Mountain lions in Pa?

[Dredly]

I cannot engage in this conversation any further without my tinfoil hat!!

I think what is kind of scary is that the history of the PGC and their nature of secrecy and misdirection has really put themselves in a place where we HAVE to question EVERYTHING that they do because there is almost always the underlying "political and more money" piece of it.

Here are some examples of the PGC's idea of good idea...

- Rifles season now all is legal as opposed to the previous Buck season vs 3 day Doe season

- Doe tag mail in to request, only good for specific zone requiring hunters to buy extra's for other areas

- Stamps for EVERYTHING (Archery, Migratory bird, Muzzle Loader, Doe Permits, Turkey, Trapping... etc) All of which cost considerably more money. If you are an avid hunter you'll be paying well over 100 dollars to the PGC to enjoy the outdoors.

- Antler restrictions? How does rack size matter to my freezer? It doesn't, but it brings in more out of state hunters I guess

[seaotter]

When I moved to this area of Tioga County, A non hunter told me the Game Commission reieased "black panthers" up here to help keep the rabbit population down. This guy can't tell the difference between a dog and a cat. What they released were fishers.
There are a lot of ignorant people out there.

About two and a half years ago I was on Route 49 in Nelson Township. It was February, very cold and overcast, with plenty of snow and ice. I turned onto Cummins Creek Road. About two miles on this road. From the opposite side or the road this big cat was crossing the road. I stopped and watched. at first I thought it might be a big bobcat. I had seen many of these when I lived in Cedar Run in Pine Creek Gorge.
It walked right in front of me, about fifteen yards away. It was no bobcat. It definitely was a mountain lion. Long tail and body, much bigger than a bobcat. I wish I had a camera. If I did I'd have solid proof. It crossed and went down towards a small stream that runs into the Cowanesque River, not far from there.
There were cows just ahead on that side of the road, I don't know if it was going after them or not. But, it was a cougar or mountain lion.
One thing. For some reason I think it was released or escaped from a private owner. No scientific reason, just a feeling.
Where ever it came from, I now know there is at least one in my area. Now, I carry a camera just in case.

[thanker92]

My wife and I saw one about 3 years ago. We watched it for about 3 minutes. There is no doubt in my mind that it was a mountain lion. The size, coat and long tail made it impossible to be anything else. I've hunted them a couple of times (out West) and could not believe my eyes. I have been told that there was a "wildlife" park in NEPA and they probably were released when it was closed. (I have also been told that the State brought them in to help control the Unicorn population....so I'm careful when I talk about it)

[bigdog02]

Here are some examples of the PGC's idea of good idea...

- Rifles season now all is legal as opposed to the previous Buck season vs 3 day Doe season

- Doe tag mail in to request, only good for specific zone requiring hunters to buy extra's for other areas

- Stamps for EVERYTHING (Archery, Migratory bird, Muzzle Loader, Doe Permits, Turkey, Trapping... etc) All of which cost considerably more money. If you are an avid hunter you'll be paying well over 100 dollars to the PGC to enjoy the outdoors.

- Antler restrictions? How does rack size matter to my freezer? It doesn't, but it brings in more out of state hunters I guess

I should caveat my post with the fact that I used to work for the PGC years ago.
You are right, money is a huge part of it. The PGC primarily gets it's money from license sales (stamps included) and that goes to gamelands upkeep, WCOs, operating costs, taxes on the land they have, etc. They need money in a bad way - with no sizeable license increase within the most recent years.
The price of seed has not gone down, the price of equipment has not gone down, and the price of road upkeep within the gamelands has not gone down either. A lot of the money that comes into the PGC IS put back into the game commission land, I have seen it first hand. Clearing and planting of massive food plots, selective timber cutting to promote undergrowth restoration, habitat creation to promote areas animal and wildlife want to live in and will stay in.
A lot of what you seem to think are bad ideas are not ideas meant to make your experience better. Remember, the PGCs main job is wildlife management. The concurrent rifle season was not made to please hunters. It was made as a form of population control. In many sections of the state, before the concurrent season, buck to doe ratios were incredibly bad. The PGC needed a way to do a blanket regulation and do it fast. Best way to decrease the doe population over much of the state in a hurry? Let them be taken in the first week.
Now that being said, several areas of the state were borderline (northcentral region for example) so the concurrent season was not necessarily what worked best for them, but it was a blanket approach for the state coupled with the wildlife management units.

The doe tags - like I said, the PGC does need money and some areas the PGC does not want more does taken, so that is why you have to apply to different regions instead of getting 1 for the state.

Stamps for everything - Yup, they need money. Would you rather have we pay 100 bucks for a license that has everything on it or would you rather we pay a smaller amount and then can tack on what we want to hunt onto it. I am sure my dad would be pretty pissed at paying 100 bucks for a license to hunt archery, flintlock, buck, doe, trapping etc.
Also as far as price goes, compare it to other states in the region or to states that have the same percentage of their general pop. that hunts. We are turning into a destination state for good, big, healthy deer. We have several world record black bears taken from this state and our bear management (and deer management) is used as a model for other states who are facing the same problems we had 10 years ago (seeing 57 deer a day is not a healthy population....ever). We are one of the only states in the union that has a flintlock only season, and many smokepolers are jealous of this fact. Look around and you will see, it really is a bargain on what you get for what you pay.

Antler restrictions - they were not made to cater to hunters only. They were made to return our deer herd to a healthy population. The breeding population of bucks in this state was pathetic. We needed a way to protect them and get their population up and give them a chance to breed does. Like I said before our buck to doe ratio was horrible and we needed a way to bring the number of bucks up to promote a healthy herd that is not susceptible to disease and other issues that come from weak breeding.

[knight0334]

About 2 years ago I swear that I saw a mountain lion on Rte. 322, about 1-2 miles from the intersection of 322 and 153 (Rockton Mtn.). It was standing next to a deer carcass along the road. There was a car too close and behind me to stop quickly and of course no camera on hand!!

Was that between that bar and the 322&153 intersection?

If so, I think I saw that cat too.

[mrnyman]

Hhhhhhmmm, Let me see, practically all the states that surrounds Pennsylvania have or admitted to having Mountain Lions but Pennsylvania do not have any, hhhhmmm, very interesting, its like the Mountain Lions stopped at the Pa border and say hey thats pa over there we cant cross over into Pa because we are not supposed to be in Pa.so lets go back up to NY and Indiana and Virginia

How illogical is that , Animals dont respect no borders, they go where the

food takes them .

THe PGC cannot admit them being , that would mean that they would have to do something about it and they cant or wont. Thats the way goverment work- if something doesnt exist they dont have to do anything about it.

Nyman

[thanker92]

I've had it with all these "tin foil" hat jokes!!!!
What's wrong with you people????
It's ALUMINUM foil...it's hard to even find tin foil anymore.
Besides, Everyone knows tin doesn't block the correct grombolza rays.
Now, if someone sees a mountain lion wearing an aluminum foil hat, THAT would be something!!!

[markheck1]

I recently saw a trail cam picture from a local reliable source, it sure looked like a Mountain Lion

I guess....and I am in NO WAY advocating this.....the only way to prove it is to bring them a dead one....if they don't exist in PA, how could the charge you with killing one?

On second thought....they will just say you killed it somewhere else

[FFEMT128]

Did anyone see the 5:00 news on KDKA? They had a video that someone shot with a trail cam near McConnells Mill State Park. Sure looked like a Black Panther to me...

http://kdka.com/video/?id=49387@kdka.dayport.com

[Feddog82]

Did anyone see the 5:00 news on KDKA? They had a video that someone shot with a trail cam near McConnells Mill State Park. Sure looked like a Black Panther to me...

http://kdka.com/video/?id=49387@kdka.dayport.com

Cool vid, looks kinda like my cat though. Not enough to compare it to in size. They could have been small trees lying on the ground.