I know of a guy that used to be well known here that killed a couple of nice cats in MT. They don't take a lot of killing. He preferred a .357/158 soft point. Btw. They taste good. Very light mild meat
Since you mentioned it, I'll add a little more to this string.
The person I mentioned in the initial post killed a lion last year. This past weekend we had dinner with him and his wife. I asked if they had eaten the lion he had killed last year. They had.
Both said that it was very good, like pork but only a little more 'delicate'.
So far, I've not heard of anyone who has eaten/tasted mountain lion that didn't like it.
As for the trudging through knee deep snow, I can see how that can be. On Sunday, my friend was hoping for snow Sunday night as they had a client coming in for a hunt and were hoping for tracking snow. He got his wish, but I have yet to hear how he did.
As a side note, you do have a certain familiar ring to your nickname, Eriicb622.
Jerry
Gun control laws make about as much sense as taking ex-lax to cure a cough.
As a side note, you do have a certain familiar ring to your nickname, Eriicb622.
don't know anything about that. I'm just a new guy here hoping to learn some things . With the state of this county's affairs we all need to band together
I think they should be treated like any other varmint. Shoot on sight!
Lions are putting a huge beating on the deer and elk in the Black Hills. Last season, only 3 firearm elk tags were issued for Custer State Park. It used to be around 20-30. My friends in the hills say they don't see near the number of deer they used to.
The tree huggers and naturalists (who live in cities) think it's so nice that mountain lions and wolves have been reintroduced into the wild. I think about the only thing that will wake people up is if a toddler gets snatched out of a back yard.
There was a reason lions were eradicated in the first place.
JMHO
"Kindness is the language the deaf can hear and the blind can see." Mark Twain
You are sitting on top of some of the healthiest mountain lion habitat in the US. The overall numbers appear to be in total harmony with the carrying capacity of the land indicating an ample number of prey species available for the big cats. Problem is, naturally, the prey species preferred by the panthers happens to be the "prey species" preferred by hunters, also. From a wildlife biological standpoint you have a close to perfect situation, and this speaks well of the game commissions in the Dakotas and ajoining couple of states (in my opinion, anyhow. Look at your turkey population! God but you've got TURKEYS!)
The Black Hills of the Dakotas along with a small area in north-central Nebraska is/are supplying the big cats that are moving east reclaiming excellent habitat created by re-establishing large and healthy Whitetail Deer numbers. Big cats from the Black Hills have been identified by DNA as far east as Connecticut, and a breeding population-originating in your backyard-is thought to be in Missouri now. Southeast Missouri and Arkansas just to the South have a number of your Black Hills cats.
don't know anything about that. I'm just a new guy here hoping to learn some things . With the state of this county's affairs we all need to band together
New Guy? Yeah Right!!! :tooth:
I'm Just a Radical Right Wing Nutt Job, Trying to Help Save My Country!
Per the I-70 Scout (local weekly paper) there is at least 1 healthy tom running around on the plains here at about 5400 feet. Apparently, the cat has a taste for domestic turkey.
"The power of the United States has peaked, oppression follows." Robert Prector, Socionomics.net
Rich, Rapier is located south and east of DIA (Denver International Airport), about 20 miles NE of downtown Denver. Denver is in a bowl, so while they're at 5280 ft ABSL, most of us surrounding are a couple hundred of feet higher.
God show's mercy on drunks and dumb animals.........two outa three ain't a bad score!
Ah yes....been in and out of Stapleton dozens of times back when I was at Lowry AFB. Never the new airport, though. Bet it has coyotes on the runways just like Stapleton, though!
You're sitting well within the home range of the big cats, and the numbers around you are healthy, so it doesn't surprise me at all.
The "new" airport is ten miles NE of Stapleton and Lowry, and there's 'yote patrol daily. Another problem we have is an Eagle sanctuary that used to be the Arsenal....what this all boils down to is an explosion of rabbits with no natural predator control, as well as Mule Deer. You won't see them, but you're right, there are big cats in the ecosystem there too. If you're lucky, you may see an Elk this low, there are elk crossing signs in Douglas county 30 miles due south, they follow the drainages. I've seen one once down there, but I don't live down that way to see any more.
God show's mercy on drunks and dumb animals.........two outa three ain't a bad score!
The "new" airport is ten miles NE of Stapleton and Lowry, and there's 'yote patrol daily. Another problem we have is an Eagle sanctuary that used to be the Arsenal....what this all boils down to is an explosion of rabbits with no natural predator control, as well as Mule Deer. You won't see them, but you're right, there are big cats in the ecosystem there too. If you're lucky, you may see an Elk this low, there are elk crossing signs in Douglas county 30 miles due south, they follow the drainages. I've seen one once down there, but I don't live down that way to see any more.
My sister in Nebraska has a resident herd on their family farm that has been growing for the last 10 years or so. None were transplanted, all ambled down from the rockies most likely following the Platte river.
Nature Abhors A Vacuum! Basic law in wildlife biology, and it will be fulfilled wheather it's ticks and chiggers filling a void habitat or elk! Look at what's taking place in the central eastern states-Ky, Tenn, WVa etc with elk! Successfully re-introduced to a former habitat which sat void for a couple hundred years! These used to be native to much of the east, but were hunted to extenction along with the buffalo during the Colonial Period. Buffalo, for example, were fairly common in north Florida and the Carolinas and Ga. at one time. Habitat not too favorable to these animals now, however.
I live approximately 35 miles southwest of Colorado Springs, near the smaller town of Canon City. There are healthy lion populations all around this area. This past summer, one was even spotted on a local golf course.
The friend I cited in my initial post told me of a large female, which weighed approximately 125 lbs., that one of his clients killed last week. It was about 15-20 miles south of me. The one I mentioned in my initial post was about 15-20miles southwest of where I live.
There's a resonably good elk and mule deer population around here, as well as some bighorn sheep and wild turkeys. So, I figure they have a pretty good food source.
Jerry
Gun control laws make about as much sense as taking ex-lax to cure a cough.
Replies
Since you mentioned it, I'll add a little more to this string.
The person I mentioned in the initial post killed a lion last year. This past weekend we had dinner with him and his wife. I asked if they had eaten the lion he had killed last year. They had.
Both said that it was very good, like pork but only a little more 'delicate'.
So far, I've not heard of anyone who has eaten/tasted mountain lion that didn't like it.
As for the trudging through knee deep snow, I can see how that can be. On Sunday, my friend was hoping for snow Sunday night as they had a client coming in for a hunt and were hoping for tracking snow. He got his wish, but I have yet to hear how he did.
As a side note, you do have a certain familiar ring to your nickname, Eriicb622.
Gun control laws make about as much sense as taking ex-lax to cure a cough.
don't know anything about that. I'm just a new guy here hoping to learn some things . With the state of this county's affairs we all need to band together
Lions are putting a huge beating on the deer and elk in the Black Hills. Last season, only 3 firearm elk tags were issued for Custer State Park. It used to be around 20-30. My friends in the hills say they don't see near the number of deer they used to.
The tree huggers and naturalists (who live in cities) think it's so nice that mountain lions and wolves have been reintroduced into the wild. I think about the only thing that will wake people up is if a toddler gets snatched out of a back yard.
There was a reason lions were eradicated in the first place.
JMHO
You are sitting on top of some of the healthiest mountain lion habitat in the US. The overall numbers appear to be in total harmony with the carrying capacity of the land indicating an ample number of prey species available for the big cats. Problem is, naturally, the prey species preferred by the panthers happens to be the "prey species" preferred by hunters, also. From a wildlife biological standpoint you have a close to perfect situation, and this speaks well of the game commissions in the Dakotas and ajoining couple of states (in my opinion, anyhow. Look at your turkey population! God but you've got TURKEYS!)
The Black Hills of the Dakotas along with a small area in north-central Nebraska is/are supplying the big cats that are moving east reclaiming excellent habitat created by re-establishing large and healthy Whitetail Deer numbers. Big cats from the Black Hills have been identified by DNA as far east as Connecticut, and a breeding population-originating in your backyard-is thought to be in Missouri now. Southeast Missouri and Arkansas just to the South have a number of your Black Hills cats.
New Guy? Yeah Right!!! :tooth:
You're sitting well within the home range of the big cats, and the numbers around you are healthy, so it doesn't surprise me at all.
My sister in Nebraska has a resident herd on their family farm that has been growing for the last 10 years or so. None were transplanted, all ambled down from the rockies most likely following the Platte river.
Sako
I live approximately 35 miles southwest of Colorado Springs, near the smaller town of Canon City. There are healthy lion populations all around this area. This past summer, one was even spotted on a local golf course.
The friend I cited in my initial post told me of a large female, which weighed approximately 125 lbs., that one of his clients killed last week. It was about 15-20 miles south of me. The one I mentioned in my initial post was about 15-20miles southwest of where I live.
There's a resonably good elk and mule deer population around here, as well as some bighorn sheep and wild turkeys. So, I figure they have a pretty good food source.
Gun control laws make about as much sense as taking ex-lax to cure a cough.