Physch

Nice buck. I have to ask what is the quiver? Do you hang it from your belt?

I'm looking for a hunting partner to hunt with down in NM Unit 27 for Coues during the January archery hunt. I know the area pretty well. If you’re interested please feel free to contact me. Craig.

Looking for a lightly used Wall Tent and frame.

I’ve called in quite a few. My issue has been finding them after the shot. They have a tendency of running and hiding after being shot since they’re not treed. Their color blends in with everything and can make for a hard recovery. I have another thread on this forum where I asked opinions on shot placement that I had on a cat. You should be able to find it pretty easily. I shot two within a few months. One took me 4 days to find after the shot. Tracking dogs within a couple of hours couldn’t find it. Worse feeling of my life was losing them. So now I chase them with dogs. Cats are my passion. I think it’s easier to call cats in than it is to use dogs. Here’s the cat skull I recovered: (don’t mind the bear. That was spot and stalk.)

I’m curious...this is a 2018 topic but did either of you have success at calling one in? I think lions are fairly easy to call in. There is a huge learning curve at the beginning but after a couple of lions it gets very cookie cutter. I would never mouth call. They come in fast and there is always the chance of calling in a bear which I’m not fond of. Personally I think you have to understand travel routes, bedding and sunning areas to be okay at glassing them up. Most people I know that have found them using glass were looking for deer, elk, etc. Not saying impossible but not easy.

Agree with Bojangles. We just had a lion bury the carcass of the deer we took. Look around the base of trees close by for mounds.

I agree with the socks. I use merina wool socks and they seem to be dense enough threaded that its not too bad. This year I wore a pair of zero soled shoes. Many manufacturers make them; just look for soles with a lot of flexibility. The pair I tried are Merrell vapor glove 2. Not perfect but pretty darn comfortable.

Rugerman. I am in an area where you can take multiple lions.

Sounds like we are all pretty passionate about hunting. I'm pretty thick skinned and appreciate the opinions and support. I felt very confident with the shot. I was sitting on my butt and had three points of contact stabilizing the gun. In the weeks prior I had shot a bear and a coyote with my .270 standing at 90 and 185 yards, respectfully. Both were broadside to me. I know I didn't react well after the shot with the cat. I felt overconfident with the placement and was blown away/shocked that the cat didn't just drop on the spot. Before mountain lions I've never had an animal run more than 20 yards with a bow or a gun. My first mountain lion this year I shot quartering away with a bow and found the cat ~160 yards from the point of impact. I don't do well with failure and am trying to figureout what I can learn from this situation to prevent it from happening in the future. Currently, I've decided to pass on the shot if it's presented again. I'll wait for a broadside or a straight on shot. Naturebob I've had a few people recommend that I should have gone for the neck and I wondered that myself if I should have taken that shot. I wrote this on the website obviously to get your opinions and hopefully help others if they find themselves with the same shot.

Thank you, MattMan. Closer to the pink dot?

I have promised myself that if I shoot something I'm going to eat it and I've heard that they are incredibly tasty.

As the cat was on the ground I pulled the trigger 2-3 more times on the last pull I realized nothing was coming out. It dawned on me that I had my bolt action gun and had been practicing with a semi auto 223 that week. I pulled the bolt back and that cat immediately stopped and jumped to its feet broadside staring at me (that was truly the creepiest part of the whole ordeal). I pushed the bolt forward and the cat started to run off on three legs. I got one more shot off but think I tried to lead him too far infront for how close he was. I agree with Browns that we should look at incidents like this and try and learn from them, but for the life of me I cannot figureout what I did wrong. That's why I'm posting this. Is this a shot I should have passed on? I was using federal premium Sierra 150 grain gamekings. I searched for this cat for a day and a half with no luck. There was bright red blood at the sight where he was flailing.

I did take the quartering towards shot. Here is an image from the web that I put a mark on where I had aimed. The only difference between the image and reality is the right leg was out farther than the left. The aim point was about an inch inside where I thought the shoulder joint would be. I thought this would go clean through the tops of both lungs. I was calm and softly squeezed the trigger. The cat ran up so fast to the call that I didn't have the opportunity to get really excited until the moment after I pulled the trigger and I saw it flopping around.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. I ran into an interesting situation this past weekend and wanted to get feedback on what you guys would do. I have been strictly an archery hunter for quite sometime and am stretching my learning into rifles. I was calling for mountain lions and had a big Tom come in. Initially, I passed on a shot that was straight on and only had to wait a moment before I got a quartering towards shot opportunity as I think the cat realized that something wasn't quite right. The cat was 50 yards away with an unobstructed view (maybe a little grass in the way) but still see very well. I was hunting with a .270 150 grain bullet. My questions for you are: 1. Should I have taken the straight on shot? 2. Should I have taken the quartering towards? 3. Wait for a better shot? 4. If you picked one of the first two, where would you aim? Thank you for your time.