Treed lion

[Bluedog88]

When you walk up to the tree and the lions eyes lock on to you what do you think it's thinking? Deciding to jump or kill you or not?

[Mike Leonard]

If it locks it gaze, and never takes it eyes of you and sinks down and they sort of glaze and the tip of the tail is twitching, you may want to be a little careful. I lion that is getting ready to jump usually looks around.

[JustinKeller]

Its been my experience that a lion won't attack until you are within a few feet. Like pulling dogs off an active ground fight. Stay outside his bubble and grab the dogs by the tail, pull him back. Grabbing the collar of a dog nose to nose with a lion puts you a little too close. If he's in the tree I'm happy

[Idcurs]

It is just the lion you have caught.Years back I was guiding lion hunts,I had a hunter that wanted a B&C tom.I found a big track and wanted to see him up close,I got him treed and he was a brute.I took some video of him and some pics,when I got the dogs coupled up and was 50 yards or more from the tree.This big tom just comes down and makes a beline for me,well I had the dogs necked up so it was bad to start with and got worse quick!!!He was fighting them but was looking at me,I got my bow out of my pack and swung it like baseball bat.I hit him in the neck not a blink,hit him in the head still not a blink.Well this was going down hill fast and I put on my release and put a broadhead thru him.He blinked bigtime now,he made 50 to 60 yards and piled up.This was a big tom scull was 15--6/8 and weighed 163 no guts on the meat scale at the buchers shop.I was out the 2500 hundred for the hunt and a big vet bill for my dogs.I have caught bigger toms that just stayed right there till they were shot,he just had enough that day I guess!!!!You just never know??????

[Mike Leonard]

Idcurs,

Good info and like you said you just never know what a lion is going to do.

Back in my younger and more foolish days I use to like to climb up in tree with lions and I got so confident that I would get right up there and slap them with my cowboy hat to make them jump. I had a few holes punched in my old brown O'Farrell hat but luckily my little photo op. stunts never got me bit.

I changed all that one day when my dogs had fought a big tom across a talus slope and he had drawn blood on a bunch of them before they got him put up in a pine tree. He was wired and mad and he was lashing that tail and being up only just out of the dogs jump I could tell he was mad. I didn't think much about it as I walked toward the tree. I had another man with me who had been working in the area and had heard the dogs so he asked if he could come with me and see the lion. As we got up about 50 yards from the tree the lion looked from the dogs to us approaching and the other man just stopped dead in his tracks and said, this is close enough for me. I told him not to worry that the lion would not challenge a man, but he said no way am I going closer.

Well I just shook my head and walked up till I was about 30 foot from the tree. That lion just flattened on the limb, locked his eyes on me and his tail was just twitching madly. I felt a little spooked by his action but I made a few more steps and without any further warning he just sprang off that limb and came flying at me. I never ever had time to get my rifle up, and he was almost on me. The dogs were on him but he kept coming , so when he was just about there more out of reflex than anything I threw myself sideways onto the ground. He went right over my legs and the dogs just mobbed him but he shook them loose and ran about 50 yards further and went up another pine. Well that was enough of that and I got that rifle in action, and a couple of quick shots brought him crashing down dead. I hadn't even had enough time to get scared but believe me I sat down and it took me a couple of minutes to shake it off.

Upon dressing the lion I opened his stomach up and it was pretty fully of nice fresh chunks of red bloody elk meat. I guess the dogs jumped him right off a very fresh kill.

In talking a couple of days later with famous British Colombia lion hunter Dan Lay I explained the situation.

He said you got on a lion that was still jazzed up from his kill and he hadn't had enough time to settle out before the dogs hit him and he was still in kill mode. He said he had observed toms making a fresh kill and watching a group of wolves just setting back and waiting a good while after he was done on his first feed, before the moved in to take the kill away from him. They also knew that a jazzed up lion was going to do some serious damage or die trying so they just hung out till he cooled down.

So like you said you just never know and it is better to error on the side of caution.

[Bluedog88]

[WAcoyotehunter]

I have not had one come out of a tree for me, but have been attacked on the ground. A lion ambushed one of my hounds and had her gathered up under a tree, I suspect to eat her. I got there and was hollering at her and tossed a stick at her and she rushed me and clawed me up a bit. I didn't have a gun with me, luckily I had another hound on lead and she helped me fight that cat off. I think she was still in "kill mode" and was pretty annoyed with me ruining her meal.

Fast forward a year and we got on a cat in the same area. I told my hunting buddy I was not interested... he turned his tow hounds loose and she ambushed one of them and killed it. Some cats figure out how to deal with dogs, and I don't care to see that cat again. I intend to trap her this winter and collar her so we can keep track of here whereabouts and not run her again.

[macedonia mule man]

Hunting stories always sound better if there is a little danger and drama involved. The outdoor shows on TV make alligator hunting seem dangerous. Have lived around the area where this takes place and have never heard of anyone being seriously injured by the gator. Some get hurt in the process but are not in much danger of the gator if they use a little common scence. Our season just ended in October. I talked to a long time Gator Hunter about the danger he faces when at work. He grinned and said , not as much as a door to door walking mailman. The people that get hurt are the ones that play with Gators. A good friend that has a lot of lion hunting under his belt and knows what he's doing says the same about lion hunting.

[ridgerunners]

[twist]

Most lion hunts if one uses their heads is not dangerous. Only reason for coming into a lion tree on up hill side is to detour a lion from jumping and running. Has nothing to do with keeping a person safe. Yes things can be dangerous but so can walking across the street! Lol. Andy

[ridgerunners]

[twist]

Like I said it may detour them. If a lion jumps most likely he is headed down if he jumps on up hill side or lower side. Andy

[1bludawg]

SOME of the guys who worked on lion
studies told me the lion that had been treed,darted ,tagged "etc" got a little ornery. They didn't want to tree again and would fight on the ground and kill dogs.
I'VE treed some that made me a little nervous ,especially if I had a youngster with me. They sometimes focus on the child.If they decide to they could/can kill you quick!

[Bobby Winn]

My lead dog treed a female the other day that ended up having two kittens with her and boy was she pissed!! My pup was following my dog so I was a little nervous when the cat bailed that she might turn and fight. The look that cat gave me when I got to the tree was she was gonna eat me!! She got my full attention to say the least. Luckily no problems but definitely got the adrenaline goin.

[Bearhound]

I have a topic I need some thoughts on about false treeing lions. I have a finished 5 year old walker male that has been my top dog on bear and lion. He has been fast and accurate locating in the past but recently he has false treed on me twice. He won’t leave regardless of other dogs trailing past but it has gotten real old hiking to a tree with nothing in it. He has been one that I would bet any amount of money on that he had it treed but lately I am losing confidence. He has done it twice this year and I want to get to trying to recorrect it. He is the last dog I expect to have this issue but it is what it is. Any thoughts?