While hunting pheasants I will usually

My dogs usually chase them down retrieve them back to me. The problem is they want me to put it in my game bag. They just set them down and pick them back up when I do not put them in the bag. It can be a problem. I try to call them off when I see they are casing a cat but sometimes you do not see what it is. Ferrel cats are just as bad on birds as fox and coyote.
 
It depends where I'm hunting. Some folks would be awful upset if you blasted even a wild cat on their land, but a lot more people would be mad if you didn't. I typically ask about shooting trash when getting permission. I hear "take'm off the feed" more often than not. On my land I shoot all predators I come across within the law.
 
Feral Cats

Killed two feral cats last season. Both were near quail coveys. One covey seemed to have completely disappeared.
 
I call my dogs back. They have enough bad habits. What if your dog kills the landowners cat? Cats eat mice, small birds, and rabbits mostly (I'm sure they get a pheasant or two but not many). The coyotes are keeping the deer out of my pumpkins and sweet corn plus hopefuly they'll get a few fawns and keep the deer herd down. I don't kill animals except to eat, protecting my crops, or putting them down if they are injured.
 
Ditch Tiger season is open.

Seems to me we had a similar thread a couple years ago on that other site.

Living here in Wisconsin, the controversy over that UW study raged for months. And I never had more fun with any other controversy. Another lumberman in S. Indiana called that spring, with an inquiry. He and one of his office mates wanted to come to Wisconsin to hunt and were looking for a "native" guide. They asked if I was interested. Since it was spring, I assumed they were talking turkey, but he says "nope. we want to go cat huntin". I about fell out of my chair we laughed so hard. That entire flap made it around the country. Us heathens here in WI hunting those poor kitties.

I'm all for knocking back the population and will if we're a long way from any habitation. Of course, I'll respect a landowner's wishes to leave them alone, but I always ask. I've had them killing quail I was using for dog training and I know they are raiding nests early in the year. My mom had a cat years ago that would kill chickidees off the bird feeder, sometimes 3-4 in an hour. Killed them just for pleasure. This was a well fed housecat. Once I heard a rabbit screaming, went out to check it out and here's mom's cat dragging a full grown cottontail down the driveway by the scruff of it's neck. Those felines are pure killin machines.
 
Cats

Cats are way harder on bird populations than fox or coyotes, coyotes do more good than harm to birds by keeping coons, possums etc in check.

If I am hunting near a farm house, I will give the cat the benefit of the doubt, if not I do all the native wildlife a favor.
 
For me, ACooper hit the nail on the head. I ask if I'm hunting and take precautions when trapping on private land.
 
I have only seen two while hunting. One on crown land and one on co-operative farmland. I called the dog off both times, but decided not to shoot until it was too late and the cat was gone (not treed baceause I called the dog off). In retrospect I should have killed at least the one on crown land. On private land I would not without permission, but it's fairly rare here so it's not really worth asking every land owner. If it were my own land I would exercise a fairly rigorous predator control program for 'yotes in particlar (they are an invasive species here).
-Croc
 
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