Guys,

I was hunting on a friend's ranch near Dilley, TX this weekend. There are lots of game animals along with bobcats, coyotes and other things.

On Saturday morning it was very foggy. Saw deer at the feeder 96 yards away but couldn't see the heads clearly enough to shoot anything. About 7:05 the deer moved slowly off and I looked closely to see why ... there was a very nice piggy just behind the feeder, so I zapped him with a 9,3x62 using 286 gr Nosler Partitions at an MV of 2425 fps. Hit the right place and he went DRT instantly.

Decided I'd let him lay and watch a while. Maybe 20 minutes later I saw the rear end of an animal moving away from the feeder at a gentle trot. Looked like the size of a medium golden retriever or so. Was black and had a long slender tail like a cat. Moved with the ease and grace of a cat too. Never say the head.

What the heck kind of large predator might be in south Texas that could have fit the description? Are they huntable?

Thanks!

(Btw: The piggy was a good one ... in the 180-225 pound size, but did not have a strong odor. Nice set of chompers too.)

Coyote or mountain lion. Lighting conidtions may have made it appear darker as there are no confirmed melanistic (dark) mountain lions to my knowledge.

Edit: I suppose there is always the chance of a jaguarundi as well, but I would think that is a slim chance.

Where are the pictures, Mike? I too am thinking mountain lion -- if it moves like a cat, it probably is a cat......

I hunted between Cotulla and Dilley in the early 90's and saw a couple of mountain lions, and I would guess that is what you saw.

As far as dark color, I was hog hunting with a friend at night a couple of years ago, and we saw a big cat that was very dark in color. We only got to look at it for a few seconds before it went thru a barb wire fence, and we went back the next day and found black hair in the fence.

quote:

Originally posted by Charles_Helm:
Coyote or mountain lion. Lighting conidtions may have made it appear darker as there are no confirmed melanistic (dark) mountain lions to my knowledge.

Edit: I suppose there is always the chance of a jaguarundi as well, but I would think that is a slim chance.

Charles, I've seen one ( i think she was letting me know i was too close) a gray/black a bit east of you, outside of evergreen, la. There are black catamounts not far from there, my wife has a total of 4, .. in THIS order, 2 dead and then 2 alive. Her Granddaddy shot the first two, and she saw then saw 2 more alive .. outside of minden/doyline.

The first one I ever saw, outside hattisburg, ms, was huge, wicked fast, and creaming her head off.. which sounded like a women being tortured... my best friend (Lamar) and I were stuck in the barn for about an hour. At 7, that is one of the scarist things you can imagine.

Anyway, I've only seen tans west of the red river

I'd suggest that it was a black color variation of a mountain lion, known in East Texas as a panther. There is no season on them in Texas so you could have shot it. They are pretty tough on deer and pretty tough to get a shot at as well without dogs. Most of the ones that I hear of being killed are in SW or far West Texas.

We have a breeding population of them locally on my ranch and in the whole NE Texas Red/Sulphur River bottoms area. Cats can have a huge range, so how far they would extend from this area is anyone's guess. Texas Parks and Wildlife personnel don't admit to their existence. They have been spotted numerous times both on and close to my ranch by reliable witnesses. Most, but not all of them are Black, they don't seem to get as big as most mountain lions, most are described as about the size of a labrador and all comment on the LOONG tail.

I've never seen one, drat the luck, I've seen their tracks though. However, I'm out just about everyday of the year on my place feeding cattle, looking around or hunting/fishing and I see about 2 bobcats a year on average. I would guess there are at least a 100, maybe a 1000, times more bobcats than there are these black cats so I can understand why I haven't seen one yet. They seem to be getting more common tho, sightings are more frequent. The last sighting I know of was on the hardtop road about 1/2 mile below my house by a retired (and sober) school teacher in a heavy fog early one morning about 3 months ago.

I would REALLY love to see one. I've given orders to all my hunters to NOT shoot one if they see one.

There have been more and more confirmed sightings of Jaguar in souther NM and AZ.

I don't see why there couldn't be a few roaming around South Texas. I'd sure like to see one.

quote:

Originally posted by KSTEPHENS:

quote:

Jaguar

catamount

Jeffe,

Webster's Dictionary defines "catamount" as "any of various wild cats such as a cougar or lynx. What do you mean as a catamount?

the critter is called panther, jaguar, lion, puma, and even (leopard) ... and catamount is the word that covers them all, in all colors
jeffe

Jeff,

The panther, lion and puma are all the same critter. Also known as the Mt Lion.

A Jaguar is a entirely different critter all together.

A catamount has always been used to describe a Mt Lion where I come from. Is the term catamount a colloquial meaning for any and all wild cats in your part of the world?

Check this out.

http://animals.about.com/b/2006/10/18/jaguars-roam-nort...a-and-new-mexico.htm

Was talking with a lady in a local engraving shop and her family has a ranch between Charlotte and Dilley--roughly the same area. Her son shot a mt lion this past fall, but didn't kill it. Her husband and brother-in-law also saw one at about 75' range at one of the ranch tanks. I have been told they have an extended range, so it is entirely likely it was a mountain lion.

Another friend hunted a ranch south of Pearsall on the Frio River. He was in a ground blind (pile of logs/brush) and had one walk down a trail 35 yds from the blind. He didn't take a pic because he didn't want to lay his rifle down to pick up the camera.

I am sure some Lions cross into So. Texas from Mexico and wonder down that way from the Big Bend country..You had to see either a Coyote, Mt. Lion or some ranchers big yellow dawg...

The Mt. Lion has many names geographically...ON the Texas border it is Painter, Panther, Puma, Leon (SP.)....

The last Jaguar was shot in the Big Bend Country South of Marathon, Texas in 1935 as I recall, the last Mt. Grizzley out of Mexico was shot in about the same area in 1949 as I recall. The bear was shot by Uless and Elba Adams on the Adams ranch at Stillwell Crossing.

Discussions with the rancher indicate that there is some significant carnivore in the area ... a neighbor has lost 32 sheep in the last year even though he keeps very large Pyrenees dogs to protect them.

So ... I suspect I did see a cat. I am positive it was black. (Light was fine by that time of the morning.)

I hunted a ranch south of Freer, TX back in the early 80s. I was sitting in a stand one afternoon and had a cougar come out of a bladed area to my right and behind me, walk up to a fence and jump it like a cat jumping up on the hood of a car. It landed in the road on "our" side of the fence, looked both ways, and padded into the brush. It might as well have been a bull elephant, for all I was concerned. I couldn't believe what I had seen.

There are black "panthers" in the area where Texas, ARK, and OK come together. Here in Wichita county as well as Clay, Archer and other surrounding counties they are tan (roughly the color of African lion). A couple years back I was on a job between Jolly and Henrietta (just inside Clay County) when a large female came up the trail. She was no more than 10 yards from me. All I had in my tool belt besides tools was a little 9-shot .22 revolver for rattle snakes.
I figured I was out-gunned so I just stood there with it poionted at her 'til she turned and disappered in a flash. I can't remember for sure, but I may have changed underwear. The home-owner (a rancher) chewed my butt for not shooting her as he explained he had had 3 calved killed the past couple months.

If a rancher had 32 sheep killed and still doesn't know what killed them, he needs to get a job in a shoe store!

The rancher is one of those rich dentists who doesn't live on the place most of the time. So ... he fits your description and has found that other job but did a little better than selling shoes.

Were it my place, I'd have darned sure figured it out and removed the pest ... probably with a starlight scoped AR15 or .308 bolt rifle. But I'm just a pain that way.