New Washington 2024-25 Cougar Hunting Rules Out

A big blank page has now officially been filled in in Washington’s 2024-25 Big Game Regulations pamphlet.

Where the printed version that came out this past spring told cougar hunters that this season’s rules hadn’t been finalized at press time, they’re now available online, marking completion of a contentious chapter in Evergreen State hunting history that shifts the season from general season + quota to solely quota-driven.

The delay follows the predator-friendly Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission’s acceptance last winter of a petition from litigious environmental groups and cougar advocates to begin rulemaking around more restrictive hunting rules for the species, the citizen panel’s directive this spring to WDFW to hurry up and develop proposals for the season that begins September 1 rather than hold off a year at agency staff’s suggestion, and their vote last month on that slate.

Per WDFW’s new regs, hunting will run in a single season that extends through March 31, unless the harvest cap of 13 or 20 percent is reached beforehand.

The former cap percentage is based on what’s known as the cougar population’s “intrinsic growth rate,” while the latter will be used for those units where all causes of mortality – human conflict removals, depredation removals, roadkill, etc. – hit 13 percent before September 1 and would have otherwise led to the game management unit’s closure. If not for the 20 percent caveat, the Huckleberry, Mt. Spokane, Mica and Cheney GMUs in the Colville and Spokane areas would not open in a week and a half, given how many cougars have died in them since April Fools Day.

Counting towards the cap begins April 1 and runs through March 31 of the following year.

The inclusion of non-hunting mortality in the cap effectively penalizes hunters for the bad behavior of cougars and doesn’t address root causes of those local conflicts. Hunting, along with the nearly 30-year-old ban on using hounds, have the potential benefit of training cougars to avoid human areas.

The 20 percent cap would have sunsetted after the 2024-25 season if Commission Chair Barbara Baker had had her way, but Commissioner John Lehmkuhl removed the clause in a motion approved during a vote last month.

Prior to this year, Washington had a general fall cougar season and then a quota-based January 1-April 30 late season. The quota had been set at the GMU or population management level based off of population density and a 10 to 16 percent growth rate. A number of units had an acceptable range of take – for instance, a guideline of 7 to 11 cats in GMU 101, Sherman.

But with the growth rate now set at 13 percent, there is no such wiggle room.

That hard cap ranges from as few as one cougar in the Battleground GMU by Vancouver to 13 in each of a trio of North Cascades units. Other units with notably low caps include Kelly Hill, Pearrygin and Washougal, all with two each, and four eastern Blue Mountains, two central Klickitat, three west-central Cascades and six South Cascades GMUs with three each.

The 20 percent harvest cap adds from one to seven cougars on the baseline, depending on the unit.

The statewide lion limit is also back to only one. A rule passed two summers ago in response to cougar predation on the chronically depressed Blue Mountains elk herd had allowed for a second one to be taken in 12 GMUs.

Here’s where to track the quotas. Cougar hunters are also strongly advised to check it or call WDFW’s hotline (1-866-364-4868, hit 2 after the greeting) to find out if the GMU they plan to hunt is open or not. Having to know the quota may be a disincentive for deer and elk hunters to opportunistically take a cougar during their primary hunts, or unfortunately could lead to lions left in the woods.

The October 2024 issue of Northwest Sportsman Magazine will feature an excellent cougar hunting article by Scott Haugen as well as two cougar recipes from his wife and cookbook author Tiffany Haugen – they look delish!