My first and only lion (kill) was not with dogs either. My best friend John Farner and I were in the Quemado, NM area calling coyotes on the 12th of December 2001. I remember the day as if it were yesterday. It was -14 deg, perfectly calm and a semi fresh snow on the ground. We made it to my favorite calling spot before any light shimmered through the horizon. We had to sit in the truck until there was enough light to even see a dog coming in. The area is a place any caller would love, a big open flat adjacent to a large mesa covered in Pinon, Sedar and Juniper trees. We walked out to the last 3 trees, 2 big enough to hide our silouettes, and 1 only about a foot tall or so. I carried about a half dozen calls back then, esp on cold days because the reeds would freeze up between calls, so I would have to change them out, placing the used one inside my coat to try to thaw it out. About 10 minutes into the calling, we had a pair of dogs "hung up" about 500 yards out. We could see them, didn't think they could see us, but they were running in circles and howling and barking right at us. I was determined to not be out done by these dogs, so I called like there was a pack of coyotes tearing the ears legs and guts out of a rabbit... It probably sounded like the worst calling anyone had ever heard.
But I was pulling out all the stops. I remember seeing just a slight movement in front of me by that lil 1 foot tall pinon, I looked square in the eyes a LION! I have no idea where she came from, how she got there or why she was there, I had never even heard of lions being around there, and my step dad had lived on this ranch his whole life. Well it didn't take me a second to drop that cat in her tracks with my .22-250. My buddy John asked what the hell were you shootin at? I was jumping up and down and said I shot a LION! BullS#*t he said, I pointed to that lil tree and his eyes were big as soccers! To this day that is the only lion I have killed.
Almost to the day a year later, in Socorro county here in NM, I cut my first lion track in the snow. I set up quickly as possible as the snow was fresh and the track was fresher. I called for over a half hour when I heard a truck coming up the road, I left mine in the middle where there was no getting around it, so I packed up and headed back, by the time I got there I saw this lanky cowboy standing there looking at the track, he also had a truck full of dogs. Did you call him in he asked, nope I replied... He asked if I minded if he turned his dogs out, I said only if I could follow. Looking back I thought that was probably the bug that bit me. He turned out an old blue dog, and he struck and off he went, then a walker female, a red female and another blue dog. I stood up on that ridge and could hear those dogs crying out! Man what a sound. We stood there until they were out of range, he said, lets go get them. So I was ready to walk down the mountain, he said where you goin? I must have looked completely puzzled as he said, there's a road down the bottom comes right to the last place we could hear them hounds, lets take a drive. He gave me a bit of a smerk and back to the trucks we went. After about a 30 minute drive down the mountain, we crossed the tracks where the dogs crossed the road. We stopped the trucks and got out, you could here those dogs from where we were, I didn't know it then but those dogs were treed! We took a short walk up the hill, and across the ridge, as we got closer, that good-ole-boy said, stay here, we don't want that cat to jump out of the tree, I'll come and get you when I locate it. Well about 5 minutes later there he was, grinnnig from ear to ear, we got a nice one, come look. We walked slowly through the trees, and he asked do you see it? I said see what, he chuckled and said I didn't think so. He pointed to the tree just over the edge of the ridge, there was a slight brown spot through the branches, there it is he said.
I have some pictures of that cat in my photo album, but we did not harvest that cat, he said it was probably 140# tom, and he had a friend coming in tomorrow to hunt cats and now he knew where one would be.
That day stuck with me until last year when I bought my first hound, which turned into 7 now. My first hunt last year I took my first 2 1.5 year old pups out to Cuba NM after a fresh snow, my buddy Roger and I cut a track on the first road we went down. I put the dogs out, they just wanted to play at first. So I told Roger that we would just follow the track by sight, the dogs should probably pick the scent up sooner or later, well we hadn't gone 100 yards and my lil walker Hank put is nose to the ground and started trailing, my blue dog just went by his side. We went in about a mile and I could hear the dogs, but it wasn't a tree'd type of bawl. So we started hurring up a lil more. We had to cross a small meadow, there were dog and lion tracks 200 yards wide and 100 yards deep, looked like they had caught up to the cat and chased it around that meadow for awhile. I could still hear my dogs, and they were close, but it was a more desperate bawl now, I thought for sure they were hurt and dying, as I got closer I was releaved to find it was Hank, and he was ok, but was down a bluff and couldn't/wouldn't move from where he was at. Well I crawled out on that frozen bluff and grabbed his collar, and with one big toss, threw him as high and far as I could, he almost flew over my buddy's head, but Roger caught him, but now I was stuck. I had one choice which was to jump down the 15 foot bluff, but at the bottom, if I slipped was a crevase that was an additional 30-40 foot drop. I let go and when I hit the ice at the bottom I know I made a mistake. I landed with a big THUD!!!! Roger looked over the edge, I wasn't moving much, as I was afrain I'd slip off into the bigger hole. Are you ok? Well I think so, it hurt my pride, and backside, but I got up limping a little and yelled back, we got to get the dogs down here, cause heres that cat's track. Once we found our way down the hill, got the dogs on the tracks, it wasn't 10 minutes and they tree'd! I looked at Roger and said, we gotta get up there, they got it! Well Roger is in much better shape than I, well at least he's not as round as I am, and he headed up that mountain like a goat. When he got there the pups came a running to him! And that was all those cats needed, the big male bailed out, and the lil female took out the other direction, needless to say, Hank went after one cat, Chic went out after the other, and an hour later I found both my dogs wondering around tired and no cats... I haven't tree'd another one yet, but I am going to someday! Or it'll be the death of me.
I know it's a long read, but they are all my firsts'. SW
