I got a call from a rancher friend a couple of days ago, seems he has had 2 colts killed by a mountain lion.
He asked me if i would come down and trap it, i told him i had got out of the traping buisness and sold everything.
I have never traped anything as big as a mountain lion, i did scout around the kill sight and tracked him for awhile, got tired of carring my bull barrel rifle up and down the canyons.
Have any of you here delt with lions before, can you give me some info so i can put a stop to this Big Crat killing anymore stock, i think this one has a mate with him, to many tracks to be 1 all by himself, i have tried spot lighting the kill area at night but nothing, had to get a ok from parks and wildlife to spot light and to track the killer, all the government hunters i know have eather died or moved or retired, the rancher did let me use his 4 wheeler today so i could cover more ground, im trying to get in and out as quiet as possible, but im just not used to walking as much as i used to, must be my age creeping up on me, i have had some help from 1 game warden with the search, we travel together and glass as much as we can from up as high as we can get, if and when i get this big crat ill post some King Size Porch Panther Pictures, any help you can offer will be very much appreciated, keep up the good work, Bubba.

Anybody know where I can get some 12" sched 80 PVC pipe cheap?


Toolmaker

You either have to be very patient, very lucky, or get some dogs.Or.........
If you can tie up a colt and let it cry for momma all night you will likely get a shot.

It is most likely a female with a year old cub rather than a cat and his mate. Cougars out here are solitary and only get together to mate and then go on their way. Male cougars will kill cubs.

If the rancher has a head of stock that is ill or otherwise of low value you may want to stake that critter out as bait and watch from a convenient shooting point. I am assuming you will not let the bait get killed. You may also be successful calling the cats from areas near the kill site. They do return to feed on the kill for a few days. Keep your scent away from the kill. If your state allows the use of dogs it may be worth bringing in a pack that has hunted cats.

It appears that Bubba is related to KMM.

Dogs. Or the infamous Judas Goat, plus a lot of patience.

I recently read an article about a fellow that called a couple of cougars to their demise but I'd guess a fella would have to be very good at the art, and have a little luck too. Methinks that calling in a mountain lion/cougar is roughly equivalent to taking a Permit on the flats with a fly rod...or climbing K2.

Dan

Pres., TYHC

www.HighPlains.Picasso

Thanks for the replys, but i think its pretty well useless now, i went down there this morning to find him burning what was left of the 2 colts, he said all it did was draw in coyotes, he said that the coyotes had pretty well cleaned them up.
I did scout around some but i have blisters on my feet from all the walking, the last time i had blisters was boot camp, he was useing his honda 4 wheeler so i couldnt borrow it, he also hinted around that i should spend more time there looking, im doing this for free so i think i should do it when i have time.
I look at the hunting manual and the only thing you cant use dogs on are deer, but i dont know anyone who has dogs fit for this, i was wondering are there any government hunters around anymore, or were they fased out, also what color are there eyes at night, never spotlighted for them at night, so im not sure, i have got some info with a search on the net but doesnt tell me what i really want to know, thanks for your info ill keep you posted.

Good luck Bubba. Tool maker,,,I have some 8"sch 80 lying around,,No 12" though,,Clay

Green eyes, little cast of yellow to it I think. Least that covers crats. IIRC.

Dan

Pres., TYHC

www.EyesAintWhat.TheyUstaBe

Will a mountain lion(soon to be renamed Felinus Airbornus) fit in 8 inch Sched 80?


Toolmaker

Well the score is Cowboys 1 Crats 0
We used the honda 4 wheelers this morning to make lots of noise to see if we could maybe push the lion out into the open for a shot, it worked, we started in a canyon about 1200 yards wide, with 7, 4 wheelers zig zaging throught it made the crat make a run for it.

I had been scouting this area for the last couple of days so i knew he was staying in this canyon, close to water and cover, i got off 2 shots but trying to hit a running cat with a rifle with a scope is not easy, a tall lanky cowboy with a winchester model 94 in 32 win.spl made the hit, he shot its front leg sending him to the ground, then put another through its lungs before it could get away, now im not good at judgeing weight of crats but i would take a swag at it weighing 120-130 pounds, with a tail as long as his body, the game warden has it now, they want to check for rabies now that we have a alert for rabies in this county, it was a male, so im thinking that there might be another one around, this makes 3 that have been killed in this canyon in the last 10 years, been a very exciting day, so i think im going to seddle down with a cold one and prop my feet up for awhile, thanks for all the info you offered, good hunting, Bubba.

Well now you have an excuse to shoot the neighbors cat..

"But I thought it was a Mountain Lion!"


Toolmaker

Toolmaker/Claybuster, one or both of you likely invented the "Cat Shotgun" right in this thread with your talk of 8" or 12" pipe. Shoot 2 large/4 medium/ 6 small at one time. Puts Bennelly to shame. You guys have another first in the business.

Bubba, good work on the Big Crat! Your buddy with the Mod. 94 just gave you a free lesson on shooting moving targets with a centerfire. There's nothing wrong with a good bolt gun with glass but for drive hunting or even close cover still hunting you're better off with no glass, or very low powered glass, and a light handy rifle. I'll put my money on a levergun in familiar hands any day or night when it comes to snap shots.

Dan

Pres., TYHC

www.ManWith.OneGun

Bubba, BTW, mountain lions in Texas are classified as a non-game animal, huntable at any time by any legal method. This should include running with dogs. Deer are the only animal called out in the 2004/05 TP&W digest as being illegal to run with dogs...call your nearest local office to be sure, but as I read the rules you can do anything short of poison or explosives to bag one, day or night as long as you have permission to be on the property hunting in the first place. Next time, RELEASE THE HOUNDS MAN!

Im sorry i didnt tell you all more but i worn out, my day started at 4:30am.

When the rancher burned what was left of the 2 colts we had to get another game plan, while the rancher, game warden and a trapper friend were talking about what to do, i had a brain storm, they have deer drives, why not a mountain lion drive.

I asked the rancher if he could get some help together, people who could shoot good and some more 4 wheelers, he said no problem, then we started working on how to go about it.

The game warden took 5 people to the north rim, i took 7 , that left 7 on the 4 wheelers, we met at the ranch at 5:00am, then drank coffee and talked about safety, with that many people with guns its easy to get someone killed.

We got the 4 wheelers down into the west end of the canyon, then got evereyone else at there stations, then with a call on a cell phone the 4 wheelers took off, the lion was first sighted on the north side of the canyon, someone shot and missed, the game warden called and told me he is headed your way, that was a understatement, when i saw the lion he was hauling ass so to speak.

I brought my Ruger mini 30 with a 30 round clip, didnt want to try to shoot a bolt gun, i took a shot shooting over the lion, that made him run straight for us, the next shot was high also, i couldnt stay on him trying to look through the scope, i was sighting down the side of the scope, this just made to lion run that much faster towards us, i was trying to pick him back up in the scope when the tall lanky cowboy fired, i heard someone holler you got him, i droped my rifle to look just in time to see the cat rolling from the shot, when the cat stoped rolling he shot again and hit him in the lungs, it was jumping all over the place, i was still trying to stay on him to get another shot, in a couple of seconds he stoped jumping, but his tail was still moveing, we just stood there watching him ready to shoot.

When the tail stoped moveing we started down to where he was, pretty spooky walking up on a big mountain lion, even the cow dogs wouldnt get close, we poked him with our rifles pronounced him dead picked him up and headed back to the ranch house, thats when we found out he was heaver that he lookes, finnaly put him on the back of a 4 wheeler and told them to head for the house, i called the game warden and told him we got him and to meet up at the house.

When we got back to the ranch house someone broke out a case of beer and somehow we ended up with a bottle of Jim Bean, lots of tall talk but the lanky cowboy was beaming ear to ear, seams a couple of the ranchers that showed up to help have daughters who think the lanky cowboy is real cool, bet he wont have trouble getting a date for awhile.

Im hopeing the warden had pictures because i flat forgot to bring my camera, think it had to be shiped to Austin to test it for rabies, so i dont know if it will be returned to be mounted or what.

The rancher grilled hamburgers for everyone and we drank more beer and just talk about cows, guns, horses, pretty women and just had a great day, for those of you that have never been around ranch people you just dont know what your missing, very humble, kind give you the shirt off there back kinda people.

I would like to thank everyone here who put in your 2 cents worth, i really appreciate it, i was running blind on this one, never hunted mountain lion before, i hope i dont have to again, he lost 2 good colts that would have made him big bucks at the sale barn, but if i do ill remember to drive them like deer, well boys im tired again, time for me to rest my bones again, thanks again your the greatist group of guys on the net, Bubba.