Texas Hunting Forum

Mountain lion territory?

Posted By: the rattler

Mountain lion territory? - 11/17/14 06:12 PM

I have a friend with a ranch in Aspermont, he lost 2 300+lb calves in the last 2 weeks to a big cat. I'm thinking maybe more than one cat. He also saw over 10 coyotes this wkend, killing 2. We always new there were big cats in that area and swore on more than one occasion that we heard something at nite outside the tents, now we know for sure. The coyotes are there to clean up the carcass but he now has a true predator problem. Who else has definitive proof of cats and where?
Posted By: SniperRAB

Re: Mountain lion territory? - 11/17/14 07:44 PM

We have taken one off our place and we have been there as a group for 23 years...for every one you are lucky enough to see they have already seen you..always heard they are ranchy creatures...I'm sure there are guys out there w hounds if you don't mind Dogs all over your place..


Posted By: catslayer

Re: Mountain lion territory? - 11/17/14 07:48 PM

Coleman area, family members have seen them/shot at them... People who live there and know the critters and who I trust what they say.... Unless its about fishing, fishing is a WHOLE NOTHER THING
Posted By: Grosvenor

Re: Mountain lion territory? - 11/17/14 08:07 PM

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_br_w7000_0232.pdf

Watch out for the black ones...
Posted By: Deerhunter61

Re: Mountain lion territory? - 11/17/14 08:32 PM

Originally Posted By: Grosvenor


Dude! What are you trying to start....
Posted By: gary roberson

Re: Mountain lion territory? - 11/17/14 09:38 PM

It is rare for lions to kill 300+ pound calves when there are lots of deer and hogs in an area. You are correct that the coyotes are no doubt moving in and cleaning up the carcasses and will until all is gone. Mountain lions don't eat carrion. Bear are much worse about killing livestock, especially cattle than lions. Are you sure these cattle were killed by a predator or other illness?
I will also say that if a dog man comes in with TRAINED and BROKE hounds, they will not bother your deer. Deer are smart enough to know when they are pursued and dogs that are trailing across the country won't bother them. I have seen deer lying with a 100 yards of where my dogs were treed as they knew that the dogs offered no threat.
Adios,
Gary
Posted By: DENTPUSHA

Re: Mountain lion territory? - 11/17/14 10:19 PM

I was told that two were spotted on our lease north of aspermont but I've never seen any sign. There are a ridiculous amount of coyote out there.
Posted By: Erathkid

Re: Mountain lion territory? - 11/18/14 01:32 AM

The salt fork north of Aspermont would be great country to range if you were a cat. I'm sure they're around, somewhere.
Posted By: HornSlayer

Re: Mountain lion territory? - 11/18/14 02:58 AM

Originally Posted By: gary roberson
It is rare for lions to kill 300+ pound calves when there are lots of deer and hogs in an area. You are correct that the coyotes are no doubt moving in and cleaning up the carcasses and will until all is gone. Mountain lions don't eat carrion. Bear are much worse about killing livestock, especially cattle than lions. Are you sure these cattle were killed by a predator or other illness?
I will also say that if a dog man comes in with TRAINED and BROKE hounds, they will not bother your deer. Deer are smart enough to know when they are pursued and dogs that are trailing across the country won't bother them. I have seen deer lying with a 100 yards of where my dogs were treed as they knew that the dogs offered no threat.
Adios,
Gary


Well put. Straight dogs don't bother deer or anything else.

Hey by the way, I shot a lion 3 miles north of Coleman back in August. Didn't get a good clean shot and wasn't wearing snake protection so I didn't look all that much. I spun him around but didn't draw enough blood to make me chase a wounded cat through knee deep grass and cactus.
Posted By: KWood_TSU

Re: Mountain lion territory? - 11/18/14 03:13 AM

Originally Posted By: the rattler
I have a friend with a ranch in Aspermont, he lost 2 300+lb calves in the last 2 weeks to a big cat. I'm thinking maybe more than one cat. He also saw over 10 coyotes this wkend, killing 2. We always new there were big cats in that area and swore on more than one occasion that we heard something at nite outside the tents, now we know for sure. The coyotes are there to clean up the carcass but he now has a true predator problem. Who else has definitive proof of cats and where?


If it was a cat, you didn't hear them outside your tent if it was walking.
Posted By: Brian C.

Re: Mountain lion territory? - 11/18/14 06:17 PM

Well said Gary. One indicator to take note of is at times when a lion or lions move in you will notice your deer herd will move out.
Posted By: Dave Scott

Re: Mountain lion territory? - 11/18/14 07:05 PM

I hear tell that if dogs kill livestock or deer they rip it apart from the outside whereas a wild animal tears open the guts and eats the thing inside out. Is there any way to tell if livestock was killed by a cat/lion versus yotes?
On the range. I think that cats/lions on occasion roam, so a normal home range but they can show up beyond normal range at times. The wildlife depts. always seem to down play that notion.
Posted By: Jimbo

Re: Mountain lion territory? - 11/18/14 07:31 PM

If you find a fresh kill from a cat they usually try to bury the kill or parts (cover with leaves and twigs)and come back later and finish their meal.
Posted By: Kiko-G

Re: Mountain lion territory? - 11/18/14 08:13 PM

We have a bunch of them in the ranch in Mexico. As Jimbo said, they will cover their pray and come back later to eat it. You'll find the claw marks on the face of their pray. Back in 96 there were also two calves killed and we found them buried. He was eating the carcass when we found him, but in missed my shot with an old iron sights 30-30. My cousin an I took turns day and night sitting on a tree for over kill for 2 nights before the cat showed up again and was killed by my cousin with a 22lr he had for back up of all things because he missed his first shot the 30-30.
Posted By: Double Naught Spy

Re: Mountain lion territory? - 11/18/14 11:24 PM

Originally Posted By: gary roberson
It is rare for lions to kill 300+ pound calves when there are lots of deer and hogs in an area. You are correct that the coyotes are no doubt moving in and cleaning up the carcasses and will until all is gone. Mountain lions don't eat carrion.


Mountain lions certainly will eat carrion, though it may not be their primary diet. They prefer fresh meat, but are not limited to fresh meat. "Fresh" may be a bit ambiguous as noted by the fact that they will return to a kill (which is carrion) for multiple days.

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/wildlife_damage/nwrc/publications/00pubs/00-54.pdf
http://bismarcktribune.com/lifestyles/ou...19bb2963f4.html
http://mountainlion.org/CAL_ch4.asp
Posted By: gary roberson

Re: Mountain lion territory? - 11/19/14 02:48 PM

They will return to it for several days, especially in winter months when temps are cooler. There are exceptions to every rule as a lion will eat carrion if he has nothing else but as you said, they prefer fresher kills. A youngster or any lion that is having difficulty killing their own food may have to resort to eating carrion in order to survive but that is not what they really want. If the lion is healthy, there are so many critters that lions can kill across most of their range that they rarely have to eat something that is rotted and stinking. Ironically, jaguars have no problem eating something that stinks as I have seen them eat goats that were killed for several days in 80+ degree temps. Coyotes don't mind the stink either and that is why they do a lot of the clean up of carcasses.
Adios,
Gary
Posted By: Dave Scott

Re: Mountain lion territory? - 11/19/14 05:13 PM

Interesting, I didn't know mountain lions would save and return to a kill. Years ago we had a bunch of goats getting killed. They were all ripped apart and folks thought it was bears or yotes and I figured farm dogs running free.
Posted By: gary roberson

Re: Mountain lion territory? - 11/19/14 08:45 PM

Lions don't always cover their kills. I have found a couple of kills where it appeared that the lion pretty much sat on the carcass and feed until most all was consumed. This was done after the lion drug the kill to heavy cover or carried it uphill and tucked under a rim rock...in both cases, the carcasses was pretty well hidden.
Adios,
Gary
Posted By: Toxarch

Re: Mountain lion territory? - 11/21/14 06:05 PM

They are all over in Texas.
We hunt a friend's ranch South of Breckenridge, Tx. A mountain lion killed 8 calves between his ranch and the neighbor's ranch (1500 acres combined) over 2 months. We found paw prints around one of the tanks that is next to the fence line of the 2 properties. I'm guessing it killed that much because it had cubs, but we never saw any paw prints from the cubs.
Another friend has a place North of Bend. Two guys have said they've seen a mountain lion on the ranch. A good size male was killed near Bend and pics posted on here.
A couple of friends live North of Weatherford. One guy saw one crossing the road in his headlights within a mile of his house. He stopped the truck so that he didn't run it over. It could've cared less about the truck coming at it. The farmer near there said it's out in his hay field sometimes and has cubs. He doesn't have livestock and it doesn't attack people so he leaves it alone. Last year, 5 miles South of that sighting, a mountain lion did attack a friend's horse. Claw marks down the rear quarters and paw prints along the creek. At the same time, reports of seeing it and missing pets were all around his place.
Posted By: crapicat

Re: Mountain lion territory? - 11/25/14 01:50 AM

Originally Posted By: Toxarch
They are all over in Texas.
We hunt a friend's ranch South of Breckenridge, Tx. A mountain lion killed 8 calves between his ranch and the neighbor's ranch (1500 acres combined) over 2 months. We found paw prints around one of the tanks that is next to the fence line of the 2 properties. I'm guessing it killed that much because it had cubs, but we never saw any paw prints from the cubs.
Another friend has a place North of Bend. Two guys have said they've seen a mountain lion on the ranch. A good size male was killed near Bend and pics posted on here.
A couple of friends live North of Weatherford. One guy saw one crossing the road in his headlights within a mile of his house. He stopped the truck so that he didn't run it over. It could've cared less about the truck coming at it. The farmer near there said it's out in his hay field sometimes and has cubs. He doesn't have livestock and it doesn't attack people so he leaves it alone. Last year, 5 miles South of that sighting, a mountain lion did attack a friend's horse. Claw marks down the rear quarters and paw prints along the creek. At the same time, reports of seeing it and missing pets were all around his place.


Yea, I got one running the bottoms on a lease property...done lost a couple of calves the last few months...hope me or the neighbor get him...I am setting up night vision equipment just for the endeavor and waiting on the winter chill to draw it out of the heavy brush. Guess the calves were easier prey than the hogs...
Posted By: JDGambino

Re: Mountain lion territory? - 11/26/14 01:59 AM

I killed one a few years ago south of Ozona. Only the second one I have ever seen. They are more common then people think. Most just don't make mistakes to be seen.
Posted By: Rifleman1775

Re: Mountain lion territory? - 11/27/14 01:18 PM

Got a pic of a cat on my trail cam. My lease is near Apple Springs. First pic was hard to tell for sure but found a second pic a from a few days later that confirmed it. Can't get it to upload for some reason. I'll keep trying.
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