Female Lions

[knothead]

For those of us that have been alive and hunting deer since 70's know the deer populations really took a nose dive when they banned trapping around 91 or 92.  There was once a time when you could go to any unit that holds elk in this state and see way more deer than elk.  As a matter of fact it wasn't even close. Those trappers kept the lions and coyotes in serious check.

I buy a tag every year and in 40 years I have seen a total of two lions.  One in 33 three years ago and one in 6a this past September.  Still waiting for my first shot opportunity.

 

[Non-Typical Solutions]

On 10/14/2018 at 12:37 PM, knothead said:

For those of us that have been alive and hunting deer since 70's know the deer populations really took a nose dive when they banned trapping around 91 or 92.  There was once a time when you could go to any unit that holds elk in this state and see way more deer than elk.  As a matter of fact it wasn't even close. Those trappers kept the lions and coyotes in serious check.

I buy a tag every year and in 40 years I have seen a total of two lions.  One in 33 three years ago and one in 6a this past September.  Still waiting for my first shot opportunity.

 

I remember in the 70's in the Alpine area....you had to drive to Reservation Lake to see elk.....otherwise it was all deer.......am I dreaming about that or is this the case for others as well?

[OlalaBoy]

I have thought about lion hunting since 2016. Finally i will be in Africa  this summer. Cant wait 

[Idcurs]

On 12/12/2016 at 5:20 PM, naturebob said:

Shoot em all. Ever wonder why deer population is so low?...............BOB!

Deer #s are down for one reason,to many dang tags!!!!!!Lions have been here long before you were born and so has the deer.Lower tag numbers and quit killing 2 and 3 year olds and your numbers will come up!!!!!I remember hunting 16a in the 70s tons of big bucks and  and lots of lions---then G&F put two seasons in and 1100 tags in both after three years of this deer numbers went way down.G7F says lion and drought it had nothing to do with killing all the bucks in the unit---yea right!!!!

[trphyhntr]

40 minutes ago, Idcurs said:

Deer #s are down for one reason,to many dang tags!!!!

 drought and predation make an impact. 

[naturebob]

Big time...............BOB!

[Idcurs]

21 hours ago, trphyhntr said:

 drought and predation make an impact. 

Must be a democrap drink the koolaid a lot????Quit listening to the bullshit that G&F tell you.I lion hunt and deer hunt and tag numbers have way more impact than drought or lions.The highest lion numbers in the state are in !2A also the highest deer numbers,but wait the lions kill all of the deer---how can that be!!!!!!Lots of lions in 13a& 13b kill the biggest bucks in the state but the tag numbers are low and most hunters kill a 4or more year old there,most are 6 or more?

[AZAV8ER]

From my experience  hunting Coues deer in 35's and 36's numbers went way down when the oaks quit producing an acorn crop. This happened around early mid 90's. Around the same time we did start seeing lions, my dad hunted here from 1940 all his life and never saw a lion, my uncle hunted hard when younger and never saw a lion and when I started hunting in 72  we saw nothing to indicate lions. Then boom mid 90's we see lions and even bag a few on deer hunts. 

[Bisbee]

If hunting were the primary cause of declining deer numbers, why are we not swimming in does and fawns? Human hunters are killing only bucks.

[PRDATR]

On 11/17/2018 at 8:12 AM, Idcurs said:

Deer #s are down for one reason,to many dang tags!!!!!!Lions have been here long before you were born and so has the deer.Lower tag numbers and quit killing 2 and 3 year olds and your numbers will come up!!!!!I remember hunting 16a in the 70s tons of big bucks and  and lots of lions---then G&F put two seasons in and 1100 tags in both after three years of this deer numbers went way down.G7F says lion and drought it had nothing to do with killing all the bucks in the unit---yea right!!!!

I have only been hunting sixteen a since 2012 but it seems like the area I hunt has more and more donkeys every year. They seem to be non-stop eating machines and are even tearing up the paloverde trees so I wonder if they are competing with the deer for food. I have only seen a few deer but I know they are there as I see plenty of sign. 

I have not seen any lions but I do see tracks from time to time.

[dusty]

http://www.sfw.net/data/Deer-Predator-Drought-2012.pdf. Add fire suppression causing thick brush making it easier for predators to stalk deer. The one thing for certain is the 600 mule deer tags for unit 22 is not adjusted for any decrease in the deer population.

[trphyhntr]

5 hours ago, Idcurs said:

Must be a democrap drink the koolaid a lot????Quit listening to the bullshit that G&F tell you.I lion hunt and deer hunt and tag numbers have way more impact than drought or lions.The highest lion numbers in the state are in !2A also the highest deer numbers,but wait the lions kill all of the deer---how can that be!!!!!!Lots of lions in 13a& 13b kill the biggest bucks in the state but the tag numbers are low and most hunters kill a 4or more year old there,most are 6 or more?

No koolaid just thinking logically 

[Idcurs]

On 11/18/2018 at 12:09 PM, trphyhntr said:

No koolaid just thinking logically 

Ok 12e&w have more deer in this unit than half the state.Tag numbers were up way to many in the late 90's early 2000's well over 1500.Buck numbers went down a lot as did does and fawns.No more or less were taken in that time frame.Now tag numbers have come down a lot,less than a 1000 in both units and buck numbers have come back up .Even with G&F killing 800-1000 does every year.you must have bucks to cover all the does to get a high fawn rate,now yotes,bobcats and lions take fawns,yotes really hammer them in the open forest like the Bab has.I have hunted on the Bab and Strip for over 30 years,tag number down buck numbers up--tags up Buck numbers down.Just about the same number of lions taken every year.You can debate all the bullshit I have been there a lot and hunted deer and lions both and have seen what tag numbers do to the deer numbers.In the middle 80 on winter range it was no big deal to see 10 or more 200 inch bucks on the east side game trail or the loop on House Rock,down the Honeymoon Trail or the winter road.I hunt lion in all those places it is starting to come back to those times,still not seeing as many but more every year.When 13b was opened up after a 5  years of no hunting bucks numbers came up,Tag numbers were set at 25 tags it slowly climbed to where it is now(to many if you ask me) but there some real pigs in this unit,every year a 260-270-280 inch bucks get killed it dang sure was not killing lions that brought them back!!!!!!!!!

 

[trphyhntr]

too long; did not read

[PJM]

I hunt in 35a and been going down South since 2007. I've always seen cat tracks around Parker Canyon Lake and have talked to the others hunting. I have seen  one dead coues remains in  a tree. The lion population has had an impact on the deer numbers. Last week I ran into a local and we started talking about the deer population and was informed that there are 22 resident mountain lions. Yep I'm all about conservation, but if I see a Mountain Lion, I will try to fill my tag.