The deer was killed and buried by a mountain lion.
It was found by two hunters.
They set up and
called with a predator call, a young male came in
and was shot.
There where tracks of a much larger
lion at the kill site and a larger lion was
spotted in
the area. This was the last lion killed in the 2007
season. He was
killed on the eastern side of the
central black hills.
A New Perspective
By Arlin Stratmeyer
January/February 2009
“Yes! I’m sure! No doubt about it! Just a quarter mile behind my house on the rim of the canyon!”
To overhear the phone conversation I was having with my friend might have been hard to follow, but one thing was for sure, I had found mountain lion tracks and I was excited! The locals who spent appreciable time in the woods had always known there were a few mountain lions in the Black Hills of South Dakota. A South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks brochure that had been circulating for several years said there were “about 15 lions” living in the Hills. The year was 1999, and the curious thing was that more and more people were encountering the same thing I had just experienced.
The phone conversation continued: “I followed its tracks and it killed a porcupine! Yes! Right behind my house! Isn’t it just awesome?”
It was the same year I had the privilege of being part of the capture team for mountain lions in the Black Hills. Our job was to follow the cats with dogs hot on their trails and, after they would “tree” the cat, we would tranquilize, weigh, take blood samples, apply radio collars, etc. All of this was obviously for the purpose of gaining much needed information about mountain lions in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
As we proceeded through the first year of capturing and radio-collaring lions, we noticed some interesting things. First, there are more lions in the Hills than we first thought. Second, every lion had porcupine quills embedded in its paws, mouth, etc. My thoughts brought me back to the kill behind my house, “A favorite meal? Come to think of it, I haven’t had any trees on my place destroyed by porcupines lately. How cool is that? These lions are great! Not only for how majestic they are, but they help save my trees too!”
During the second year, our job of locating lion tracks in the snow (so we could turn loose the dogs) became easier. GF&P was conducting a study on deer in the southern Hills. And so the phone call came, “Yes! Hurry up and get ready! We’ve got another radio-collared deer killed by a lion!” The dead deer meant we wouldn’t need to drive the logging roads to look for tracks in the snow. Not only that, but the tracks were probably fresh, meaning a far less amount of time might be required to accomplish the goal of radio collaring yet another lion.
“Great!” I exclaimed, “I’ll be there ASAP!” I looked at the loss of another deer as a great opportunity to get another cat for the study. At this point, we jokingly told the deer biologist that it wouldn’t be long before there weren’t any radio collared deer left for his study. The death of his deer was becoming our good fortune and a growing source of humor. My tunnel vision prevented me from seeing the overall picture of balanced and responsible wildlife management. My thoughts were focused on lions, lions, lions!
My narrow perspective started to change, however, when the large herd of mule deer in my own back yard began to dwindle. “What’s going on?” I asked, “Why are there only a few deer this year?” A short hike revealed the answer. Those tracks I’d found behind my house only two years before were now put into a whole new perspective.
The first deer I found lay only partially eaten, covered with forest debris forming about an 8-foot circle. Subsequent deer were found in various states of decay and covered in a similar fashion. It had obviously become a lion killing field. In all, 6 dead mule deer were found. I then knew this had been going on for some time and I had been oblivious to what was happening in my own back yard. As of this writing, with the rare exception of an occasional straggler, there are no longer any mule deer in my backyard and there haven’t been for several years now. They have been replaced with mountain lion tracks.
The deer study that occurred in the southern Hills has now been published. With regard to mule deer, the study states “… the main cause of mortality resulting from mountain lion predation … of 21 radio collared females, 43% died from mountain lion predation.” The study goes on: “In the southern Black Hills, mortality due to mountain lions was higher than reported in studies done in other states.”
This severe predation problem was happening when the total lion population in the Hills was estimated to be at 127-149. Today, the estimated total population is as many as 280, including an estimated 160 adults. Just think what the impact of predation due to mountain lions is in the Black Hills today! Many studies done over the years in many different western states have determined that an adult lion will kill at least one big game animal (deer, elk, mountain goat, bighorn sheep) per week. Regarding the impact this has on mule deer and other big game in the Black Hills, you can do the math. The number blew me away! And get this, in 2007 hunters in the Hills killed only 5,900 deer!
Today, the lions captured for study and those brought in for inspection after being harvested, seldom have porcupine quills in their paws. Why? With the overpopulation of lions, they have essentially cleared out the porkies. So now what do they eat? Well, it ain’t grass!
The lion population has exploded out of control as GF&P, due to heavy political and anti-hunting pressure, has not been allowed to control it effectively. The first mountain lion study that I took part in concluded that the total number of lions that the Black hills could support, based on home ranges, was 152. As published on their Web site, GF&P then adopted the management plan that would responsibly manage for 145 lions in the Black Hills: www.sdgfp.info/wildlife/mountainlions/mtlionhuntingseason.htm.
This makes me question: Why manage lions with only their home range in mind? Why not manage lions with a balanced view of their effect on prey species (deer, elk, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, etc.)? Why not manage mountain lions with the thought in mind that they are taking away the opportunity for hunters to draw their licenses?
For the 2009 season, even with the new population estimate being as high as 280, the quota will remain unchanged from previous years and restrict the harvest to 35 total lions, yet if 15 females are harvested even before the total is reached, the season will be closed. Historically, since the opportunity to hunt lions started in 2005, the season has closed in about only three weeks (without the use of dogs) with the result being less than 20 lions harvested. This certainly has not met the management goal for maintaining 145 lions in the Black Hills.
Due to pressure from anti-hunting groups, there will be significant changes for 2008. Rather than opening the season for lions in conjunction with other seasons such as deer or elk, the opening date will now be January 1, 2009, essentially eliminating a 2008 season.
This poses several real problems, especially since the use of dogs is prohibited in South Dakota.
1. Less hunters
In past seasons, 1/3 of the lions harvested were taken by local area hunters who were specifically targeting lions with predator type calls. This means that as many as 2/3 of the lions harvested were taken by elk or deer hunters, some of whom came from the other side of the state and just happened to see a lion while hunting. By starting the season on January 1st, many hunters who would otherwise already be in the woods will no longer participate in the harvest of lions.
2. Access
Much of the Black Hills will no longer be accessible because of both seasonal closures by the U. S. Forest Service and impassable roads due to snow. This may not pose such a problem for hounds men, but for someone with a predator call, areas with easier access will be chosen, thus leaving large blocks of the Hills untouched for lion harvesting. While it is currently illegal in the state of SD to use hounds to hunt mountain lions, if the season is moved to a later date, one of the best ways of assuring the ample harvest of the correct amount of mountain lions would be to utilize the expertise of hounds men. Allowing the use of hounds by hounds men would actually show the public at large that the SD Game, Fish & Parks is dedicated to the long-term conservation of not only mountain lions, but mule deer and other wildlife as well. Hounds men have a record of being lion conservationists themselves, similar to the way that mule deer hunters are mule deer conservationists. Both want adequate opportunities to harvest the critters that they are passionate about, but at the same time do not want them over-harvested.
GF&P has seen the need and acted to protect mule deer in the Black Hills by limiting the number of licenses available to 500 “any deer.” The change came in the 2007 season. Before that, 5,000 “any deer” licenses were issued. While I support the new change, the ultimate result is that hunters are being restricted so that lions can have free reign!
If you think only deer are affected by lion predation, think again. Contrary to popular belief, studies conducted in Idaho conclude that lions do not kill the weak and sick, but rather select “prime-condition prey” and have a kill success rate of 82 percent on both elk and deer. Wolves in this study had only a 20 percent success rate on elk! Lions are efficient killers, even on animals as large as a mature elk. In the study, and I quote: “Wolves and cougars both killed elk that were significantly older than did hunters….” The study shows that lions are killing 10-15 percent of the elk population in Idaho’s Unit 28, while wolves are killing less than 3 percent, showing that the primary predator of elk is lions. In response to a study conducted near Glacier National Park, Western Hunter concluded that “hunter success declined due to predator impacts, and lions were not killing animals which were going to die anyway, but rather the healthy. Lion predation proved to be additive, not compensatory.”
Back in 1999, when we first began radio collaring the low population of lions in the Black Hills, we knew that lions were killing elk. It wasn’t only deer kills that produced lions to collar, but elk kills as well. As someone who wants to hunt elk in South Dakota, this concerns me.
Utilizing the 2007 draw recap figures, over 20,000 non-landowner sportsmen in South Dakota were interested in hunting elk in the first rifle draw, yet only 729 licenses were issued for the opportunity to shoot a bull elk. In 2008 even fewer licences have been issued. All the while, mountain lions continue to multiply and kill more and more sportsmen’s opportunities to hunt.
Some hunters are in favor of excessive numbers of mountain lions because they are enamored with the idea of hunting a lion. Only a few short years ago, I too had this mentality, but these sportsmen are not considering the fact that the excessive number of lions in the Black Hills results in the loss of opportunity to hunt elk, deer, etc. They really have no right to complain when they don’t draw a tag.
It’s 2008 and I now have a new perspective on mountain lions. While I’m very glad to have a few lions in the Black Hills (and a chance to hunt them), I’ve come to understand they are costing us sportsmen our future hunting opportunities.
A note from Brandon Mason, Regional Director:
As a start to help the GF&P with this ever growing political issue, the Black Hills Chapter of the Mule Deer Foundation is passing around a petition that is intended to get sportsmen’s voice out to the South Dakota Game Commission.
Download the petition ...
Since the writing and printing of this article, the petition, and after learning the concerns of South Dakota sportsmen over this contentious issue, the South Dakota GF&P has made changes to their Web site reflecting changes in their mountain lion management plan. Some of the information discussed in this article is no longer on their site. Their site no longer reflects how many lions the Black Hills can support, or a population goal.In order to better understand the author’s discussion points, view the original information in PDF format HERE ...