.......not exactly the lines but bears can be hunnted east of interstae 95 and west of interstae 77.......the piedmont section has no season but bears are here.....they show up in our big cities all the time.....1 last mont was in raleigh walking through a neighborhood.........i wonder how many people got stared at by that bear..........no one here shot at it because they got stared at or in was in their front yard........wow... pretty unbelievale that it didnt get shot...no...nobody was threatened.....of at least 10 bears or more that have been documented as to coming into our big cities lately only one was shot..........and he had his head in a dog food bowl and a durham city police officer shot it while on the other side of a wood fence..........he didnt get in trouble but the out rage against him was bad.......the ncwrc want to prosecute him but didnt because it would not look good for 1 agency to go after another but they did set up some guidelines so some knukle head officer would not do that again.......no one was in danger the peple were in their house and the officer like i said shot it fom the other side of a fence........maybe north carolinaans are not scared of a big bad animal unless it is charging.........at least there also  some smart people in alabama who chose to protect the cougar.......................also iwill talk crap about virgina......i love the contyside in va.....probaly the prettiest land any whre but virginia has declared open season on elk....kentucky restored them and now some come over into va......va doest want them......wow.......at least nc is smarter than va. on that one as we have started to restore them in our sw mountains........its the same old story.....shoot it if its not supposed to be here........there is one problem with that........elk. cougars, wolves are supposed to be here......t rexs no............oh yes nc did put some wolves in eastern nc............alot of locals were opposed to it but know most of them dont mind them and most actually love telling people how there are wolves in there area now........and yes they are protected.......all that is needed here now is some cougars and hey how bout some woodland bison!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!....mack...i am gone hunting............

[Graybeard]

Give it a break Mac you've stated your opinion over and over. We get it you don't like it. It wasn't illegal and no action has been taken against him. No one else agrees with your postion no need to keep restating it we understand your position.

[Mack in N.C.]

 GB, i will agree that no one here is on my side but alot of my hunting freinds here are.....they just are not memebers here.......your point is well taken and i will not post on this topic anynmore.....good hunting to all......... thanks mack

[GDawg1958]

So let me get this right; 
Are yall saying that I shouldnt kill that black bear thats in my black berry patch every evening?

[dpe.ahoy]

I think no one should raise hell about shooting a mountain lion until they have been real close to one.  I've been spooked a time or 2 elk hunting and then see cat tracks on mine when I head back to the truck at night.  We got lots a things here in Montana that can take ya out, none of em gets me as worried as a cat in the area.  If I feel threatened, I'm gonna shoot first and worry about it later, I want to stay at the top of the food chain, thank you.  DP

[mechanic]

I made another post on this subject, but to update this one, the cougar was determined to be a wild one, and had migrated from Florida, several hundred miles away.  Because the Fla. panther is endangered, this hunter may be in danger of prosecution, not from Georgia but from the US fish and wildlife.  Haven't heard yet.

If someone feels threatened by a cougar here, best not to pose for pictures afterward...........

[hillbill]

whatever happened to shoot ,shovel and shut up?ill tell yu true if i found one eating sum of my cattle that wud be the last thing they ate and no one wud ever know about it.