Cougars may be closer then one might think

My daughter sent me a picture of a cougar dragging a small 10 pointer in its mouth. The cougar was dragging it by a corn feeder that was up on legs and the trail cam the owners had got a picture of it. The thing about this is my daughter works with the gal who’s family owns the farm up by Hopkinton, about 3o miles from my house and I bow hunted for deer there for about 4 years along buck creek, and I know the area pretty well and its loaded with deer.

This area is all hills and some impressive bluffs and a few rattle snakes around too, plenty of water and plenty of deer, especially does. I’d post the picture but its just a picture.

A few years ago my friend hillbilly Dave was questioned by a local dnr officer around the Elkader area along the Volga river and he was asking questions like, have you seen anything different and out of the norm or have you seen any deer hanging up in trees. At the time it didn’t sink in and Dave didn’t know what he meant. He went inside his house and then he realized the officer was asking about signs that show cougars are around.

From The Elkader area to Hopkinton area is maybe about 40 miles as a crow flies. Yup I’m convinced their around plus breeding black bears up in N.E Iowa, a small group but their definitely there with cubs as of two years ago.

Hear of any activity around your area?

Saw a pic of a big one killed just last Monday 2 miles South of Mason City while a guy was out coyote hunting

bullcans wrote:

Saw a pic of a big one killed just last Monday 2 miles South of Mason City while a guy was out coyote hunting

Here’s that pic of the one supposedly taken last Monday 2 miles South of Mason City

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This one?

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bullcans wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>bullcans wrote:</div>
Saw a pic of a big one killed just last Monday 2 miles South of Mason City while a guy was out coyote hunting

Here’s that pic of the one supposedly taken last Monday 2 miles South of Mason City

I am glade that I never came a cross that pheasant hunting!!!

mossydan wrote:

A few years ago my friend hillbilly Dave was questioned by a local dnr officer

I wish I knew someone named Hillbilly Dave.

I think there are more cougars in the Midwest than the DNR will admit to.

Ya that looks like the one,,,Fake? and finially made it to me?

Have to be very careful with cougar reports. I’ve seen probably 10 or more reports that were recycled off the internet with the location constantly changing. One day the cougar is in northern WI, 2 days later it’s the same pic but now it’s allegedly happening in Iowa.

They are out there, but I’m not sure we can draw many conclusions about how many.

One thing to keep in mind is that the past 10 years have seen an ABSOLUTE EXPLOSION in the number of cameras out there. Trail cams, web cams, game cams, security cams, tower cams, cameras are now everywhere. So while we are getting more pictures, does that really mean there are more cougars?

I have constantly seen cougar tracks in north central and east MN from the 1980s onward. Probably every other year at least I come on a set. They are not hard to spot, they’re cat tracks obviously, but compared to a bobcat they are huge. Unlike wolves, which really are present in VASTLY greater numbers than they were 20 years ago, I’m not convinced cougars have seen a similar population rise.

Grouse

chamberschamps wrote:

I think there are more cougars in the Midwest than the DNR will admit to.

I’m curious to know why you think they are hiding the numbers of mountain lions?

That pic has been going around for years. I’m not sure the real story behind it though.

I worked for a couple 2 years ago and they had friends that were very avid trout fishermen that fished the streams in N.E. Iowa every weekend. We got to0 talking about the whats what in that area and he said have you heard of the bears up there in one area and I said no.

He said they called him and said they seen a sow bear with 2 cubs along one stream and they told the local dnr officer about them. His reply was theres no bears in N’E’ Iowa and they said they would try to get pictures when they went fishing again.

A couple weekends went by and they again approached the same dnr officer and show him a couple pictures of the bears they has seen. The dnr officer looked at the pictures and he asked where they had seen them. They told the officer and he said, just between you and me we have known that they are there but its important to keep this under your hat OK? They asked why and the officer said they have to depend on license sales and tourism etc. and that as many people wouldn’t come to that area if there were bears around, some hit the panic button I guess. Ya I know its just a story but N’E Iowa could very easily hold bears, a lot of bluffs, hills, draws and more then enough windfalls to hibernate all winter under, plus a very good food supply.

I wasn’t forsure on the cougar story but the bears Im pretty sure about. I think the dnr wants people to keep coming to an area and cougars would forsure would stop some people from visiting and bears probably would too. A few years back we had a couple moose in southern Iowa and the local township papers were covering the reports coming from the farmers whos land they were on that week, they were here for 2 or 3 years.

Why would a guy that is coyote hunting, shoot a mountain lion, post it on the web and think that he would get away with it? Is that something that you would just shoot and be no consequences?

Hilltopper wrote:

Why would a guy that is coyote hunting, shoot a mountain lion, post it on the web and think that he would get away with it? Is that something that you would just shoot and be no consequences?

good question
This was one of those things that was past along to me from one guy who heard it from another, then got the pic from another, etc. Etc. Not sure if it holds validity or not but I heard about the “Non native” predator species thing

They are not protected or a game species in Iowa, is my understanding. You can legally shoot one is what I have heard.

elk_addict wrote:

They are not protected or a game species in Iowa, is my understanding. You can legally shoot one is what I have heard.

x2

Cougars aren’t a recognized game or protected species in Iowa. They can be shot at any time and possessed.

Dang, beat me.

Mossy I’ve lived in NE Iowa nearly my whole life and I can count on one hand the number of bear stories I’ve heard being here. Last year there was one confirmed that did what all the others did. Wandered through and kept a wandering. could ne Iowa support bears… maybe. But they aren’t here yet. I’ve heard countless mountain lion stories and most are BS. But the truth is Iowa is surrounded by states with large predators… MN, SD, MO… and all those populations are growing. Their biological instinct drives them to seek new areas to live. Someday they may decide to stop here but most just keep on going.

I don’t understand why people freak out when they hear there may be a bear or mountain lion around. (Im not saying you are mossy… just people in general) Like they are on a child killing rampage or something. Dozens of states have large predators and yet they keep out of each other’s way most of the time save a few isolated incidents. I would guess that would be the reason for any hush hush… drawing attention to something is only going to increase the likelihood of incident. You reference the moose sighting… it created a big stink and people were driving around trying to get a glimpse. And since these animals are likely not staying… it’s best to let them make their way through as quickly and quietly as possible.

The dnr checks every report they receive and if they are legit then they are logged. They don’t go to the press because of reasons above. The press only gets it when someone wants 15 minutes of fame and decides to take the story to them. Eventually if enough legitimate reports come in from a given area… there Would likely be a study to determine if there was an actual population and how many animals it was. There is no investigation yet… or even close. A few wandering individuals does not a population make.

So I’ll continue mushroom hunting, turkey hunting deer hunting, trout fishing, etc and I won’t look over my shoulder just yet. If any of these large animals begin a population here… Good, they were here first.

I hear ya Youngfry, I think its cool to hear of the bear reports etc. and it doesn’t curtail any of my trips to wherever and we all know there a few who panic and can’t get out of the way fast enough over a bumble bee or wasp. I think Cougars will make a population stand much quicker then bears will. Was there a sow bear with cubs, maybe with a good possibility, Are they still here, who knows. Did they go back up north, maybe. It takes a male to make cubs so is he here or was she bred and came here, who knows. Is there a breeding population of bears, probably not and was just passing through but I can’t say forsure either way.

There have been sightings of bears and those bears were followed and did go back up north. N.E. Iowas about 100 miles south of breeding bear populations in Wisconsin, don’t know about Minnesota, so is it a good probability theres a breeding pair in N,E. Iowa, don’t know but its possible, maybe they did breed and all moved back up north. If there were some here the DNR more then likely was studying them, undisturbed, to see if they were going to stay or move back to where they came. I think that if a few bears were getting established they would probably be darted and taken back up north, but who knows whats going on forsure. Its always been an interesting subject.

There was never any confirmation that the bear last year had cubs. That story circulated a lot but it was never confirmed. It tore up some beehives by Elgin and that was about the last time there was any sign of it. At times I’m with you and think that there could be some bears making a little progress on a population… until deer season rolls around. Starting October first basically there are guys parked at every field entrance bowhunting and thousands of cameras hung in the woods. There just aren’t many places left around here that go undisturbed by humans… I go back into some of the most remote places I can think of and feel alone… then I see boot tracks and other signs of people and realize that nothing is untouched around here anymore. I think mountain lions establishing are much more likely because they are so secretive. But I still think if there were any significant population (like more than a five) then someone would be seeing them more often. Practically every acre is pushed during the two shotgun seasons for deer year after year.

Will they establish… who knows its possible but I don’t think they have yet. Like I said, we’re surrounded by bears and mountain lion states and they have huge territories. But until a female moves in to stay, those young males aren’t going to linger very long.

I grew up in SW MN (Luverne) and we had a cougar around the area. Similar area to what you are speaking. State park has big rock formation, hills, cactus, and snakes in the middle of farm country. This was about 15 years ago. It got after a neighbors horse. Everytime I told anyone about it they thought I was full of crap. Then just a few years back one was shot in Worthington (30 miles east) and the guys posted it on the net and got in some trouble. DNR doesn’t like to say they are around but they are.

mixedbag wrote:

DNR doesn’t like to say they are around but they are.

This statement again and I ask, why does everyone think mountain lions are a big secret the DNR is keeping?

Northern IL and southern Wi have had there fair share of cougar sightings etc. A few years ago one was a confirmed sighting in the same county I live in. My grandpa a few years back also had a mystery track in his fresh tilled garden, we never 100percent made it out as cougar but we had no other explaination.

Anyway, in school we just had a lecture on the cats of Wisconsin from one of the wildlife biologist/professors at UWSP, and he says the sightings are getting more and more frequent. Through DNA testing they confirmed that a cougar shot in Chicago started it’s journey in the Black-Hills and had made a stop in the Janesville area of Wi. Where it cut itself as it fled an old barn after the land owner walked in on it. Anyway all and all, most of the cougar venturing into Wi and IL and I’m sure into Iowa and MN are solitary males from the Black-Hills population.

Back in 2007 or 2008, Outdoor Life magazine did an article on this very topic because almost every state in the 48 was beginning to show confirmed reports of cat sightings. There was a cat killed in PA that was traced all the way back to the Black Hills of SD! They also reported that most of these sightings were males seeking new territories or “sick”. What was unique and a nice notation to discover in that article was that the breeding ranges had indeed been confirmed to have grown as well and it was thought that by perhaps 2015 there’d be regions in either MN or WI beginning to support a family of big cats.

The humorous part of all this, for me anyway, is that I had one cross my car back in 1989, just north of Roberts, 150yds from my parent’s driveway. This was in April. By August of 1989, there was an article in the Rice Lake newspaper declaring that the WIDNR had discovered a momma cougar with kits in the Blue Hills State Forest earlier that summer and that they were monitoring the situation to see if the group would survive and stay. They also stated in this article that the DNR was aware of a possible breeding pair in the area and thus why they were so excited to find a den with kits. The DNR requested that people stayed out of that particular area so the cougars would go undisturbed.

I never did see a follow up story to that one.

My dad didn’t want to believe that there was any possible way I saw a cougar right there at his house but he was the one that found the article regarding the Blue Hills cats. He’s never doubted it since.