Guys,

I just returned from a great hunt in central MT. Please send me a PM if you would be willing to post some pictures for me.

Here's the story:

My wife, Janet ended 2004 with a call from me asking if I could go on one more short notice hunt. She’s very understanding so in addition to a last minute trip to Alaska in September, 2004 ended with a last minute mountain lion hunt.

I ended 2004 with a white knuckle drive through a blizzard to Cascade, MT after work on December 31st. I met the guides in the bar and celebrated the New Year with women wearing super medium underwear and false teeth. Small towns in Montana are great!

Saturday morning started crisp and clear. The temperature was -12 but luckily the wind wasn’t blowing. My guide assured me a large tomcat was in the area and we were about to follow yesterday’s tracks until they freshened and then turn the dogs loose for a quick chase. Wow! Drinking beer and watching football by noon sounds like a great plan. The great trek began with a crisp walk straight up a mountain for some fresh air and then 4 hours of sidehill adventures through a foot of snow, buck brush, thorns and pine trees. I learned much about the life of a mature tomcat following his tracks for a day. They stop to pee about every 500 yards and generally stick to thick cover. The exodus ended at the neighbor’s property line. His mountains were strictly verboten. Just as well because my gas tank was on empty. Lion guides can walk like billy goats.

We got a change in the weather Sunday morning……It was -22. Yup. Twenty two degrees BELOW zero. At least the wind wasn’t blowing! This is the temperature where your hand sticks to the metal on the rifle. It was really, really cold. The truck won't start. The water bottle on my hip froze solid WHILE I was wearing the pack. It was not the type of day to spend frolicking in the woods. Moving around kept some of the cold at bay but you can feel it in your lungs with each breath. Not a good day to chase a cat over hill and dale. You know what that means. Yup. One of the guides found the tom’s track up on top of a ridge.

This is the part of the story which is hard to convey. The hills are very steep and there was just enough snow to make the footing treacherous. Every tree you touch dumps a load of powder down your neck and the goal is to keep up with 2 hounds, 4 guys and a cat. Cat hunting is extreme hiking with a rifle. I sprinted to the top of the ridge and then waited for all the young guys. NOT!

The houndsman let the dogs go and everybody heard the starter pistol but me. The darn cat was running straight down the mountain followed by 2 dogs and 2 guys. I caught up an hour later when they stopped to examine the rock ledge the cat had lost the dogs on. After that it was 2 more hours of straight up, straight across and straight over the mountain. No kidding. This is the hardest thing I have every done.

The normal plan is for the cat to see the dogs, get scared and then jump in a nice safe tree. He stays there till “hunter fat ass†arrives and then gets shot out of the tree. This cat wasn’t afraid of dogs and refused to tree. He simply kept moving away from us and kept the dogs off his back with rocks, trees and cliffs.

The cat only jumped into a tree after the houndsman got ahead and ordered him to freeze at 10 yards. He was afraid this adventure would mimic the rodeo 2 years ago when they lost the dogs for 6 days and had to hire an airplane. Remember, the dogs won't give up and there is no guarantee the men can keep up. Something has to give.

The shooting part was just lots of swearing, yelling, jumping and sliding. I guess it's bad news to have a wounded cat fall in the middle of the dogs. One shot from the 30 year old .243 Winchester ended the chase. The guides spent the next hour and a half dragging the cat back to a road. I was too exhausted to do anything except drag my butt down the mountain. Luckily the sweat on my entire body froze and hypothermia started to give me good dreams!

The game warden estimated the cat to be 8-10 years old and we weighed it at 142 pounds. I can’t say enough great things about Rich, Jim, Jay and Peter. Each of them help a middle aged, out of shape, soon to be retired cat hunter bag a trophy of a lifetime.



2004 was a very good year and 2005 is looking great.


Ski+3

Canuck----Thank you for helping with the photos. Beer in Moose's is on me if you visit.

Great hunt! And stick to the part about the false teeth.
Gene

And all the "anti's" think that hunting lions with hounds isn't sporting...anyone who has chased a cat on their terms knows differently!!

Sounds like a great hunt...congrats.

MG

Very well done!!!! I'm planning an '06 Mt. Lion hunt myself. I'd love to see your photos.

Check out Skibum+3's pictures.....here

Nice cat! Makes me want to call my taxidermist and ask how much he charges to take me out with his dogs!

Frans

Very cool!!!!!! I want one!!

Lovely kitty and a great story.

Great Story Thanks for taking time to tell us

Ski, great story. I could feel the exertion.

Skibum+3 or other montanans. Skibum you said you guys were running hounds on that cat.

I dont have the montana regulations here , but I was wondering whats the "law" on hound hunting in montana.

I hunted with a buddy's (a oldtimer houndsman) cur dogs that runs his on bear and cats and coons here in Idaho. He was telling me he got busted by fish and game in montana for running dogs on bear. This was a few years ago.

I was under the impression that montana didnt allow hounds hunting of bear and couger

Can you run hounds on cats and bears in
montana?

Sounds like you had a great hunt, Nice couger ! !

GSP7,

Yes. Hunting cats with dogs is very legal in Montana. Coons and bobcats are also OK. Bears are a no-no.