Just booked a hunt with Noah Wiggans
Contributors to this thread:cougar
From: SS75
15-May-12
I just booked an Alberta lion hunt with Noah for Jan 2014. I know it's a long way off, but I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!
From: Hawkeye
15-May-12
You will have a great hunt!
From: Chris Durando
15-May-12
I spent a week with Noah last year. Great guy and plenty of cats. Give me call when you get a little closer...
From: SS75
15-May-12
Will do for sure Chris.
From: TREESTANDWOLF
15-May-12
Your are offically in excitement mode !
Chris and Hawkeye will testify, cat hunting is awesome, Best of luck to you.
From: Shiras
15-May-12
I am not familiar with him, but it's good to hear. The cat thread was mighty light this year so make sure you post your hunt details.
From: SS75
15-May-12
Thanks guys, I'll be sure to keep everyone posted.
From: Long Shot
16-May-12
Top notch hunt with a great houndsman. I hunted with Noah this January, he has great success on big cats. Let me know if you have any questions.
From: bearhunter
17-May-12
Also had an awesome trip with Noah. Got a great cat and had a great time. He is excellent with his dogs and had a great crew.
From: t-roy
19-May-12
Congrats! Get ready for the roller coaster ride! Have a great hunt! t-roy
From: SS75
21-May-12
Great cat Long Shot! Posts like these really make me feel good about my decision!
From: Hawkeye
21-May-12
SS75- Chris Durando has a great story in Bowhunter this year on his hunt with Noah that I think youd enjoy! Great pics and write-up. Check it out.
From: SS75
21-May-12
Hawkeye, I will definitely do that. I thoroughly enjoyed both you and Chris' write ups here on Bowsite, in fact so much so that I booked a hunt!
From: Bowboy
21-May-12
Good luck and practice shooting up!
From: Hawkeye
21-May-12
Thanks SS75- you will love cat hunting :)
From: Waterfowler
21-May-12
Is he the guy that bought Johns tags? Same basic area correct?
From: Chris Durando
22-May-12
Yeah, I think he and another fellow took over some of John Cassidy's tags.
From: Hawkeye
22-May-12
+2 Chris
From: SS75
22-May-12
Noah's units are a couple of hours NW of Calgary, west of Caroline & Sundre.
From: bowhunter1
22-May-12
Does Noah have a website, I tried looking and nothing came up.
From: Waterfowler
22-May-12
Thats who I was think of, Jay. Met him when I was up with John, real nice guy. Would'nt mind hunting with John again either, beautiful area choked with lots of big cats.
From: Chris Durando
22-May-12
Chris Durando's Link
Only John's old site...
From: SS75
22-May-12
bowhunter1, I booked through Bowhunting Safari Consultants, call Mark over there & he can get you any information you need.
From: bowhunter1
22-May-12
Thank you both for the info.
From: SS75
23-Jan-14
Hey Guys, Just wanted to follow up with a report from my lion hunt with Noah. GREAT people & a GREAT hunt! I couldn't of been happier, I shot a monster on day 7 & could've shot a nice tom every day. The worst day we had, we only cut one set of fresh lion tracks, and on the best day we cut 10 different sets of lion tracks! Noah hunts arguably some of the best cougar habitat in North America, he and his guys really know their area and have a history with many of the toms in those areas. If you want to kill a huge tom, I believe Noah can give you just about as good a chance as anybody in the business!
Thanks, SS75
From: SS75
23-Jan-14
From: SS75
23-Jan-14
Not sure why the other pic was sideways?
From: SS75
23-Jan-14
From: Bear Track
23-Jan-14
That's the first picture of a cougar in a poplar tree in the winter I've ever seen. Cool. Boy, you shot a great cat SS75! Good stuff.
From: CTCrow
23-Jan-14
Wanna hear the whole story.
Congrats! Nice cat.
From: SS75
23-Jan-14
You got it CTCrow, I'll post the story & a ton of pic's I took while I was there.
From: JW
23-Jan-14
Huge congrats! This hunt is on my short list.
From: Trial153
23-Jan-14
Super nicely done brother
From: TREESTANDWOLF
23-Jan-14
Yesssss sir!! Nice Mt.Lion , those Canada lions are huge.
From: Shug
23-Jan-14
Congrats
From: Bill Obeid
23-Jan-14
BEAUTIFUL....Man, how time flies!!
From: Crazy_8s
23-Jan-14
Awesome cat!! Congrats!
From: IronMike
23-Jan-14
Nice cat! Love that country up there.
From: Busta'Ribs
23-Jan-14
You got yourself a hell of a lion Scott, well done!
That forehead crease is a dead giveaway that you shot a big Tom.
Doesn't look pin-cushioned either. Can't wait for more photos and the full story.
From: T Mac
23-Jan-14
Beautiful big cat well done!
From: Hawkeye
23-Jan-14
Congrats!! Great tom
From: SS75
23-Jan-14
Okay... I arrived in Calgary on the afternoon of January 2nd, 2014, and to my pleasant surprise my bow and my clothes showed up in good order, and Noah was there waiting for me just beyond customs. We made the two hour drive northwest to Noah's house in Eckville. I shot my bow a few times to make sure nothing had happened in transit, and then went in for a delicious dinner prepared by Noah's wife, Amy. At dinner some of Noah's hunting partners called & reported that they had found two different sets of big tom tracks. I remember Noah coming back into the dining room with a grin , saying "we've got a cat to run in the morning". I remember thinking that it was great that we had a cat to run, but being a little disappointed that my hunt might end on day one. Little did I know that it would snow about a foot and a half that night,covering up the big tracks from the day before. Instead of running a big tom, the first day found us covering miles of freshly snowed upon roads looking for new tracks. Despite having a "clean slate" that day, we did cut one set of smaller tracks that we opted not to run. We did see some pretty country and a lot of cool things you can't see every day in southeast Texas!
From: SS75
23-Jan-14
Day two started out COLD, it was -17F, and it might have warmed up one or two degrees that day. around 9:00 am, two of the guys out driving had each cut tom tracks, so we all met and looked at both sets. Neither track was huge, but one was marginal, and being early still, it was decided that we should run it just to see what we had.
From: SS75
23-Jan-14
Day two started out COLD, it was -17F, and it might have warmed up one or two degrees that day. around 9:00 am, two of the guys out driving had each cut tom tracks, so we all met and looked at both sets. Neither track was huge, but one was marginal, and being early still, it was decided that we should run it just to see what we had.
From: SS75
23-Jan-14
After we turned the dogs loose, I remember being surprised when Noah, looking down at his GPS, announced "we're treed". These dogs were amazing, they literally covered 3.5 miles of mountain country in deep snow in what couldn't have been 10 minutes. Luckily there was an oil lease road that would get us much closer to the tree than where we turned loose. The GPS said we were 970 yards from the tree in a straight line, however, we were on the side of one mountain, and the cat had treed on the side of the next mountain over. After a Horribly steep descent, a valley full of waist deep snow, and a rigorous climb, I found myself eye to eye with the first cougar I had ever seen. He was amazing, looked huge, and I was ready and willing to end my hunt!
From: SS75
23-Jan-14
I asked Noah and Jason when I got to the tree "Is he a shooter?" they both laughed & said that he was a great tom, but not a second day shooter, probably 140#. They had all of the dogs tied, and proceeded to tape Jason's video camera to the end of a long dead stick & poke the big cat until he jumped out of the tree. The dogs were turned loose again and the cat was treed a short distance later in a tree better suited for pictures.
From: SS75
23-Jan-14
I thought I wouldn't make it out that afternoon... I was exhausted! It was still plenty cold, cold enough for my sweat soaked wool jacket to freeze to the inside of the window of Noah's truck on the way home. As we drove, we saw moose, wild horses and deer, I thought, what a wonderful place we were in & how much I wanted to remember the whole experience of this truly wild place.
From: SS75
23-Jan-14
The next day was the coldest yet, -38F! It was pretty uneventful, we only cut two smaller tracks that day. Not much of anything was moving, only saw a few moose on the way home.
From: SS75
23-Jan-14
Remember the big tom we were going to run on day one before the snow storm? Well, the road his track was on was a boundary between two units, one I could hunt, the other I couldn't. On day one he travelled out of the off limits unit into the unit we could hunt, then it snowed... Now, several days later, we cut his track crossing back into the unit we couldn't hunt. We were excited to find a big track even though we couldn't run him, at least we knew he was still in the area.
From: SS75
23-Jan-14
The next few days were a blur... The temperature had warmed up to around freezing, and it was very pleasant. We saw what seemed like a million tracks, and some really nice ones, but we couldn't get the big tom out of our minds. Noah kept saying "all we need him to do is cross the road again". I was having a blast just riding and looking and seeing new country (and I thought they had a catchy name for cattle guards).
From: SS75
23-Jan-14
On Thursday January 9th, we started like every other morning, but on this morning, we had gone about 2 miles when we saw it, the big tom had crossed back into the unit we could hunt following a female. It wasn't even daylight yet. Noah called Jason, who was about 20 miles to the south & told him what was going on. We headed toward Jason, waiting for daylight and trying to find where the cats had entered the road from the off limits side. The tom and female had come onto the road only a couple hundred yards from where we cut his track just a few days earlier, and had walked over two miles down the middle of the road before crossing into the unit we could hunt. We met up with Jason, drove to where the cats went in, collared the dogs & turned them loose. I was truly excited, because I knew there would more than likely be a shooter at the other end of this trail! After about twenty minutes, the dogs showed treed, and we were off. Today Jason had brought his Yamaha Rhino with snow tracks (which was REALLY cool) & Noah always brought his snowmobile along just in case. We found a logging road that would get us to within 550 yards of the tree, and we were off.
From: SS75
23-Jan-14
On the way in, a couple of the dogs were messing around away from where the majority of the dogs were treed. Noah opted to walk in & see what they were doing, and Jason and I would continue on around the logging road & come in from the south side & meet up with Noah at the tree. As we stopped the Rhino, we saw a large tom's track crossing the logging road. Jason said "looks like they treed the female & the tom slipped out on us", my heart sank! We were down along a river, so the terrain was much flatter and easier in spite of the deep snow, however, I couldn't help but think how we were going to trudge in 550 yards to see a treed female. As I got closer to the barking hounds, I couldn't believe my eyes when I looked up to see a pumpkin headed tom WAY up in a poplar tree!
From: SS75
23-Jan-14
As we arrived at the tree, Noah was walking up from the north. Apparently, the dogs had treed the female, then the pack split off and treed the tom 400 yards later, and to the best of our knowledge, there was another large tom in the area vying for the females attention, and he did slip out the back when he heard the dogs coming. As we got to the tree, there was no denying that this was a shooter... Noah grinned and asked if I wanted to shoot this cat, and I was more than happy to oblige!
From: t-roy
23-Jan-14
Scott, I wish you would have held your cat up a little higher. He would have looked bigger!
Maybe it had something to do with the cameraman taking his time getting the photo!
Awesome cat & great story so far! Congrats! t-roy
From: SS75
23-Jan-14
After all of the dogs were tied, we worked around the tree to get a good shot. There was a very narrow window that I had to hit between his front leg and the limb he was on. I was ecstatic to see the arrow hit exactly where I was aiming. The tom abruptly stood up & went around the opposite side of the tree, & then came back to where he was when I shot him. I could tell by the immediate blood loss that my arrow had found it's mark.
From: SS75
23-Jan-14
The big Tom expired in no more than 15 seconds. I remember seeing him start to wobble & then barrel roll out of the tree hitting the ground dead as a stone. Noah, normally reserved, showed more emotion as the big cat fell, than I saw the whole rest of the time, he was pumped! I also remember how glad I was knowing there would be no dog fights or follow up shots needed. A small muscle in the big tom's hindquarter spasmed after he hit the ground, and he was done.
From: Mark Watkins
23-Jan-14
sS75! Congrats and keep the story coming....great job!
Mark
From: SS75
23-Jan-14
Jason Noah and I after a hard days work!
From: SS75
23-Jan-14
We skinned him at the tree, so I'm not really sure how much he weighed, but I can assure you he was heavy! No skull dimensions yet, we left the skin on it so we wouldn't have to keep up with two things. The only measurement I have is from the tip of his nose to the tip of his tail he was 8'1" long. Here's one more hero shot before I go home for the evening (my wife & kids are waiting on me). I will finish the story tomorrow. Enjoy, Scott
From: Chris Durando
23-Jan-14
Great story and cat! Congrats.
From: Bowboy
23-Jan-14
Great cat congrats!q
From: Cramer
23-Jan-14
Great Cat SS75! Reading this brings back some of my most fond memories. Hunting with Noah was one of most enjoyable hunts I have been on. Great people all the way around and the hunting was fantastic as you portray in your story. Congrats!
From: OFFHNTN
24-Jan-14
CONGRATS!!! Great story, pictures, and cat! They are one of the most impressive animals alive! Well done!
From: Bear Track
24-Jan-14
Do you have a link for Noah?
From: SS75
24-Jan-14
Okay... After the shot was made, and the cat was down, Jason built a fire and he and Noah skinned my lion. Being from the south where we rarely have freezing temperatures and hardly ever have snow, I couldn't figure out why we need to build a fire? Soon I found out it was for the guys to warm their freezing hands up while they were taking care of my cat. I couldn't help but notice, as the cat was being skinned & quartered, what nice white meat they had. We packed the hide and meat out, along with all of our things, and as I dragged up the rear, I had a small bit of remorse that it was all over. No more early mornings, running miles of mountain roads, drinking coffee all day long with the anticipation of what the next track might be. This hunt was unlike any I had ever been on. The beautiful country, the amazing dogs, and the respect I had for my new friends and their passion to pursue these majestic cats. I took this picture as we got back out to the logging road and were leaving our hunting area for the last time.
From: SS75
24-Jan-14
The next day Noah and I headed to the town of Rocky Mountain House to register my cat. Leaving everyday before daylight, and returning after dark, I realized that I had never seen the country around his house, or between his house & where we hunted in the daylight. It was beautiful, That part of Alberta is ever transitioning, one minute you're in farmland, the next you're in sheep country, it was truly fascinating for a guy from the flatlands of the Texas gulf coast. We were on the 8th morning of a 10 day hunt, Noah had invited me to stick around & see some sights for the remainder of my time there, and upon finding out that it would cost an additional $1500 to move my flight up, I gladly agreed! After we registered my lion, we toured around & Noah introduced me to some of his friends. All of these guys were great guys, several were accomplished sheep hunters with great stories and trophies to go along with them. After a full day of registering cats & visiting buddies, We arrived back home & Amy greeted us with a fantastic dinner of mountain lion with mushrooms & onions in a cream sauce... It was amazing! Absolutely the finest wild game I've ever eaten! I didn't take pictures of the food, so you'll have to settle for some giant big horns & elk we saw at Noah's friends house.
From: Shiras@home
24-Jan-14
Awesome! Thanks for sharing!
From: SS75
24-Jan-14
The next day was pretty uneventful, we took it easy & did a little ice fishing (we were much more successful at cougar hunting), then we turned in early as we needed to leave for the airport at 3am so I could catch my early flight out... As I said earlier, these guys eat, drink, and sleep cougar hunting! I was thoroughly impressed with their knowledge of the cats and their behavior. I think since Noah started taking his own hunters, he is 100% on big toms, and after my hunt, barring some kind of severe weather event, I can't imagine going 10 days with Noah in his units without a chance at a mature Tom. I will say that you need to be in moderately good shape. I was not as prepared as I would have liked to have been, and I was running two miles on the treadmill 4 times per week. Noah and Jason are in scary good shape! They're absolute billy goats! Like I said earlier, this terrain is ever changing, from flat river bottoms with blowdowns, to steep mountain country with rocky breaks, and I'm sure that's part of the reason it's so good. Noah doesn't have a website, but his contact information is available on the APOS (Alberta Professional Outfitters Society) website, and I would be happy to pass along any information I have to anyone who might be interested.
Thanks for reading, Scott
From: Bou'bound
24-Jan-14
great story and photos. thanks for sharing.
From: HuntnBigGame
24-Jan-14
Way to go, Congrats on a Slammer Tom.
From: huntmaster
24-Jan-14
Great story and a stud of a lion!! Congrats!!
From: skinner creek
24-Jan-14
Very nice tom, congrats on the kill.
From: st8tman
25-Jan-14
PM Sent
From: PAstringking
25-Jan-14
what a great adventure up north!! congrats on a beautiful big tom lion.
From: SS75
25-Jan-14
st8tman, I've sent a reply to your pm.
From: ridgerunnerron
25-Jan-14
Congrats, what a great tom! THX for sharing the adventure w/ us.
From: midwest
25-Jan-14
Looks like it was a blast! Thanks for the recap and congrats on a huge cat.
From: exsanguinator
27-Jan-14
Some day that will be me! Awesome hunt congrats!!! I dream often of what you did.
From: Destroyer350
28-Jan-14
That was a great story! Congrats!!
From: SS75
26-May-14
Here's the video of the shot if anyone's interested... Funny thing is, I never get tired of watching it, no matter how many times I watch it! Enjoy! SS75
From: Yttails
26-May-14
Sweet! That is a BIG Tom! Congrats.
From: Bou'bound
26-May-14
Great video, great shot great cat. perfect all around. so neat. well done.
From: Bou'bound
26-May-14
I will be hunting with the other guy who took the other tags from John Cassidy that Noah did not, Jay Fuller, in January 2016.
From: Billy B
26-May-14
SS75, I rarely post on here. But happened to see your thread pop up which I had missed before. You had a great hunt! And I enjoyed reading it along with watching the shot video over about 10 times! Thanks for sharing this!
From: SS75
26-May-14
Thanks guys! Bou, you'll have a great hunt with Jay, never got to meet him, but all the guys up there have a lot of respect for him as a houndsman and lion hunter.
From: cityhunter
26-May-14
Grant what happened to Cassidy ? great story !!!!!!
From: Bou'bound
26-May-14
He sold his allocations a few years back to the two guys who he had been mentoring........Noah and Jay.
From: Pyrannah
26-May-14
WOW!!!
From: Billy B
26-May-14
For someone who would like to book a lion hunt with one of them, how would you contact them?
From: Pyrannah
26-May-14
WOW!!!
From: SS75
27-May-14
Billy , I sent you a PM
From: Chris Durando
29-May-14
That was a difficult shot and extremely well done. I see Noah is still chain smoking :)
From: Bou'bound
29-May-14
Billy bsc books for both places but he waiting list is a couple years. Call mark at bsc.
From: SS75
12-Oct-15
My Alberta cougar hunt has finally come full circle and it's time for me to write the final chapter of the story of what's likely the only cougar I will ever kill. Several weeks ago, Phil Soucy called to get direction on a few last minute details before he mounted my lion. Then before I knew it, I received this picture just before the mount was to be crated up and shipped.
From: kota-man
12-Oct-15
Beautiful...That man is the "cat master"...
From: SS75
12-Oct-15
Needless to say, I was impressed with the mount, and couldn't wait for it to arrive. It only took three days, and I was unloading the crate from the FedEx delivery truck. This is what I saw upon opening the box, he was even bigger than I remembered. Now to figure out a strategy to get him on the wall...
From: SS75
12-Oct-15
After a little thinking and a lot of manpower, he was hung in the spot I had picked for him before I went on the hunt. When I look at my first post In this thread it was from May of 2012, and the hunt seemed an eternity away. Now, three years have passed and I see the the culmination of that hunt as well as the fulfillment of a lifelong dream, every time I walk into my trophy room. One thing I have learned through this hunt, in hunting, family, friends or life in general, time flies! Get out and make memories, have the experiences you never thought you could afford, or were putting off til "someday", I promise you won't regret it! Thanks for following!
From: Huntcell
12-Oct-15
Froze in a moment of time!
From: SteveB
12-Oct-15
Gorgeous trophy!!
From: Bou'bound
12-Oct-15
Great cat and great mount. I PMed you please check your PMs
From: midwest
12-Oct-15
Those Alberta cats look like those huge overfed house cats some people have. What a toad! Congrats and another beautiful mount by Soucy.
