Cat Down ( Pictures added) ( STORY ADDED)

[CAMPMEAT]

Nice one Joe. I wish I were you then. I've seen 15 cougars since I moved here and haven't shot any. I was working when I saw them.

[BLKBEARKLR]

Joe
Nice job.
Did you eat this cat? If so, how did you fix it?
I have always wondered what they are like.

Thank you all for the kind words...

I kept the meat from it. I am going to make it into sausage, I have had made it into steaks before and it was awesome just like pork chops.

Joe

[Ridgeratt]

checked the quota line tonite and they say that it is 1 female left or 2 cougars!!

[BLKBEARKLR]

checked the quota line tonite and they say that it is 1 female left or 2 cougars!!

Holy crap that went fast

[DOUBLELUNG]

Oh we estimated the weight from 150-155 pounds. Sorry did not have a digital scale in my back left pocket. All I know is that when I picked it up it was heavy!!!!!!!  Dale and myself did get a tape on it skinned out and we came up with 8 foot 10 inches from tip of nose to tip of tail.



Joe

Sounds like you are close!  a 9' cat will go nose tip to tail tip on the ground over a full-size p/u tailgate and weigh 160-170; a cat that has tail and head solidly on the ground will go 180+, and is like a 300lb human who is not overweight, IMHO.

[bucklucky]

Looks like he was taling about skinned length. My buddys cat was 130 and was 8'10 skinned . Mine was well over 9 skinned .

[MADMAX]

My female was 7 2 " and 110 lbs and the bio said she was 3.5 years old when I got her sealed

[huntlakewood]

REally nice kitty

[bearpaw]

A lot depends on the build of the cat, and whether he has eaten recently. Even tails can vary by 4 to 6 inches. In my experience (we have skinned hundreds of cats) most females skin out between 7 and 8 feet and most males skin out between 8 and 9 feet. Rare for a female to go over 8' and only the very largest toms go over 9'. The largest tom we ever caught weighed 205 with an empty belly, skinned out over 9'6" and scored 15 14/16 after the 60 day drying period. The second heaviest cat I have seen weighed 180 and skinned out 9'6", it scored 15 2/16. Another cat weighed about 165 and skinned out about 9'2" but he scored 15 7/16, so even though he was a smaller cat than the 180, his head was much larger. Just like people or anything else, weights and size vary greatly in cougar.

I almost forgot to mention: We took a small female of about 85 or 90 pounds several years ago, when the card came back on her age, it said she was 12.5 yrs. That was the oldest female I have seen and the oldest tom was the 205 that I spoke about, the card come back from WDFW saying 10.5 years.

[bearpaw]

I have only 1 cougar of my own that I took with bow, I drew a tag in 1993. After all our other hunters filled their tags I went hunting for myself. He was an older tom with yellow teeth, I think they aged him at 7.5, he only weighed 138 but skinned out about 8'10", he had a pretty nice head and scored 14 10/16. My wifes biggest cougar (she has 3) weighed about 155, skinned out 8'10", was almost identical to blkbearklr's cat, it scored 14 8/16.

I am anxious to hear how big Joe's skull is. His cat had a really long head, not real wide, but really long, like 1/2 inch longer than usual for a cat that size. It will be interesting to see how it scores. I pretty sure the following minimums are still required for the various record books.

13 8/16 will qualify for the P&Y book.
14 0/16 will qualify for the SCI book.
14 8/16 will qualify for the B&C 3 year book.
15 0/16 will qualify for the all-time B&C book.

[bucklucky]

Thanks for the info on those cats. I was going to say build really makes a differance. I think my buddys cat had a tail that was 3 inches longer than mine. Mine was 160 with an empty gut .

[bearpaw]

Thanks for the info on those cats. I was going to say build really makes a differance. I think my buddys cat had a tail that was 3 inches longer than mine. Mine was 160 with an empty gut .

I could see by the photo that your cat was a dandy. Not many ever get that large.

[mulehunter]

Yeah Dang Nice Cat.  Thats Exactly what I am working on find a Nice Tom,   Since I got draw,  danm kids kept shooting all Small and some Average Cat to get Quota Closed FASTER than Ever.  Oh well.  At least I had fun.

Congt to you all Tags holder!   Maybe you all can join my Tag soup dinner.   



Mulehunter 

[bearpaw]

Yeah Dang Nice Cat.  Thats Exactly what I am working on find a Nice Tom,   Since I got draw,  danm kids kept shooting all Small and some Average Cat to get Quota Closed FASTER than Ever.  Oh well.  At least I had fun.

Congt to you all Tags holder!   Maybe you all can join my Tag soup dinner.   



Mulehunter 

Mulehunter my area is about to close too. It only opened on Jan 1st and there is only 1 female left. I don't need to shoot a young cat, but I do understand someone who has never got a cougar wanting to get what ever they can get before the season closes down. I don't blame the hunters, I blame the system, it sucks, but I do have to admit it is better than no season at all. If there 2 things I could change, they would be:

1.  Issue only the number of tags for the number of cougar they want killed, figuring in an average percentage of success. Those tags are good for the season.
2.  Issue unlimited over-the-counter pursuit tags for a "Behavior Modification Season".

[jstone]

That is cool. I would love to do that with a bow