Gun Dog Forum

There have been two mountain lion sightings in Southeastern Missouri, within a week, just across the river and pretty close to where I live. The first one was photographed and confirmed by the conservation department. A few days later, one was shot and killed by some coyote hunters. The hunters reported the incident immediately and claimed they killed the cat because they felt threatened. They apparently did not get in trouble, or at least nothing was mentioned about it in the news report.

My wife swears she saw one several years ago, at day break, while driving to work along a rural road close to home. I took this with a grain of salt, but she did describe a long sweeping tail as the cat went down towards a creek and out of sight. There have been reported sightings around here from time to time over the years, but they have never been proved or confirmed. I always thought they were mistaken for something else or just somebody wanting publicity.

Anyway, this is the first time they have been confirmed this close to home. I guess they could be escaped cats from an exotic animal farm or something, I don't know. I would like to hear some thoughts on this.

Charlie

I would not be too worried about them, I have been in UT my whole life and never even seen one.

OK Wildlife Department denied they were in OK for years. I know several that have seen them.

Three years ago I saw one, the pointers took off after one into a draw around Red Rock. The year after that I found some tracks on some land north of Barnsdall...

displaced_texan wrote:OK Wildlife Department denied they were in OK for years. I know several that have seen them.

Three years ago I saw one, the pointers took off after one into a draw around Red Rock. The year after that I found some tracks on some land north of Barnsdall...

No black panthers?

I always thought the ones near the Turner were probably escapees from the several exotic dealers along that stretch. A few years back one of the Red Dirt counties confirmed the kill of a serval cat which was escaped. For years there were reports of large cats in Rogers and Mayes Counties, but those could also be linked to the existence of old Route 66 roadside attraction zoos.

Unfortunately, any big cats in the MoKanOkArk area are likely introduced and, therefore, more habituated to humans, making them doubly dangerous.

I have never seen one but did take some pics of tracks i found while turkey hunting in eastern KS, were about the same width of my hand. I also know of one that was killed in central KS close to where i phez hunt.

There have been several killed in Iowa in the past few years and I know of at least two in IL. They are young males that are looking for new territory and since they are protected in areas out west they are geting over populatd in some areas and the young males are driven out. Think we will see more of them for a few years.


Ezzy

jarbo03 wrote:I have never seen one but did take some pics of tracks i found while turkey hunting in eastern KS, were about the same width of my hand. I also know of one that was killed in central KS close to where i phez hunt.

Deer camera setup SE of Mulvane, KS.....


Coveyrise64

No mountain lions, but there have been Black Panthers spotted in central Alabama recently.

Displaced Texan I live out in the OK panhandle and my dad has been hunting a mountain lion for the last month or so. My dad manages pig farms for a corporate pork producer out here and his barns are located just over the border on the Texas side. One of his guys walked into his pig barn one day to do his morning checks and the cat was in the walkway between the pens. My dad has said he has seen it on the edge of a cornfield outside his barns and has had some dead hogs scavenged off the concrete pad where they leave their deads for pickup. They are out here in the panhandle even.

The young ones wonder big time. I read a story about a Cat that was collared in SD and they found it in Oklahoma a year later. There has been confirmed sightings in the metro area of MN but for the most part every things they are just passing through.

When males hit puberty, they travel huge distances to find their own territory. Then they keep on moving, trying to find a mate. Since their densities are very low in the Mid-west, they travel far and wide. They are all over in ND. I read an article about cats in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Maine, Kentucky, Missouri, Kansas, etc. 5 years ago. They will eventually be in most states. In another 50 years, I bet they are pretty thick.

Cajun Casey wrote:

displaced_texan wrote:OK Wildlife Department denied they were in OK for years. I know several that have seen them.

Three years ago I saw one, the pointers took off after one into a draw around Red Rock. The year after that I found some tracks on some land north of Barnsdall...

No black panthers?

I always thought the ones near the Turner were probably escapees from the several exotic dealers along that stretch. A few years back one of the Red Dirt counties confirmed the kill of a serval cat which was escaped. For years there were reports of large cats in Rogers and Mayes Counties, but those could also be linked to the existence of old Route 66 roadside attraction zoos.

Unfortunately, any big cats in the MoKanOkArk area are likely introduced and, therefore, more habituated to humans, making them doubly dangerous.

I figured the tracks in Barnsdall were prob from a Black Panther:D

The one in Red Rock had a grey tail.

I've wondered if they have been pushed north some from the logging in east Texas...

displaced_texan wrote:I figured the tracks in Barnsdall were prob from a Black Panther:D

The one in Red Rock had a grey tail.

I've wondered if they have been pushed north some from the logging in east Texas...

USFWS and OWD data would say wild populations are moving east/southeast. Here's a map from last year.

http://www.cougarnet.org/prairiestates.html

I've had two first person witness accounts from the middle section of the state that could clearly be jaguarundi (small, dark "black panther" with an oversized tail and glowing eyes), which leads back to the idea of escaped exotics. Or liquor.

A few years back there was a supposed mountain lion sighting in my town. It was such big news that it made the national news.

As it turned out it was a bulldog.

We did have a scare when two tigers got loose. One was shot by a hunter and the other killed by a Suburban.

I ran into one last week in Kansas around Dodge City, never been so scared out in the woods in my entire life. They're out there and I'm sure they're growing in numbers.

mcbosco wrote:A few years back there was a supposed mountain lion sighting in my town. It was such big news that it made the national news.

As it turned out it was a bulldog.

We did have a scare when two tigers got loose. One was shot by a hunter and the other killed by a Suburban.

How's the Jersey Devil sighting count these days? We have one of the biggest Bigfoot sighting areas in the country in southeastern Oklahoma. Of course, we also have the World Noodling Championship, too. :roll:

About a month ago a lion was shot in richmond Mo about an hour east of KC. It was on the news

I do not take hunting with dogs in lion country lightly, I know of several people that have had close encounters with lions and their bird dogs, a total of 5 different instances. In two of the instances the lions were killed with birdshot and turned into the fish and game at distances less than 20 yds. Cats have eyes in the front of their skull and would not hesitate to take a dog out if it was a precieved easy meal. Here are a couple of pics that I took this year

This is a pic of a small lion track probably 100 or so pounds I guessed that this track was probably 12-24 hrs old when I came across it



This is a substantially larger cat track that was probably close to 24 hrs old



All of these tracks were fresh enough that the dogs were interested in them and were wanting to follow them, I found them both in areas that I chukar hunt regularly.

I know one was shot in Ray County Missouri, I was hunting less than a mile from where it was shot the day before. I was hunting Republic County Kansas and the farmer had a newspaper where one had been killed there earlier last fall. They are here for sure.

Out here in the Pacific Northwest, the cats are already pretty thick and going to just getting thicker.

I think a cougar tag costs an Oregon resident something like twelve bucks (half the price of a deer tag and a tenth the price of an antelope tag). I've never seen a cat in the wild, but a couple of years back one was spotted along the back fence of a Gresham High School football practice (Gresham is a just suburban town east of Portland). If you go to the state fish and game website and look at the harvest statistics the total kill (sport and other) for the last decade has consistently been running about 2/3rds of the quota, so my guess is that the population is just going to keep growing.

Wolves, coyotes and cougars, the predators are certainly having their inning.

No surprise, but they're thick here in Idaho. I had never seen one in the wild until a couple of weekends ago when my dog found two in some bushes near some rocks. She went into the cover and one darted out the other end. I called her back to me and a second one came out behind her. It looked like it was after her and I put a bead on it. Just about then it cut back to join the other cat. I described the encounter and the cats to Fish & Game and they said it was probably two juvenile cats. I count myself lucky that I didn't leave there with a severely injured or dead dog.

Cajun Casey wrote:Or liquor.

Bingo! Ever notice there are about fifty "black panther" sightings to every one normal colored cat?

There have been two confirmed wild Mt Lions kills in OK one was hit on the highway near Lawton and the other was found dead on rail road tracks near Red Rock. Neither was black...

cjuve wrote:
All of these tracks were fresh enough that the dogs were interested in them and were wanting to follow them, I found them both in areas that I chukar hunt regularly.

This time of year, where we find chukar we also find plenty of deer. And where there are deer . . .

Crashola wrote:

cjuve wrote:
All of these tracks were fresh enough that the dogs were interested in them and were wanting to follow them, I found them both in areas that I chukar hunt regularly.

This time of year, where we find chukar we also find plenty of deer. And where there are deer . . .

These areas had a large population of wild horses with a few antelope and deer

I've seen 4. 3 of 'em over points - the other just standing in the road. Had a buddy that always buys a tag shoot one hunting birds a couple years ago. Last year while hiking in an access road to a chukar spot we met a guy coming down with a big tom draped over his 4 wheeler he had just bagged up where we were headed. Lots of 'em out there.

mcbosco wrote:A few years back there was a supposed mountain lion sighting in my town. It was such big news that it made the national news.

As it turned out it was a bulldog.

We did have a scare when two tigers got loose. One was shot by a hunter and the other killed by a Suburban.

I think I remember both of those incidents from news reports.

Charlie

Coveyrise64 wrote:

jarbo03 wrote:I have never seen one but did take some pics of tracks i found while turkey hunting in eastern KS, were about the same width of my hand. I also know of one that was killed in central KS close to where i phez hunt.

Deer camera setup SE of Mulvane, KS.....


Coveyrise64

Coveyrise was this your camera?? I just don't think of Pine trees and mule deer in the area you said this picture was taken..

Here is a great site for info on distribution etc. went to grad school with the director a good egg.
http://www.cougarnet.org/network.html

There was one caught on deer cam just last week in Chesterfield. Conservation Dept. said that it more than likely was a young male that followed the river looking for new territory.

Brushbustin Sporting Dogs wrote:

Coveyrise64 wrote:

jarbo03 wrote:I have never seen one but did take some pics of tracks i found while turkey hunting in eastern KS, were about the same width of my hand. I also know of one that was killed in central KS close to where i phez hunt.

Deer camera setup SE of Mulvane, KS.....


Coveyrise64

Coveyrise was this your camera?? I just don't think of Pine trees and mule deer in the area you said this picture was taken..

Not my camera, I don't believe that is a mule deer, and yes there can be pine trees in KS.

Coveyrise64

It is a mule deer for sure I can tell by the ears...

We have confirmed sightings and trail cam photos in the North Georgia area

Brushbustin Sporting Dogs wrote:It is a mule deer for sure I can tell by the ears...

Here is whitetail doe, it has ears too......


Coveyrise64

Merle wrote:There was one caught on deer cam just last week in Chesterfield. Conservation Dept. said that it more than likely was a young male that followed the river looking for new territory.

Yeah, that was one that I was talking about.

Charlie

I saw one on a trailcam pic I think it was in Kass county.

We Got Em Here In Northen Wisconsin To

You all wouldnt believe the grilling that some guys get on some penn. hunting forums when they even mention the idea of spotting a mountain lion in PA. Won't be long though I say, as fast as they're moving east.

There has been 2 confirmed (by the IL DNR) sightings In Henry county IL I live on the border of and do most of my hunting in Henry county I've never seen one here, and hope i never do saw one in New Mexico on a turkey hunt with my uncle he was finishing off a young elk about 200 yrds down into the valley we were scouting, I'll admit that I had a cold chill run down my back and kept the strap off my .44 just in case

Danro wrote:You all wouldnt believe the grilling that some guys get on some penn. hunting forums when they even mention the idea of spotting a mountain lion in PA. Won't be long though I say, as fast as they're moving east.

You wouldn'd believe the grilling I got years ago the first time I saw a coyote here in IL. Now they are every where and there is an open season on them.

Charlie

birddogger wrote:

Danro wrote:You all wouldnt believe the grilling that some guys get on some penn. hunting forums when they even mention the idea of spotting a mountain lion in PA. Won't be long though I say, as fast as they're moving east.

You wouldn'd believe the grilling I got years ago the first time I saw a coyote here in IL. Now they are every where and there is an open season on them.

Charlie

Ha ha. I live in a suburb of Phoenix. Monday this week I was driving to work and saw a gimpy coyote walking along a main street. Craziness.

I have seen many mountain lions in AZ. Usually when deer/elk hunting up north, but I also saw one in the hills to the south javelina hunting a couple years ago.

A couple years ago, my parents sent me a picture from Western Nebraska. A mountain lion had jumped up on a family's back porch early one morning and was looking in their sliding glass window. Someone grabbed a camera and got a great pic.

birddogger wrote:

Danro wrote:You all wouldnt believe the grilling that some guys get on some penn. hunting forums when they even mention the idea of spotting a mountain lion in PA. Won't be long though I say, as fast as they're moving east.

You wouldn'd believe the grilling I got years ago the first time I saw a coyote here in IL. Now they are every where and there is an open season on them.

Charlie

Yotes have been around for ever they just never let you see them now they are so used to us there not afraid.

gittrdonebritts wrote:

birddogger wrote:

Danro wrote:You all wouldnt believe the grilling that some guys get on some penn. hunting forums when they even mention the idea of spotting a mountain lion in PA. Won't be long though I say, as fast as they're moving east.

You wouldn'd believe the grilling I got years ago the first time I saw a coyote here in IL. Now they are every where and there is an open season on them.

Charlie

Yotes have been around for ever they just never let you see them now they are so used to us there not afraid.

Maybe they have been around in your life ime but not always. They are in fact quite recent east of the Mississippi. The first they were seen in this part of the world was about 30 years ago I think but I am bad on remembering dates. I remember the first one I saw here ahen I was hunting and the dogs jumped it. It was lying under a grape vine in an old fence row.

Use to hunt them out west in Oklahoma and Kansas with Greyhounds.

Ezzy

Maybe they have been around in your life ime but not always. They are in fact quite recent east of the Mississippi. The first they were seen in this part of the world was about 30 years ago I think but I am bad on remembering dates. I remember the first one I saw here ahen I was hunting and the dogs jumped it. It was lying under a grape vine in an old fence row.

Use to hunt them out west in Oklahoma and Kansas with Greyhounds.

Ezzy

Yeah, I would say somewhere between 30 and 40 years ago.

Charlie

Seems like only 10 or 15 years theyve been numerous in PA, now they're absolutely everywhere. game commission is even telling us now that theyre probably coyote wolf hybrids, explains why some are the size of german shepherds

birddogger wrote:

Maybe they have been around in your life ime but not always. They are in fact quite recent east of the Mississippi. The first they were seen in this part of the world was about 30 years ago I think but I am bad on remembering dates. I remember the first one I saw here ahen I was hunting and the dogs jumped it. It was lying under a grape vine in an old fence row.

Use to hunt them out west in Oklahoma and Kansas with Greyhounds.

Ezzy

Yeah, I would say somewhere between 30 and 40 years ago.

Charlie

Late 70's early 80's here in TN.
Scott