ever killed a lion??

[jackelope]

so i buy the lion tag every year "just in case i run into one" :dunno:and i never have...i'd like to hear if any of you guys have ever "run into" a mt lion and taken it during a hunting season.
just curious i guess.

[Ray]

I have seen two lions in WA State before. Never during hunting season.

1 was on Tiger Mtn east of Issaquah (looked less than 70lbs) last year.
1 was up Miller Creek in the Teanaway (was probably 120 lbs or so) year before last.

I will have a tag for one every year from now on. Both times I saw the creatures I was on a mountain bike and think that I sort of surprised them but who knows.

[WDFW-SUX]

I have seen three of them over the years and they all have been running the other direction.  However I always think one is creeping up behind me when I am calling elk in the dark

[bobcat]

I've never killed one but always have a tag. Isn't the tag basically free anyway? If you are already buying deer, elk, and bear tags, I think the cougar tag is included at no extra cost, in the package deal. Or, maybe it's 5 bucks or something. I don't pay much attention to the cost, it's definitely worth having just in case you ever see a cat while hunting another species. I've been wanting to go out and try calling one in but haven't got around to it yet. Maybe in another 20 years when I retire I'll have time for that.   

[Machias]

I was stalked by one during turkey season up on Iron Mtn up near Chewelah a few years ago, got to look at him at 35 feet for probably 4 or 5 minutes.  Very cool.  Seen four this winter, three females and a tom, all up a tree with my dogs under it.  I have never harvested a cat yet.  

[bobcat]

Fred,  did you get any pictures?

[jackelope]

I think they just include the tag with the bear tag is how it works. it may sound odd, but i'm not interested in shooting a bear at all...so if i could just buy the lion tag i would.
a buddy of  mine almost ran one over on a dirtbike last summer. the in-laws had one in the windbreak across from their house and their llama chased all the goats into the barn. he was not a happy camper at all pacing back and forth in the doorway of the barn, ears pinned back against his head, whistling and making a big stink...
that cat was going to make lunch out of a goat i'm sure.

[Machias]

Yes, I'll try and get them posted this weekend.

Jackelope, my friend in central WA has run a few lions who enjoyed llama meat.

[billythekidrock]

One of these days a ol cat will show up to my calling.......and I will have a tag for him.

[PolarBear]

I stabbed one with my bow about 4 or 5 years ago while whitetail hunting from my treestand in Ferry County.  It was a young (about 3 years old) female .  She was stalking up a well used scrape line that I was perched on.  I got her at 20 yards.  I probably have never experienced such an adrenalin rush just thinking that if I botched the shot, she might join me in my treestand!!!  I wound up getting a nice buck the next day 100 yards away.  Two of my cousins have shot cats over there that were stalking them.  I shot a buck a few years ago just before dark.  I came back the next day to get my treestand and dicovered cat tracks in mine, where I had drug the buck out in the snow and all around where the gut pile use to be.  While I was hiking out with my treestand I noticed a fresh set of tracks next to mine.  I must have still had blood on my boots from the night before.  After checking it out a little closer it seemed that he was trailing me and moved off into the brush when he heard me coming back toward him.  That was one hell of an eerie feeling!

[boneaddict]

I've killed one using hounds.  I've seen several out in the sticks but its usually for a glimpse.  I always have the tag.  I ran into one doing photography this fall, her and her two kittens.  If she would have held still for just one second, she'd been had.  I managed to almost capture one of the kittens, I counted coup on the back of its neck.  Don't ask me what I would have done if I had gotten a hold of it, I wasn't thinking that far in advance.  I'd probably be getting the staples pulled about now.  YIKES

[Branden]

I've shot four lions on the west side. I have never even seen one on the east side. I was with my buddy when he missed one that was sitting in a snag at 128 yards. I took another buddy up during a special hunt for deer, the first day we saw what I thought was a pretty good tom, by the size of the cat and the size of the tracks. The fourth day I spotted another and he shot that one, which was a female. Probably my favorite animal to hunt.

[yakimarcher]

I saw one in unit 101 back in 2002. I was hunting whitetails during ealy archery season. Sitting by a rock waiting for something to stir i saw it walk through some trees about 80 yards away. Wish I had the 30-30 that day.

[RidgeRunner_07]

I was stalked by one during turkey season up on Iron Mtn up near Chewelah a few years ago, got to look at him at 35 feet for probably 4 or 5 minutes.  Very cool.  Seen four this winter, three females and a tom, all up a tree with my dogs under it.  I have never harvested a cat yet.  

Fred,

You do much hunting on Iron any more?....I pretty much lived on that mountian in Middle school...my 8th grade year I hunted over 150 days up there. I know it like the back of my hand. Never seen any cat sign up there though. but that dont mean they wernt there. or arent there. By 2009 you  wont even be able to get into Iron Mt short of walking or bike riding. Forest service is barracading the roads off with tank traps and water bars to keep people out. Fine with me though. I walk most of the time any way. Seen a monster cow elk up there yesterday while chasing turkeys.

[boneaddict]

I like the fact they are closing it down, as long as there is still access by foot.  I've enjoyed hunting up there.  I've seen moose and elk, along with some whopper whities.