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Author
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Topic: Called in a lion this morning...
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DAA
Utah/Promoted WESTERN REGIONAL Hunt Director
Member # 11
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posted December 08, 2006 08:55 PM
Me and Tim got out for some coyote calling today. Decided to try a new spot, before any big snow storms hit and possibly make it so we can't get around out in the desert anymore this winter.
First stand, 3 minutes into Utah Jack wailing on the new FX5, we had a coyote come blazing in for the caller. He flared, I hit the preset on the remote for coyote barks, he put on the brakes and turned around to look.... I... uh... well... I missed him... Rats! Ruined a nice streak there with that miss. I'd killed the last 12 coyotes in a row I shot at before that. Oh well - it happens!
Next stand, about a mile up the jeep trail (and a JEEP trail it was - my Dodge would have got both sides dented negotiating it), playing Utah Jack on the FX5 again. Tim is on the rifle this time, I'm on the camera. We were calling the edge where the higher, juniper/pinion covered hills met the sage brush. About 10 minutes in, I thought I caught movement in the edge of the junipers up the slope from us about 150 yards away. Then a big hawk lit on top of a tree right where I thought I'd seen the movement and just sat there. A couple minutes went by, and I hadn't seen anything move again. The brush between where we were sitting and that tree line was pretty thick and tall, and I was sitting there thinking that maybe we had a bobcat sneaking through the brush towards us. Tim was sitting out in front and down hill about 20 feet from me, and had a better view up slope to our hard left than I did, because I had a tree blocking part of my view in that direction. Well, just as I'm thinking to myself maybe we have a bobcat sneaking in, Tim pivoted hard left with his rifle and shooting sticks and put his head down on the scope. He doesn't make a move like that on stand unless he's on an animal. So I knew he could see something up there on the slope that I couldn't - because of that tree blocking that part of my view. Then he took his head off the scope and looked at me and mouthed "BOBCAT". Actually, that's what I THOUGHT he mouthed. Talking to him later, what he actually mouthed was "BIG CAT". Well, neither one of us remembered to put in for bobcat tags this year, so I figured there would be no shooting, so I may as well scoot down closer to Tim with the camera and try to get some footage. I scooted down there, and looked up where Tim had the rifle pointed, and there 90 yards away, sitting on his haunches, glowing in the morning sun like a beacon, was a mountain lion! I got the camera pointed in his direction and started recording. But, I guess me moving down there was too much commotion. He started to exit stage left before I even started to zoom. Ended up getting just a couple seconds of him, as I was zooming and he was leaving the camera's field of view. Really poor quality footage, not even worth posting. But, still, that was COOL! First lion I've ever seen on a calling stand. Tim could have shot him, real easy. But, no tag. Heck, we don't even know if there is even a lion hunt open right now in that area.
Kept calling new ground for the rest of the day. Didn't call in another critter. Did see three coyotes from the Jeep just before dark, but we didn't even try to get a shot at them. Some days, if they ain't called in, they ain't in any danger from us. Today was one of those days.
Wish I could have got some good footage of that lion though!
- DAA
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"Oh yeah, they're gonna talk to you, and talk to you, and talk to you about individual freedom, but they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em." -- George Hanson, Easy Rider, 1969.
Rocky Mountain Varmint Hunter
Posts: 2676 | From: Salt Lake City, UT | Registered: Jan 2003
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UTcaller
NEVADA NIGHT FIGHTER
Member # 8
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posted December 08, 2006 09:38 PM
Very cool Dave,I have never called a lion but last year my brother did.He was calling bobcats,and said he was just about to get up from a stand and he glanced to his right and the lion was just standing there watching him then looking at the enticer decoy back and forth about 20 yards away for a couple minutes.Then just turned and melted into the cedars.Good Hunting Chad
Posts: 1612 | From: Utah | Registered: Jan 2003
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted December 09, 2006 07:46 AM
One thing will change forever, Dave. When you setup in piņon pines, the possibility will always cross your mind. My first lion was in southern Utah. It will always be lion country, for me.
Good hunting. LB
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 31450 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Andy L
HI, I'M THE NEW MODERATOR OF THE CENTRAL MISSOURI FORUM, PULL MY FINGER!
Member # 642
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posted December 09, 2006 08:11 AM
Very Kewl Dave!!
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Andy
Posts: 2645 | From: Central Missouri | Registered: Apr 2005
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted December 09, 2006 08:51 AM
Hey Andy. Have you looked at the cat fight over on the dark side? Moondog, the Admin. and Dusty. Why don't they just say: NO GIRLS ALLOWED IN THE CLUBHOUSE! Otherwise, you have to watch your mfn language and be careful which way you are facing when you take a leak. Like at home. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 31450 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Tim Behle
Administrator MacNeal Sector
Member # 209
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posted December 09, 2006 01:07 PM
Man, some guys just get all of the luck!
One of these days it's going to be my turn!
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Personally, I carry a gun because I'm too young to die and too old to take
an ass kickin'.
Posts: 3160 | From: Five Miles East of Vic, AZ | Registered: Jun 2003
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Lonny
PANTS ON THE GROUND
Member # 19
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posted December 09, 2006 03:13 PM
Sounds like quite the memorable day.
You and Tim need to have those cat tags in your wallets next year.
When is the next video due out?
Posts: 1209 | From: Lewiston, Idaho USA | Registered: Jan 2003
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sporterweight
Knows what it's all about
Member # 189
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posted December 10, 2006 07:41 PM
That must be a hell of a sight to see a lion propped up looking for the bunny !
I suspect Tims 243 would put him on the ground.
I've set a goal to get a ML and wolf before i kick the bucket. -Mike
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You got space invaders ?-No
You got pac-man ?-No
You got asteroids ?-No -but dad does -can hardly sit on the toilet somedays.
Posts: 91 | From: Meridian ,Idaho | Registered: Apr 2003
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DAA
Utah/Promoted WESTERN REGIONAL Hunt Director
Member # 11
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posted December 11, 2006 05:34 AM
Lonny, we should have a couple of new ones out by late spring/early summer.
Sporterweight, Tim was using my .20-250, but I've no doubt it would have dropped that lion too. Tim actually has not used his .243 for a little over a year now. He's been using my .17 Predator almost exclusively instead. Ever since the first time he tried it, he really hasn't wanted to use anything else. Including my "new" .20-250! Actually, Tim's had rotten luck with the big .20, doesn't care for the rifle at all. Only using it now to humor me.
- DAA
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"Oh yeah, they're gonna talk to you, and talk to you, and talk to you about individual freedom, but they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em." -- George Hanson, Easy Rider, 1969.
Rocky Mountain Varmint Hunter
Posts: 2676 | From: Salt Lake City, UT | Registered: Jan 2003
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Locohead
World Famous Smoke Dancer
Member # 15
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posted December 11, 2006 10:59 AM
Super cool Dave, Way super cool!!!
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I love my critters and chick!!!! :)
Posts: 2219 | From: CO | Registered: Jan 2003
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tooslow
Knows what it's all about
Member # 1063
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posted January 03, 2007 04:29 PM
Tag or no tag I would have taken the shot without hesitation.
I've only seen two all the years I've been hunting with no possibiility of a shot.
Pure excitement there, good for you.
Posts: 28 | From: Hesperia, Ca. | Registered: Dec 2006
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The Outdoor Tripp
Knows what it's all about
Member # 619
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posted January 04, 2007 03:34 PM
Really.
I'm happy to say I wouldn't, but then again that's just me.
I've wanted a wolf for over 35 years.
A few years ago while hunting on Kupreanov Island in SE Alaska I saw two different mammoth blond wolves. One crossing a mud flat at 200 yrds, the other working the shore about 30 ft. away (both upwind).
I was in a remote area, 40 miles from the nearest town, 15 from the nearest light bulb.
The wolves presented themselves 2 and 3 days out of season. (May 2 and 3, season ended last day of April.)
I could have nailed both these bad boys and passed them off as in-season kills with no one the wiser.
Still happy to this day I didn't.
But that's just me.
[ January 04, 2007, 03:43 PM: Message edited by: The Outdoor Tripp ]
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The Outdoor Tripp
www.theoutdoortripp.com
"All great truths begin as blasphemies."
Posts: 805 | From: Texas | Registered: Mar 2005
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted January 04, 2007 04:05 PM
Yeah, I hear ya, but you may be interested to know that AZ Game and Fish personel have advised people, (maybe not officially) to go ahead and shoot it, if you have the chance, and then get the tag. Probably not a single one would admit it, but I am not talking about a single instance, either. They are concerned about winding up with a California situation. I think Oregon and Washington have similiar concerns, and are attempting to liberalize the regs.
As far as wolves, well, you know they have just as many enemies as friends, maybe more? These large predators are big issues, and the emotion behind the protections is generally not justified, from a management standpoint....certainly not in Alaska.
Personal opinion, and I have no problem with somebody who speaks their mind. Better the lion than a child, and that's totally the opposite attitude of the bunny huggers. Friggin' shameful, if you ask me. We have more lions than any other state, and they are totally protected, and they kill and eat people. Bunny huggers are okay with that situation and that disgusts me. All we need is to instill the fear of man in lions, not wipe them out. That won't happen, even if we wanted to, but a kill of ten or fifteen percent per year might bring the population back under control.
Good hunting. LB
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 31450 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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tooslow
Knows what it's all about
Member # 1063
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posted January 04, 2007 06:08 PM
A Lion moratorium when first enacted eons ago was supposed to be a temporary act untill some study's could define their maintanance. Seems to me a study was never conducted. I am still waiting for them to lift the moratorium, love those bearocrats.
If lion tags were available I am sure it would make the houndsmen happy as well as farmers, and deer hunters.
I have hunted years, not lion specific but still out in deer country, I have only seen two lions. Point being other than reading about them the average citizen will never see a lyon and become a lyon lover.
Posts: 28 | From: Hesperia, Ca. | Registered: Dec 2006
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Krustyklimber
prefers the bunny hugger pronunciation: ky o tee
Member # 72
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posted January 04, 2007 06:56 PM
My brother once admitted (on this site) to shooting at a lion, a few days out of season.
It didn't go well.
Krusty 
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Think about how stupid the average person is, then realize that half of them are stupider than that!
Posts: 1912 | From: Deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia | Registered: Jan 2003
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Cdog911
"There are some ideas so absurd only an intellectual could believe them."--George Orwell.
Member # 7
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posted January 06, 2007 06:56 PM
I can honestly say that if I saw one tomorrow while hunting, I would have a hard time NOT shooting at it. Not because I have to have a lion hide, but as a matter of public safety. If it were going the other way, I'd easily pass. If it were responding to my call, bam!
I'll be hunting an area tomorrow where the owner says he's seen one in the past month. His words, not mine, "Shoot it and give me a call. I'll bring a goat for you to cram in its mouth."
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I am only one. But still, I am one. I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something; and, because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.
Posts: 5438 | From: The gun-lovin', gun-friendly wild, wild west | Registered: Jan 2003
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Tim Behle
Administrator MacNeal Sector
Member # 209
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posted January 06, 2007 09:29 PM
I've had a AZ Game Warden tell me flat out, that if I called in a lion to take the shot, and then go buy the tag if I didn't have one with me.
I normally tell the guys who I hunt with who are from out of State, NOT to buy a lion tag. I carry the $10 Resident tag, but it is too much of a gamble for a non resident to pay $200 with hopes to call a lion ( While coyote hunting ) on the 5 day hunting license that they normally get when coming to visit.
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Personally, I carry a gun because I'm too young to die and too old to take
an ass kickin'.
Posts: 3160 | From: Five Miles East of Vic, AZ | Registered: Jun 2003
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Andy L
HI, I'M THE NEW MODERATOR OF THE CENTRAL MISSOURI FORUM, PULL MY FINGER!
Member # 642
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posted January 07, 2007 07:05 AM
Tim, I was told the same thing and that has always been my plan. If I get lucky enough to call one down there, shoot and go to town to get the tag. I was told that was ok.
I dont know if thats a written law or not?
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Andy
Posts: 2645 | From: Central Missouri | Registered: Apr 2005
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DAA
Utah/Promoted WESTERN REGIONAL Hunt Director
Member # 11
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posted January 07, 2007 05:22 PM
"I can honestly say that if I saw one tomorrow while hunting, I would have a hard time NOT shooting at it. Not because I have to have a lion hide, but as a matter of public safety. If it were going the other way, I'd easily pass. If it were responding to my call, bam!"
You have GOT to be shitting me?
Never mind that this is coming from the same guy who made a huge deal out of saying he'd make me walk home and then turn my ass in if I broke any game law in his presence, no matter how minor or how much sense it made. Just ignore that.
But are you honestly claiming "public safety" as the reason for shooting a lion? In KANSAS?
Uhhhh... "Whatever". How many people have been bit by lions in Kansas??? Yeah, "public safety".
That's funny!
- DAA
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"Oh yeah, they're gonna talk to you, and talk to you, and talk to you about individual freedom, but they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em." -- George Hanson, Easy Rider, 1969.
Rocky Mountain Varmint Hunter
Posts: 2676 | From: Salt Lake City, UT | Registered: Jan 2003
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted January 07, 2007 07:09 PM
note to self: Man, don't mess with Dave!
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 31450 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Kelly Jackson
SECOND PLACE/GARTH BROOKS LOOK-A-LIKE CONTEST
Member # 977
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posted January 07, 2007 08:01 PM
oooooh busted....
Posts: 997 | From: Comanche OK | Registered: Oct 2006
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DAA
Utah/Promoted WESTERN REGIONAL Hunt Director
Member # 11
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posted February 19, 2007 01:50 PM
Bump...
- DAA
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"Oh yeah, they're gonna talk to you, and talk to you, and talk to you about individual freedom, but they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em." -- George Hanson, Easy Rider, 1969.
Rocky Mountain Varmint Hunter
Posts: 2676 | From: Salt Lake City, UT | Registered: Jan 2003
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slydog
Knows what it's all about
Member # 389
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posted February 27, 2007 02:03 PM
Dave,
I respect Tim's trigger finger control, very cool and I admire those who do it right. There have been times when I had the thoughts go through my mind, just never made it to my finger.
Very cool story and I to want to get one on film.
sly
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Smote the Yote with a slydog custom call
Posts: 179 | From: SW Idaho | Registered: Aug 2004
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Q-Wagoner
FREE TRIAL MEMBERSHIP
Member # 33
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posted March 01, 2007 08:20 PM
I may be wrong but I don’t think they are protected in Kansas? I don’t think they have them protected in Iowa either. They are protected here in NE but like Iowa it would be like hitting some kind of lottery just to see one. Game warden shot one an hour west of me a few months ago and figured it as a public safety issue so the paper says. If I had shot the cat under the same situation I would have been hung by the media and fined by the same warden. Hell they would have probably taken my birthday away also. LOL
I want a Lion as bad as anyone but the risks are not worth the reward to me. My time will come.
Good hunting.
Q,
Posts: 617 | From: Nebraska | Registered: Jan 2003
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TA17Rem
Hello, I'm the legendary Tim Anderson, Field Marshall, Southern Minneesota Sector
Member # 794
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posted March 01, 2007 08:48 PM
Me! I would settle for a nice 35-40 pound bobcat.
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What if I told you, the left wing and right wing both belong to same bird!
Posts: 5063 | From: S.D. | Registered: Jan 2006
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