Electronic Cat Calls Approved

Electronic calls will be allowed for the taking of mountain lion in three areas of Idaho. The Idaho Fish and Game Commission decided to let hunters try the electronic calls in Unit 41 and Unit 42 in the Owyhees and in that portion of Unit 12, described in the big game rules booklet, where predator reduction is under study. The new rule allowing electronic calls for the first time for mountain lion hunting was placed into effect immediately. Hunting lions in the Unit 41 and Unit 42 in the customary way with hounds is not deemed effective because of the treeless, rocky terrain. Lions may be the reason for a decline in bighorn sheep numbers in parts of the Owyhees, according to some hunters. Lions and bears have been targeted for reduction in the study area of Unit 12 in an attempt to determine if predation is the major reason for low elk calf numbers. In discussion with the Commission, Deputy Director Al Van Vooren noted that, in the west, Utah specifically allows electronic calls though some counties prohibit them. Mountain lion hunting in any form is outlawed in California while electronic calls are permitted for lion hunting in Arizona, Wyoming, Oregon and Washington because they are not specifically prohibited. Electronic calls are prohibited in Colorado, Montana and New Mexico where lions are classed, as in Idaho, as big game animals. The Commission voted unanimously to go ahead with electronic calls in the three units but agreed to take the issue to the public statewide based on the results of the coming seasons.