# Cougars may be coming soon!!!!



## The mtn man (Dec 13, 2015)

http://newschannel9.com/sports/outd...-cougar-encounters-dna-tests-confirm-a-female


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## NCHillbilly (Dec 14, 2015)

Finding a female is significant. 99.9% of cougars confirmed outside their usual range are roaming young males. The female is a gamechanger. Or at least it was, until some trigger-happy idiot went and shot it just because he saw it.


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## model88_308 (Dec 21, 2015)

I've been following these stories for a while. Both counties mentioned are close to where I live. Interesting stuff.


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## j_seph (Dec 21, 2015)

NCHillbilly said:


> Finding a female is significant. 99.9% of cougars confirmed outside their usual range are roaming young males. The female is a gamechanger. Or at least it was, until some trigger-happy idiot went and shot it just because he saw it.


Wonder what or if anything was done to the honest hunter who turned himself in for shooting a cougar?


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## bronco611 (Dec 21, 2015)

They will probably crucify him like they did the other fellow who shot one a few years back and had his picture published with the cat. Funny how they fine and punish people for killing a cat that they will not admit to having any in the state because of the cost of it being an endangered or protected species ? Go figure?


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## NCHillbilly (Dec 21, 2015)

bronco611 said:


> They will probably crucify him like they did the other fellow who shot one a few years back and had his picture published with the cat. Funny how they fine and punish people for killing a cat that they will not admit to having any in the state because of the cost of it being an endangered or protected species ? Go figure?



People have a hard time understanding this: Georgia does not have a breeding population of cougars. An occasional dispersing male may very well wander through the state, but that doesn't mean that Georgia "has cougars." The biologists do not say that there will never be a cougar in the state, what they're saying there is that there is no permanent population; which is absolutely correct. The cougar you are talking about was a young roaming male from Florida, just like 99% of cougars found outside their normal range. Young male cougars often roam for hundreds of miles. There is a big difference between a cougar traveling through and a breeding population of them. Females are what indicates a breeding population. There have been none found on Georgia so far. 

The reason the guy was fined and punished was because he killed a protected species. The Florida panther is endangered, even if it walks to Georgia. If a whooping crane flew from Nebraska and landed in your yard; and you shot it and posed for a pic, you would be fined and "crucified." There is no reason for someone to shoot a panther just because they see one.


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## cowhornedspike (Dec 21, 2015)

If I see a black one can I shoot it?


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## The mtn man (Dec 21, 2015)

cowhornedspike said:


> If I see a black one can I shoot it?



Yes, the answer is yes!


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## donald-f (Dec 22, 2015)

If I shoot one I will have self made scratches all over my body and tell GW I shot it in self defense.


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## ryanh487 (Dec 22, 2015)

This guy won't be prosecuted because the DNA test showed it came from South Dakota, where cougars are not protected. 

That being said, if I saw a cougar, I can't say I wouldn't shoot it out of safety concerns. Lots of dogs and small children not too far from my hunt club. I wouldn't go bragging about it to the media like an idiot though.


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## cowhornedspike (Dec 22, 2015)

cklem said:


> Yes, the answer is yes!



Thank Gawd, cause I've just been cutting up the black ones and feeding them to my dawgs cause I thought I might get arrested if I bragged about them.


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## NCHillbilly (Dec 22, 2015)

cowhornedspike said:


> If I see a black one can I shoot it?



As far as I know, there is no law against shooting either imaginary animals or escaped leopards.


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## bronco611 (Dec 22, 2015)

How can you check to see if it is a roaming male or a female?My house cat bit me last time I tried to look!


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## bfriendly (Dec 23, 2015)

cklem said:


> Yes, the answer is yes!





donald-f said:


> If I shoot one I will have self made scratches all over my body and tell GW I shot it in self defense.


If all else fails, this^^^ For sure!


NCHillbilly said:


> As far as I know, there is no law against shooting either imaginary animals or escaped leopards.



I'll take this as another YES


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## KLBTJTALLY1 (Jan 7, 2016)

Like it or not Georgia folks, panthers are coming whether you like it or not.  If Florida keeps protecting their panthers like their overpopulated bears then you can bet they'll be coming.


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## Lilly001 (Jan 7, 2016)

NCHillbilly said:


> People have a hard time understanding this: Georgia does not have a breeding population of cougars. An occasional dispersing male may very well wander through the state, but that doesn't mean that Georgia "has cougars." The biologists do not say that there will never be a cougar in the state, what they're saying there is that there is no permanent population; which is absolutely correct. The cougar you are talking about was a young roaming male from Florida, just like 99% of cougars found outside their normal range. Young male cougars often roam for hundreds of miles. There is a big difference between a cougar traveling through and a breeding population of them. Females are what indicates a breeding population. There have been none found on Georgia so far.
> 
> The reason the guy was fined and punished was because he killed a protected species. The Florida panther is endangered, even if it walks to Georgia. If a whooping crane flew from Nebraska and landed in your yard; and you shot it and posed for a pic, you would be fined and "crucified." There is no reason for someone to shoot a panther just because they see one.



Add into this mess the cougars that are pets and escape or are released by their owners. 
I had a discussion with a Fl GFWC officer about that. He advocated killing the non-Fl Panther cougars as they dilute the gene pool and may make their offspring with true Fl Panthers unprotected. This is why they stopped trying to enhance the Fl population with western cougar stock.
I guess the DNA is what identifies them.


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## crackerdave (Jan 9, 2016)

Panthers,bears,and crackers are all being crowded out of Flarduh by yankee invaders.


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## Throwback (Jan 9, 2016)

ryanh487 said:


> This guy won't be prosecuted because the DNA test showed it came from South Dakota, where cougars are not protected.
> 
> That being said, if I saw a cougar, I can't say I wouldn't shoot it out of safety concerns. Lots of dogs and small children not too far from my hunt club. I wouldn't go bragging about it to the media like an idiot though.




what matters is the law in the state where he shot it, not the laws in the state where it came from.


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## Lilly001 (Jan 9, 2016)

Throwback said:


> what matters is the law in the state where he shot it, not the laws in the state where it came from.


In the Georgia Cougar case the Feds did a DNA test and found that the animal was a FL Panther. They charged him federally for taking an endangered species.


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## crackerdave (Jan 9, 2016)

Panther lives matter!


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## tullisfireball (Jan 10, 2016)

cowhornedspike said:


> If I see a black one can I shoot it?



check out Leatherwood outdoors on youtube, they filmed one this year while on the stand. I would post the video but I don't remember how to post them.  
(By the way they post some good videos, so your time won't be wasted )


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## cowhornedspike (Jan 10, 2016)

tullisfireball said:


> check out Leatherwood outdoors on youtube, they filmed one this year while on the stand. I would post the video but I don't remember how to post them.
> (By the way they post some good videos, so your time won't be wasted )



Meow.


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## Throwback (Jan 11, 2016)

Lilly001 said:


> In the Georgia Cougar case the Feds did a DNA test and found that the animal was a FL Panther. They charged him federally for taking an endangered species.



Yes


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## obligated (Jan 11, 2016)

Union County has them.Florida did the lie and deny game around Jupiter Florida.We saw two in one night running a levy  road.I have watched them on game trails in the western Everglades.I dont understand the reason to lie about them.Buddy of mine and his ex wife have both seen them near their cabin.Ive seen the tracks.I had a class 2 wildlife license in Florida and had a female Cougar for a pet.I know what they look like.


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## Lilly001 (Jan 11, 2016)

obligated said:


> Union County has them.Florida did the lie and deny game around Jupiter Florida.We saw two in one night running a levy  road.I have watched them on game trails in the western Everglades.I dont understand the reason to lie about them.Buddy of mine and his ex wife have both seen them near their cabin.Ive seen the tracks.I had a class 2 wildlife license in Florida and had a female Cougar for a pet.I know what they look like.



In my conversations with the FFWC officers they never denied that Panthers roamed all over the state. But they were young males who where kicked to the curb by their moms and usually got hit by cars (Panther Kryptonite). What they were very reluctant to admit was a new BREEDING population. They also have a real problem with released western cougar pets. I guess the only way to tell is a DNA test.


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## obligated (Jan 14, 2016)

Lilly001 said:


> In my conversations with the FFWC officers they never denied that Panthers roamed all over the state. But they were young males who where kicked to the curb by their moms and usually got hit by cars (Panther Kryptonite). What they were very reluctant to admit was a new BREEDING population. They also have a real problem with released western cougar pets. I guess the only way to tell is a DNA test.



Early 80s and late 70s FFWC denied the panther population in Palm Beach county.Now everyone has game cams with pictures.Nobody has got a picture of the infamous(non existant)black panther.Fish and Game authorities denied Jaguars in the southwest United States also.I dont have a lot of faith in the government being truthful.


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