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8 >BOWHUNTER APRIL/MAY 2015

Reader Disagrees

With Using Hounds

Dear Bowhunter,

I am a seasoned, devout hunter with

both gun and bow, and I believe in the

fair-chase hunt.  I am also a longtime

Bowhunter subscriber, and I enjoy most

of the articles in your magazine. Howev-

er, I take issue with the January/February

2015 article, “One Cool Cat,” by Associ-

ate Publisher Danny Farris.  While I’m

sure bowhunting mountain lions is an

adventure, I personally don’t see the sport

in chasing a mountain lion over hill and

dale with a pack of dogs until the cat even-

tually runs up a tree, at which point the

hunter walks up to the tree and shoots the

animal, which is already scared to death

from being pursued by both the hounds

and the hunter. Ten have an entire fam-

ily pose all smiles with the cat as if they

had really done something special. I don’t

consider taking a treed animal a fair-

chase hunt, nor do I call it an honorable

way to hunt an animal as magnifcent as

a mountain lion.  Te animal is basically

cornered in a tree, with no place to go to

get away from its pursuers.  If that’s the

way that mountain lion hunting is tradi-

tionally done, then I for one have no de-

sire to ever partake in using hounds to try

and kill one. Te method is akin to high-

fence hunting in a confned area, where

the animal has no chance of escape and

basically no place to go. And, in the name

of fair-chase hunting, I believe hound

hunting for mountain lions should be

outlawed. Rob W., via e-mail

Editor’s note: Your letter has lit a fuse on both

Danny and Traditional Editor Fred Eichler,

who happens to be the outftter that hosted

Danny’s hunt. Since we deem this to be a sig-

nifcant point of contention, we are allowing

both to respond.

Danny Farris responds: The conservation

blueprint used in this country has been tremen-

dously successful, and part of that blueprint

includes proportionately managing predator

and prey populations as prescribed by scientifc

study. In much of the West, mountain lions are

the number-one predator of deer, elk and big-

horn sheep, with estimated predation rates of

up to one animal per week, per lion! Without

the use of hounds, managing lion populations

would be impossible. If the only viable means

of management were eliminated, lion numbers

would rise and game populations would fall.

One need only look at the wolf debacle for evi-

dence of the disaster that could result.

From a sporting perspective, your high-fence

analogy is unfounded. Not every lion track re-

sults in a cat up a tree. Many a lion hunter has

paid for multiple hunts before actually tagging

a cat, if at all. As in all hunting, the sport is in

the overall experience, not just the kill. Finally,

I would ask, as a “ devout hunter with both gun

and bow,” do you actually consider placing your

crosshairs on an unsuspecting animal, from

several hundred yards away, and then squeez-

ing the trigger somehow more sporting than my

taking my frst mountain lion with a recurve

bow? If you still answer yes, I suggest you spend

some time on a treadmill, book a lion hunt, and

see if your perspective doesn’t change.

Fred Eichler responds: You have no experi-

ence, so I don’t fault you for being unaware of

the challenges a lion hunt poses. It is a physi-

cally demanding hunt for all involved, and

despite your perception, the cat always has a

chance to escape. It is a long, long way from

the high-fence hunt you suggest.

You also might not realize that 95 percent

of all lion population management is achieved

through the use of hounds. Tis is because it is

the only method for achieving any measur-

able and necessary harvest of lions. Te cat in

Danny’s article had actually killed an elk on

my property, about a half-mile from where I

live with my wife and three sons, which brings

up the most ofensive part of your letter. I take

particular exception to your comment about

including family members in our hunt. How

you can disparage a fellow hunter for that is

beyond me.

I assume you are aware that millions of

hunters use dogs to harvest pheasants, quail,

ducks, squirrels, raccoons, coyotes, bobcats,

hogs and bears, to name just a few. Would

you prefer to see these pursuits outlawed as

well? In most Western states, using hounds

is a common, legal method for managing lion

populations. As much as you “take issue” with

it, I also take issue with any hunter who con-

demns others for their chosen legal method. If

we hunters continue to challenge and criticize

each other, it will contribute to our downfall.

Instead, our energies should be spent working

to preserve hunting for future generations. ❮❮❮

Between Bowhunters

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