U.P. Cougars ?

[S.R.Patch]

My bud up north Port Huron said to come up and kill some wild hogs. Apparently there was a preserve up there and all the animals got loose so now they got lots of hogs and the game warden said don't worry about a license, just kill them to stop them populating the whole state...

[sgc]

The Wild Hog issue is not just a Port Huron problem. They've been spreading over the State. I don't think its from one preserve, either. I remember years ago hearing about them escaping & being a problem on the Huron Bay Peninsula by Port Abbey. They're spreading on farmland in the southern & mid michigan areas. I haven't seen one yet, but I guess its just a matter of time.

[scott calkins]

iam telling you they have been in the up for yrs i am from there and all my family are still there there is a deer camp on ten curves road in germfask my parents live on and guys that have the camp have pics on there trail cams and i have personaly seen them the pics are reel from there cams. and so has my stepfather seen pics and tracks and he is one of the most honest and knowlidgeable people i now. he has been a lumber jack his whole life and a great hunter and tracker . we cut some tracks with plotts one dey a few yrs ago that we were sure were cougar tracks but the swamps have so many blowdowns and trees laid over we never treed it we think it just would go across big sections of these blowdowns so we never got it . and a well known houndsman named leo dollins he has plott hounds said the same thing he wanted to be the first to tree one in mich. but to many ways for them to evade hounds in up. and not a big number of them so tracks hard to come by. i have seen the tracks my self and spruce ridge . hosie haralson.and many others have met and know my father . if he says it take it to the bank it is true. he spends every day in the woods daylight to dark. and the reason the DNR wont admitt it is because if they do it is one more thing they wiil have to put money aside to regulate. come one would it be so far fetched to say they arent involved they introduced wolves how darn dumb was that . and if you dont think there aren,t caterinng to some antis. then call jim wale at 989-643-5127/-989-860-1661 or rich porteen richard 616-675-7690 these gentleman go to lansing as reps for us to fight so we can freecast hounds to hunt and have pens to run in and the NAGDF IS ALSO HELPING call these guys and see what your DNR are tryind to do . i know they have asked me to go to some of these meetings and iam going to they need help from all hounds men the dnr is trying to shut us down from running hounds!!!!!!! i hope this makes more mi hounds men get invoved and aware it will benifit us all wether you run rabbit coon fox birds sqirrels yote or bear we are all together in this fight. when we realize this we will be stronger as houndsmen , and fight together.

[dave g]

Scott, you know leo dollins. He is one man if he said he saw a cougar I would believe it was one. I spent a summer a few years back running bears with leo and his grandsons up north or mio. that was one great summer. I will tell you if he found a track his dogs should be the ones to get it treed. Leo knows his cougars and bears.

Later, dave

[mihunter]

I guess I will jump into the cougar debate. First the two pictures posted on here earlier have been flowing around on the net for a couple years. Check out the Michigan sportsman forum and you will see the same thing there. If you look at the second picture the one with the cougar stalking the deer, you will notice the tail on the deer is that of a mule deer and not a whitetail. With that said I believe there is cougars in Michigan and the dnr are covering it up. And yes they do have reason to do so, because once they come out and admit they have confirmed a breeding population in Michigan, then money has to be set aside for research and public awareness. As the Dnr states they are going through a lot of financial problems and the last thing they want is to pour money into another program like the cougar which has all sorts of public safety issues along with it. The cougar would also be an endangers species here in Michigan and if they were said to living here then the federal government would put all sorts of regulations on the state to ensure that the population either stabilizes or increases.


Brandon Kantola

[scott calkins]

YES WHAT STEVE,S BEEN SAYING KEEP SPEEKING THE TRUTH . STEVE FOR PRESIDENT OF THE US HE HAS MY VOTE. and yes i know leo dollins and chad dollins well i use to coon hunt with chad when he was a kid and lived in harrison mi behind the mcdonalds i harrison. and i moved back to the up awhile back and use see him and leo on a regular basis till i moved back down here .

[Joseph J Murphy]

Steve M:
I read somewhere that the Michigan Wildlife Habitat Foundation had done a study on cougars in Michigan in 2001 and not only determined that there were cougars there but that they were local cats as opposed to transient roaming cats.
J Murphy

[steve w]

Steve M. Just read your reply and would you care to tell us what you really think? LOL You say the DNR did not date the article and that is correct as to when it was published, yet they do admit to gathering DNA in 2004 from a car bumper and then they admit again to eight scat samples from differant locations all positive for cougar.I really don't see much conspircy from them as to whether they could be here. What I see is them not recognizing any sort of population or admiting to a planting program, it would seem to me the proof is just not there yet for them to do more. And it may be for the better, mihunter brings up some valid points as to what the DNR would be forced to do if a cougar population were proven to exsist. The FEDS would be involved and the the animal lovers would be crying to protect them and I'm sure I don't have to type the rest.I really think were better off if they are a bunch of liars, we got enough troubles without cougars.I remember a few years back this cougar thing came up by some guys in Maine on another board and a pretty well respected beagler said at the time if you do run across one to shoot, shovel, and shut up if you want your neck of the woods to remain the same.
As to your principals if thats what makes you tick go for it, you yourself said we need rules. And without them there would be kaos. It is the ones that the rules will be used against that generate the need for them. I'll use your bow hunting analogy for example, the reason your city had to make up the rule not to allow hunting was to many guys like the one on the ground at the little leage field spread out around the city and ruined it for the guys like yourself who are safe and conciencense.I think you can get my point out of that.I've never been one to do as they say either, nor am I one that is a do as I say , I try to let common sense prevail when possible.

[Spruce Ridge Beagler]

It is hard to dispute the fact that these pics may have been floating around for some time on the internet. However, when you have people that live in the UP, people I personally know and respect that have seen tracks, that also is undisputable in my book !
The cougar issue in MI has been a big controversy for many years now and will continue to be. This has been a good topic and I appreciate everyones insight, especially yours Steve !

[jim matuszewski]

This winter in Spooner wi. some guys out coyote hunting put a lion up in a tree,got ahold of the wi.dnr put it in tree 2 more times could't hold it in tree long enough for dnr agent to get close enough to dart it.Was on local news and hunters got pics. to put in local paper.If there in Spooner there in the U.P.

[Spruce Ridge Beagler]

Thank you Jim !!
Can we put this to rest now ?