First Hand Mountain Lion encounters

[Jaspro]

I know Middleton filmed one on a hunt one time but who else has had first encounters with one? Has anyone ever come across a confirmed kill that a big cat had made and if so what position and condition was it found in?

I'll give the story and some pics tonight but I am not completely 100% sure of what did the damage.

[Hog_Hunter]

I have killed 3 of them just outside of Utopia. I do alot of predator hunting out there in the winter. Where I hunt they seem to like killing sheep and goats. Most of the lion kills we find are bitten in the back of the neck. They also seem to eat part of thier kill and then bury it under grass and sticks and then will come back to feed on it if they are not disturbed.

[ReelTime]

We have a large lion on our place just west of junction. He drug a sheep about 8 feet up into an oak tree. we've seen him three times this year. The local gamewarden said this same cat was sighted last year on a nieghboring ranch. I guess he likes ours better this year.

[Bill]

We have cougars "out the yin-yang" in my area California and the kills I find (does and fawns) are minus their organs, and hidden under leaves and tree branches supposidly to "tenderize" the muscle meat before the cougar returns to consume the remainder of the kill.

I was in an orchard one night with nightvision waiting for pigs, and heard a duck getting killed about 30 yards away in a heavily brushed area. A little later there were a pair of eyes in the treeline watching us, very close to the ground. I initially thought it was a racoon since they were so low. About 10 minutes later the eyes raised up, and as the animal turned I could make out the long, sweeping tail. The cougar must have had his belly on the ground the whole time, in a "pounce" type of stance.

I was going to post seperately, but on this topic my neighbor pretty non-chalantly mentioned (we were talking at the mail boxes) on Friday that 2 friends of hers in the neighborhood have seen cougars: the first a cougar cub, and the second the cub and the mother cat in the water district right of way land 150 YARDS away from our houses. She has a dog and 2 young kids, did not seem to concern her in the least bit. The yo-yo's passed a referendum in 1990 putting cougars into a protected animal status, shooting one is similar to third-degree manslaughter in court I understand.

We're getting some rain this week, I'll go out and look for prints this Saturday and bring my camera and some plaster of paris to make an imprint of the tracks, if any.

[trailboss]

Without a doubt, I’ll always remember my first mountain lion sighting in the wild. It happened several years back when a group of friends and I were on our annual Spring Break javelina hunt in south Texas. We had been taking this trip for several years during Spring Break so that our kids could come along and enjoy this great ranch near Encinal, TX – the Cerrito Prieto Ranch.

My hunting buddy and I and his son were hunting together on this particular day when we noticed a large group of javelina feeding towards us on the corn we had scattered on the sendero.

We ducked into the brush and tried to work our way through the thicket to get a little closer to the pack. When we got within about 50 yards, we all picked a clear shooting lane and agreed to wait until they reached the last man, then we’d all shoot at once. I was the last man in line and when the lead pig stepped into my shooting lane, I nodded to the others and we let the arrows fly! Everybody stuck one.

Little did I realize that the javelina I shot was a sow with two little ones tagging along. The sow I shot ran off into the brush and died within seconds. The piglets were scurrying about looking for mama while the other two hunters took up the blood trail from their hits.

One of the baby javelina ran right past my feet and I reached down and nabbed him. That’s when the squealing began – and brother was it intense!!! What I didn’t know at the time was that my partners son, Jacob, had the other baby hemmed up in a prickly pear cactus and was trying his best to grab him too. And it was a mean little sucker too. Every time Jacob would try to grab him, the little booger would lunge at him and try to take his hand off!

I had a piece of strong cord in my fanny pack and was trying to fashion a leash for my new little friend while still holding him and trying to keep my fingers out of little mouth full of Ginsu Knife teeth! I was working feverishly on the leash when I saw something out of the corner of my eye and turned to see a full grown mountain lion coming straight at me on a dead run! He heard dinner!

I was stunned to say the least but the cat saw me about the same time and turned off into the brush. I guess the javelina saw the cat too because he instantly shut up with the squealing and looked right at me as if to say “Oh Mister, please don’t put me down now!”

I grabbed my walkie-talkie and called Johnny and told him the mountain lion was headed straight for him. He came back on the radio and said “mountain lion”? Jacob overheard him and looked up and said “mountain lion”? That was all the break his little javelina needed. He jumped out and grabbed Jacob right on the end of the finger and bit down with a vengeance! Jacob squirted blood like you had cut his jugular vein!

I’d love the chance to take a mountain lion with my bow, but I’m sure that’s a long shot. But maybe I just need to catch some more “live bait” and try again!

Trailboss

[BIG D]

A freind of mine got a pick of one on his game cam this year in Lavaca county. I have never really heard of anyone seeing one in the area and have lived there all my life.

[Eric4x4]

Have only caught a glimpse of one several years ago. Seems to me like more and more people are seeing them now though. Are they on the rise or people just reporting them more.

[Dajcentex]

Jethro and I saw one at the Shoot out last year. I was sitting there half a sleep when one darted accross the sendaro. Me and Jethro both jumped up and yelled "DID YOU SEE THAT!!!!" it was a black one. jethro had been sitting at that same spot alongside the road just 30 min before. we stayed in pairs after that.

[bowhuntertex]

Ran across 2 while hunting outside of Laredo in '86. Wasn't allowed to shoot across the fence so I let them walk. They were no more than 20 yards from me as they walked down the road on the other side of the fence. Something I will never forget. they were probably about half grown.

[park5115]

I have had two happenings concerning mountain lions. The first was on a day lease between Mason and Llano part of the Settemeyer ranch if any of you know of them. We had seen a lot of tracks but one morning an ex-marine saw the Mountain lion following a large semi-ferral house cat about 300 yards from the camp. The ex-marine went into the brush after it with a large knife but never saw it again. The second time I saw one while hunting hogs in Colorado county one night. We spotlighted it down in a large pasture on the river bottom, the guy I was with is a pretty good shot and we shot at it with a .243 from about 200yards. We never found any blood or sign of the cat after the shot, the nearest brush was 300+ yards away and we never saw what happend after the shot. That night still has me a little spooked because it seemed it just dissapeared.

[Flint knapper]

I've had several experiences seeing fresh Mt. lion tracks in the Young County area, but have only had one up close and personal!

A few years ago, a college buddy and myself were out varmit hunting at night and I called up what I thought was a large bobcat! My friend then missed the cat twice with my rifle at about 30 yards. Before the cat turned to leave, I looked through the scope of a second rifle and saw the long sweeping tail as the animal turned to go behind some brush!

I can't be sure of the color, but he appeared to be dark or black in color, but there is no mistaking that it was a Mt. lion.

I've talked to several lion hunters in the SW Texas area and from what they told me: the Javelina is one of the primary food sources for Mt. Lions.
If this is the case, I would think that the increasing number of ferral pigs could have something to do with the increasing number of lion sightings acrosss the state of Texas.

[Landrover]

Jason, show us what you got! I have not run across one since I have lived here but have heard plenty of stories. Trailboss, that story is freakin me out!

[RMD]

In 1997 while driving down a logging road near my old deerlease in between corrigan and groveton, my mom, dad, and I saw a mountain lion about 75 yards in front of our truck cross the road slowly. We had always heard stories of loggers claiming they had seen "panthers," but we paid little attention to them until then. We were really surprised to see a cougar that far east.
Then around 2000 two other guys on my lease found in the middle of the road, dirt in a line with cat prints where it looked like a deer struggled and a little bit of blood. They said it could have been a really big bob cat taking down a yearling, but it is possible that that was where a lion killed something.

[buck_wild]

Big D, my dad and relatives near Sweet Home in Lavaca Co SWEAR they saw one over a period of 2 yrs around 2000-2002. I SAW what MIGHT have been tracks out there.
We definitely had one in Mexico in 1995 with tracks the size of my fist. Deer all but disappeared that year. Never did see it

[jrad]

to you guys that have cats in your area-BEWARE!!!!i grew up in california and man is on their menu again there! i'm always lookin' over my shoulder here in texas even though there has not been a confirmed sighting in my area!!! it just goes to show that we haven't always been at the top of the food chain!