Finally, I've notched a tag for myself this year.

I was hunting Mule Deer with George Peters / High Country Outfitters in Idaho's Frank Church Wilderness last week.

On the third day we were working our way to a glassing point when below us elk started to bark (alert) there was more barking below and to the right also. We sat down to see if we could glass up the elk & hopefully a bull (I had an Elk tag also). George cow calls & they answered back. Glassing, George say's "there's a Mountain Lion" then he say's "the Lion just laid down, perfect!" he show's me where and then ranges it at 591 yards. Thru a window in the pines, behind a downed log I catch the movement of a Lion's tail. That's why the Elk are alerted.

George asks, "Ya want a Lion", Heck yes but that's a long ways. "that's ok, If you miss it's only a Lion, take your time & squeeze one off when ever your ready". During the recoil I think to myself, That felt good! Then at the end of the rifle crack......... twackkkk........ that sounded good! Then George say's "you got him, holy $*#t! what a shot!" ect, ect, ect... It was pretty exciting. Thru the glass George saw the lion slowly roll, tail up then the white belly, then rolls 2 more times down hill and out of sight.


In Idaho the lion season is open, you can use a mule deer tag as a lion tag. It's a tom & measures 7' with a 14" skull, estimated weight of 150 lb. He was in great shape with a thick layer of fat. I glad to have him dead cause he would have eaten a lot more critters in his lifetime.


I didn't get a Muley buck but I did get a Muley eater. I hope everyone has had a great hunting season.

Claude

We just got back from another successful mountain lion hunt in Big Creek. Conditions were rough because there was no snow. We rode lots of miles, but never could cut a fresh track on the dry ground. We found a lot of kills, but they were mostly wolf kills. Wolves and hounds don't mix.

On the third evening, we finally got a little skiff of snow. George, Jason and I went one way and Travis and his hunter went another. All we found was a dead cow moose in the creek with a wolf eating it and some deer. We were training a new pup (Poncho) and had to have some "trashing" lessons. Travis and his hunter Earl were riding down the trail on the horses and Travis actually spotted a cougar above the trail. He wasn't quite sure because spotting a mountain lion is a rare thing, so he told Earl that he was going to walk up and check it out. Sure enough, there were lion tracks! He turned loose his hounds Sue and Rosie and the chase was on. The lion went up and over a mountain and Earl couldn't make it, so they walked down to the horses to ride up the trail. In the mean time, we heard dogs barking "treed" and our dogs took off in that direction. We got to the tree before Travis and Earl and enjoyed about an hour of taking pictures and just having fun before they showed up. Earl liked what he saw and the hunt was over.

We saw a ton of game on this hunt. Hundreds of elk, lots of bighorn sheep, wolves, coyotes, mule deer and lots of bald eagles. If you're interested in a Mountain Lion hunt, check out our website for more details.

Just back from a succesful lion hunt in Big Creek. Shane and Cory found a fresh kill on the first evening. The lion had just killed a cow elk minutes before we got there and drug it down to the ice by the creek. It was snowing hard, and when we found the kill, there was no snow in the tracks... that's fresh!

We saddled up the next morning and rode out with the dogs. It had snowed a few inches that night and we cut the track again just before we got to the kill. The dogs had the cat "treed" up in a rock bluff minutes after they started on the track. It took us about 45 minutes to get there and the lion jumped out just before we arrived. The dogs took chase again and caught the lion in a big dead pine tree about half a mile away. We were there in just a few minutes and admired and took pictures of the cat for quite some time before the hunter decided that it was one that he would be happy with. We were able to film the entire hunt. I haven't seen the footage yet, but I'm sure it's going to be good.

It was a fun hunt and actually pretty easy, but I'll take those easy ones any time I can get them because I know that I'll end up paying for it eventually. I really enjoy lion hunts because you are in the backcountry at a time when no one else is around and you see a ton of game. On this trip we saw elk, mule deer, bighorn sheep, coyotes, bald eagles and a ton of pretty country. If you are interested in a mounain lion hunt with High Country Outfitters, visit our mountain lion page for more information.