BigGameHoundsmen.com

dhostetler wrote:I wouldn't be to hard on this guy. I personally would rather see someone shoot an immature cat than a 120 lb. tom. The unit in Montana that I do most of my hunting issues 30 permits with usually a 2/3 success rate. We have a good lion population and every permit holder wants a big tom. This unit doesn't have 20 mature toms so what happens with our 4.5 months long season about half way through 2 to 3 year old toms get killed enmass. I would rather see people shoot sows and immatures rather than young 120 pounders.If someone is happy with a 120 lb. tom they will be just as happy with a 90 pounder.

A 6'1" female is not a 90 pounder on her best day. With a 34" tail that gives her 39 inches to the nose, a 2 year old or less female, that could have produced many litters in the future.

a six foot lion in a tree looks alot bigger than it is for a first timer. the hunter probably don't own dogs, don't hunt numerous times for lions each year, so he don't know any more than his guide tells him. game department allows females to be taken there so its on the guide and the fish and game. but any body that takes a female lion in any state should have to come here to Idaho and kill tem wolf in my opinion lol...just sayin

No doubt, but the guide bs'd him thats foresure, or the guide doesn't know is job very well.

Why dont you put the film on here so all can see it.
Why was the guide so careful not to get his face on camera.

Will you provide us with a link so we can watch the video? This way it would clear a lot of speculation up.

Thanks man

if you want to watch it it is on 24/7 hunting tv.com

To keep a population stable a certain amount of lions need to be killed. If you have a good lion population a certain amount of sows need to be killed. If only mature toms get killed the lion population increases which is fine if you want a bigger population. If the lion population gets to large and they start killing livestock you get the general population screaming for lower lion numbers, so there needs to be a balance. The areas I hunt in we have a good population just very few mature toms. I would rather see people shoot sows & immatures instead of all the 2 to 3 year old toms that get shot. Let the young toms grow to mature toms.

6'1" is small, field officers know little about lions, most that is. Secondly, D. You look at this in a whole different view than any other houndsmen. Most guys covet saving females, i'd rather see guys shooting 120 lb toms anyday over a female. Toms kill kittens, you're not gonna get all the toms. Hunters killin juveniles and females, toms killin juveniles= no lions. You got good numbers, ha! Come to utah and you'll see what killin females and juveniles does to your population. Then you won't hardly find a tom, let alone 120 pounder!

Many NW Montana houndmen share my opinion. The area where I hunt I know pretty much every lion that gets killed. Lion populations somewhat control themselves. Over the years of hunting I have seen many more kitten tracks than lions that were killed with the population staying mainly stable. What is happening with all the kittens? Lion populations aren't zero sum games. If a female is killed it doesn't mean that you just cut out 10 future lions over a 10 year period. Since I started hound hunting I have been under about 12 lions that got shot out with two being females the last female being 10 years ago. So I am not advocating a lot of females being killed. I take very few people hunting so I am involved with very few lion kills. There are other hound hunters that I know that will take anybody they know of that has tag. That average joe out there that wants a lion doesn't appreciate a big tom like some of us others and would be just as happy with a 90 pounder. I want mature toms for the same reason that a like to shoot a 300+ bull rather than a rag horn.

You did just fine Chuck - ignore the people here bashing you.
Shame on your guide however - he should have talked you into passing on the first track or talked you out of shooting a small female. At the end of the day you have your cat but he has further reduced availability in his own area.
I'll retract this statement if the particular area you were in has an overabundance of cats and the quotas are high to manage them down to a sustainable number.

Thanks man I get what some of them are saying. I think as hunters we go thru stages I am a big whitetail Hunter & I shoot Mature whitetail bucks but at one point I used to kill young bucks because that was the stage I was at whether I was 14yrs old or 44 yrs old that was the stage Iwas at but with that said I would love to have someone take me & I would be glad to Kill a Giant Tom on film just say the word & I am in

Chuck