mountain lions

[KGAINES]

I was reading the mountain lion rules in the regulations and noticed that they want a large harvest in 6A south in preparation for a bighorn sheep transplant. What might the sheep do to the coues in there, getting rid of the lions will be good, but will they compete for the same food.

[25-06]

My guess would be no lions means=more deer, the sheep should not matter, unless too many sheep are brought in

[az4life]

I may have to take a trip back to 6A to get a shot at a lion. Just so happens that is the unit where one almost had me for lunch in 2001!

 

Seriously, aside from my encounter, the entire hunt trip we saw lion tracks several times in the same general area. I might have to go up and try to call one in. 6a might be a good unit to put in for coues too! maybe bag a lion during scouting and a nice buck later.

 

OK.. I know I know... But a guy has to set his sights high, right?

[GRONG]

HOLY MOLY!! That would be strange, bighorn sheep in my back yard. The only logical "sheep looking" country would have to be towel peaks and Hackberry Mtn. How odd!! The lions will HAMMER those sheep in there if they ever decide to do it. Maybe the lions will find the sheep delicious and leave our Coues alone. This ought to be very interesting to watch.

 

Josh

[matthewp45]

Hopefully they will not take the sheep from 45A,B,C. They have pulled so many sheep out of there to transplant, we only have a few left. Sounds like a good excuse to go tryand kill a lion.

[ultramag]

the only lion i have seen in the wild was in 6a at 20 yards .good luck to the sheep

[gnoto]

Every day is a lion hunt! I carry my tag in my wallet just to be sure. Don't always have a big stick but my .41 mag blackhawk is usually under my arm so I am happy to lunch with any lion any time. Unless its in a zoo its on the hust so why should'nt I be!

[Rembrant]

I agree with Josh about this being a weird transplant. The Towel Mountains for sure, but there's not much area. Maybe Boulder and Calf Pen canyons?

I don't think the cliff carp will compete with the Coues Deer, any more than the carp deer or the range maggots (cattle).

Mike

[GRONG]

I ran into the Game Warden for 19A in the store the other day and I asked him about the sheep transplant that's gonna happen. He told me that the Sheep Society had all this money saved up and they needed to something with it so they're buying some sheep from some other state and bringing them in this month (June), that's the plan anyway, and their putting them in West Clear Creek. Quite interesting. My $.02 says the lions are gonna hammer them but this should get very interesting, I can't wait to see what happens.

 

Josh

[KGAINES]

Hopefully the state they get them from has a lion problem too, a new environment and a lot of predators that are established and know the area don't add up to a successful transplant, maybe they should have used some of that money they had saved up to pay for quite a few lion hunts in that area first.

[GRONG]

I think that even if they had made a quota of 500 lions in 6A south they still wouldn't have killed 5 of them. That's some tough country around there. If there was 10 different lion hunters in there it'd still be tough to muck some of them out. Of course as soon as you do though there will be more to replace them. Like you said though Keith, I hope they get them from a place where they're used to lions. We'll see........

[az4life]

Josh

I would agree with your assesment on the kind of terrain, and your prediction that the sheep will be hammered by Lions. They are all over in 6A and I think they will look at the sheep as an easy target. These Sheep are Imported too so expect them to be a favorite. I thought the transplant was for next year!? It seems like putting the cart before the horse to put the sheep in before a decent effort has been made to knock down the predators a bit.

 

I guess that is why the AGFD hired some them thar Edgeemukated folks to run the show.

[azcouesandelk]

OK I have never hunted lions before and would like to get a shot at one. Should I just sit and glass as I would for Whitetail or should I try to find tracks and try to track them down. Or should I try to find an area where I know one is and try to call it in.

[KGAINES]

younghunter, yes to all of the above, and carry your lucky rabbits foot, and a four leaf clover, maybe two of the four leaf clovers, and then you need to get real lucky. I seen my first one last year and I was carrying my muzzleloader, he was over a ridge before me or my brother could get a shot. I have lived in az for 35 years and that is the first lion I have seen, I seen a jaguar a few years ago, so without dogs you have to be extremely lucky. I think treestandman should strap himself up above a couple of his cameras and he could probably take a few, though he would be in that tree for quite a while.

[25-06]

Younghunter, I like the way you think ;)I have been trying to get a lion for ever...Without hounds it's all about luck. But there is a few things you can do to put the odds in your favor. 1'st ALWAYS carry a lion tag and some type of weapon with you everytime your out in the hills. #2 Look for a fresh lion kill, when you find one, keep an close eye on it day and night, cuz it will most likely be back. #3 is to get into good lion country with lots of sign, scrapes, tracks, old kills ect. #4 if you use a call, use something like fawn in distress fer at lease 2 hours at each stand....and MOST importent thing to remember is, During these 2 hours of calling, DON'T shoot any coyote's, fox's or bobcat's, cuz that would just start the whole process over again Good luck I hope this helps and let us know how it goes for you.