This should come as no surprise , but I disagree wholeheartedly with datamax on this one!
I'm am so pi$$ed that some moron from my state had his head up his arse and decided that this feral cat issue would be a good "problem"(first time I've ever heard of this "problem") for hunters to solve . I'm even more embarrassed that the majority of hunters who voted , thought it was a good idea.[:@]
It would have been alot easier to just take out a full page add in USA Today saying "Anti hunters - Come to Wisconsin and Fight Us Ignorant Hicks"

IL Rancher

You are only a few counties west of me (Will co.) I'd like to know where you have seen quail. I have seen a great decline of quail to the point that I have to go as far south as Effingham to find good coveys. Sure there are some spots up here but not like it used to be. You will be hard pressed to find quail in the northern section of Illinois. The pheasant populations have also suffered greatly. While they are still widespread in the state, their numbers are not like they once were either.

There is many factors for this ie: decline of natural habitat, cultivated fields closer and closer to the fence lines, tree lines, creeks etc... this all takes away from the roosting areas these birds need as well as cover. But one factor that I can help control is the coyote population and yes the feral cat populations. Bowfanatic, you would be supprised as to the amount of damage feral cats do to the game bird populations.

So yep I shoot them....all year round as a matter of fact.

BOWFANATIC - how do you propse to kill all the varmits then thats doing harm to wildlife ? The problem is real, just like coyotes, its exists just like coyote problems and hunters take action on them, don't they ? 5 pages of guys, just like you and me, that'll shoot a coyote if for nothing else than to help curb the varmit populations that have boomed in the past few years because of the loss of trappers/trapping.

Popular or not, feral cats are an issue. Do some reading on Austrailia and what they've been battling. I use to trap and caught a few wild cats - they're just another form of varmit.

The tripleS technique! Shoot , Shovel , & Shut up!

For this to even be a "hunter issue" in this day and age is assinine! It's not bad enough we have anti hunting groups trying to take away our rights to hunt game animals , edible game animals , which is what keeps alot of non hunters on our side , now we want to make it legal to shoot any cat seen wandering in the woods??(<sorry for the long sentence but I'm pi$$ed) That will definately push the fence sitters off the damn fence!!
Oh , and "our" (<not mine) arguement is that the "feral cats" hunt , kill , and eat , game birds to survive , so we need to kill them so we have more game birds to kill??? Can you see the moronic irony in that? If I can , you can bet your arse that all the anti hunters , along with the non hunters can.
Anyone , I repeat , ANYONE who thinks the feral cat issue belongs on a hunting referendum anywhere , is either a complete idiot or oblivious to the challenges we already face against the anti hunting community!

Oh I get it, we need to shoot them, just lie about it huh ?

Brilliant strategy there

Why do we shoot coyotes then ? So we can bolster the deer population for us to hunt. Why have we eradicated wolves, mtn lions, bears etc ? We are the predators ........ theres no room for any others. The ecosystem is all out of whack thanks to humans. Thats reality, like it or not.

If you dont "get" the just of my last reply , you never will!

Sad! Truly sad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This coming from someone who took a stand and left this place for advertizing a "canned hunt" because it "gives hunters a bad name"
Did you actually read my post? Or are you just automatically tuned into a arguementive response to anything BOWFANATIC writes?
I dont get it.

Its tempting to do that, I admit !

But no, I see feral cats and feral dogs are varmits not unlike the way I see coyote, fox, skunks etc etc. SSS practices for grizzly and wolf have worked brilliantly haven't they ?

And in the end, PETA will hate you anyway even as politically correct as you're trying to be []

I understand your way of thinking but the problem I see with it is this.

It is estimated by some that feral cats take far more game birds (at least here in Illinois than hunters do) I will try to find the source but it's been a while since I read it. The artical went on to say that the number of feral cats (again I will use Illinois only) is on an alarming rise, infact faster than all other game bird preditors including coyotes. Their hunting skills are also far superior to coyotes as well. They get to the nests and destroy them.

The problem is people don't give them the credit they should. Most see them as cute little furry harmless animals that you can take home and make pets. The fact is they are vicious and relentless preditors and if not put in check will cause great harm to the game bird populations.

So for you to think hunters shouldn't get involved in this fight I need only ask: What if cats killed deer the way they do game birds?
I bet you would have a different opinion then.

We have wood piles and tree lines on fence lines BigJ. I see Quail everyday on my farm. Numbering from sometimes just 5 or 6 to seeign coveys in the dozens this winter. We have a 200 acre piece of ground that has only 120 acres farmed. The rest is scrub grassland (Actually sand prairie) that we don't do a thing too and it is surronded my oaktrees and black walnuts. The Quail are THICK in there for much of the year. Our farm is 2000 acres but we only ranch about 600 acres of it, the rest is rented out to a crop farmer. The 600 acres is broken down like this (40 acres of grassland with trees mixed around it with about 8 piles of downed trees that we pushed together to give wildlife good shelter, 60 acre Alfalfa field, drive around it in the mid summer and on 1 out of ever 6 or so fence posts there will be a quail. 165 acres of real nasty pasture that is barely grazed because much of happens to be the outlets for drain tiles. It's wet, but never underwater. Lots of rank grass and good cover for game animals. Lots of shrubs. 80 acres of dry pasture with 1 mile of tree line around it. Lots of quail hover around back there. 75 more acres this year are in OATS and BARLEY. Some of the best feed possible for game birds. The other 75 is being planted in another pasture with those same crops as nurse fields. Oh, There will be Pearl Millet planted behid the one 75 acres to be used as grazing. That crop will get mature and seed shater will be everywhere. Great for birds. The last 75 is an Alfalfa and Clover mixed with grass pasture. This one grows real tall and provides good shelter along the fence lines for nesting areas. The rest is homesites and Alleyways and a pens. One 7 acre pen that has animals on it only during 1 or 2 days in the spring (AI) and than is left to grow wild. By fall if i don't mow it (Usually don't) the weeds can be as hight as 7 feet tall. And yes, if you mow it you see Quail and Rabbits everywhere. Our average field size is probably 60 acres on this part of the farm and we have more than 12 miles of fenceline. It helps. ALOT.

We moved here in 2000 and our Quail and Pheasent populations were huge but had a very hard winter that year. The next year we had almost none until we started managing for the wildlife. Not to hunt the birds or rabbits but to allow some balance to come back. To be honest, I can give a flying fart about the Pheasant population, it is the Quail that I care about, sorry, they are the native animal not the ringneck. If Prairie Chickens were around here than i would do whatever i could for them. Yes, I keep hearing that Quail are down but refuse to blame the Yotes or Cats for it. 1) As I keep saying there is not a Feral Cat problem around here at all. 2) As soon as we increased habitat we saw an explosion in chicks every year and the fall numbers of Quail are truely good and would be even better if the neighbors didn't blow them to hell every fall.

the people who complain the most about lack of quail around here are the same people who spray round up on every weed, plow up every fence line and than burn the posts instead of leaving the old wood as a shelter and plow from road to road and mow or spray the roadside 6 times a year. It is stupid. They than go and plow up the fields in the fall which removes the stubble as any sort of shelter and the left behind corn gets buried. Either practice and promote policies that enhance habitat or stop complaining about the rabbit and Quail numbers being down. My favorite to this day was a guy saying he left some trees standing for cover on his fence line but the only birds that used them were the hawks to kill rabbits and stuff. I said really. He than pointed to the trees he had left. One tree, ever 400 yards or so...Oh, god.

Bye Bye yote.

I might keep the fur if it is a good one.