Colorado to Kill 45 Mountain Lions and 75 Black Bears so Hunters Have Mule Deer to Hunt

ecowatch.com ^ | Dan Zukowski

[BenLurkin]

Anyone who has visited a national park or hiked the forests and shrub lands of the West has likely encountered mule deer. Mule deer range west of the Missouri River and are smaller than white-tailed deer, which are more common in the East.

They can be seen in most of Colorado, in the Yosemite Valley, along the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and in the foothills of Los Angeles. Mule deer are often unafraid of humans in areas such as these where hunting is prohibited and interactions are common.

Mountain lions—also known as cougars—take a particular liking to mule deer. Wolves, coyotes and bears also prey on the species. But natural predation is not seen as the leading cause of mule deer declines in Colorado.

...

Colorado's plan calls for the killing of up to 15 mountain lions and 25 black bears each year for the next three years using cage traps, culvert traps, foot snares and hunting dogs. The $4.5 million wildlife management plan would then be followed by a six-year study to see how the deer population responds.

There is concern that the CPW's decision is driven by money and a desire to favor hunting, which generates $693 million in annual economic benefits in northwest Colorado alone. Last year, 34,000 mule deer were taken legally by hunters. The CPW gets 90 percent of its revenue from hunting and fishing licenses.

...

Mountain lions are a game animal in Colorado. Even though CPW says it has no idea of the population of the species in the state, it allowed the killing of 467 big cats during the 2014-2015 hunting season. Many argue that killing a few more is not the answer.

[cherry]

I’m surprised that mule deer aren’t considered larger than white tail...I think at least their “horns” as I call them are bigger..

[cherry]

the govt statist like to control EVERYTHING.....instead of letting good legal hunters have some extra tags to eliminate a few more cougars or bear, or wolves....they instead will carry it out themselves, hiring expensive trackers and using expensive helicopters,etc....

don't want the common man to get in on the fun...

reminds me of the way the govt views fire....fire is bad when caused by human accident and weather conditions, but its all good when they can hire full time staff to have planned fires in the national parks and forests lands....then, its all "good" because they control it all.....must not let mother nature have its way...

[gundog]

Did they ban hunting them with dogs asOregon did? Bad idea.

[crz]

And you proved a point I made. No browse, no deer.

Want to see where the whitetail deer are in the UP? Go to the towns.

[JimRed]

The lions and bears generally catch the slow, injured, inept or unlucky. Hunters generally target the prime buck, who no longer passes along his superior genes. Over a long enough span of time that will lower the quality of the stock.