A proposed bill would radically change the way Wyoming manages its mountain lions. Recently announced House Bill 286 would prohibit the Wyoming Game and Fish Department from implementing any “bag limits” for the species and require the agency to allow lion hunting year-round for 24 hours a day. The department would also have to open lion hunting to anyone with a general big game license and open trapping for the species.
The bill was spearheaded by State Representative Mike Schmid, a Republican and board member of the Wyoming State Trappers Association. He claims the legislation would help the state’s embattled big game populations.
“It’s more about the mule deer situation, and trying to help our mule deer population,” Schmid told WyoFile. “I don’t think we put enough emphasis on the effect of predators on other species.”
Many wildlife experts embedded in the hunting community disagree with Schmid’s assessment, pointing instead to habitat issues and recent severe winters that significantly impacted the state’s big game herds. Local conservation groups have come out against the bill, as well, likening it to “ballot-box biology” similar to anti-hunting efforts in other states that sought to ban mountain lion hunting entirely.
The Wyoming Houndsmen Association, an organization dedicated to “promoting, protecting, and preserving the right to freecast dogs in the state of Wyoming … while maintaining proper management of mountain lions, bobcats, and other pursuable game,” has also come out against the bill.
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“This is government overreach,” said the association’s board chair Luke Worthington. “This is an emotional bill. These guys think they’re going to save all the deer, and that’s not true.”
