Bobc got dragged off...

I went through this whole post to see if there was ever an answer and here I am sitting like a fool...where is the update

Thats a big cat

Bobc, if your lease is near Deer Meadows, I can tell you there has been a lion seen in that area since this past spring. It has been feeding on pigs.

Also, there are no gators between Seadrift/POC along the ICW. While an occasional one is seen in those ponds, they're usually small ones. Gators do not like salt water and won't stay in it very long. Most of the gators seen on the bay are after heavy rains or flooding, especially when the river dumps a lot into SAB.

Now if you are on the inland side of 185, there are some swampy areas that hold a few small gators. But I've never heard of a gator that would make that big of drag. Of course I don't hear of everything. but the really big gators are all up in the headwaters of SAB towards mission lake and greens lake. There are hundreds of monster gators up there.

Finally, gators are usually holed up by November. They may come out a little, but I think it would be highly unlikely and unusual for a big gator to be walking across pastures in Nov with little rain

A lion would tend to leave LARGE footprints in the soft ground where the drag was made, particularly off to one side as indicated by the lion pics above. No such footprints are evident.

Similarly, no such lateral footprints are evident had a gator been through.

Agree with you. I'm just saying in that area, based upon recent sightings, I think it would be more likely a big cat than gator. Not counting the hundred other explanations.

I used to hunt on the ICW near Winnie and there were millions of gators, including enormous ones and I saw them in salt water all the dang time.

Photoshop

Sorry guys, no update to speak of. Property has southern border on intracoastal between POC and Seadrift and the feeder where I found the drag spot is about 2 miles inland. We have had a few small gators around this area, but nothing big. Last game cam pics just showed our usual deer, hogs and sandhills. Will keep game cam up at this feeder and hope we find the source. Keep hoping ranch foreman will have info, since he is on property almost daily and refilling feeders regularly. Bob

An update. Neither foreman or game cam has shed any more light on this. Interestingly, I shot a doe on last day of doe/spike season and took photo a few minutes later of new deer that came in to feed. Not at all spooked by doe in background. When I dragged her out to the vehicle I looked back and saw my own drag marks that are nearly identical to my 1st post. I'm pretty sure that the first pic showed furred animal being dragged thru sand. Since I was on locked property and any vehicle would have had to drive past me to the first feeder, I can pretty well rule out a poacher unless he walked in 3 miles from the intracoastal. My best guess is still that a predator nailed a small hog or deer and dragged under the feeder. Still hoping that game cam on property will show something eventually.





In the new drag mark there is a blood trail unlike the first.

In my experience some deer just don't care that their buddy is lying dead next to them. Almost as if they see it as one less mouth to compete with.