That would help a lot, it’s the only practical way to hunt or chase cougars from an area. The problem is that there’s probably no people with hounds that are trained to do it now in CA. The cats have been protected since 1996.
I lived in OR for 15 years in a rural area and knew two hunters that had hounds, there were many more than that though.
They would sometimes run cougars “pursuit only” in rural populated areas when they got a report of one in an area. It keeps their older hounds in shape and trains the younger ones.
When OR voters outlawed hound hunting of cougars and bears in 1994 the two hunters I knew got rid of their hounds, the dogs have to be worked to stay in shape.
Yah... Washington banned hound hunting in 96, by an initiative run by the animal rights wackos. Of course the liberal sheeple of WA gobbled it up.
But it quickly resulted in a climbing cat population and many more reports of problem cats coming down into neighborhoods. The state quietly began offering contracts to hound hunters to go out and thin the numbers somewhat. Now I hear there’s a bill working its way through the legislature to undo the ban. The animalistas will fight it, I’m sure, but it might just pass.