Mountain lion season strong in Region One

With surrounding regions closed to mountain lion season, region one is still going strong filling the permits as the season progresses.

Region one, which is the home base for Sanders County, is based on a permit drawing system for mountain lions, unlike other units that have a certain quota that is filled. Because of this, there is no quota limit per se. The tags that were drawn through the permit system are the only ones available for kills.

According to Region One Game Warden, Tom Chianelli, the season is going well. There are still plenty of tags that have yet to be filled but Chianelli stressed that hunters are getting plenty of mountain lions.

In previous years, the tags that were raffled out had not been filled fully and that may be the case again for this season, which goes until April 15.

“It’s a matter of choice for the hunter, it’s more of a hunting effort,” Chianelli explained, stating that there is plenty of mountain lions in the area but many hunters are picky when they harvest the animal, aiming for a “nice, mature cat.”

“It’s not that they can’t get filled because the population is bountiful but (some hunters) don’t spend the time hunting or don’t know someone with hounds,” said Chianelli.

Multiple hunting districts in regions 3, 4, and 5 were closed to mountain lion season Monday, Jan. 14.

Chianelli said hunters from those regions are allowed to join in on the chase in region one, however, they are unable to harvest any animals unless they drew a tag at the beginning of the season.