Inquiry into game laws....

[ironglow]

  While having coffee with "the good old boys" at a local trucking company, an every morning ritual...

  Our Superintendant of Highways stopped by and gave me some news..

   First; I want to assure you that this man is a lifelong hunter, farmer and woodsman as well as highway supervisor and he is not regarded as a man who "tells tales".
 
 Anyway, he asked me if I still owned my hunting land  down on xxxx road . When I assured him I did..he said he was checking roads this morning, after last night's 1" or so dusting.
  When he drew near my property there he saw from his truck, some tracks that showed that some hunting was done in a swampy area..then the tracks "beelined" up this gravel road and into my property.
  He has seen the huge number of deer that are around there, but these were different..no meandering in the open area.
   Getting out of his truck and taking a closer look..he says he was looking at cat tracks near 3" across ( as indicated with his hands).
   He knows these woods well, since he is an avid hunter and lives only about 2 miles away..as the crow flies..and he figures the track maker is denned up somewhere in my woods.
 
  The DEC insists there are NO big cats in NY State !
 
  Now, suppose I have a chance to harvest such a fur or should I be forced somehow in having to harvest it...

    Question: Can I get in trouble for harvesting a species that doesn't exist in this area ?

[Mikey]

ironglow:  I don't believe you can be prosecuted for killing something that doesn't exist........ 

Geez, I would hate to think of you being attacked by a big cat and having to dispatch siad critter in self defense.

Could it have been a Bobcat though (??) - they have big paws and have been re-introduced into NYS.  Mikey. 

[htrjv]

Ironglow, Mikey is right.  Since DEC does not recognize that mountain lions exist in NY (and they DO).  If you just had to protect yourself, from an attacking animal, well you just couldn't get into trouble from shooting it.  Now keep in mind, that you had better make sure you are NOT shooting from or across a road, and that you are NOT discharging a firearm within 500 feet from a dwelling, unless you own/occupy, or have the owner's written permission.
I work with a fellow, who lives in Berne, who has pictures of a "mountain lion" traveling his property.  Do they exist in NYS?  Yep!!!

[ironglow]

 Mikey;
     I don't know exactly what it was, but the highway supt. is not a guy that is given to exaggeration.
  The tracks he saw were in fresh snow and not subject to enlargement by melt..

   All I can say is that I will be more aware of what is transpiring in my hunting area...I may be sharing it more than I previously thought !

  htrjv;

   There is a gravel road there but no domeciles for a long way . Will be watching...LOL

 

[Chuck White]

I've argued with DEC Officials on this same issue.   The first thing they do is deny they're here, until you start describing what the animal looked like, or what it's track looked like, etc.
Then it's "well........maybe, could be or some other such line!
You do have the right to protect you and yours.

Just remember where the entrance hole should be, if you're protecting yourself!

Of course, the entrance hole could be a lot different if you were protecting others or your pets, etc.  

[rebAL]

A while ago in Rotterdam DEC office they had on display a stuffed mtn. lion with a sign indicating it was confiscated from a person advertising to sell it and he was also fined for having it.  Be careful of what you say on-line as there are animal rights prowlers lurking to get you in trouble with the law.

[htrjv]

Ironglow - might want to check out the Federal F & W Laws pertaining to Mountain Lions.

[Leatherstocking]

Here is a link to the NYSDEC website where the eastern cougar is listed as endangered. I think you would get into a heap of trouble for shooting one. But then again the footnote indicates them to be extirpated from the state, so like someone else said, how can you get in trouble for shooting something that doesn't exist!

http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dfwmr/wildlife/endspec/etsclist.html

[ironglow]

   I wasn't actually planning on "hunting" for any mountain lions..just posing the question as to how the DEC would react to one having shot a critter in New York...that the DEC claims doesn't even exist in NY...

   Of course,in the unlikely case of one who may be confronted by a dangerous animal...the ranchers in the westlay claim to the "3 S" philosophy..."shoot, shovel and shut up"...

   Although i think they most often say that with much tongue-in-cheek..

[Graybeard]

Here in Bama Bears and lions don't exist either. But if you get caught shooting one your butt is in deep doo doo as they are both specifically protected even tho we don't have them. I'd bet it's about the same in New York.

[Mikey]

ironglow:  sorry, I forgot but here (in NYS) we have both Mountain Lion/Cougar and Bobcats, who happen to have very large feet for a smallish cat (30 lb or so).  The trick would be to determine the distance between foot falls to get some indication of the length of the critter, and that should be a better indication of what it is.  JAT.  Mikey.

[ironglow]

  More reports coming in of same...
   
  Father of my #2 grandson's girlfriend has a managed deer herd farm. I was told last week that he has some pics on his tree mounted deer cam that show the south end of a big cat ...going north...
  Grandson and his girlfriend walked up the hill to the deer area and saw a buck with his face tore up. His jawbone was completely detached from one side and hanging down.
  Now, I know a pack of dogs with one unusually large, powerful dog could perhaps do that..but this is the same general area where the deer cam was mounted.
 
   I'll try to get a pic if he has printed any..

[K.K]

I also live in Upstate NY. My wife and I were driving and saw what at first we thought was a coyote. But, it wasn't trotting, it was "slinking" rolling shoulders. It had a long, thick tail and was light reddish brown.  She's not a hunter, and she looked at me immediately and asked "Did you see that mountain lion?" 

I know what I saw.  DEC refused to believe me or follow up on anything.  Anyway, I believe that there are some mountain lions here. It is a great question that I should like to know the answer to as well. I'm sure that it wouldn't go over well, unless you were "threatend". Let us know what you find out please.
K.K