This was my first Lion hunt and it was quite an expierence. I was hunting the Vermejo Ranch w/ Bruce Davis out of Raton this past week. Things started slow. We spent the first couple days driving and looking for sign. The ground was frozen and little snow so we could not find anything fresh to put the dogs on. While driving around and shooting the breeze one of the guides showed me a picture on his phone of a cat on an Elk kill that was posted on the NMGFD website a few days earlier. We thought wow would be nice to find a kill like that. See trail cam pic.
On the fourth day of the hunt as we were heading out of the ranch to head back to town that afternoon we noticed a Elk tine sticking up above the grass on the edge of the woods about 200 yards away. We got out of the truck and checked it and low and behold it was a dead Bull. After looking it over we suddenly realized this was the Bull posted on the NMGFD website. Unbelievable we could not believe it ! Evidently one of the ranch hands had put trail cams on this kill and sent a pic over to Game & Fish office. We had no idea this kill was on this ranch. What a stroke of luck.
We made a plan to come back next morning and hopefully the Tom was still around but we worried the kill may be to old and the boy had left.
Next morning we get to the kill and the carcass had been fed on because it was turned 180 degrees from previous day.
Well we turned the dogs loose and they were on his track instantly. The chase lasted for about 45 minutes as the cat was so full he treed quickly.
When we got to the tree it was crazy with all the dogs barking and running around. One of the dogs was halway up the tree and I was thinking how the hell was the dog going to get out. After tying up all the dogs except the one in the tree I readied to release an arrow when all of sudden the dog fell from the tree and fell against a small tree and a branch that was sticking out skewered the dog. The stick went from under just behind her front leg and out the top of the shoulder. I thought sure the dog was a goner. I made a good shot on the cat and took some hero shots. We then rushed the dog to the vet and to our amazement the stick missed the vitals and the dog lives to hunt again.
The NMGFD said the Tom was 8-10 years old. He had quite a few scars and worn and broken teeth. He was not a huge cat about 160# but quite the warrior. What a hunt !
On the fourth day of the hunt as we were heading out of the ranch to head back to town that afternoon we noticed a Elk tine sticking up above the grass on the edge of the woods about 200 yards away. We got out of the truck and checked it and low and behold it was a dead Bull. After looking it over we suddenly realized this was the Bull posted on the NMGFD website. Unbelievable we could not believe it ! Evidently one of the ranch hands had put trail cams on this kill and sent a pic over to Game & Fish office. We had no idea this kill was on this ranch. What a stroke of luck.
We made a plan to come back next morning and hopefully the Tom was still around but we worried the kill may be to old and the boy had left.
Next morning we get to the kill and the carcass had been fed on because it was turned 180 degrees from previous day.
Well we turned the dogs loose and they were on his track instantly. The chase lasted for about 45 minutes as the cat was so full he treed quickly.
When we got to the tree it was crazy with all the dogs barking and running around. One of the dogs was halway up the tree and I was thinking how the hell was the dog going to get out. After tying up all the dogs except the one in the tree I readied to release an arrow when all of sudden the dog fell from the tree and fell against a small tree and a branch that was sticking out skewered the dog. The stick went from under just behind her front leg and out the top of the shoulder. I thought sure the dog was a goner. I made a good shot on the cat and took some hero shots. We then rushed the dog to the vet and to our amazement the stick missed the vitals and the dog lives to hunt again.
The NMGFD said the Tom was 8-10 years old. He had quite a few scars and worn and broken teeth. He was not a huge cat about 160# but quite the warrior. What a hunt !
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