Mountain lion

songdog · #1 (**permalink**) 01-02-2002, 07:37 PM

I've been out many times before and seen tracks that seem to fit a mountain lion. ######Without seeing the lion standing in them it always leaves a little bit of doubt in my mind.

Yesterday I was out calling for some coyotes just after the rain and came across the clearest set of lion tracks that I've ever seen. ######The ground was sandy and had been completely smoothed out by the rain the evening before. ######The gait of the tracks was much too big for anything other than a lion. ######There were no claw marks and the tracks were pressed pretty deep in the sand.

Gives you the willies when you know it's only been a couple of hours max since he was there and you're sitting down to call. ######Add to that the fact that I found a dead lion out there in the same location a year or so ago...

Thonzberry · #2 (**permalink**) 01-02-2002, 09:18 PM

songdog, Have you thought of puting up a trail cam up to see what size or what it looks like. Good Luck:skeered:

Hook · #3 (**permalink**) 01-02-2002, 09:46 PM

Songdog, I'll be watching extra careful tomorrow. :skeered:

You got mail...

(Edited by Hook at 8:47 pm on Jan. 2, 2002)

Grey Taylor · #4 (**permalink**) 01-03-2002, 12:11 AM

Heck, a friend and I went squirrel hunting up by Kernville a few years ago. ######We walked up a closed to vehicles dirt road to the top area, hunted around for a bit and then walked back to our trucks.

On the way back we could see our ascending tracks in the dirt on the road. ######For most of the way our footprints were covered with big mt. lion paw prints. ######

We never saw the lion but I'll be doing my squirrel hunting with a .45 ACP on my belt from now on; that .22rf loaded with shorts just didn't look very big when we saw those tracks.

Thonzberry · #5 (**permalink**) 01-03-2002, 12:54 AM

I think I might start carrying a hand gun after hearing stories about these big kittys. You ever have the feeling, when your in the field that somthing is whatching you from some where, well you just might be:skeered:

Applbit · #6 (**permalink**) 01-26-2002, 07:51 PM

I have been seeing huge cat tracks around where i hunt for the last 4-5 years.no one would believe me. now i have proof that it does exist. The cam was aimed a little high so i only got the top of his back and his head but it is clearly a lion.
i just wish i had a scanner so share my cat pic!

(Edited by Applbit at 4:52 pm on Jan. 26, 2002)

coyote · #7 (**permalink**) 01-26-2002, 08:05 PM

congrats!!! ######Take the pic to a store or buddy and get 'er scanned someone here will help post it.
BTW cats are really on the up swing in Alberta too...still waiting for my first.....yoteee'

#8 (**permalink**) 01-26-2002, 08:15 PM

(Edited by knobby at 7:59 pm on Feb. 17, 2002)

#9 (**permalink**) 01-26-2002, 08:49 PM

OOOOOHHHHHHHH!!!!! ###### I gotta see that pic!!!! ######
Hurrry!!!!!

rick
http://www.hunting-pictures.com/members/th...sone/index.html

songdog · #10 (**permalink**) 02-13-2002, 12:36 PM

I've only seen one of these in the wild in 25+ years of hunting but it made a lasting impression. ######

Here's a pic of a huge ###### mountain lion that a friend of a friend got this year in MT. ######I really wish they let us hunt them again in CA.

Hook · #11 (**permalink**) 02-13-2002, 12:41 PM

Good looking kitty, I would like to hunt them out of state, but DFG wouldn't let me bring him back to Ca. anyway. ######:mad-fumin-red:

wildbirdhunter · #12 (**permalink**) 02-13-2002, 03:09 PM

Nice looking cat. Wish we could hunt them thing maybe the deer hunting would be better.

lintongb · #13 (**permalink**) 02-13-2002, 04:37 PM

That a big cat! ######I sure would like to see one in the wild. ######I saw some fresh tracks while hunting in Utah last year. ######They were just as wide as my hand.

bloodsports · #14 (**permalink**) 02-13-2002, 06:59 PM

Thats a big cat!! ######I have came aross two while hunting. ######One while hunting quail by Lake Hemit and the other while hunting chukar near the Kern River. ######Boy I wish we could hunt them....

Frank · #15 (**permalink**) 02-13-2002, 09:07 PM

Nice Cat... My dad & I actually called one in within just a few feet of us, while varmint hunting near the Klammath river close to the Oregon border. ######

As Songdog states, it definitely leaves a lasting impression, one that I will never forget.

trkyhntr · #16 (**permalink**) 02-14-2002, 05:30 AM

WOW !! ######That's a great picture. How much did that weigh.

MarinePMI · #17 (**permalink**) 02-14-2002, 07:40 AM

Used to have a buddy up north of N. Paso Robles that used to say..."Yep, can't hunt mountain lions no more...ahem...but for some reason they don't seem to be molesting the stock anymore ". ######SSS ######He used to say that the only people that really hunted them here never talked about it.

Thonzberry · #18 (**permalink**) 02-14-2002, 11:16 PM

"WOW" That is a one cool cat!!!

karstic · #19 (**permalink**) 02-15-2002, 10:06 AM

Thats a BFC!

I have a question, not to stir up contraversy, just clarification. One of my reasons for hunting is to enjoy the product of the hunt, ie meat. Another is to get out from behind my desk, away from the rat race get outdoors and recharge. Why do many of you hunt predators/varmints? You can't or won't eat em, you don't need the pelts for warmth/clothing/shelter. ######I understand the need for predator control for keeping game species abundant. Is that the main reason? Try to convince me why you hunt predators?

songdog · #20 (**permalink**) 02-15-2002, 11:17 AM

I can at least hide behind the reason that I have eaten them (ok, just one).

Seriously,

I skin everything I shoot with few exceptions. ######

It's really good practice for other types of hunting when you're heart is going a mile a minute and you're trying to steady the crosshairs on a moving target. ######

I can't scientifically prove it but I know that areas that I hunt have fewer predators than others and the deer and quail populations are certainly not hurt by the smaller number of coyotes.

And there's always the part that just enjoys getting out and doing it. ######Not that you're out there just to kill and go for numbers. ######It's like fishing - even catch and release still kills a few fish. ######Would I not do it if I realized that some of the fish were going to die anyway? ######No, I'd still do it.

karstic · #21 (**permalink**) 02-15-2002, 11:28 AM

SongDog,

What do you do after you've built up a large collection of pelts? Canyou sell/ trade/barter with them? I thought I read somewhere in the Mammal Reg book that you can't sell game/game products with a Sport Hunting License.

songdog · #22 (**permalink**) 02-15-2002, 11:43 AM

I'll sell/trade them at the end of the season. ######For some, like bobcat, you need a trapping license and pay a ~$3.00 fee per pelt that you want to sell. ######

I've said it before but... you're certainly not going to get rich or even make a living from this kind of stuff but it can normally pay for a new rifle at the end of a season or something like that. ######I always have friends that want a pelt or two. ######Someday, I'll save up enough bobcats to have a coat made for the Mrs. ######5-6 coytoes make a really nice (and seriously warm) blanket for the back of the couch. ######I'll tie flies with a lot of the hides that aren't the best quality. ######I've always wondered what coyote leather would be like. ######I've never done a hair off tanning before. ######Could be interesting. ######Make all kinds of fun stuff from the leather...

Frank · #23 (**permalink**) 02-15-2002, 01:32 PM

Karstic,

You bring up a good, honest and difficult question.

First, I would say yes you are correct as a "needed" basis for predator control and I know areas that when coyote numbers are up, the quail, rabbitts & house pets go down. No doubt about it!

But that is as a "need" basis, not sport. So, my 2nd reason is, it's because I enjoy it. period!

3rd is, if one can accept this or not, it is in fact the most natural process of nature, perfectly normal if you will. Predators kill game for "sport" and often times do not eat their prey. This has been proven repeatedly, including wolves in Alaska on sheep.

And finally, I question one of your reason for "eating" your game as a "reason" to hunt. You will do drastically better "buying" your steaks at the market, than you will "hunting" for them. ######Wether it is beef, bear, pork or venison steaks.

Hope this helps to convince you :)

Frank ###### ###### ###### ######

karstic · #24 (**permalink**) 02-15-2002, 04:24 PM

Frank,

If hunting were the only way I put meat on the table I would starve. I enjoy the fruits of my labor so to speak. Hunting allows me to mesh two of my hobbies, shooting/firearms and the outdoors.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against predator hunting, matter a fact I am hoping to get to the Wister hunt to get an introduction to coyote hunting. Whenever i'm bring predator hunting up in conversation people ask me I would want to do such a thing if I won't/can't utilize the product of the hunt, ie the kill.

Frank · #25 (**permalink**) 02-15-2002, 05:54 PM

Karstic,

No, honestly I understand and good points & questions you make that we should try and answer.

Another answer I give is, they are predators and predators are "destructive" (on almost everything).

I normaly do not get a response after that one.

Anyway, it's definitely a rush and folks that don't hunt just don't know what they're missing.

Good Hunting !

Frank

dazco · #26 (**permalink**) 02-15-2002, 06:06 PM

Maybe i'm only justifying it in my mind, but the fact is that if i shoot a crow, there will probably be hundreds of other small birds and /or animals that will be born and live a normal full life that otherwise wouldn't. Crows eat bird eggs and baby birds. So you could say that failing to pound a few crows would make me a murderer of many other small birds. *S*

Ok, a bit of tounge in cheek. But the truth is that in our industrialized world, animal and bird populations are not what nature intended. The balance is out of whack compared what it would be if man had not created the cities and by-products thereof. So in hunting crows for example, we may actually bring the balance back closer to what it should be. In a way you might say we hunters are righting a wrong done by society in general to the balance of nature. And we have the DFG to regulate what species, and how much of that species can be taken in order to keep the balance more in line with the way nature intended. And what nature intended is that no one species would gain population to an extent that would jeopardise another.

So we actually do serve a purpose. Call it my way of justifying murder if you want. But the fact is that it's the way of the world.........of nature.
It's the development of civilized society that has created the idea that it is wrong. Does anyone really think that in the animal world there is any thought given as to whether it is right or wrong? And a few million years ago we weren't much more developed than the animals. But now we have the intelligence to develop ideas such as this, and it's a complicated issue that is very subjective.

I personally think that it is both right and wrong. It's up to the individual to decide whether it is right or wrong, and i don't feel that one person should tell another whether it is right or wrong. It's like religon.........believe what is right for you, but don't try to convert others just because your belief is different.

That said, i will continue to hunt certain creatures that i feel right in hunting. Those i don't feel good about i will leave alone. And i don't need a reason, just a gut feeling.
Just my opinion.

-Dale

RIFLEMAN · #27 (**permalink**) 02-15-2002, 07:06 PM

Karstic,
###### ###### Frank brings up an excellent point...there is a need for it. ######The mistake that most people (hunters and non-hunters) make is their assumption that the main purpose of wildlife management is to provide recreation. ######I believe that if this was true, hunting would be under even great threat than it is today. ######While animals are a renewable resource that can be managed for our use, the overall purpose of hunting is to manage the interactions of people, wildlife and the habitat that supports the two. ######Politics aside, the underlying regulations put into effect do not have the best interests of the hunters in mind, but of the species those regulations protect. ######With this in mind, the harvest of a segment of the population is the purpose of predator hunting, not the provision of sport or the acquisition of hides or carcasses. ######
###### ###### The same argument can be made when evaluating how "sporting" the various methods of hunting are. ######For example, the question of ethics should never fall into a logical discussion on the merits or baiting or hound hunting. ######Regardless of whether or not one feels that they are sporting, so long as they help achieve the intended goals of the management of the species, they should be legal. ######I am not saying that ethics doesn't have a place in our sport. ######I am only saying that people should not view hunting in the jaded perspective that it is meant to provide us with recreation. ######Avoiding this misconception will help our credibility with the public and hopefully keep us from the bickering within the hunting community.

Rimrock · #28 (**permalink**) 02-15-2002, 10:04 PM

Aside from the enjoyment of the outdoors and matching wits with an animal, I will add another reason for preditor hunting. Most of the area I hunt is private cattle ranches. During calving season coyotes in particular congregate. One reason is to dine on the afterbirth because it is an easy meal. By the same token, a new born calf or a weak one is helpless and provides easy pickings. At daylight I have seen nothing but bones and hide where a live calf was the previous evening. I'v seen numerous calves with ears and tail chewed off. They were the lucky ones. For a rancher to lose a calf means that he has fed a cow a year for nothing. In addition, the loss of game birds and animals is enormous. No, I don't hunt for the joy of killing, but I feel no remorse in eliminating a coyote.

Play fair.

Terrierman · #29 (**permalink**) 02-16-2002, 05:45 AM

I also enjoy hunting predators, but with using dogs or dog rather. Its very gratifying to watch a small dog breed specifically for this purpose work.
Alot, of the times these predators come into neighborhoods killing pets, not these pets.

nobuckkev · #30 (**permalink**) 02-18-2002, 09:33 AM

I am an Arizona resident stationed here in San Diego with the NAvy. It is $25 for a big game hunting liscense and last year it was only $11 for a Mountain Lion tag in AZ. I can't figure out why the tree huggers do not want to kill lions here in California. I know the Fish and Game has to kill at least a few hundred a year to control the population. At least that is what I have heard before. Why not let us hunt them for them. There is actually a website for the California Mountain Lion Organization that is there to save the population. What a stupid club in my opinion. I am a bowhunter and state law says that you can not carry a firearm while bowhunting. I have seen many a track near my treestand but have yet to run into one in the woods, thank god. I am not sure what the outcome will be the day that I do run into one while sitting in my stand.