really.. a mountain lion

[Buzzcook]

Yeah, I know it is "protected".

Well not in this case. It's more like a feral cat than wild game.

Even in cases were hunting predators is regulated, there is usually a "in the act of predation" clause that makes it ok to shoot an cougar. going after domestic animals.

 

[longranger]

They have been removed from the ecosytem for a reason.As several have stated they do not belong any where near poeple,pets, or livestock.Once they are established the bunnie huggers it will be all over it and you need to only look at California and what they have done with them.If you like your deer herds,dogs,kids, parents ect.Keeep them out.

 

[taz1]

i agree with nature and its course. i am a apex predator and lion sounds jummy.
start a post of sightings and locations please.

 

[kayakersteve]

Very neat

2amencw - Check laws - it is likley illegal for you to hunt/shoot unless in fear of life or limb.

I kind of hope they repopulate in western NY, but also kind of hope they don't - if that makes sense??!!

 

[johnwilliamson062]

'?Virginia? reintroduced them quietly. No one knew, which is why ODNR first reported they were domestics let loose.'-Rumor I have heard. Maybe it was Tennessee. Anyways the rumor is we can thank/hate another state not too far off.

I like to see them making a comeback. I will share a deer a week with them. I seem unable to get one myself anyways...

Hopefully they hit the wild hog population developing in SW Ohio. Maybe that is why they really showed up...

 

[A_Gamehog]

Lions have become very bold everywhere I have hunted

First picture is a lion on an Large Bull Elk.


Third picture is from a "Guide's" pack Mule! getting a piece of *****cat..

 

[treg]

2amencw - Check laws - it is likley illegal for you to hunt/shoot unless in fear of life or limb.

That's how it is here. Can't even shoot one if it's eating your livestock. If it's SD there better be powder burns.

 

[andrew66]

thats why u shoot them and hide them! and pray they arent tagged! if it kills livestock, i bet the wardens wont be willing to foot the bill, which leaves it to insurance, which will up the premiums.
No need for those things in populated areas, leave em in the mountains far from where ppl live.

 

[Pointer]

Trap

Your division of widlife might loan you a bear trap...
Put a live, loud goat inside trap... set trap...

Shoot lion...

Call wild life control if you catch a bear...

 

[johnwilliamson062]

I don't think they are regulated at all in Ohio. I think the realization that a feasible population has developed is very recent. Much like the elk that was tagged a few weeks back, not regulated to my knowledge.

 

[bamaranger]

correction

Ran up on the state wildlife biologist that had my book, just today, and he returned it. Had it so dang long, I did not quote the title correctly earlier.
Here it is:
The Eastern Cougar, by Bolgiano and Roberts
Stackpole books, 2005

Lots of good stuff here. If you like the big cat stories, this book has'em, w/ documentation etc, from the east and southeast

 

[tachunter]

I live out west where mountains lions are common. I still haven't seen one. My father has hunted 35years and hasn't ever seen one. The ranch I hunt people have seen them a couple times. The are more elusive than 99 percent of NA animals. Let me tell you that IMO you won't be able to just simply bait them in. They will see you far before you will see them and even if there is bait they won't take the risk. Not saying there is no possible way it will work, but the odds are against you. If you really want to take them down you need to research the area thoroughly and often. Then take dogs out and do the job. It's not the type of animal that will come to you. You have to go in their backyard. Considering they have around a 200 mile radius and they move around like a ghost that tells me you have a lot of work ahead of you. I would start soon.

 

[Art Eatman]

Aw, a cougar will certainly come to bait. A buddy of mine and I put out a fresh-kill jack-rabbit, a bunch of table scraps and a handful of catnip at my back-country tract where I'd seen tracks. Beautiful cat came in a few hours later. Not as darkly pointed as a Siamese cat, but similar. Dark paws, mask and tail. My buddy missed the shot. Later, back in Austin telling the story, he got so excited he missed that cat three more times.

I can hang a scrap of rag on my south pasture fence and the next morning commonly see great big paddy paw tracks. Same around my burn pit, if I don't burn the household garbage.

 

[tachunter]

Interesting, I wonder why they don't use bait out here then. I would think if you can just sent out bait and get a lion to come right in, why go through the hastle of tracking them down for miles through tough terrain with dogs?

 

[mtnman]

Is it legal to shoot a cougar in Ohio.

 

[Art Eatman]

tachunter, it's just a bunch of luck as to how long you have to wait. We lucked out. Set the bait out about 3PM. Sat around the truck, BSing and relaxing. Went to the overlook about 8PM and sat for about an hour before the cat came in. But I've set out bait at other times and nothing happened. The main thing is that unless you're close to a home territory, there might not be a cat nearby for days.

 

[tachunter]

Yeah Art I hear ya on that one. If you are coming across fresh track consistenly or signs as to where their den is you would seem to have a much greater chance. It's just hard all around to track them down or even come across them without some sort of sense of where they spending a majority of their time. That's the thing about those cats though, they cover so much territory it's kind of like finding a needle in a hay stack. I've seen track one time. My father and I were driving scouting an area then we came back the same way we went in and we noticed cat tracks over our tire tracks. We glassed for a while and didn't see anything. Probably not the set of tracks you want to come across before deer season. Probably why we didn't fill a tags out that year.

 

[Buzzcook]

Is it legal to shoot a cougar in Ohio.

From the way this particular beastie was described, I'd say it is.
If it was a wild animal that had just migrated in, it might be different.

 

[stantonizm]

When I was at WVU in the Wildlife and Fisheries program, I knew of two people who caught cougars on their game-cams in WV. Another guy I hunt with runs a small trapping/furrier business during the winter months. He said at one of the farms he runs trap-lines on, the farmer got a picture of one on a trail cam. Then when he was checking his traps there he found a partially eaten deer that had been covered with leaves. I haven't seen the pics but he's an honest guy and has had more than enough experience to tell them from bobcats. Our DNR says the same thing though, that if we do have them they are released pets. If I recall correctly, our hunting regulations brochures still list cougars and that they are illegal to shoot. I'm curious as to whether they really are released pets or an expanding wild population. You would think a released pet would be seen more often around humans looking for food and would not have developed the hunting skills needed to take deer with enough regularity to survive. If they were repopulating the state from expanding or small relict populations, it would be a pretty big deal for DNR to admit we have them. If they were in fact eastern cougars, they would probably have to be listed as endangered. Endangered species require a lot of money to protect and can slow or stop future development.

 

[EnoughGUN]

Why is it peoples first response to anything not lapping milk out of a bowl in their kitchen is to blow a hole in it? Is it eating children? Are you starving and need to eat it to survive? Is the Mountain Lion population so excessive that they need to be thinned out to prevent starving or disease?
Leave the cat alone.