You may have heard of Byron before, I actually learned of him right here on the Bowsite thanks to a tip from Bou'bound a couple years back. I hunted Cougar once before in British Columbia back in 2003 but was unsuccessful.
I arrived in Edmonton on Saturday, Jan. 3 and was greeted at the airport by James Normandeau, one of Byron's guides, along with bitter cold temperatures. James actually had a bit of frostbite on his cheek from hunting for the past three weeks in temps. as low as minus 30c. The low this evening got down to minus 39c, which is essentially forty below zero, fahrenheit. Luckily, the forecast was calling for a warming trend for the following week.
Byron has 6 non-resident allocations (tags) with 5 being close to his home in the ranch land near Drayton Valley (west of Edmonton) and one further south in the Livingston Range of the Canadian Rockies, west of Calgary. Not being in top condition, I was a bit intimidated to learn that I would be the one non-resident hunter this year hunting the toughest part of Byron's territory. He explained that we would be spending Sunday getting the vast amount of equipment prepped and loaded for our 4 hour road trip south to the hunting area, which we would be doing early Monday morning.
I spent two very comfortable nights in the bunkhouse while Byron's wife Cindy fed us well and helped prepare for our trip. The attention to detail that Byron, James and our third guide, Jeff Wright spent getting the equipment ready was impressive. The entire day was spent making sure all the trucks, quads, snowmobiles, electronics and of course, the dogs were in the best shape possible. I was eager to get started with the hunt but was more than happy to wait an extra day to ensure we were totally set. Especially since my previous Cougar hunt was a memory of constantly trying to keep the gear working and wasting my valuable hunting time with broken snowmobiles.
We left in the dark on the morning of Monday the 5th.
Anyway, I'll try my next post again and see what happens.
A warm wind had come up and we were losing the snow here in the foothills so Byron decided to head into the bigger mountains to our west.
On our way we ran into a flock of 25-30 wild turkeys and a band of over 20 Bighorn Sheep. Believe it or not, Byron was way more excited about the Turkeys.
At least we knew there was a big Tom around and we would be back early to try and sort out where the dogs lost him.
I got my bow/gear ready and we hopped on the sleds and climbed as far up the mountain as we could.
As we topped the ridge, we could hear the choppy barks of the dogs far below us down in the valley. As James, Jeff and I paused to catch our breath before our descent, Byron reached the tree and radioed back the news that the dogs had treed a female.
Apparently, this big Tom knew the game and had tricked the dogs again up in the rocks.
Jeff and I hiked down to video and photograph the female as James and Byron tried to sort out what went wrong.
Byron finally signaled us to leash the dogs and pull them off the tree. Though the initial hike up the other side was rough, it was nothing compared to dragging two dogs back up and over again. They did not want to leave that cat.
When we were sure he was still contained in the loop we'd made, Byron took 4 dogs on a sled and punched back into the middle of the box and tried to sort out where the tom lost the dogs again, the day before.
He found a cave up above timberline and the entrance was bloodied, where the dogs had worked the ground hard trying to find that cat. All day long, a warm wind and temps above freezing continued to peel the snow off the mountain-tops. It was starting to look like we'd never catch up with this cat.
We worked our way up a logging road, sorting through old Lion, Wolf and Deer tracks, but finding nothing worth trailing. We hit a sign saying locked-gate one kilometer ahead and realized we were almost to the end of our day. We were certainly disappointed as the emotional roller coaster was bottoming out.
But when we reached the gate we were relieved to see it was open so we continued on our way up the mountain. Sure enough, Jeff jumps out of the truck just up the road from the gate and starts screaming to me to get out of the truck and look at the big fresh Cougar track he's spotted. Today is Jeff's Birthday and he was supposed to be celebrating it back at home with his wife in Edmonton but decided to stay and see the hunt through. Finding that track was his best Birthday present ever.
It was late in the day but we were very excited for the am. It was on again.
The snow we'd been wishing for over the past three days had arrived and was now filling in the fresh tracks we'd just found. I swear it dumped 5 inches of snow in an hour and a half. Unbelievable.
We got back to town late Thursday night, holding hope that the track would still be good enough for Byron's dogs to chase.
Then they made a turn and started heading down a creek bottom which crossed the road we were on a half mile east of us. We jumped in the trucks and flew down to the crossing.
Soon enough, we could hear the dogs screaming down the draw right toward us. For a moment, I actually thought I was going to get to see the big Tom fly across the road right in front of the truck.
But it was not to be, somehow we had missed where the tom had crossed out of our new box and headed south into the old box where he's given us the slip two times already. The best part was watching the dogs fly across the road on the trail. It's common to experience the beginning and the end of one of these chases but you rarely get to see it in the middle like that.
This time thank God, the track stayed low in the valley and headed right down the creek, where a maze of snowmobile trails provided great access. Byron gave me the signal to get my gear on the sled.
The dogs caught up with him and put him in a tree 100 yards from a snowmobile trail. As we approached the area, it quickly became apparent that the end was going to be an easy hike. Byron turned to me an said "Might Get One".
When I got to the tree James was beside me and the first thing he noticed was a dark crease in the Lion's forehead, a sign of a mature Tom. Jeff let me know pretty quick that the cat was in a good position for a bow shot and I was certainly relieved to hear that news.
I took some time to calm my nerves and get some video and photos. All I had to do now was make the shot that I had been practicing for so long.
After years of anticipation, it was finally over.
I can't say enough about Byron, James, Jeff, Cindy and the entire staff at TNT Outfitting. What a hunt!
Chris,
I only live 45 minutes from where you were hunting, those are my old stomping grounds...great country and the cats grow big there.
Congrats on a great trip.
Sharpstick
At this time of year, the number of hunting stories begins to "thin-out" on the forum. Thanks for a hunting "fix"!! Great story, Great memories, and a great cat. Congrats, Jake
Thanks for the story and pics. Much appreciated!
That is on my "bucket list" for sure.
Someday, someway....
Alberta is God's country!
I'll try and answer some of the questions, first of all, I had heard how good Lion meat was for so long that I couldn't wait to try it. Byron strongly advised against it. He said he would never eat anything that eats Coyotes and can lick it's own a$$.
As a CITES animal, I could not bring any part of the Cougar back into the States (for now, anyway) but when we arrived back in Edmonton, Jeff was kind enough to put me up for the night before my flight home on Sunday morning and he was also kind enough (with some trepidation) to throw some backstrap cutlets on the grill. It was like eating a tough pork chop, the taste was very mild but my jaw got a bit of a workout.
Gear wise, I switched to a whisker biskit and feathers so I kept my arrows in a light plastic map tube strapped to my pack, along with my bow. I also brought my hiking poles, which were very helpful on the steep, snowy slopes. For clothing, I used a light weight Merino Wool base layer and my Sitka 90% pants, with my Han-Wag Alaskan GTX boots and Kenetrek Gaiters (the gaiters are a must). I wore a mid-weight wool sweater and a light wind stopper vest, a ball cap and light poly glove liners. That was all I wore while hiking.
Of course, for snowmobiling around in sub zero temps I also had some heavy, cold weather hats, gloves and pants/parka. That was it.
The best part of the whole experience was how much fun this hunt was. Like I said, I did a Cougar hunt before and all I basically did was sat in a pick-up for 10 days while the guide ski-doo'd around the mountains and looked for a track that he never found.
But with the fantastic country and the way Byron runs his hunts, I was right there enjoying every twist and turn on this one. It was really quite an adventure and I'd do it again tomorrow if I could. Plus, I think a mature Mountain Lion is the coolest animal on this continent. It really was an amazing hunt in some awesome country with great people that knew exactly what they were doing. What more could a guy ask for?
I am going with LeRoy at Sunrise from 1/26-31. I can't freakin wait. When are you going?
Shiras
Oh, and I obviously have no problem with using dogs. It is far from a sure thing. People use dogs for bird hunting all the time.
Congrats, buddy.
PS. The pig hunt needs to be postponed until 1st week in March. There will be no pigs on the ranch before then..........
Of course, it is much different from traditional spot/stalk or treestand bowhunting and to a very large extent, you are just a spectator. You may help with the dogs, help with the gear and do a big hike, but let's face it, the dogs are the real hunters in this game and everyone knows it.
But what's wrong with being a spectator in a real life drama? It was like watching the Stanley Cup Playoffs, one round at a time, as each team gets eliminated and your favorite team finally makes the finals. The difference in this game is, you have to take the penalty shot in overtime of game 7 to win it all. It's really an awesome mix of observation and then the rush of getting thrown in at the apex of the excitement.
I originally contacted Byron early in '07 and he told me he was booked for a couple years. Then someone canceled so I took the spot for Jan of 08. Then I had to cancel due to a death in the family and postponed till this year. I have a buddy that wants to hunt with Byron asap and when I asked him if he had any spots for next season he said "possibly" (he's good like that).
Ki-Ke, are you coming hog hunting with us this year?
I dont think you will ever find someone who has been on a cat hunt with dogs come back and say that it was lame and unfair to the cat.
Cougars are awesome animals and hunting them is a incredable experience.
Despite having awesome dogs. You dont always catch a cat. You cant just go out and catch a lion everytime. There is no guarantee you can catch one. Despite using dogs, you have to find a fresh track, the dogs have to tree the lion. Often times the lion will out smart the dogs, or go up into rocks or areas dogs cant go, or just simply not tree. Sometimes you find a great track but never even catch up to the cat because he walked so far the night before. (They are called Longwalkers for a reason). They have been shown to cover 30 miles over night. Truely amazing in my opinion.
Have you ever seen a house cat and the attitude that they have. They think they are better than anything in the world. Same attitute as lions. I feel that they will sometimes tree not because they are scared but because they are annoyed by the dogs following them.
Go out and buy the book Longwalkers. It is a great book on hunting cats.
Lion hunting is just as important as deer or elk hunting. On an average a lion will make a kill every 6 days. How many lions are out there? Typically when I go out with my buddy we will often come across 3-4 different lion tracks within a mile area. There are alot more lions out there than you really think. Because they are so secretive and hardly ever seen, the general public just thinks they are rare.
Do the math, thats a lot of deer, elk, and sheep etc getting killed a year but cats. I have a friend who studied them and he found one male who would kill a deer or sheep every day. The big cat would only eat the liver and leave the rest. Not typical but pretty amazing.
Bottom line is that although you might not ever hunt with dogs we need to back each other up and stand up for our hunting rights. Houndsmen are a dying breed. In my opinion hunting with dogs is the next thing on the list of banned practices. Antis are targeting it because not too many people do it. Whats next to get banned after that...Bowhunting?
They banned lion hunting in California because Anit's were upset with hunters killing cats. Now California has so many problem lions that the Division of Wildlife is killing double the amount of cats that hunters ever did because of the problem cats. Is that Fair?
In my expereince with eating them they have always been very tender. Very similar to pork. In all honesty it is my favorite wild game to eat over elk, antelope, etc. For most people getting over the whole eating "cat" thing is the big part.
i chased cats and dogs for over 20 days until i got one. I fail to see any problem with using dogs. It is legal. It is not a slam dunk and my hunt was some of the most difficult hiking I've ever done.
By the way --- GREAT PICTURES!!!
Although Byron and his crew strongly suggested that I use Phil Soucy and many would consider it heresy to suggest that someone else could do a better job (or even as good) as a Phil Soucy Lion mount, I am using another taxidermist who I have 100% confidence in.
I think Byron caught up with another good one today. Here's a shot of another one he caught before I went up there. Look how fat this things tail is, it reminds me of Lexington Steele, its outrageous.
Here is the cat Byron caught after I left. I think this was a day 2 cat for the lucky hunter.
Sounds like it couldnt have unfolded any better, certainly helps when you're hunting with one of the best. Nothing better than getting to witness the work thats involved and the rollercoaster of events that need to go right to make a tree with something in it.
