Cougars with a bow???

[pintail_drake2004]

Well here in So. IL we are getting alot of cougar activity. About 10-12 years ago, my bro and i treed a small tom while coon hunting. Our game warden told us "he was just passing through." We have been finding deer in trees for years in this area, and last week my brother and i picked up another 1200 acres to trap and the Landowner told us he saw 2 cougars in the last few months. People are finding these deer just "hanging around" in the woods. I WANT a cougar something bad!
Any of yall ever bag a cougar with trade gear? At this point, i would be happy with trad gear, muzzleloader, or trap! If ya got one, id like to see some pix.

Thanks,
Pintail

[Joseph]

I never have yet but I know a lot of folks that have.  If you do get one they are some of the best eating you will ever try!!

[razorsharptokill]

You are kidding...... right?

[Shawn Leonard]

Joseph is not kidding about the eating. They are very good and you would be hard pressed to tell it from pork. Shawn

[Budog56]

http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=040351  
                                                 pintail Heres a good thread on one and I know there are more great stories and pics ive read them ..try doing a search on cougars or mt lions..I read as many as I can as they are at the top of my list as well.

[Izzy]

Got skunked last year but had the most strenuous {rewarding) hunt of my life.Going to another state this year.Ill be hunting with my Zipper extreme.

[katie]

My neighbor got a trail camera shot of a mom and her baby on our fence line.  I would love to take her w/ my trad gear.  My husband wants to go after her w/ a shotgun and slug since our kids play in our timber.  Lions in Iowa just seems strange!  Have yet to find deer in the trees.  We have found baby cows w/ their hides peeled back.

[Dartwick]

Its fairly important for most fish and game departments to not acknowledge populations of cougars in many eastern states.

The claim(and possinly correctly) that most the cougars you see are the result of escaped captive cougars.

The allows them to be killed with out serious restrictions in the densely populated east.

[Soilarch]

My question has always been.

"What's the law regarding the harvesting of a species the 'law' says isn't here?"


Pintail, I've yet to see signs of one in person.  I'm from Saline County.  Pope County (just southeast of us) has a fair amount of Deer Outfiiters/Guides.  I've held in my own hands the gametrail pics of two CUBS!  Didn't know the guy from Adam since he was 3 or 4 years younger than me.  But he was driving a decked-out truck with an outfitter's logo all over it.  (I reckonized the outfitter's name and everyone else there seem to accept his word as good.)

Buddy owns some pasture/wood land down there and I'm like you...I'd love a shot at one!

[BMOELLER]

Can you  legally take one in Illinois?  If you can try a predator call and you better watch your 6.

[Soilarch]

Originally posted by BMOELLER:
Can you  legally take one in Illinois?  If you can try a predator call and you better watch your 6.

Exactly, the "law" says they don't exist....and were do nuisance laws come into play?  Coyotes have always been fair-game here, if they weren't the cattle farmers would either ignore the law or get nuisance permits.  In fact, a few farmers have gotten nuisance permits for deer...but that's a different thread.

My buddy works at a feed/outdoor store and it's basically the old-man information hub of a 3 county area.   He and a game warden got talking about it.  Best answer he could get out of him was "If they were introduced, they probably did it to try and control coyotes."

Sounds like something our government would do.

[fowlarcher]

[mikecc]

Me and my brother have caught alot of mtn. lions with our hounds and we have each harvested a lion. My brother used a .357 revolver and had to shoot his 3 times. I got my nice tom with a Fox Breed recurve and magnus 2 blade head. He was treed on the edge of a cliff and I shot him in the lungs twice. Both arrows made it to the bottom of the canyon and we found them the following spring while shed hunting. Lions don't take deer up into trees to eat them, they usually bury the deer with dirt and sticks after they have eaten their fill and will hang out nearby until their hungry again or decide to move on. We caught the same young tom 3 saturdays in a row off the same cow elk he had killed.

[JimB]

I was going to comment on that also.I've never seen where mountain lions dragged deer up into trees.You might have leopards.

[Joseph]

I have only seen a deer carcass up in a tree one time and if a cougar didn't do it I don't know what would have.  Any other cat kills I have found have been on the ground.  I think they are very capable of it and maybe it is a learned or acquired behavior in places with a lot of coyotes?  Joseph

[pintail_drake2004]

Joseph-yotes are as thick as ticks down here. That may be a very good explanation because there are reports of the deer in trees all across So IL. I wish i had a trail camera to capture on on film. if/when i come across another deer just "hanging around" ill take a pic.
Cougars are like any other "unregulated" species in the state of IL. Elk, bear, pig, cougars, can all be taken any time on the spot. Last year a feller from SIU shot an elk (small bull) about 20 min from where i hunt. Granted they claimed it was a ranched elk. the DNR has been wanting to release them in Shawnee for years. An autopsy showed that the elk was "wild" by the remanence of the food in its stomach, overall condition and wear.

[waknstak IL]

Buddy of Mine shot a doe early in the a.m. heard it crash bout 100 yards away. got down 3 hours later and couldn't find the deer. after mch searching he found it buried under the leaves. only a little meat chewed on a hind leg. Yotes always go for the guts first and I've never heard of them covering up a kill. I've spoken to a couple of different "knowledgeable people" who claim to have seen cougars in a couple different areas. I haven't seen one yet, but I believe we've got more than people realize. If they have been "introduced" to control coyotes they better get a few more cause it aint workin.

[acolobowhunter]

I shot a big tom with my recurve.  He missed the book by 1/8".  Was quite an experience, but really hard work.  Running and tracking in knee deep snow up in our Rocky Mountains.  
I cut the entire cat into steaks, some really fine eating.  Had a full body mount done.  Cat is laying down on a rock ledge similar to the mouth of a cave.  Under one paw is a dead grouse and feathers hanging from his whiskers.

[blueline]

Pintail, The only way a lion will control yotes is to take away the food source. And they will do it. I know lions although I dont have any pics for ya. You can go after them with dogs, I like to call them with hand calls. If you choose to do this, you will have to pass up coyotes, fox, and bob cats, because the lion will be the last one you see. Very exciting with any gear, a true trophy with tra gear.

blueline

[AndyTheCornbread]

Been hunting in lion country for 12 years now. Lions bury their food under a bunch of branches and leaves etc. it would take a lot for me to believe that one would drag an animal up a tree. Leopards will drag their kills up trees but they have a different neck, head and jaw muscle and bone structure than mtn lions do. Also leopards climb trees really well. Mtn lions can climb trees as but if you ever watch one do it you can tell they don't do it often except as a last resort to get away from something and the big ones will often stay and fight it out on the ground rather than try and climb a tree. My guess would be that you have people playing pranks who are also poaching by not tagging the deer they are hanging up there. Not sure the legalities of shooting one back east where you are but out here the tag is 11 bucks for residents and we have plenty of cougars to go around and then some.