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Is he big?

Not much of a cat judger. Almost got a shot at this cockroach on deer stand last December. He has been torturing me for 3 years. Looks like huge front shoulders and paws.

Cockroach???

If he’s been outsmarting you for three years running, I’d think you might prefer to liken him to something a little smarter....

Thanks for the critique GF and no info. Tough to hunt these in WA state without dogs. He has been eating my deer with impunity.

Looks like a solid killer. I bet he's seen you a lot more than you've seen him.

Cockroaches are smart. Humans have been trying to exterminate them since Adam and they're still here..........

Whack him! He's big enough to kill deer, and that's big enough for me!!! If you passed him up, I would question your reasoning! I would shoot (rifle), trap, stab, arrow... whatever everyone I could!

pass him up? NOT. He caught me trying to draw on him from a treestand and bolted. I've tried predatory calling too without luck. He's an old smart boy. Wish i could use hounds.

Understood, I thought you were debating killing him. Sorry:) Whack him if you can, rifle is fine and then share it!

Good Luck, we have 2 on our property in Ca. They are just destroying our deer and we can't do shit but watch them or SSS...

Scar.

They have a huge home range. especially the big males. which he obviously is. We can't use dogs either in South Dakota but I like that. It's quite a challenge. It's my version of everybody else's desert ram or whatever. I want to kill a mountain lion with my recurve without dogs. Kind of an Old man and the sea type of thing. I've had them in my yard and have pics of them. I don't know when your season starts but ours doesn't start til the day after Christmas and doesn't end til the quota is met or March 31"st. We usually meet the quota. Main strategy here is to ride around forest service roads before daylight and find fresh tracks and try to run them down on foot. I can tell you, you're in for a long day if you do that but there is always a chance he's bedded in the rocks on the first ridge you come to. Hasn't happened for me yet. I've seen them but no shots. They can cover a ton of ground with what seems like no effort. If you are following the tracks and get the feeling you are getting close set up and call. Just know they stalk the call not charge it like coyotes. And it could take an hour. All the sudden you'll turn your head and see 2 eyes boring holes in you from 15 yards away and wonder how it got there. Then poof it's gone. It is my favorite thing to do. I had a 182lb cat caught and collared by the GFP right behind my house and within 6 months he was killed by another lion and the game warden told me when they went to get the collar the only thing left was the hide and the skull and it had 2 holes in the top that you could stick your fingers in. They are amazing animals and one of the best challenges there is one on one. My only other advice is to say that unless he killed something on your place he probably won't be back for a week. Good luck and just enjoy the ultimate challenge.

He looks big to me, in his prime...

If you get within now range take the shot. If he's eating all your deer take the shot regardless of size.

Wayne Helmick you are my new hero. Insert thumbs up right here. Wow good luck bud and please keep us posted . That is one hell of a challenge .. I have called coyotes at night and had them at 10 yards behind me and it gave me the creeps. What a gas. good luck hope you succeed.

If you get within now range take the shot. If he's eating all your deer take the shot regardless of size.

Beemannn Thanks, it definitely keeps you focused. If you ever get lucky enough to see one (or two) which I have. It's incredibly impressive just to watch how they move. They can disappear before your eyes even when you know where they are. Following tracks into cliffs or short pines covered in snow will get your attention. It's an awesome feeling. I've got one I've been chasing for 3 years not 3 miles from my house. I'm going to catch up with him eventually. The chase is the best part.

Interestingly, when this boy popped his head up from the ravine below my stand last year, 35 yds away, I was in snow camo with snow all around. I didn't move and yet he almost immediately pegged me right out of the tree. I was dumbfounded. How could he detect me? Then i realized that he must have heard the ozonics above my head, which is really quite. Deer can't hear it and i could barely. Amazing.

I have found that if there is sky behind me I get busted in a tree often. I try my best to have a solid background so my movement is hidden. That said, shoot that cat he looks big enough to kill. You will save 50 deer in that area and put some decent table meat in the freezer. I am in Oregon and shot 3 of em in the last few years while deer/elk hunting. They have become a problem. I shoot all I legally can.

ozonics is quiet, not quite

They are really amazing. Because he's so big he can kill whatever he wants so bait is out of the question. If I were you I'd wait for a snow and get on his tracks and follow them until I found a kill. Then sit on that. They will often lay up near a kill for a few days. Just be aware that it may be miles away. They make big loops patrolling their territory so you may actually have to backtrack to find the kill. Good luck. He's a big kitty.

Ken Logan, one of best mountain lion researchers and biologists in Colorado, has over 25 years of data to back up the fact that mountain lion and deer numbers, when plotted on a graph, are parallel. As deer numbers go up, mountain lion numbers and density goes up. If you want to increase deer numbers, work on habitat projects. Get involved.

Referring to a mountain lion as a cockroach is a sad state of affairs for any "sportsman". There are many great organizations that would welcome your help to improve habitat for deer and a number of other species.

We're better than this. You're better than this.

CO_Bowhunter you make me laugh. Your righteous depiction is ridiculous. Go away.

Lol co bowhunter. Lions eat a deer a week, it’s common knowledge. I can see why deer numbers would increase as lion numbers increase, because 50 less deer a year would obviously lead to more deer.

Thanks for helping the anti-hunting crowd eat our lunch. With friends like you, who needs enemies. Ignorance can be a parasite for any organization.

As you're driving down the highway, don't miss this billboard with Billy Bob and friends claiming mountain lions are cockroaches. That will really help us out at the voting booth where more than 90% of the voters are non-hunters.

I'm always amused at references to "my deer", "our deer", and "your deer". I'm not opposed to legally taking mt. lions, but they have their place too.

This is one of the worst threads I've ever seen on bowsite.

That looks like a big big cat to me.

"He has been eating my deer "

you mean like fenced in, pet deer or ?

at any rate I think like Wayne Helmick post as far as the challenge of hunting them ..... they're a part of our country and as sportsman and conservationists there can be a stable population to hunt right alongside our deer and elk as long as the balances are kept. I've seen one in the wild - just one, of all the times out west, living out west and there are some here in Arkansas

How to be a jerk:

1. Complain that something has been eating "your" deer

2. Refer to North America's apex predator as a "cockroach"

3. Insult well intended comments by GF, CO_Bowhunter, and others.

Yeah the cockroach thing doesn't go over very well. And they aren't your deer by any definition. By all means, shoot him if you legally can and want to, just don't pretend that he is going to wipe out the deer herd. Last I checked the deer, elk, and cats have been living together for a LONG time.

Yes, that's all we need is Billy Bob on a big billboard, half drunk with his gut hanging out of his shirt over a belt buckle he hasn't seen in years, talking about cougars as cockroaches killing his deer. He and his type are what will eliminate hunting. The anti-hunters would have a field day with everything this lowlife posts. I recommend that Pat remove slime like this from the membership.

CO, your mental image of a hunter on the billboard is just as bad as calling lions cockroaches. That's exactly what antis envision us to be. You're more help to them with that statement than you are to us.

You completely missed the point drycreek. Any anti-hunting organization can join this forum as a member and find posts about cockroach cougars and post it for all to see. It was an illustration of the threat by lowlifes on this forum.

If I were a cockroach I think I would move to California. Very safe place for a cockroach.

Seems like people are taking the words "cockroach" and "my" way to seriously. I didn't take anything he said to be bad. Last year my dad shot MY deer. The year before, the neighbor shot MY deer. Not saying that they were MINE, but they were MY deer.

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