Big Cat Seen
 

Here's an interesting hunting story. Nothing got shot, but you will see why. Some years ago I was visiting a friend. On the long drive through open but hilly country to his place, a dark big cat, lion sized, ran across the road in front of my car.

Later that same a day I was having some refreshment with some local hunters. I told them about the cat, they said I had been seeing things. There had been cats in those parts, they explained, but had been hunted out more than 50 years earlier.

I said I must have been mistaken, it was quick and blurry, but knew I was not. I rather liked the idea of some survivors, plus given a chance they might repopulate a little. I got the idea if I had insisted, some of the guys would be up there looking for tracks at first light.

I only wish I could remember where in the world it was.. :rolleyes: I think that one will remain between me and the cat.

Re: Big Cat Seen
 

Tranter,

There are more cats than people think because they are very secretive. They are making a comeback in Texas. In mountain country like the Appalachians & Rockies they are repopulating quite fast.

What part of the world did you see this cat?

I walked up on about a 150 lb black bear in Beaver's Bend State Park in SE Oklahoma. It took off and ran across the river and made a hard left behind a cedar tree. I was some shook up and cast all morning looking over my shoulder upstream and didn't catch many trout. The river was about 3' deep there and that made quite an impression on me. My fishing buddy basically called me a liar. He recounted that when another buddy saw a bear run across the road near there.

Cats are cool, but I wouldn't want to fight one over my deer. :eek:

Re: Big Cat Seen
 

I think that big cats bother me more than bears. The cats are just to stealthy and can be on you before you know it.

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and thats why I carry The Judge....

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I read about a wild jaguar that wildlife biologists caught, put a satellite tracking collar on him, and released him this spring in Arizona. There may be a few in the US, but sightings are infrequent.

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I give up what is the judge?

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Maybe it was a British "Lion," Tranter. Did it look like it was playing rugby? :D;):p

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Well, I like you so I will give a State, but not exactly where, yes it was the US and it was...............................Arizona.

We actually have big cats living wild in the UK :eek: Yes, they have been seen regularly by reliable people such as park rangers and the sort. Many sightings have been made in our west country, Cornwall, Devon, Somerset.

There must only be a few and they keep themselves to themselves. No one seems too sure where they came from, escapes from private zoos or overgrown unofficial pets released seem popular theories. But they are there and have been filmed and photographed quite often.

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Could it have been a British Shorthair, Tranter? :D;)

http://fanciers.com/art/bsh-laydown.jpg

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I remember seeing footage of that. I take it, you still haven't sorted that out yet. I would have thought you'd have a skin on the back of your couch by now!

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Yea buddy. We had a great lease in North Louisiana for 8 years. This was quite a while back. Over time we would get reports from others in the group that they saw a bob cat, or a yote, and then one day we got a report of a big cat. Seasons go by and you don't think much of it. Well one day I am in my stand which is 12' off the ground, self supported with 4 legs set in the corner of field. It was not a closed stand it was wide open. I used to use a springfield sar 8 with a scope on it. One morning i am sitting in my stand watching all the trails. A cat gave me that (deep lung) growl just at my right side. When I say just at my right side I mean this cat was no more than 10 feet from me. Danger close. I felt something radiate from my toe nails and shot up my body and made my hair stand on my head. I took that sar-8, swung it around and let a 20 rnd pack of 308 fly.

I must have looked like a 60 gunner on a chopper in nam. I had never been so scared hunting in all my life.

You see pics of big cats up on the heals of deer and it makes you wonder. Some of the guys would call me crazy packing (3) 20 round clips. I was never afraid of the 4 legged animals. In Louisiana, it's the 2 legged type you gotta worry about. Or so I thought.

I never had a clue this cat was on me that close. Not a clue. You can hear birds, squirls, rabbits, anything move but I didn't hear a thing with this one.

Funny thing is I never saw it eigther. Buy the time I swung around, and locked on the ground and the first bullet flew it was over.

It was real hard to get out of that stand. I remember making it back to camp, feeling weak, laughing hysterically and went straight for the whiskey.

Re: Big Cat Seen
 

Taurus makes The Judge, it's a .45/.410 revolver. I don't have one, but it looks like fun to me!

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It looks like this and it is fun to shoot. Mine is an "older" ultra light version with a 2 1/2 inch chamber. The new ones have a 3 inch chamber!

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Hey Trantor, not only did you more than likely see a lion it is just that they are very secretive and mainly like to stay out of sight. The Lee brothers made a living hunting and killing Lions in Arizona and New Mexico for years. When I was still in the military I hunted three different times in Arizona with dogs for lions. Had a great time and treed several lions including one male that was over nine feet and approximately 175 pounds.Besides even if some guys went up to look for tracks, most people today can't tell a lion track from a Coyote track. Two years ago I got called for a "Problem Lion" that had crossed a snow covered road. I loaded up the dogs and was at the spot in approximately three hours from the time the tracks were spotted. However since Bear season was over I didn't run and tree this young bear that probably weighed about 100 pounds :eek::o.I have hunted all my life (over 50 years) and have been able to actually see, without the aid of dogs, a grand total of two Lions. Both were actively attempting to put a lot of distance between them and me. I have on occasion actually poked them with a stick to make them jump out of a tree so we could run and tree them again. They are not that aggressive against humans if they can run, besides that they are one of the most beautiful creatures in the wild. Well in my humble opinion anyway.:D Rant over. catfish

Re: Big Cat Seen
 

lets see, dogs & bears leave claw marks, cats dont. right?

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The NH Fish & Game will not officially confirm, but there have been a a few reports coming in of mountain lion sightings here in NH (Great North Woods area).

There have also been some wolf-sized dog-like animals caught on trail cams recently, and half the people say they are wolves, and half who see the pics say they are large coyotes. Frankly, I'm not taking my chances because 'yote or not, they are the size of a german shepard.

There are also a a great many bear here where I live, much more than 20 years ago. Just like Ig-pay-atin-lay-ater-hey, I carry a sidearm all the time in the woods now. Its an S&W 629. Boom!

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I've come across cat tracks slightly larger then my hand in the foot hills of the Huachuca mountains, heard em scream at night, makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck, of course here in Oregon we've got lots of cats, but never saw a print as large as that Arizona cat.

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My step mother has got a picture or a couger that was in her front yard there in GA. I personally have found deer remains that were tore up somethin horrible with tracks all round and they werent bear or dogs.

Re: Big Cat Seen
 

OLD THREAD.... and the cats are still out there and out here also...
This was done by a large cat... the owners neighbor saw the cat walking away from the horse...

10 min. later I'm still looking for the pic. I can't remember the file ---I have thousands. HOWERVER you can see this pic on the other thread about ....MORE ON BIG CATS.... on the hunting and fishing part of this forum....


later catman

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I'm getting old and forgetful ...I found the pic ... what do you think..
later catman

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I think the horse did not stand a chance. Too bad.

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I live in California, east of Sacramento in the Sierras at 4000'. I've seen one mountain lion since I've been here (4 years). That one walked across the back of my neighbor's property about 100' away from the patio where 12 people were having a BBQ. I've also had that "low growl" experience. One Thanksgiving my wife and I took a walk to let the turkey settle. We left at dusk and as it was getting dark, stopped alongside the road to rest. From the bushes immediately behind us we heard the low, rumbling growl of a very large critter. I told my wife to slowly walk home, while I walked behind her facing whatever was in the brush. We had no weapon, only a flashlight, and made it back to the house without incident.

The attached picture is of a print I found on the doormat on our deck just outside the garage door. I had noticed that the garage cats had been a bit freaked out that morning. As I was working in the garage, I noticed that some plywood sheets that I had laying on the floor were covered with the same prints. No wonder the cats were all rolled up in little balls of fur hiding in the dark recesses of the garage.

I compared the prints to some on-line sources and believe them to be a large bobcat or small mountain lion. Can anyone verify that?

Mountain lion sighting aren't rare on our road. Neighbors have seen them hunting on their property, deer remains have been found, and the PG&E man has advised that a lion has made a weekender's property his home, which is just across the road from us.

John

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Bad news about this cat, Pinecone. The fish and game agents used too much tranquilizer and it died.

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I hear about cat sightings almost every week, from all across the east and mid-west but no one post their sightings here. Why ? is it because its a so called dead horse issue that no one wants to hear about because you think no one will believe you anyway...??
later catman

Re: Big Cat Seen
 

I saw a huge cat in Jefferson, SC crossing the rd just after dawn one morning. It was HUGE; tail to nose about 8'. (measured by 10' traffic lane) It was also jet black; much like that pic catman.

I went to the game warden office as soon as I got back to Darlington Co. They didn't call me a liar. But, they told me they weren't aware of any cat populations in that area.

I am an experienced hunter and woodsman. I'm also educated in "wildlife" biology. I have no doubt that what I saw was the BIGGEST cat I've ever seen in the wild; and it was BLACK.