Tony Leif, director of the South Dakota Game Fish and Parks Wildlife Division, said Thursday that this Cougar hunting season is about a further reduction of the Black Hills Mountain Lion population......"The increase (a quota of 60 up from 50 last year) is intended to harvest more lions, get the population down at a level where it's in better balance with the prey population within the Black Hills," Leif said. "It is our desire to increase populations of big game, primarily elk and deer."..............Whether it be deciding the population of Lions, Wolves, Bears or coyotes, State Game Commissioners who are appointed by the Govenor(usually hunting and agricultural folks who donated large toward the Govenors election) pressure their biologist staffs to mandate overzealous hunting seasons and bag limits.............As a good friend of mine said to me Friday night, until we change the system of appointees to State Game Commisisons so as to have a representation of all wildlife stakeholders represented......e.g. hunters, ranchers and farmers, birdwatchers, hikers, youth groups, environmental organizations, etc, etc, ..........the only consideration of carnivore management will be how many deer and elk are in the field to be shot by humans................No regard for the health of the land or the balance of life in these decsions reached by Commissioners who nothing about predator/prey dynamics

60 lion hunting season recommended for Black Hills in South Dakota
 Kevin Woster

Hunters will be allowed to kill up to 60 mountain lions during the 2012 season - an increase of 10 from this year's limit - if the state Game, Fish & Parks Commission accepts a recommendation by staff biologists.

The commission will decide during a meeting in Watertown whether to propose the higher mountain lion quota as part of a season plan that also would authorize more lion hunters in Custer State Park next year.7

Some hunters have been arguing for a higher lion kill because they believe the cats are killing too many elk and deer, meaning sport hunters lose hunting opportunities. Leif said the increase in lion permits is only part of the management plan for the Black Hills elk and deer herds, which also includes reductions in the number licenses made available to hunters for those popular big-game species.

The GF&P Commission has increased the lion quota in recent years in an effort to reduce the Black Hills mountain lion population, which was previously estimated at about 250 cats. GFP biologists estimated that the added hunting pressure helped reduce the lion population to about 225 prior to the 2011 season. GF&P now estimates the lion population at about 200.

The commission had set a target population of lions somewhere between 150 and 200. Leif said the population goal is now closer to 150."We're actually targeting the lower end of that population range with this recommendation," Leif said.

The lion quota for the 2011 season earlier this year was 45 for the main season and five for a very limited Custer State Park season. It was the first time the commission authorized a lion hunt in the 71,000-acre park, with only 10 licenses authorized. Hunters ended up killing 47 lions in the main season, which began on Jan. 1 and ended when the 45-cat quota was reached and exceed on Feb. 21. The count stood at 44 lions going into the day and hunters bagged three. GF&P allowed that, figuring hunters in the forest couldn't be expected to know hour by hour that the quota had been reached.

Only two cats were killed in Custer State Park, for a total of 49 lions overall, the most since the commission began setting lion seasons in 2005.

The staff recommendation for 2012 would eliminate the special Custer State Park season, rolling it into the main season. Lions taken in the park would be part of the 60-cat quota. There would not be a separate park quota. Regular lion licenses would be good in Custer State Park, but there would be a limit on how many hunters could be in the park at a time and how many days they could hunt.
"We'll have six time periods during the season where we'll allow about 15 hunters to go in there at a time," Leif said.

Hunters would apply for permission to hunt in the park, possibly online. And if there were more demand than available spots, there would be a drawing for each time period, Leif said.
"Our desire is to ensure more of a harvest in Custer Park, to harvest more lions in that portion of the Black Hills," he said.

The GF&P Commission will decide today whether to include the staff recommendation in its proposal for the 2012 lion season. Final commission action on the season will wait until its meeting Oct. 6-7 at the Outdoor Campus West, 4130 Adventure Trail, in Rapid City.There will be a public hearing on the lion season Oct. 6. prior to the final commission vote on the season.