Catch and release lion hunting?

mtlion

Well-Known Member
Here are some pics of a lion that was treed by myself and some friends last year. We let it go...it was just a lil' one :D

607dea6c.jpg


634184ec.jpg


d19a7e3a.jpg


The terrain...
bb885f2f.jpg


One of the hounds at work.
7c4308c8.jpg


5820b138.jpg


As we were trailing we found where the cat relieved itself...
e0674f3d.jpg
 
Nice pics.
What are the chances of him coming down the tree with you all there ?

Years ago a friend of mine got to hunt mountain lions, unfortunately when I went to the states with him it had all stopped where we were.
We had to make do with racoons, certainly different but very good fun.
 
Nice pics.
What are the chances of him coming down the tree with you all there ?

Years ago a friend of mine got to hunt mountain lions, unfortunately when I went to the states with him it had all stopped where we were.
We had to make do with racoons, certainly different but very good fun.

nick100 It's funny you should mention that they can and do come out of the tree. Sometimes lions that have been caught many times learn to jump and run and sometimes they can shake the dogs. The very first lion I ever saw was a nice big tom that we treed. I was carrying my bow and another guy had a pistol. I was on pins and needles and wanted to nock an arrow just in case but the old timer I was with was very nonchalant about it. He pulled the dogs back and tied them up a distance away, standard practice so they don't get chewed up when you shoot the lion and it tumbles out of the tree. After that he went and stood right under the tree. After a few moments the cat decided that the dogs were far enough away he could risk making a break for it. I heard it coming down the tree and yelled out as the old timer simply took one step to the side as if it were no more than a pesky bee. He had the dogs back on it and it was treed again within a few hundred yards. The man carrying the pistol then dispatched it from the second tree. Another time a friend and I took two inexperienced hunters out with only one hound and after a very long brutal slog up several mountains, the new guys beat us to the treed cat. Instead of getting right under the tree to help the lone dog keep the cat up they instead stood 40 yards away and taunted it by making cat noises at it. Just as my friend and I reach the tree all wore out their taunting made it jump and we had to continue a couple more miles before we caught it again and killed it, it was a tom.

As a matter of fact if you look close the pics of this cat are in 2 different trees. It bailed out of one and after another good chase we caught it again. I have a really cool pic as well as some video of him coming stright down the trunk of a pine I'll see if I can find it.
 
Mtlion,

Do you guys use telemtry collars or just listen for the hounds when they tree something ?

Is it still legal to kill them ? If so is there a limit on numbers or do you have to draw for it ?

I treed a cat with my dogs the other day, that came down the tree pretty quickly when I pulled my dogs away.
Not quite the same as yours though.

Would love to see the video if you find it.
 
Mtlion,

Do you guys use telemtry collars or just listen for the hounds when they tree something ?

Is it still legal to kill them ? If so is there a limit on numbers or do you have to draw for it ?

I treed a cat with my dogs the other day, that came down the tree pretty quickly when I pulled my dogs away.
Not quite the same as yours though.

Would love to see the video if you find it.

I recently finished graduate school and was in no position to have hounds of my own so I hunt with friends of mine. The guys I chase with 99% of the time do not use telemetry collars, they are old fashioned like that. I have chased from time to time with some other guys that use the collars. It's not always listen for them treeing, a lot of times you turn them loose and within minutes you won't hear them at all. You then have no choice but to get on the tracks and follow it out. I have treed lions 1/4 mile off the road or after following them for several miles over very serious terrain. We can kill them here there is a season and quota and you must buy a license. Generally each district has a quota for males and females and as long as the quota is open you can kill. From Sept to Dec it is open but no dogs are allowed. From Dec. 1 to April 14 it is legal to use hounds. Even after the quoata closes you can still chase and tree but no harvest is allowed. I live about 3 1/2 hours away from my friends with dogs but they are probably out looking for one today!

If you like that stuff I have a lot of pics and stories to go along!
 
I recently finished graduate school and was in no position to have hounds of my own so I hunt with friends of mine. The guys I chase with 99% of the time do not use telemetry collars, they are old fashioned like that. I have chased from time to time with some other guys that use the collars. It's not always listen for them treeing, a lot of times you turn them loose and within minutes you won't hear them at all. You then have no choice but to get on the tracks and follow it out. I have treed lions 1/4 mile off the road or after following them for several miles over very serious terrain. We can kill them here there is a season and quota and you must buy a license. Generally each district has a quota for males and females and as long as the quota is open you can kill. From Sept to Dec it is open but no dogs are allowed. From Dec. 1 to April 14 it is legal to use hounds. Even after the quoata closes you can still chase and tree but no harvest is allowed. I live about 3 1/2 hours away from my friends with dogs but they are probably out looking for one today!

If you like that stuff I have a lot of pics and stories to go along!

Wicked, tell us more !
Kev.
 
Would love to see the video if you find it.

OK I found them. What happened was I saw the cat coming down the tree and had time to snap a very quick still shot. Thinking it would be good video I switched the camera over in time to get a short vid of him bailing with hounds on his heels...As you can hear we all get a little excited at the sight of that! :D

Here he is coming straight down the tree.

b17262b0.jpg


The video...(click on the pic below).

 
Last edited:
Oh my god !!!!
That thing coming down the tree like that would get your attention.

Keep the stories and pics coming please.
 
Well here's one we didn't release...It made the Pope and Young record book and the MT archery record book as well.

lion063.jpg


lion062-1.jpg


lion061.jpg
 
Last edited:
thats a serious pussy, did you have him mounted? went to Montana on holiday, huge wilderness area, a hunters paradise. deerwarden
 
do those hounds hunt black bear as well ?

Unfortunately not in my home state. It is illegal to use dogs on bear but we can hunt them by stalking. As a matter of fact our spring season opens next month. I have taken a couple of nice chocolate colored black bears here. In the neighboring state Idaho, you can run bear with hounds. IMO it is better because you can tree the bear and judge it for age and sex. A lot of young and female bear get shot here because it is difficult to find them and they don't always give you a lot of time when you do.
 
I booked a trip yo Idaho for a spring hunt for black bear with Darl Allred a couple of years back but i had to drop out due to personal problems , my friend went but had no luck . Its on my list of things to do and ill get round to it one day
 
Thats the way to do it calling them not treeing them with dogs.

Cougar, no disrespect but have you had opportunity to try either method? Our lions in Montana are very pressured and are extremly call shy. Calling them in is quite the feat, I have a friend who has called in a couple but with the exception of that one guy I don't know anybody else who has done it. That being said there is nothing wrong with treeing them with hounds. Most men physically can't or won't follow most of the trails we run. I have seen many, many men through the years who have gone out once with us and will never return. You almost have to be mentally ill and love self punishment to get any enjoyment out of it sometimes. When you release on a track you don't know if the cat is a mile away or ten, and the hunt is not over when you get tired, it is over when you collect your dogs. That is one reason my friends do not use telemetry collars, it takes much more skill and endurance to follow a track out rather than sitting back and honing in on the tree with telemetry gear once the cat is treed. Chasing those hounds has taken me places I otherwise would never have set foot in, beautiful places. I wouldn't trade those experiences for anything.


Another huge plus of treeing the cats is you can identify sex and age before pulling the trigger. This is impossible to do with a cat on the ground especially when faced with a split second decision. Accidentally kill a female in a closed quota and you are in a world of hurt.


Houndsmen are an integral part of game management here and using them as a tool to control lion numbers benefits all of our ungulate populations to the nth degree. A lot of the houndsmen I run with consider controlling lions to be their duty and our deer and elk hunting is the better for it. If you find yourself in Montana in the winter months I invite you to tag along with us for a couple days to see exactly what it is we do, and then you may make an informed decision.

I'm glad you guys like the pics...like I said I have many more.
 
Back
Top