Gastro Gnome - Eat Better Wherever

Lion & deer kill (not for the squeamish)

Joined
Dec 22, 2000
Messages
198
Location
Pecos, NM, USA
View


Here is a photo of a tom I took a few years back. I do not usually kill lions (hunters that I am guiding take the cats) but in this case, there were some extenuating circumstances.

My paying hunter and I began the day hunting an area where the ranch owner complained that a lion had recently killed a colt. We rode horseback for a few hours without finding any sign of the colt or a lion. About 2:00 PM, as we got close to the south boundary of the ranch, three of the hounds (Dee, Brownie, June) struck a cold track and began trailing leaving a young hound with us. The track was snowed in which made it impossible to tell how big the cat was or how old the track was. By the time we found a way to get the horses through the fence, the hounds were no longer within hearing. We rode for several hours trying to locate the dogs, riding to the rim of many of the small canyons in the area to see if we could hear them, but no luck. Also, the dogs had gotten out of range of the old locator collars that I had at that time. By this point I had pretty much decided that we would need to go back to the spot that we had last seen the dog tracks, follow them out, and locate them that way. Enroute back to the spot, the young hound that had stayed with us struck a fresh bobcat track and it took about an hour to get him called off the track and back with us. By this time it was getting close to dark and my tired hunter wanted to get back to his hotel room. We got back to the truck, loaded the horses and the young hound and drove the 10 miles back into town. I dropped the hunter off and agreed to let him get some much needed rest the next day as I thought the dogs would be too worn out to hunt again anyway.

I went home, took care of the horses, unhooked the horse trailer and headed back up the mountain to try again to find the dogs. I do everything I possibly can to keep from leaving the dogs out overnight when they are on the trail of game. I feel that if they have the drive and ambition to be out there hunting or treeing, I need to do my part by being out there with them. I looked for them until 2:00 am when I finally gave up for the night.

The next day my wife and two sons accompanied me back up the mountain to again try to locate the dogs. We checked all the roads that we could access for tracks, but for hours found no sign of them. Finally, in early afternoon, I found some dog tracks that had been made the prior afternoon. We followed the road south for several miles until my locator began to pick up a faint signal. To my amazement the dogs were all at one location and the one treeing switch was signaling that they were treed! We drove south for another mile or so until the signal pegged. After a short hike up the hill toward the dog's baying, I found myself under a big pinon tree with a big old tom glaring down at me. The dogs seemed to give me the old "Where the hell have you been?" look. By the way the ground was torn up under the tree and the way the base of the tree had been marked by the dogs, it was apparent that they had been at the tree since the prior afternoon. I was so proud of my dogs! Any dog that could tree a cat and remain at the tree for almost 24 hours are worth their weight in gold.

This was a special day because it was the first time my two sons had had the opportunity to see a real live lion. I brought them up to the tree and took a few pictures while they watched in awe. Again, I do not usually kill the cats I tree, but in this case, I could not let the dogs down after they had worked so hard to keep this guy in the tree. I posted my sons in a safe area, tied the dogs back and shot the cat in the chest with my .44 mag pistol. He slumped backward and fell out of the tree dead. After letting the dogs wool him around for a few minutes, we got the tired dogs back to the truck and gave them some much deserved food and water. There were ravenous!

I went back to the tree and back tracked the dogs to see how this had all come about. Fifty yards from the tree I found where the lion had killed a nice mule deer buck and saw where the dogs had trailed the lion to the kill and had actually jumped the lion off the kill. The cat did not run far before taking refuge in the tree as he had eaten most of the deer and could not run too far on a full belly.

I wondered how I would explain all this to my paying hunter when I returned that evening, but hoped he would understand. He did, and went on to kill a nice cat a day later.

View


This is my older son standing under the lion that Dee, Brownie and June had kept treed for almost 24 hours. The cat's skull measured 14 15/16 narrowly missing B&C but qualifying it for SCI. The cat weighed 170 pounds.

------------------
http://members.aol.com/bearckadv

[email protected]
cat08.gif


[This message has been edited by Bear Creek Adventures (edited 01-07-2001).]
 
Bear Creek,Thats a great story,I hope you were proud of your dog's.To train them and get to see them work and do what they love what a rush. I sure hope one day Steve and I can do something like that.Ill be keepimg your number handy for when we win that lottery LOL.At first i didnt see the cat way up in that tree, what a cool picture with your son standing there.You know and I think my dogs are doing good when they bring me in the newspaper and rollover.

------------------
Debbie
 
Another great story BCA! I really like the picture w/ your son and the cat up the tree.
I think O'l blue is trying to figure out if there is anything left to eat.
 
BCA
Those are some of the best dogs I have heard about in a long time. If I owned those great dogs you bet to believe they would get a nice big healthy treat when I got them home after all that work and staying at it all through the night.

Congrats to you and your dogs on a job well done. Great picture of your son with the cat treed.


------------------
Happy Hunting
Lady Hunter in AZ
jessica1.gif
 
BCat Ive got to get up there and hunt with ya sometime I would love to hear those dogs running that big cat. Ive always loved to hear dogs running, thats music.
 
Bear Creek Ill take you up on that offer. What dates do you have available?
 
ADVGUY,

First of all, welcome to Moosie's talk forum! Glad to have you here! Have you hunted lion before? If so, post some pics and tell us some stories. In answer to your question, give me a call. I've got a couple of hunters booked for this year, but always have room for one more. My phone number is on my web site, just click on the link below.

Thanks

------------------
http://members.aol.com/bearckadv

[email protected]

cat08.gif
 
Thats better Bear CREEK!!!! Love the fake poster deal too!!hehehe First post and he wants to come hunting with ya hands down!!!!! Smells fishy to me!!!!! Nice fake phone call today too!!!! You got some fatties in your family!!!!hehehe This is good BCA!!!!! Should put it in a movie!!!! Yer really making progress here and building a reputaion!!!!! Dont ya think people can see thru this crap!!!! bcat

------------------
If you aint the lead dog the scenery never changes
bcatrunningcat.gif
Logoboy.jpg
 
I am failing to see the crap you keep talking about bcat. BCA seems like a good person and defintly knows a thing or two about huntin cats. I don't see what gives you the right to edit his messages for him.
If you edit his are you going to edit everyones. Is this the 'bcat' hound hunting forum or just the hound hunting forum? If you are going to edit everything you disagree with then I would suggest you change your name to 'forum nazi'. Just my opinion and we all know what opinions are like.TF
 
Tanglefoot, I appreciate the support. Coming from another moderator it means even more!

Bcat, I have no idea what you are talking about in regard to a "fake" poster or a "fake" phone call. Believe me, if I call you, you will know it is me. What I do know is that you should appologize to ADVGUY. Also, as I have stated before, if you want to air dirty laundry, you should do it in private. Ever hear the term, "It is better to keep quiet and have people think you dumb than to open your mouth and remove all doubt"? Just curious.

------------------
http://members.aol.com/bearckadv

[email protected]

cat08.gif


[This message has been edited by Bear Creek Adventures (edited 01-15-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Bear Creek Adventures (edited 01-15-2001).]
 
I edited one and deleted two identical posts. Its all out in the open now and BCA has purgered himself by posting as a fake poster. Chambo will be on soon enuff and has checked Ip numbers and they both match BCA AND ADV!!! So ya see things arent always as they seem with BCA!!!! You should have known better than that BCA!!! Give a guy enuff rope and if hes crooked he will hang himself as BCA DID!!!!! bcat

------------------
If you aint the lead dog the scenery never changes
bcatrunningcat.gif
Logoboy.jpg
 
BEAR CREEK----You are sinking fast bud!!! Why dont ya own up to it and make it right!! Quit trying to bullshit people here, it will only make you not credable! SEE YA Pretty hard to email yourself BCA!

------------------
If you aint the lead dog the scenery never changes
bcatrunningcat.gif
Logoboy.jpg
 

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
110,812
Messages
1,935,340
Members
34,888
Latest member
Jack the bear
Back
Top