Day In The Mountains With A Pretty Blonde

[JimB]

You didn't really think....

This blonde came from JD Lund.I got another call yesterday morning to go on a lion hunt.A beautiful day to be in the mountains and kind of a strange turn of events.

 

[lpcjon2]

Nice blonde and she doesn't even have an opinion!  

[pdk25]

Nice bow.

lpcon2:  I hope that your wife doesn't log on to tradgang, or you may get more than your share of opinion, lol.

[limbolt]

Nice blonde,great curves,enjoy.

[K.S.TRAPPER]

 

Tracy

[JimB]

We turned the dogs out on a track at the base of the mountain and of course,it headed up the mountain.This is a view after about 45 minutes of uphill walking.
 

[JimB]

After about an hour,I finally broke out on top of the ridge.This view is across to the ridge on the opposite side.The dogs are way ahead,barely audible.
 

[JimB]

We followed the crest of the ridge for a ways.Tim and Jim stop to listen and get some direction.They decide the dogs sound like they have treed and are just over the ridge.

 

[pdk25]

This sounds like it might get even better.

[JimB]

We busted through a bunch of thick pines,ending up right at the base of the tree.The dogs were going nuts and and cat smell was strong in the air.We had to actually back up the hill to get a look into the tree but no cat.We moved around and looked at it from every angle but there was no cat.

Sometimes a cat jumps to the next tree and the dogs don't catch it and stay at the first tree but there wasn't a tree big enough,close enough for this to happen.We circled and checked for tracks but the hillside was cut up with dog track and you couldn't see anything.

Sometimes a cat will just bail out of the tree and take off but the dogs would have seen that and followed.We were at a complete loss to explain how this happened.You could smell that the cat had been there.

Tim and Jim were going to continue down the ridge,to try to find the track again and I was to head back over the ridge,get my truck and either join them around the mountain or at least pick them up when they got to the bottom.

 

[JimB]

I figured the hunt was over and decided to enjoy the quiet hike back and try to get a couple pictures on the way.

Shortly after dropping over the back of the ridge,I hit this single moose track.Pretty impressive.
 

[JimB]

About a half hour later I was down in the head of the canyon we started out of.These are the cliffs that were in the background of one of the other photos.
 

[Rooselk]

Beautiful. Nothing like spending a nice winter day in the snowy woods.

[JimB]

I found this little track winding it's way through the bottom of the canyon.It is actually a little Western spotted skunk.Some call them civet cats.They are much more agile than the other skunks and their track pattern doesn't show that typical drunken waddle that other skunks display.These things bound like mink,martens and weasels.

This one checked out every mouse,squirrel and rabbit track it came too.These little guys aren't much bigger in body than a red squirrel but must be feisty predators.They climb well and I have seen where they hunted pack rats as big as themselves.A very cool little hunter.

This is my last picture.
 

[JimB]

I made it back to the truck,went around the mountain and met the guys and dogs walking out.This is when I heard the rest of the story.

Shortly after I left them,they found 2 more trees with the strong smell of cat and at the base of one,was a small mountain lion kitten that had been eaten.I wish I could have been there.Tim says he will get me pictures.

Tom lions will kill kittens and young lions any chance they get.They think the kitten had been dead for 3 to 4 days.The only way we could explain what happened is,another lion must have caught up with the female and kitten.Often,before or during a fight,cats will spray a lot.This is why three different trees smelled so strong.At some point,the tom got the kitten,killed and ate it.

We just happened on the female track,days later and she returned looking for her kitten.The dogs followed her to the scene.

The dogs hit the super scented tree and thought they had her and she was actually hours ahead of them.A sad story but these animals live in a tough world,nothing like the TV version.

An interesting day in the moountains for sure.

[JL]

Cool post! Thanks for taking us along!

JL

[Autumnarcher]

Mountain lions are an interesting breed. Last time I went elk hunting, we found a mule deer buck dead, obviously killed by a cat, although it had been there a few days and had not been fed on.

In looking around, we found 2 sets of cat tracks, one adult and one youngster. That cat was teaching the young one how to hunt, and the kill was just for that purpose. Coyotes had just started in on it but we spooked them off.

Its neck was twisted around and broken, and long claw marks down its side.

[ron w]

Cool photos....thanks for share'n.....

[Benjy]

Awesome story and good pictures! That would be a cool hunt to be involved with. No snow or mountain lions around here.