Not Enough Permits for Everyone Wanting to Hunt Bobcats

Am I the only one who didn't know you could hunt bobcats? Do people eat bobcats? I've never met anyone with a bobcat coat? Are there too many bobcats?

After reading at wifr.com that there are only 500 permits and 6,500 people signed up for one to hunt bobcats, I had to start finding answers to the questions above.

After doing a little online research I found several reasons for hunting bobcats. Population control and pure sport hunting are what I found most often. The bobcat pelt has some value if completely intact, and that would require trapping. Bobcats are not eaten, at least not by humans, some will feed bobcat meat to their dogs. The bobcat is a useful predator and it would probably shoot YOU if it had opposable thumbs.

According to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the bobcat population in the state has risen to 5,000. That now means the population is stable and Governor Rauner has signed a law making the bobcat legal to hunt. And not just hunt, it's legal to trap a bobcat and you can even pick one up off the side of the road if you want.

Bobcat hunting season runs from November 10th until January 31st.