The hunters' credo appears to be that humans are still very much a part of the food chain, existing both to hunt, and to be hunted . One lengthy article in North American Hunter details the slaughter of two elk hunters in British Columbia by a hungry grizzly. For hunters who spend days in the wilderness, predators are a physical threat. And they compete for edible game. In the 197 melee, cougars are accused of preying on innocent joggers and peaceful bird watchers.
Hunters are confused.
After all, hunters take out all kinds of noncarnivorous animals. Game wardens, like hunters, use hounds to track and tree cougars. In fact, the tracking and shooting of problem cats proceeds at a steady pace. Ecologist Rick Hopkins, who has studied the hundred-odd pumas in the Diablo Range for 12 years, says that in states which allow cougar hunting, lion attacks on humans are sometimes higher. California doesn't have the worst problem.