cat hunting news

[Questor]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,149659,00.html

[myronman3]

saw this on the news last night.    it is timely, because we just had a debate about it in the trapping forum.   i ve been saying it for years.

[DakotaElkSlayer]

Growing up in northern Michigan, my father taught me that if I was to see a cat when I was out hunting, I was to shoot it.  He went on to explain how non-native species can decimate native wildlife populations.  Dogs running deer were also supposed to be targets.  Funny thing is, this topic came up when chatting with my buddies in the last few years...seems like their fathers told them the same thing.

Gee, until about only two years ago, I didn't know it was illegal...

Jim

[Redhawk1]

I have not love loss for cats. I have to keep my dogs under control at all times. I think cats should be under control. I am all for it.  

[oso45-70]

Questor.

You could have fooled me, I've always thought they were fair game when you found them out of the house, Whodathunket, Beats me........Joe.......

[Dusty Miller]

Feline-o-phobia abounds!

[Questor]

oso45-70:

Me too.  I have fond memories of hunting feral cats in northern Georgia years ago.  The outdoors. The camaradarie. The big dialated pupils of a dead chicken-eating pest.  Those were the days.

Questor.

[osceola]

Domestic cat's kill for food, but a cat also kills for the sake of killing.  That fact pushes the dead song bird, rabbit, etc numbers higher than many would think.  I believe that most people, either side of the issue have witnessed domestics being given ample food and water then take off for hours on end--they're not going to any social event.  

An evening with a well fed Morris-the-Cat goes like this: Stalk it, Kill it, Leave it and go do it again

House cats that stay on farm are one thing, but if the closest building to them is a 1/4 mile away they are a predator.  Then there are feral cats, they breed profusely, there can easily be 20 or more wild cats in 1 sq. mile---that's a problem.

Responsible cat owners know where their cats are and what the've been doing.  If the cat owner doesn't, they are the cause of this problem.

[oso45-70]

Cats are not the only problem here in the west and I suppose elswhere.
There are a lot of dogs that live in the towns where Ranches and Farms on the outskirts of town are running amock at night then returning to their respected doorsteps in the morning. While Elmer Fudd is saying what a good good doggie you are not knowing that his pooch has been killing his neighbors chickens, goats, calves and what have you. Not to take any thing from the cat situation, And yes they will kill with a full gut. They are all targets when I find them not so far from civilization.GMHO...........Joe.......

[myronman3]

oso45-70:

Me too.  I have fond memories of hunting feral cats in northern Georgia years ago.  The outdoors. The camaradarie. The big dialated pupils of a dead chicken-eating pest.  Those were the days.

Questor.

         the guys in the trapping forum kinda got made at me for seeing like that.    

 in wisconsin, any cat without a collar is a feral cat and fair game.  i suspect the stink is the guy wants it put in writing in the rule book that states outright they are not protected.  not all that different from how it is now. it is just that it doesnt list the cat as unprotected species.   but it doesnt list them as protected, either.

[jhalcott]

most of the farms I hunt on had a rule "kill any cat out in the fields, they belong near the barn and milking shed!" I'd usually drop them down a ground hog hole right away, and kick some dirt over them.

[Chris]

I can tell you that just a few of those %$!& cats can sure put the hurt on the pheasant population.

Those aren't "lil putty cats" trolling around wild in the field.  Mean little suckers and they carry about every disease imaginable.  Try to pick one up sometime...in about two seconds you would have thought you had just grabbed the the business end of a chain saw!   Pure evil!!!   :twisted:  :twisted:

You should see them jump, when they meet up with an 1-1/4 oz. of #4's!   :evil:

...Chris  

[Stillhuntn]

Unfortunately we are talking about Wisconsin.  People were upset when the DNR banned feeding deer, due to the spread of CWD.  These same people will be up in arms over this and since the majority of this state’s population is in Madison and Milwaukee, things usually do not favor doing to right thing.  That is not to say that all residents of those cities are in favor of doing the wrong thing, just those cities carry the majority of the state's votes.  Living south of Green Bay, I see lots of farms, with lots of farm cats.  Yet most of these cats are near the grain bins, hay barns and feeding areas.
The non-hunting population of the above mentioned cities has not seen the damage and destruction a master predator, such as a cat, can have on pheasant, duck and turkey populations.  If fluffy is not kept under control and allowed to freely roam more animals suffer.  
Something should be done with the feral cats and dogs.  The same people that will consider humanely dispatching a feral dog or cat outrageous and against nature will be screaming for that animal’s head if one of their pets or worse yet children would be attacked.  Don’t think a house cat will not attack a human.  A small child would be a quicker target than an adult, but it can happen.
Face it, domestic felines and bobcats are closely related.  It is not a matter of being malnourished for a house cat to want to kill something.  It is instinct.  Like was stated previously, stalk it, kill it and go on to the next.  One feral cat will destroy a brood of turkey or pheasant chicks.  At least with ducklings water is on their side and with geese the parents protect them.
If a cat is in the field or woods and no collar is visible then it should be dispatched before it cause damage and spreads disease.

[hylander]

I guess I'm the lone man out on this one.
While I'm not a big cat lover I'm in disagreement with this.
It open's it up for shooting peoples pets and that is not O.K.

[myronman3]

no, it doesnt.  killing a domestic animal that isnt yours is a felony here in wisconsin.   if the way the rule is written changes, you still cant whack someones pet.   but,  if that person is being an irresponsible pet owner and letting kitty run around freely without a collar on and not in control of the owner....     :gun4:  

why should the native wildlife pay for that?  keep in mind, the ONLY thing this proposal is going to do is list feral cats as unprotected species, just like they are right now.  so in essence, the only thing that is going to change is the wording in the rule book.

[Redhawk1]

I guess I'm the lone man out on this one.
While I'm not a big cat lover I'm in disagreement with this.
It open's it up for shooting peoples pets and that is not O.K.

I understand where you are coming from, but if they are such beloved pets, why are they running around left unattended to wounder as they may?  If they are such loving creatures and pets, why are the owners not all cuddled up with them? I have to keep my dogs under control and fenced, I can't just let them run around the country side. Where do all the feral cats come from? *Loving cat owners that no longer want them.*  Turn them loose in the country or they leave them when they move away. Sorry if I sound so calais, but it is true.

[S.B.]

Same problem in central Illinois. I also, feed the wild birds all winter. My answer is a bucket set under the front porch with a 220 and a cheap can of feline food. I can access the set from the basement window. I have to reset usually, every day. People move into local rental property and when they leave, the puss stays behind to become coyote bait for me. Once I get a gunny sack full in the garage, I take them out and dump them in the area I hunt coyotes. The coyotes love them? Well till the 55 grainer gets there.

[JOE MACK]

One of the chores my brother and I had growing up on the ranch was to take care of all the feral animals about twice a year. This was cats AND dogs on our place. We usually left two or three cats to take care of the rats and mice around the barn, stable, and grain bins. Three of the seven dogs I shot one week wore collars. After the pack chased a registered foal into a barbwire fence, I really didn't care who they belonged to or how they got there. I had to put almost 100 stitches in the little guy. I'd also like to give a few whacks to the city folk that think country folk can take care of their stupidity for not having their pets spayed or neutered! We don't need or want their cast off pets! Peta and HSUS should spend more time with these people and less time bothering hunters. We do more good for animals than they EVER thought of doing. :money:

[Gregory]

I guess I'm the lone man out on this one.
While I'm not a big cat lover I'm in disagreement with this.
It open's it up for shooting peoples pets and that is not O.K.

 
You are not alone, I don't think any dogs or cats should be "shot on sight".  We have pets in our house, both dogs and cats (2 of each).  We don't let any run loose but occasionally the cat sneaks out or a dog wanders off.  We collect them as quickly as we can but they may be out for an hour or so.
 
Growing up in NJ, I saw small game hunter kill cats within sight of residential areas, thinking they were protecting the small game population.  I just thought it was cruel.  
 
That being said, I have shot domestic dogs that became problem animals.  Some after warning the owners, and one german shepard, after repeated sightings, while running a deer.
 
So be careful before declaring an all out war on felines and  all wandering dogs.  If they are indeed a problem animal, then they should be dealt with, but if it's just a wandering pet, give them a second chance.    
 
Hunters don't need to make any more enemies than we already have.

[Jim n Iowa]

I look at like this, your out in the field, driving around checking for game and you see a lone cat in the field(long way from any house) its dead meat. Now a lone dog out nosing around, to me not a problem. I don't consider 1 dog a predator, any cat is a predator, they have no scent, and can ambush easily, and do. And #1 its the attitude of a cat.
Jim

[DakotaElkSlayer]

Oh ya, last week I emailed that pro-cat group...  I told them that no one wants to kill a family pet, but "feral" cats are a problem.  I asked them what their plan was to deal with this.  Nope, they still haven't replied. :roll:

Jim

[stuffit]

Maybe I haven't been paying enough attention but I have seldom seen wayward cats on our place.  The number described here really astounds me.  Just the notion of shooting somebody's pet goes against my grain pure and simple.  I like dogs and I like cats; have had a good many of both in my lifetime and it's difficult for me to not to anthropomorphize them a bit.  What we have problems with on our place is wandering livestock as a result of negligent fence mending on neighboring land.  We use our property as a hay farm (leased).  The cows and occasional stud horse on the make are destructive to property and land.  Of course, neither are predators, but the cows are destructive and damage the hay, and the stud horses can be (and have been) down right agressive at times.  I've been tempted to terminate some of these on a number of occasions, but I didn't and I won't, even though it often takes much longer than it should for people to come and get their animals.   My relationship with my neighbors is my consideration here.  I feel pretty much the same about the occasional dog and cat, though I know that the they both have serious personality changes when out marauding.  But the possibility that a wandering animal may be a pet or  is  a valued domestic animal makes me disinclined to pop a cap on them.  Even though I know that everything said here about the wandering dogs and cats can be true at times, and having my land messed up and damaged by livestock tempts me sorely.  It's a problem.   I'm not sure that open season on cats is the way to go here.  
 
stuffit

[myronman3]

i used to have a problem with a neighbor's habitually wayward livestock.  after several attempts to talk with him and no change (all due to neglected fencing), i started to sic my dogs on him cows.   they would run them hard.  my brother saw me run them with the dogs once, and between fits of histerical laughter; said he thought i might want to call russell and apologize for running his cows so hard.  :-D  i am sure milk production suffered.    anyhow, while the cows continued to escape, they learned not to come to our way really quick.   cows arent as stupid as you might think.

[brasschaser]

Interesting story.  I'm all for it too.  Those things wreak havoc on local wildlife populations.  If you see cats during the day, you just won't believe how many are actually out there that you don't see.  One of the best ways to get rid of them is using a box trap.  They move around a lot at night.  Ones in our area didn't get out much during the day, at least the real nasty ones.  They had an "underground tunnel system" too.

In our neighborhood for example someone was feeding strays and their numbers increased 10X.  Rabbits and other game totally disappeared.  Until we started trapping 'em!

[cvixx]

Evidently there is a real problem here in S. Utah with people feeding feral cats.  The local humane society places ads that if someone will call them, they will trap the cat, fix it (and bring it back to health if necessary) and then release it back to the wild!  So gato can't make more little cats, but lives a nice life eating chipmunks and birds.  

There has also been controversy about herders shooting dogs.  Law says you can shoot any animal which may be a risk to your livestock and some ranchers have been doing in any dog in the area, not just by their sheep or cattle.  Does solve the problem we used to have with strays, though.

[S.S.]

I think that opening up "Seasons" on domestic
animals will Do far more damage to our sport than
any good it will do. Imagine the first news cast
of Little Jimmy holding his beloved fluffy up in front
of the camera with a bullet hole through his head.
Bleeding hearts of the world would have a field day
with that one.
I think it would be extremely damaging to hunting
as a sport.
Hunting is controversial enough without deliberately doing
something stupid like asking for a season on people's pets!
I know that a great number of animals have gone wild,
but the news media will not portray it that way.
Hunters, now more than ever, need to use a lot
of common sense to protect our sports. Lets don't
give the Anti's any more ammo to use against us.

[palgeno]

In western areas beset with protected wolves, the method used is--- SSS---shoot, shovel, and shutup----seems to work. pg

[stuffit]

S.Sumner is correct, to my notion.  And domestic cats gone wild and protected wolves are entirely different problems.  Hunters and shooters are in the minority and we don't need publicity portraying us as trigger happy.  When domestic animals are involved and there is the slightest chance of confusion of feral vs pet, then property rights are involved too.  Cats shouldn't be roaming free and when they do it's their owners responsibility (if they have one) but who wants to shoot someones pet?.  I certainly don't, just because I can justify it by some rationalization for such behavior  Then you get to dogs.  A step closer to home, I think. And then other domestic animals.  This is an area where there is too much room for error on the wrong side of acceptable respect for the property of others, and caution is well advised.
 
stuffit

[myronman3]

it doesnt matter to me, as any cat that i encounter while out is fiddlestrings anyway.   pass/dont pass whatever laws you want.  my policy is already set.

[osceola]

Feral cats, feral dogs, feral horses, feral hogs etc.  How did the get there?--Man.  How do they get out of there?--Man.  

Yes, I agree that I have to be intelligent when it comes to the media.  The Media has an agenda and being unbiased is not part of it, ever.  If I see something as clearly being a real problem but say or do nothing because of what the media will say, they win by default.  That being said, the truth being made known to the ignorant through our State and Federal Conservation Departments, Pheasants/Quail Forever, NWTF, Ducks Unlimited etc. counteracts Media Sensationalism.  A billboard stating "Free Roaming Cats Kill X-number of Songbirds each Year" can effectively counter the Media's Agenda.  Private groups can buy billboard space if our Public servants won't.

Every hunters dollar spent helped bring back whitetail, turkey, waterfowl populations.  Hunters get "The Guns of Autumn and PETA" in return.  Little Johnny also needs to know how to care for his pet and what happens if he neglects them.  The problem is not from the rare and isolated instances of the family cat getting out.  Many people let their cats out every AM. and back in every PM. and think its ok for the cat to do whatever it wants in between.  "Kind Hearted" people dump dogs in rural areas, leaving their problems in the rearview mirror.  

As I stated in my original post, when a cat is 1/4 mile away from the closest building, they are a predator.   In the flower bed under the mailbox is a totally different discussion