Trapping and hunting are utilized as wildlife management and recreational uses around the world and those opportunities are expanding as wildlife officials rely on science and common sense more and radical anti-everything agendas.  It is important to celebrate these successes and recognize our achievements as sportsmen and women.

On Wednesday, Feb. 17, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Commission voted 5 to 4 in favor of moving forward with a proposal to establish a bobcat hunting and trapping season. Sportsmen in New Hampshire have been unable to hunt or trap bobcat since 1989, when biologists closed the season after observing a decline in the population.

Today, New Hampshire has a healthy bobcat population of at least 1,400 breeding individuals that is growing by 10 percent annually. These figures are comparable to data found in every state and province that borders New Hampshire – all of which have bobcat seasons as part of their long-term management plans.

According to the proposal, up to 50 bobcat permits could be issued through a lottery process – a very conservative harvest quota given that New Hampshire’s current bobcat population is growing by 150 animals per year. The new season, which would open in December of 2016, would parallel the state’s fisher season, with December trapping and January hunting.

“We’re pleased that the Commission was able to see past the extreme rhetoric of the anti-hunting community and make their decision based on sound science and data, a staple of wildlife management in this country,” said Evan Heusinkveld, Sportsmen’s Alliance interim President and CEO. “Sportsmen and wildlife management professionals have a long history of working together to ensure the survival and growth of a given species – we’re certain they’ll do the same for New Hampshire’s bobcat population.”

Under the regulations approved by the commission, hunters and trappers would be required to turn in harvested bobcats to the Department of Fish and Game to enable the agency to collect data to help set future hunting and trapping seasons. Sportsmen will be permitted to keep the pelts from the bobcats they take.

Before permits can be issued, a committee of state legislators called the Joint Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules must also approve the new season.

Original article published by the Sportsmen’s Alliance at : http://www.sportsmensalliance.org/news/bobcat-season-approved-in-new-hampshire/

To learn more about New Hampshire’s proposed bobcat season, please visit the New Hampshire Department of Fish and Game website.

About the Sportsmen’s Alliance:The Sportsmen’s Alliance is a 501 (c) 4 organization that protects and defends America’s wildlife conservation programs and the pursuits – hunting, fishing and trapping – that generate the money to pay for them. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation is a 501 (c) 3 organization that supports the same mission through public education, legal defense and research.  Its mission is accomplished through several distinct programs coordinated to provide the most complete defense capability possible. Stay connected to Sportsmen’s Alliance: Online, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.