Lately I've taken a real intrest in lions, reading everything I can find on them and watching all video I have access to. Please if you would post any stories, pictures, pics of mounts, or any info about lion hunting you feel like sharing. Pretty open thread, thanks ahead for throwing wood on the the fire for me.

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And yes i know it is EXPENSIVE...

Lion hunting is mostly providing food for the ones you can't shoot, freshening up baits, and getting use to the stink of rotten meat in the back of the truck. Find lions on the bait is a thrill though. I remember checking a large tree that looked like one of our live oaks down here. We had the front end of my son's buffalo hung there.

We counted over 10 lions come out of the tree! They just kept coming. Before it was over, we could see over 14 lions in the brush looking at us, and there were several young ones that were being hidden. Because of them, the whole pride, which had some beautiful males in it, was a "no shoot."

They are awesome when it comes time. I am glad I went when I did because I doubt I could afford it now with the new trophy fees, concession fees and daily rates. It is great sport in Tanzania or Zim-any place they are in the wild-, but I think shooting lions raised for that purpose is an abomination. Kudude

All it takes is money.

A few years ago, they could hardly give away lion hunts, but now, of course, it is all the rage, and, ouch, they are expensive. Must be due to that bad US economy!

If and when the moment of truth comes, it's great, but before that it's a lot of shooting for the pot (bait) and miles and kilometers, and more miles and kilometers of mostly boredom.

But it is a hell of a lot better than your job, no doubt.

As me old friend, the famed shenachee, Michaeleen Flynn, yoosta say:

"Oy could tell ya blood-coordalin' stories . . . but me t'roat, me t'roat . . .

It'so droy, no, dontcha know. Could ya be sparin' me a bit o' da wiskee, no, me lad?

Ah, but den Oi'd tell ya boot da big rogue lion a Narawandu, Oi wood, and fast would yer blood coordle, no. Yais, it wood. It wood.

Fastern yer sister loys aboot 'er virtchew."

Page 17 of "hunting reports-Africa " has a report of my Zambezi lion hunt where we spent most of the time tracking Two Lions half way across Chewore North.

OZhunter ~ Fantastic lion. I read your hunt report, you had a really good hunt in Chewore, congratulations.

little while ago we were hunting lions in zambia along the luwanga river. we had hung quarters of hippo here and there. One of the baits got hit and we made a tree blind with a mattress etc. to spend the night. there was a mating paid of lions on the bait, but nothing that was really shootable. the male was a scared up old boy, but didn't need anykind of a haircut. These two lions stayed on the bait mating for the better part of 3 days. you could set you watch by them. every 20 minutes she would come over and nudge the old boy and he'd oblige here. Roaring for about 15-20 seconds he'd do his thing, then fall off and try to go back to sleep. The hyenas were on the bait also, and when the guy would come up to the bait, he had this low pitched growl that would chase the hyenas away. However after she came out of season and left, he became a totally different cat. Before they would just move a couple hundred yards away from the bait and lay around all the time. After she left, instead of coming around in daylight, he would come back in about 10PM and leave about 2am. we would never hear him come in until we heard he killing a hyena. Finally he moved up river. Then on another bait we had a rather cheeky female in a pride of 19 lions. All cubs and females. This gal would chase us every time we'd drive by in her range. My wife however will not let me forget when we found a young male with a young female and 3 cubs. We got pretty close to them and she was in the back of the cruiser taking pictures. The male crouched down watching us closely. Then all of a sudden the tail went up and started twirling around. We figured it would be a mock charge, but sort of forgot to tell her about it. When he came she hit the bottom of the truck so fast that she missed taking his picture. Seems that she didn't appreciate us forgetting to tell her that he had done it to us before. Took a couple or 3 years latter to find a big old hairy one, but thats another story

Hunting in the Central Africa Rep 2005

On Tuesday we searched for a limping rogue buff, which is charging cars and people and followed a herd of buffalo up to a dense forest and gave up. No way to distinguish a buff at 3 yards in this vegetal nightmare, not to speak of shooting at it. As we came back to the car Jean, our beanpole of a driver, scared out of his skin, announced that 2 lions had passed by the car. No way to make him spit out whether the lions passed 15 seconds or 15 minutes ago. At once we packed our team into the scrub on the embankment and Herve and I sat on the berm at the side of the trail. Herve unpacked his giant funnel to call the lions and taught me the basics. There are two kinds of approaching lions ; the shy awkward type which come stealthily skirting around, creeping and hiding behind every clod, and the big King rocketing right up to the caller to kill his roaring rival. The sissy deserves an arrow; the mean stuff must be stopped with a rifle preferably. Herve told me that in Tanzania a couple of months ago the last lion he called was killed at 5 yards. After the first call the shivering gun bearer squealed that lions were coming, running through the plains. After the second call he muttered ‘Boss, they come fast, they are angryâ€. Herve asked me to put my bow down. When a running tawny shape appeared at 40 yards I stuck my reticule on his chest and Herve ordered me to shoot. “No, too many branches in the shooting laneâ€. “Shoot nowâ€. At 35 yards I let my 300gr Swift A frame fly to the lion’s shoulder. The lion roared and ran by us on three legs, receiving a .458 Lott 500 gr Woodleigh soft from Herve’s Heym double before he disappeared into a patch of long grass. I removed my scope and my sling...15 minutes later Herve and I proceeded inch by inch into the long grass. And now, was the king dead? What about the lioness? Shooting a lioness means prison for both of us and a whopping fine. The lion was dead within 25 yards. We proceeded awkwardly onward until we were sure the lioness was gone.
Jesus, what a lion! 10 feet 2 inches of lion ; an old slender scarred warrior with a shockingly huge head and a good orange and black mane from the chin to the elbows. Just as I had aimed, the bullet broke the shoulder and smashed through both lungs, the heart and the liver and was bulging just under the offside skin. Herve’s snapshot Woodleigh pierced the abdomen just behind the diaphragm.




THE LION DID HIS BEST TO HIDE HIS ORANGE BLACK MANE

Upon arrival in the camp, the crew surrounded us, sang “Barama yacoue†(the lion is dead), danced waving branches and carried me shoulder high in triumph. It was the first lion taken since the closing of lion hunting in the CAR four years ago.





This PH’s family are tough people, the baby is 8 days old

Our mentor Michel Vaillier, the famous taxidermist of kings and presidents known as the “dean†throughout Africa, put the spurs to the skinners, had them remove the tenderloins (lion’s white meat tastes like veal) and had them work all night long. He wants this lion for his booth at the next hunting fair; he hadn’t seen such a large old (8-10 years) lion in ten years. Later another riot occurred when my cousin brought in a wonderful eland, big black mane and 40’’ monstrously thick horns.

Michel, the outfitter was beaming. With such great success on the second day, he called Bangui via satellite to inform the country the first lion had been shot. Then he visited the 3 surrounding villages and distributed the traditional bonus of $200 (at my expense). He explained to the village chiefs that the 15 foot lion was killed with a bow. He added that two cars were required to bring back the beast, the first pulling and the second following in reverse gear, the lion lying in the back of the two cars. Michel is a brilliant liar.