Utah mountain lion hunt
cougar
I made my first mountain lion hunt in Utah last week. I gotta admit, I had my reservations going into it because of the lack of snow this year. They had only had one snow storm.
After talking with my outfitter, a few days prior, I felt much better because they were still finding some tracks and running some cats.
Christmas day comes and goes...time to fly to Vegas, and drive North a few hours.
Made it to Vegas with all of my gear. Head North to Utah, get there, and get prepared for day one of the hunt.
Day 1 arrives and we head up the mountain. There is still some snow up there, primarily on the North faces of the mountains, South side snow is melting pretty quick with the warm temps.
We look for tracks until about mid day, only to find a female track from a cat he ran the day before.
Few hours go by and another guy with us cuts a track of tom a few miles away. We start heading that way to check it out.
To make a long story short, we find the track and turn the hounds loose. An hour or so later, he is treed and we have to get there.
We get pretty close to him on the 4 wheelers, but now it's time to climb. It wasn't all that far, but to this flatlander from Louisiana, I thought I was going to die! Between me slipping and falling about 10 times and the altitude, it was a struggle.
So what is the rest of the story
One of the guys got there awhile before me and was telling us the whole time that the lion was nervous up there.
I finally make it to the tree and see the lion up there. Pretty surreal feeling to me to get that close to one finally. I sit on a log to try to catch my breath. I am nowhere close to being able to shoot him at this point. I can't breathe!
I'm not sitting on the log more than 10-15 seconds and the tom leaps out of the tree from about 20' up and hauls @ss. I am dejected to say the least. It's pretty late in the day..will they tree him again? how far away? still have daylight if they do?
Low and behold he trees again only 200 yards away! Thankfully, he didn't go any higher up the mountain either. Getting to the 2nd tree was much easier.
We all get to the tree and see him up there. I take a minute to catch my breath and prepare for the shot.
Now it's the moment of truth, the moment I have been waiting for. I tell myself "relax, pick your spot, take your time, he's not going anywhere this time" as he looks much more content in this tree.
I draw back and let it fly. Arrow hits right where I wanted it to. In a mere seconds, he comes tumbling down. Holy cow! This just happened.
I walk over to him, still in disbelief that we just got it done in one day!
Time for photos, as we are losing daylight quick and have a long way to go to get down.
I feel bad for guys that only get to hunt cats for one day! I shot mine on DAY 16!!!!! Congrats again man.
Cory, Ha! I was preparing myself mentally for having to make multiple trips. We just happened to find one in a canyon that the sun didn't hit all that much, so it still had decent snow.
Gotta thank Chris Muller (PAStringking) for helping me out on this hunt.
Not the best story in the history of bowsite, but I gave it a shot lol. Still in shock that it all happened on day 1, and I am very thankful!
You never know..just gotta get out there and see what happens..
Beautiful Cat Ice! Congratulations for getting it done and having a wonderful animal to show for it!
That's awesome! Congrats!
Congrats!
Good grief it's much better to be lucky than good. Have read dozens of stories on here about guys going weeks and multiple trips for a much smaller cat.
Pretty cool. Congrats! Thanks for sharing. Guess in one day you can't take too many pics... =D (that's a hint in case you're still holdin'...)
Congrats on a nice trophy. Who did you hunt with? Reason I ask is I shot mine in Utah and sounds like you were in s/e Utah.
Should be a good meal. How are you going to have it mounted? Full, rug, etc.
Thank you Jared for the trust and even though Mother Nature wasn’t cooperating we still made it happen.
This hunt was in South East Utah near Cedar City
Good job brother, congrats again. Thanks for sharing with all of us.
--jim
Don't apologize...ever! Congrats and are you cooking it up?!?
Congratulations on a great cat. Booked up mine for next yr.... hopefully mine is just as "boring" ??
Awesome! Congratulations on seeing the dream through and a great cat to boot!
Agree with Kota...my cats was taken on day 14 and loved every second of it. Congrats on a fine animal and successful hunt!
Awesome... congrats. Ed F
Very Kool man!!
You did great and a Day 1 harvest----->
Congrats
Good luck, Robb
Near where I shot mine, and lucky that I shot it on second day. Congrats again on a great day. Hopefully you took the meat home it is delicious
Congrats again Jared! So glad it worked out buddy. Well deserved:)
Way to go, those cat hunts can sure be fun. Congrats on a nice one!
Congrats again on a great cat Jared! I have to agree with Cory though - I believe I shot mine on day 11.
TD, You're right. I don't have many pics. I'm not holding out on you. :)
Tobinsghost, I'm not apolgizing for anything...just was saying I'm not the best storyteller/writer compared to some of these guys on here, but I gave it a shot..ha!
Paul, I'm going to mount it lifesize. Not sure exactly what pose yet. Still need to figure that out.
Thanks, guys!
Jared,
Congrats again buddy, glad you got it done!
Rob
Congrats Jared! Awesome cat. Glad you got him on the first day/ first trip.
Congrats again buddy! I didn't realize that it was first day!
Congrats on a great trophy.
Count your blessings- 1st day tree and kill is awesome.
Thanks for sharing.
Congrats again Jrod! After I feed you a few beers at the sheep show you will be booking another hunt!
Say to go ice man it took me 7 days , but your dad did mention anout that horseshoe
Good deal, took me two trips as well.
Great cat
Congrats. Missed this one previously.
haha Chip! that horeshoe does appear from time to time. :)
Thanks, Rich and Matt!
