Mountain Lions…What would you do?

I didn’t want to hijack the Iowa cougars thread so here goes.

If you were out hunting and saw a Mt.Lion within killing range, what would you do?

This of course would be if it was legal to kill them in your area/state.

Iowa does not have a season on them as they “DO NOT EXIST” supposedly, so they are fair game as far as I know.

Me personally. If I had a clean shot I’d be taking it. We have little ones around our farm and there is no way I’d be taking any chances. That’d be one dead kitty! More than likely a Triple “S” situation. Shoot, shovel, and shut-up!

What would you all do?

And by the way, they do exist!

My understanding of MN law is that they are considered a unprotected species (noted as coyote, striped skunk, and other unprotected species in MN regs.), so they are fair game. I may be off base on this, but do hot think you can get in trouble for plinking one.

That being said, I think I would let one walk. I don’t really see any reason to kill it just for the sake of killing it, unless I felt it was going to harm someone.

Kill it–hands down. Then I would have a nice mount or rug made and display it proudly!

–Whitey

From what I understand, these animals can be pretty agressive towards humans. I hunt with bow only and if I knew was was lurking in the area I hunt I’d prefer to not having one pouncing on me from a perch as I walk in or out in the dark. So if one was sneaking by and I had a clean shot I think I might take the shot.

There are confirmed cougars on one of the farms I hunt. It was confirmed by the dnr and the photes were posted on ido. They came from the dakota valley (in s.e. mn) and what was told to us was, it is illeagal to shoot them because there is no season on them in MN. They are a threatened species to the state of MN and thats the law that protects them from hunting. So if you choose to shoot one keep in mind this, there were 5 cougars that where transplanted to s.e mn, it was done so by the dnr. do you think they did this without any means of tracking these animals. If you choose to shoot one you may have some serious explaining to do. I dont think its worth all the B.S. that would come about from it…

Find it hard to believe somone with a handle of FARMBOY would let a killer walk!

They laws are the same in WI. There are none on the books for them as they don’t exsist in this state. So you got your choice. Shoot Shovel , and SHUT UP. Or, parade it around to once again prove the DNR wrong. I’m hoping to one day do the latter putting one in the tree with the dogs. Have yet to find a track to put the dogs on! Would even push the rules during the gun deer season to tree one if I saw it on stand. Let me be clear though. Once it’s treed the first calls would be to every TV station. Then the DNR!! Would make it a little harder for them to find some remote reason for a ticket.

Steve

Where did you hear of this conspiracy.

I wouldn’t shoot one in MN because there’s not a clear law on them. If it’s in my yard near my family or dogs, it’s going to get shot at. I’m not a very good shot so I can’t claim that I’d kill it… I could only try..

Before we bought a place outside of dodge center we looked a place north of Lake Zumbro that the owner and neighbors claimed where all having problems with them in their yards. I opted to pass on the place. I just didn’t want to risk it.

I understand they are a predator, and are hunting the same as you or I. I have seen the out west, closer then I really wanted to be, and I really think he was either trailing me, or was curious about what I was. I walked in a trail about a hundred yards, turned around and he was about 20 yards behind me. It did make me grab my bow a little tighter, but if he wanted me, he could have had me before I could even draw.

I guess I am a live and let live guy for the most part, and do not think to kill a cougar just to kill a cougar is in my best interest.

I have had one encounter with a lion out in the Sieras. I was chasing cattle for my uncle bringing them down from the hills. I rode into a gully under an overhanging cliff, and didn’t see the mule deer kill till it was too late. I heard the nastiest scream of my life followed by the sound of a 30-30 cracking behind my head. One of my cusins had followed me down and dropped the sucker. He said the thing was all bound up and ready to jump on me when he shot. Thank God he can use his old winny 94. We packet the sucker back down to the house and I didn’t go out to round up the rest of the year Not to say that I am a chicken, but some things you just don’t screw with.
Sould I ever see one again I promise it will die or atleast leave with a gut full of shot. Those creatures are just too dangerous to be in the mid west. not enough open range for them to live safely, so they are bound to meet up with people in bad situations.

I got this in an e mail today.
For you transplanted Iowans who thought Iowa was just not wild enough for you any more!! And for you out-of-staters who think Iowa is just too tame!! Jefferson, IA is in central Iowa.

This lion was hit on Highway 30 near Jefferson, IA, by a car. Fish and Game had to come and put him down. He charged at the Fish and Game guy in the process. Look at his PAWS!.

I’ve seen these photos elsewhere, but don’t remember the story that was attached at the time. No doubt, it’s a big kitty no matter where it came from.

I am suspicious of the e mail as well. The man in the picture is wearing a hat of the Des Moines Bucks, a local hocky team. But there are also antlers of mule deer in the background, and an elk rack in the garage. My guess is that if this was killed in Iowa then the photos are from a taxidermist.

This is an old story. Here is the link to snoops that give details.
http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/mountainlion2007.asp

thanks BM

I’ve said this before, many of these cats are travelers and are only seen in passage. However, to the person that says WI DNR doesn’t think they exist in our state, back in 1987 they were monitoring a breeding pair in the Blue Hills state forest near Rice Lake, WI. We made the phone call because I had one cross my car near Roberts, WI and they openly confessed the knowledge of their existance. Also, the Blue Hills cats had a local newspaper story written about them so do a little research and you’ll find the DNR is not so dumb. They often claim “no knowledge” so idealists don’t concentrate the area and disturb or poach them.

As for the co-existance, the idea is not to eraticate them, but to learn about them and be prepared. Look at California…. joggers and tree huggers refuse to pack sufficient defense and they’re losing 8-10 people every year to cat attacks. Hunters have been very successful in self defense kills. They do sometimes get marred up in the process, but they do win.

Do I want them reintroduced? Not really. I don’t like seeing anyone die for any reason but having seen and been around these animals turf without any incident, I’m not a believer in the only good cat is a dead one. They are shy and pretty much keep to themselves….unless VERY hungry or defensive of a kill or den. They really aren’t man-hunters like old Kodiaks or Polar bears. In fact, in a National comparison, there’s more black bear deaths that mountain lion deaths so do we rid of every black bear we see? If you never knew it was around before and it’s not after you, ethically speaking, we should let it go. Fear and suspicion should not dominate our thoughts.

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Look at California…. joggers and tree huggers refuse to pack sufficient defense and they’re losing 8-10 people every year to cat attacks.

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California mountain lion attacks.

No attacks in 2005 and 2006. Only 1 in 2007.

My memory is getting worse, isn’t it! I read an article in the last year regarding the efforts to get the protection laws for cats changed back to being a controlled specie through hunting. It was talking about the numbers of times the DNR has to hunt down a cat, shoot it, or transplant it. Numbers thrown about, according to my memory, was 8-10 each year, and the only reason to have this measure exercised was because of attacks. Chances are I’m confusing the stat with another so thanks for tossing out the correction Chris. Actually, the lower number only further supports what I’m trying to say anyway! If there’s a need to kill every cat we see, there’s a few other critters we’ll need to get rid of as well. For that matter, if cat attacks are that low, aren’t rutting whitetail bucks more dangerous than cats??? Call it a numbers game that’s not quite apples to apples but if the fear is things that might attack you while out in the wilderness, we’ve got a lot of killing to do!