Game Conservation

Last week I was talking with an experienced hounsdman about the importance of game conservation and management with cougars in Montana. Here's Austin to help explain the purpose of keeping these numbers stable, just like any other wild game.

Austin "It's just like anywhere else, you've got to control your predators and keep a nice check and balance. A mature male lion has to kill at least one deer per week, just to survive. That's 52 deer a year per lion and more often than not, a lion will kill a deer and eat on it for 2 or 3 days and if he leaves it for any reason a coyote comes by and a coyote will urinate on it and that lion won't eat any more off that deer, he'll go find another one. So if there's a high coyote population in the same area as your lions, the lions are going to kill a lot more deer and the coyotes are going to eat what's left. The coyote population grows and can support just as well and the deer and the elk take the majority of the hit. The Montana Fish and Game does a really good job of controlling the quotas. There's still some areas that are more populated than others, just due to the access to the deer and the conditions. They have a quota system, you're allowed so many females and so many males. Just here in this valley, we're allowed 10 on the west side and 8 on the east side."

Like Austin said, it is so important for hunters and fishermen all across the country to remember, we have to conserve and protect our game so our future generations can have the same privileges we have today.