Chasing big cats.

[Mule Packer]

Sorry I don't have pictures, but last Friday a USFS guy and I took our mules and his six Treeing Walker hounds and headed up the canyon in search of mountain lions.

This gentleman not only does commercial lion hunting trips, but also helps the Department of Natural Resources locate lions and collar them for future observation. This particular outing, however, was just to keep his dogs in shape.

Anyway, long story short, the dogs started barking treed, so we rode the mules as far as we could, plowing through snow and over jagged, rocky areas. Tied the mules up, and went hiking through some pretty rough country to get to the dogs. All six hounds were going crazy under a big fir tree.

Looking closely, we could see a big lion perched up high. Not too far away was another lion in a tree, not as big as the first but still pretty good sized. The first was a big female and the second was an almost fully grown kitten.

We noticed that the female wasn't wearing a tracking collar. Unfortunately, my friend hadn't brought his cell phone to call the DNR, so these two didn't get collared.

The dogs were called off the tree and we made the long, strenuous hike back to the mules.

When I got home, I was pretty much exhausted, but...WOW!!..a great day!

Again, sorry I don't have pictures. Will try to do better next time.

 

[usmc2427765]

Seeing one of those critters in the wild is on my bucket list!

 

[LoboGunLeather]

Most of my 7 decades in Colorado, many hunting and fishing trips, camping in the high country. I have seen lions several times, but usually only fleeting glimpses as they headed for cover.

I remember one elk season, hiking up a long canyon all morning, then back down in the afternoon. Found lion tracks following our morning tracks for about two miles! Makes a guy stop and think.

Once on a summer day a nephew and I sat and watched a large female, a good-sized juvenile, and two youngsters playing in a meadow in mid-afternoon. After 20 minutes or more the breeze must have changed a bit, Mama lion stared straight at our location, then made a sound like a muffled bark, and all 4 took off to the nearest trees.

Years ago I attended a fairly large gathering of friends and family in a state park. I took several rolls of photographs, including one with everybody gathered along a small stream with a rocky bluff rising behind. Only after developing and printing the photos did I notice a really big lion laying down a little above and about 50 feet behind the group.

One early spring morning I was driving near the Southern Ute Reservation in southwest Colorado, found several cars pulled off the road and stopped to see what the trouble might be. One of the drivers had hit a lion with his car and the cat was laying a few yards off the road. Obvious spinal fracture with neither rear leg functioning, abdomen torn open, alternatively growling and crying as it struggled to move. I took care of the necessary business, called the state game & fish guys on the radio and reported the incident. Not a happy day. I felt like an executioner with an audience.

No more thrilling experience than seeing a mountain lion in the wild! Truly beautiful creatures.

 

[6518John]

Our game and fish openly mocked reports of mountain lions in Arkansas. Then a deer hunter brought one in he had shot and laid it on the game wardens desk! A soccer mom hit one accidentally in her mini-van, game camera pictures started showing up, etc. and it became increasingly hard to deny they are here.

Interestingly, our population appears to have come from the Black Hills population of Wyoming and South Dakota. Those are some traveling kitties! And they move about the state with ease too.

AGFC confirms mountain lion sighting near Mammoth Spring - News

One of my friends is an accomplished western hunter and he has seen tracks and heard one about 2 miles from where I am typing this. I try to keep game cameras out all the time but it is difficult with all the rain and flooding we have had—we have 100 year floods now about yearly.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

I remember one elk season, hiking up a long canyon all morning, then back down in the afternoon. Found lion tracks following our morning tracks for about two miles! Makes a guy stop and think.

That sends shivers down my spine, just reading it!

Ivan

 

[Texas Star]

My son has seen two cougars on his land in southern Texas.
He doesn't wander around unarmed.

 

[vonn]

I would rate your day as a bucket list day.

 

[Ole Joe Clark]

Walker hounds are beautiful dogs, and love to run.

Have a blessed day,

Leon

 

[H Richard]

They are roaming in Missouri also, several sightings in NE MO, not far from the Mississippi river. Now a few have been sighted in Illinois.

 

[Imissedagain]

Beware of Walkers

They can be aggressive if not fed promptly. lol
Lemon & White
They can dance as well.

 

[Imissedagain]

"My hounds ain't stupid", said the Houndsman.
Why not say they're just smart was my reply.

He explained... two hundred acres fenced in and a smaller area where the pups live with some foxes fenced in as well.
People bring they're hounds here to train.
Their hounds will hit the electric fence, once, twice and keep hitting it.
My hounds only hit it once and never again because ....
they ain't stupid!!!

Georgia hounds and our Florida Walker pup.
Kids are settled in Golden Co. and next step is some acreage up in the mountains. Lotsa hounds for sure.