I met up with my hunting buddies; Lenny Brown and John Stauffer, early this morning to do are part in protecting the local big horn population. We lost our unlimited big horn hunt for this unit due to a decrease in the their survival rate several years back (for further information regarding this issue check the thread of my mountain lion hunt at (http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=040351 ). After an hour on the trail looking for fresh mountain lion tracks we decided to head back to the vehicles and try searching a couple of other areas. Half way back to the trucks John's hounds, Buster and Spike started howling indicating they had caught the scent of a mountain lion. Checking a set of tracks that entered the trail we discovered a new set of tracks that had been made in the last thirty minutes. Can we say fresh track!!!!!!! After studying the tracks for a couple of minutes we decided to release the hounds and the chase was on. We waited on the trail for a few minutes to determine the direction the hounds were moving, hoping they would move to a saddle on the right, allowing us to follow our well packed trail rather then busting trail through eighteen inches of snow. None of us were looking forward to the quarter mile, eighty percent grade waiting on the other side of the creek to start the chase. Suddenly we heard music from up the mountain (well to a houndsman it is music), the hounds were barking treed at the base of the cliffs, less then five minutes into the chase. Climbing over deadfalls and rocks for twenty minutes we see this:
(http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y91/Slivershooter/JohnsMountainLion005.jpg)
I apologize for the pictures I will be posting in this thread, I was the photographer and only had a dozen of over seventy take that were respectable (Note to my self: practice with the digital camera before going into the field again.)
I will try to finish the story this evening after completing my wife's honey do list. :knothead:
Not a bad pic, Walt...sounds like you had a good day, and we're gonna hear about it, perhaps!
Oh Boy! Another lion story!
Man, what is it about the Francis boys and honey-do lists......?????????????
That's a fine looking kitty. Thanks for the pic.
Nice picture, will look foreward to the story. Frank
Picture looks good to me Walt,That was a quick treeing.Saves the lungs and legs,Can't wait to here the rest.
Tracy
:saywhat: It could be a LLLLOOOOONNNNGGGGGG trip to TX :biglaugh: :biglaugh:
Come on WALT LAMB cough it up
Yea Jack, another lion story, gotta love it.
Steve, I do have a wonderful wife who usually asks when I'm going hunting, wanting to get rid of me, rather then complaining about me being gone.
Honest Vance, I was putting shelves into the wife's room, I mean closet. Got to build up some brownie points for the time I am taking off next month. Also, she gave me her approval this week for my next moose hunt. Her comment "good bye, hope you have fun, and make sure the life insurance policy is paid up", ya got to love a woman like that.
On with the story:
For the next twenty minutes Lenny and myself scrambled around the rocks and deadfalls attempting to take pictures while John looked for the best shot angle. Here is a picture of John with Baxter and Spike at the base of the tree:
(http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y91/Slivershooter/JohnsMountainLion030.jpg)
Like most houndsmen I have known John loves to run the dogs regardless of the outcome, if an animal is killed it matters little to their enjoyment of the hunt; they are in it for the chase not the kill. At this time John and I estimated the cat's weight at around 130 pounds while Lenny believed it to be around 120. Due to the cat's position on some branches we were unable to determine if it was a male or female but both sexes were open in this unit. Lenny was the shooter and had first shot opportunity on the mountain lion but decided to pass, wanting to shoot a larger mountain lion. However, as mentioned earlier, we have a cat problem in this area and all of us would love to get our big horn season back. After discussing our next move for a few minutes John decided to use Lenny's Robertson longbow and tag his first lion in several years. John is a traditional bowhunter and lets me tag along on these hunts becauce I am teaching him how to build selfbows. After several shots with a judo point John was hitting his spot at twenty yards and felt confident enough for the shot. I tied the dogs up being the handler, Lenny was the photographer, and John was the shooter with an upward shot into the chest. The first arrow missed to the left and the second missed to the right. The third arrow appeared to hit mid chest and pass through causing the cat to explode up the tree then back down. As the cat was descending John's last arrow hit behind the front shoulder, mid chest, and was immediately broken off by a branch. the arrow later reveled seven inches of penetration. The cat fell the last twenty five feet landing on the snow head first, but gained his feet after sliding thirty yards down the mountain. I released the dogs, who re-treed the cat three hundred yards later. The bubbly blood trail was easy to follow indicating a lung hit.
Anyway, here is the result of the hunt:
(http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y91/Slivershooter/JohnsMountainLion067.jpg)
Final notes: Lenny proved to be the best judge of the mountain lions size, it was a 115 pound female. John, who has treed well over one hundred mountain lions said it was the second shortest chase he has been on. Taking this lion will save fifty (+ or -) big horn, mule deer, or elk over the next year. Tracy and Curt, we cut the lion track a hundred yards past the wilderness sign on your favorite Montana trail. I have to cut it short, Lenny and I have an early start scheduled in the morning. Man, I love the fun to be had in Montana!
Nice cat
I would like to save 50 bighorns, deer, and or elk!
You run outta tags call Steve!
Another great story Walt! Thanks for sharing.
Awesome story and great photos, Walt!
Great story Walt! I ran into a lion hunter from Bozeman over a couple days ago, I think his name was Tyler Johnson if memory serves. Didn't know if you knew him or not. Our snow is mostly gone over here except up high.
On second thought this sounds like a great way ta spend a couple of weeks, HUNTIN stories audio with Walt :thumbsup:
Don't tell it all Walt.
Another GREAT story and photos, Glad you were there
Neat.
Love cat chasin! Congrats :thumbsup:
If I lived out there instead of just visitin every few years I'd be much skinnier and in better shape ha ha
Walt, could you tell us more about the hounds - what kind are they. I can't I.D. them from the photo.
Steve H,
I am sure Doug would put you up at the ranch and between him Tom we would find some tracks.
Doug,
I think Tyler was one the houndsmen that was at the trailhead when I got my lion but decided not the run his hounds because we already had eight dogs running that trail, Randy would know for sure.
Vance,
I am sure the story telling will go both ways, remind me to tell you the story about the "Unicorn Mountain Lion".
Kerry,
I believe they are plots, here is a better picture of them, and they are littermates. Lenny knows for sure snd coulf lets you know, if we could ever get him to quit lurking and add to these treads.
(http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y91/Slivershooter/JohnsMountainLion055.jpg)
Very nice Walt,John, and Lurker. Look forward to hearing more about it in a few days.
Lets see, what can I teach John so he'll tree a cat with me next year. I know...how to break self bows you thought you just made!
Nah, better keep that to myself.
Walt,
Nice kitty. :thumbsup: