theres your black cat

Work!

Being a Fl boy, this fact still amazes me. People are not familiar with this, even back home...

Not in Texas, but 40 years ago I and a friend were exploring old silver mines east of Phoenix and from a view above one of the mines we saw two cougars enter the mine. That was the end of exploring those mines for me.

Naysay all they want. I had the exact same experience at Richland Creek on the north side. It was about 4:00 in the afternoon.

Saw one just a mile or so from the Colorado river just north of Brady. Rolling around on its back in a wheat field. It was only about 30 yards from the highway. Awesome sight.

It is true that you can spend a lot of time in the woods with lions and rarely ever see one, I have hunted the north Idaho mountains intensively for around 30 years and seen about 10 that were not caught or being pursued by dogs, this is in an area with a very well established population, years ago I would spend roughly 150 days per year in the field now it's more like 250-300, that averages to 100's of days afield per lion sighting. There is no doubt they are spreading out and I am sure there are more cats in a lot of places than there were 10, 20, 30 years ago.

My best chance encounter lion sighting story occurred while I was hiking on a Forest Service trail trying to catch up to some of my hounds that were in pursuit of a particularly cagey black bear, I had been through that section of trail a couple times already that day and had just turned around once again and went perhaps 100 yards when off to my left in the thick brush along a flat river bottom all hell broke loose, I figured I had just jumped some resting elk by the racket, I rushed ahead a few yards to an opening in the trees to get a view of the river bottom, as soon as I stopped a couple things became immediately apparent, whatever it was was shorter than the bushes and coming strait at me, I took a quick step or 2 backward and a still spotted whitetail fawn came screaming across the trail right where I had just been standing, about a quarter second and 3 feet behind it was an adult tom lion, I am not sure who was the most startled by the whole encounter but by the time I got my hand on the 44 mag I was carrying in a shoulder holster the cat was gone and I could have kicked it when it went by me, I think the deer was the most scared one but it was a lucky break for the fawn because it broke the cats focus, the cat was definitely a little taken back and the last thing I saw of the cat he was looking back over his shoulder at me like what the hell did I just see...

I had walked right by this cat twice already that day and I am sure I have passed within rifle range of many, many others but just because they are there does not mean you are going to see them with any regularity or ever for that matter. With all this being said I have also driven a lot of miles to look at numerous reported lion tracks that turned out to be everything from large bobcats to melted out coyote tracks in the snow so I take it with a grain of salt when a greenhorn tells me they saw a cat or cat sign, there are few cat experts out there even where there is a good population of cats, I definitely weigh the source of such info carefully before I load up the hounds and go tearing off in pursuit of reported cats or sign these days.

One thing I will say is if they are there eventually someone will get a trail camera picture that in undeniably a lion.

Yes, in archer county waiting on sunrise on a dove hunt. Pretty awesome!

Once in the mid 90's in the eastern part of Callahan County.(not on my ranch but close) Didn't mention to anyone as to what I had seen until our game warden, Vance Wallace came in the store a few weeks later and I described the critter as to color, physical characteristics, including the long tail. He confirmed that it was a cougar. Turned out that I was not the first to ask Vance about him. Never saw him again and have never seen another. Consider myself exceptionally lucky to have seen one. Beautiful animal!

Saw 4 in Texas a Momma and 3 Cubs, setting on a water hole in Williamson County on a hot August afternoon.

Clarkforkoutfitters,

Great pictures!!! I also enjoyed reading your comments and can't imagine how exciting that must have been to see that lion chasing that fawn so close to you.

Once when I was a teenager in south east Brown county, but it could have been a yellow lab that moved like a cat! Didn't see a deer that day at a blind that at least 10-15 doe would show up to every day!

Except that it's not black but it is a cat. Or it appears cat like anyway!

My father-in-law worked for Santa Fe for 40 years so that's lots and lots of miles and he said he has seen a total of 2. 1 in Coleman county and another in Mills county. They also found an alligator at a crossing in Mills county in the early 90s. About 5 ft long and still not sure where it came from.

the one i saw at r.chambers was where there used to be a county road
that came in from the north. maybe a half a mile from the gate there
not too far from the first pump jack. (don't know if any pumpjacks are
still there or not ) this was during muzzleload hog. a dark cat was
hunkered down in the brush on the side, and i though it was a hog.
about time i brought up my rifle, this "hog" jumped over the width
of the road without touching any gravel. if it were so inclined, it
could have had me before i could blink.

Aeb, knew Vance well before he got posted at Bourne. In fact almost bought his ranch. We had a lion on our lease south of Putnam about 12 miles, and real close to Vances ranch. My son and I saw him around 4:00 in the afternoon right after we shot a buck. Next day the ranch owner lost 3 calfs next to the main house. Called Vance and he confirmed there is a cat in the area and to shoot it if possible.

Three. One in Co. while hunting mulies. One in Runnels Co. next to the Colorado River. One in Panola County in the Sabine River bottom. The one in Co. looked like an adult, the other two looked a little over half-grown. All in good daylight and unmistakably cougars.

We were north of Megargel, NW part of Archer Co.

Yep, saw 1 in Kemp in about 2007. Was out getting ready to coyote hunt and didn't have a rifle out yet. It was about 75 yards away. Beautiful animal. It vanished in the weeds. Never did figure out how it just disappeared like that. Made it spooky hunting past dark out there.

Never seen one, but this was on my moms porch last Tuesday in Ruidoso. Grew up there, see prints all the time and have never seen one....go figure.

Back around 1978. Me and two high school buddies were out coon hunting without dogs, just walking the river bottom shining our headlights up in trees. Kent squeeled like a little girl and almost tripped over his own feet trying to get away from this big oak. I looked up and there is this huge set of eyes starring down at my light. The 22 in my hand was suddenly not very reassuring.

We lost interest in raccoons for the rest of the night. Being stupid teenagers, we drove back to town and returned with my .243 and two shotguns, loaded with 00. We creep up on this tree and of course the cat is no longer there, which got us freaked out. We went back to the truck. If anything had made a sound near us, there would have been gunfire.

You should have drawn straws and the loser had to stay out there and keep the cat treed while the others went to town for some fire power.

I called one in just west of Fort Stockton. My buddy killed another one we saw sitting in a hole in some rimrock Terrell county south of Sheffield.

I saw one maybe 7 years ago in Comanche county, near DeLeon. Had spent a long day working cows, and we were sitting on the porch enjoying a cold, adult, beverage. When one came out of the scrub maybe 50 yards away, sauntered across the drive way and went back into the scrub. Never paid us any attention, was kind of a cool way to end a long day.

caught a few cougars turned them all back though