This is topic The Truth about mountain lions in forum Cat forum at The New Huntmastersbbs!.
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Posted by Nahuatl (Member # 708) on June 10, 2006, 07:09 AM:
I bought my own gear, got up and close and personal, pushed the button on the camera with my very own finger, pulled my own trigger, and even told the truth about it later. It just isn't that hard.
Posted by Nahuatl (Member # 708) on June 10, 2006, 07:15 AM:
Two cats in 10 days. This one was a bit smaller and weighed 185. The one above was 220.
I'm going to target ML's again this season and the gear is almost ready. We're going to start in earnest a little early this year, in August.
Posted by Rob (Member # 75) on June 10, 2006, 07:35 AM:
Nahuatl...how old do you think the lion is in your first photo?
Posted by Locohead (Member # 15) on June 10, 2006, 09:56 AM:
Awesome pictures man give us more!!!
CONGRATS!!!!
For real 220lbs.??? SPECTACULAR!!! What a huge head on that monster!!!
I could be wrong about this so I'll go try to look it up. But,...I'm pretty sure the record Mountain Lion in Colorado was 220 lbs. and killed by President Roosevelt. It was the largest taken until just a few years ago.
Posted by The Outdoor Tripp (Member # 619) on June 10, 2006, 01:23 PM:
I'm envious. Seriously.
Damned nice cat. We've got plenty of cats down my way, but nothing close to that size.
Awesome. Please give us more pics. Many more.
Drooling,
Tripp
Posted by LionHo (Member # 233) on June 10, 2006, 06:46 PM:
Nice cats, Gary.
Where'd you get 'em, whose hounds ran 'em up the tree for ya?
LionHo
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on June 10, 2006, 07:26 PM:
Yeah, and what part of BC was it? (just kidding)
Posted by Nahuatl (Member # 708) on June 10, 2006, 09:06 PM:
The big cat above was estimated by a biologist to be nine years old. Cats are Bishop, Minersville, and Dyer. The bear is Kern County, amazingly near my home here in southern California.
I thought these would liven up the off-season. I'm saving a few more good ones, including a monster jet-black CA bear from last season. My intention was to distract all you guys from your coytote jones and some of the internet nonsense that goes on with the real deal.
In all these photos, there's nothing between me and claws and jaws except three feet of air. I shot all these pictures with my own hand under a variety of circumstances. Sorry about the poor quality, but I beat a camera up, lose them regularly, and these photos are taken in less than ideal circumstance. I'm always ready to retreat if necessary.
Leonard, you saw the "Bear in the culvert" series before, so you know I've got a bonfire sized reputation when it comes to tales of big predators. This shot was taken in total darkness. I could see the bear only in the instant the flash went off.
I've been head-to-head with mean critters many times now. One of these days, you're going to run into one of the guys who's been with me on one of my happenstance impromptu photo shoots. I never plan this stuff. They all think I'm absolutely crazy. I get my motivation from an old friend who tranq'd a brown bear by hand in a brushpile near the Alaska pipeline on the request of big oil and the AK governor. They flew him in from CA on a private jet. He saved the governor from a beating by the press and the oil company from a $1 Mil fine. After he told me his story, I knew I could do it too. What was I thinking?
I crawled down into a cave with this big tom, took his picture several times from three feet away with my cheap little Olympus auto-everything film camera, then tranq'd him with a hypodermic syringe of PCP on a ski pole. At the time, I thought it was so cool, I never considered the danger, or even thought of being afraid. He'd been hanging out near the elementary school in Bishop, CA. I helped radio-collar and then release this bad dude. I was a big $$$ supporter of a CA DFG deer depradation study in the Round Valley and was an active participant on a couple of their collaring expeditions. This was another world class B&C or SCI head.
Ivan, I think you just got lucky with your trail cam. I don't think you'll ever get this close to a real animal.
[ June 10, 2006, 09:43 PM: Message edited by: Nahuatl ]
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on June 10, 2006, 09:21 PM:
hmmm? I shot a lion once, very close to Minersville.
I thought my partner was brave, once. He went down pigah crater mine shaft, after a gray fox.
You might be more than a little crazy, Gary? Like; what's the worst thing that could happen?
Thanks for sharing. (yeah, I remember seeing the bear in the culvert photos, before)
And, I think Danny is right about Teddy's lion weighing 220 pounds?
Good hunting. LB
Posted by Nahuatl (Member # 708) on June 10, 2006, 09:30 PM:
I figure a person could lose the side of their face in a single swipe, and then live to tell about it. Dieing would be easier. But I never think about that in the heat of the moment. All I can think about is the little green light telling me the flash is charged up again. We'll be hunting lions and bears again this season, and I'm sure there will be many times where I'm carrying only a camera and relying only on luck and my (lack of) common sense to get me through.
Liz wants a bear this season, so we're going to try calling one for her. The nice thing about it is game looks so much bigger when there's a little girl standing next to it, instead of my big self.
[ June 10, 2006, 09:40 PM: Message edited by: Nahuatl ]
Posted by brad h (Member # 57) on June 10, 2006, 09:41 PM:
Nahuatl,
Unless I missed something, you didn't say weather you used dogs or not. Cool pics though.
Here's a similar story from last season from this area. These guys went into a cave after a wounded cat.
http://www.scenicsports.com/history/index.html
Brad
Posted by Tim Behle (Member # 209) on June 10, 2006, 09:42 PM:
Nahuatl,
I'm a big time believer in no fear when it comes to working up close with wild animals.
I really believe that they can sense your fear, and are more likely to attack if they sense it.
It's not a lack of common sense, its good sense you show by not having a face full of fear. Fear is good for nothing but getting you hurt!
And I love the pictures!
[ June 10, 2006, 09:43 PM: Message edited by: Tim Behle ]
Posted by LionHo (Member # 233) on June 10, 2006, 10:49 PM:
Okay, I'll bite. You've got me curious enough to at least play along to see where you're headed with this thread, Gary.
But if you want me to dance, you'll have to answer a few questions:
First, I believe the question of dogs is still on the table.
Secondly, how old are those lions, really... pre- or post- 117?
Third, is this intended to be, like, somehow "edjumacashunal", or are you just bored?
[ June 11, 2006, 12:21 PM: Message edited by: LionHo ]
Posted by Nahuatl (Member # 708) on June 11, 2006, 08:09 AM:
You misjudge me Ivan. You're paranoid. It's no big secret I've been a cook in Chuck Bert's camp for years. You ought to try my dutch oven apple crisp. By the way, great kitten pic. Where were you when your camera took it?
[ June 11, 2006, 08:19 AM: Message edited by: Nahuatl ]
Posted by LionHo (Member # 233) on June 11, 2006, 09:05 AM:
[Nomex suit... check!
Pilstrom snake tongs...check
Pith helmet... check!
BS Scanner... profiled & calibrated!]
Rules of Engagement not satisfied. You answer first.
Posted by The Outdoor Tripp (Member # 619) on June 11, 2006, 10:04 AM:
DING!
Round one.
Posted by NASA (Member # 177) on June 20, 2006, 12:39 PM:
Awright, break's over! Let's get back to sorting out the pussy's from the cats. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
Posted by Az-Hunter (Member # 17) on June 20, 2006, 01:03 PM:
I guess I missed something? Unless this is in regard to some pics posted a while ago using the trail cam and the lion photos?.....two delicate egoes at match here or what:)
I'd like to know too, were those cats taken while lion hunting, or chasing dogs, that were lion hunting?
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on June 20, 2006, 04:39 PM:
Yes, I think the trail cam photo by Lionho is part of it, and my guess is that these two fellas know each other, to some degree? Otherwise, it's a little difficult to grasp who is making what point?
Good hunting. LB
Posted by Lonny (Member # 19) on June 20, 2006, 04:56 PM:
I'm a little lost also Leonard...
Either way that is one damn big lion in the top pic. Got any other pics of it? I don't know what is considered "normal" in Nahuatl's country, but around here a 220 lb. lion would be about as common as an 8 foot tall human.
Posted by LionHo (Member # 233) on June 20, 2006, 06:45 PM:
Geeeez, you g..g..guys are lost, t..t..too?
I f..f..found that this set of t-t-tracks going 'round and 'round the tree and they kept getting bigger and bigger and now here we are in this narrow box canyon and it's getting kind of d..d..dark (he said, jumping up and down in an exercising sort of way).
LionHo
Posted by JD (Member # 768) on June 20, 2006, 07:08 PM:
The whole thing is a little bizarre to say the least. Especially your last post lionHo, very odd indeed.
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on June 20, 2006, 08:35 PM:
Yeah, really clears things up?
Posted by Okanagan (Member # 870) on June 20, 2006, 08:36 PM:
Lionho's last post is hilarious: wise, funny... and pointed.
Posted by ninthinning (Member # 900) on July 23, 2006, 04:33 PM:
Has anyone called a mountain lion with a hand call?
[ July 23, 2006, 04:34 PM: Message edited by: ninthinning ]
Posted by Okanagan (Member # 870) on July 23, 2006, 05:45 PM:
Yes, I've called several with hand calls, and one when I rattled antlers, though that one wasn't intentional. Have also called them with my hand calls recorded on a boom box. I think Lion-ho has called them with hand calls, and I know BobMc has, (don't know if he posts here). Steve Craig probably has and I have a young friend in Oregon who called one last winter with a hand call and shot it. All of these are deliberately calling for lions, not just lions that happened to show up when the caller was trying for something else. The biggest problem wiht a hand call is seeing the critter when he comes in because they tend to hide from the source of the sound and sneak up on it to get a peek.
Where are you from and what do you have in mind?
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