BigGameHoundsmen.com

yes, he'd been drinking. no, the hounds can't find the track.... Yet "wildlife officials believe him." hehehehe wonder if his wife does?

http://www.kxmc.com/News/215239.asp

Trackers cannot find mountain lion


Mar 4 2008 7:42AM
Associated Press
Eds: APNewsNow.

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) State wildlife officials say they believe a 33-year-old Rapid City man who says he was attacked Saturday by a mountain lion at Sheridan Lake even though investigators did not find any blood at the scene and trained dogs could not locate the cat.

Ryan Hughes says he was ice fishing when he stepped into the woods and a lion jumped him.

He suffered gashes and puncture wounds.

Hughes says he wrestled the cat for 5 minutes.

Although dogs could not pick up a scent, officials are tentatively calling it a confirmed lion attack.

Hughes admits drinking 4 beers, but an official says there's no indication Huges was impaired.

Information from: Rapid City Journal, http://www.rapidcityjournal.com (Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 03-04-08 0736CST |

editorial in support of a SD lion season

http://www.mitchellrepublic.com/article ... a171165e43

Our View: State needs a mountain lion season
The Daily Republic
Published Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Mountain lions are not varmints, as some in the state Legislature would like to believe.
But the animals are dangerous, and as protests continue about the practice of hunting the big cats in South Dakota, we believe the hunting season not only is justified, but necessary to maintain safety for humans, livestock and pets.

Consider the incident that occurred last week at Sheridan Lake in the Black Hills. Located just to the southwest of Rapid City and very near Hill City, Sheridan Lake is a picturesque, man-made lake in the middle of low mountains and a beautiful pine forest. It’s a pristine location, not only for ice fishing this time of year, but for its many summertime activities. When it’s hot, the lake’s chilly waters are refreshing, and its smooth, sandy beach entices many families and children.

Saturday, a Rapid City man said he was attacked by a lion at Sheridan Lake. Ryan Hughes was ice fishing and said that when he left the ice and stepped into the trees near the lake shore, he was jumped by a lion. He has deep gashes on his arm and scratches and punctures on his face.

Hughes is an adult. Had he been a wandering child, would he be so lucky?

A bill was introduced this year in the state Legislature to relax restrictions on shooting mountain lions in areas of South Dakota outside the Black Hills. In most basic terms, the bill would have lowered the majestic lion to varmint status.

HB 1171 failed, and we’re glad it did. Mountain lions are not varmints, to be classed with skunks, badgers and raccoons.

However, we feel the mountain lion hunting season is justified in South Dakota by the consistent increase in sightings statewide, as well as a rising number of attacks on livestock, pets and, now, humans.

The cats should not be hunted back into nonexistence in this state, but we appreciate the management efforts under way by the state Department of Game, Fish and Parks. Under the strict guidelines imposed by the GF&P, 19 mountain lions were harvested during the state’s 2007 lion season.

As the lion population rises and falls, we expect the GF&P to make corresponding changes to the season.

We don’t know what the future will hold for the graceful, powerful cats. But we are confident that for the time being, South Dakota needs a mountain lion season.

another story hanging from the drunken ice-fisherman's beer-fogged lion experience:
http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... /1001/NEWS

EROS employees report seeing a mountain lion

Jonnie Taté Finn • jtatefinn@argusleader.com • March 4, 2008

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Several reports of a mountain lion seen on property owned by the USGS EROS Data Center near Garretson were confirmed by company officials Tuesday.



Just days after a Rapid City man reported he was attacked by a mountain lion at Sheridan Lake, the Sioux Falls office of the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks Wildlife Division confirmed it has been working with EROS over the week and a half to track a suspected mountain lion spotted by employees and various individuals.

However, conservation officer Shawn Wichmann said the wildlife division hasn’t been able to confirm that a mountain lion is indeed in the area. EROS reported the sighting to Wichmann’s office Feb. 25 and emailed a photo of the reported animal’s tracks.

“We looked at those tracks in the photo and it was hard to tell whether they came from a dog or a mountain lion,” Wichmann said. He added when wildllife officials checked out the area, it had snowed and the tracks were gone.

The first sighting was reported to security early last fall, according to Christ Doescher, acting special assistant to the EROS director.

“And just recently within the last three weeks a senior manager saw the animal with security,” Doescher said. “It was seen on two consecutive weekends, but not last weekend.”

http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/article ... 368898.txt

GF&P says it believes man who reported lion attack
Ryan Hughes was fishing at Sheridan Lake when he was reportedly attacked by a mountain lion.
By Kevin Woster, Journal staff Monday, March 03, 2008
207 comment(s) Normal Size Increase font Size
State wildlife officials said Monday they believe a 33-year-old Rapid City man who said he was attacked by a mountain lion Saturday at Sheridan Lake, even though investigators did not find blood at the scene and trained dogs failed to locate the cat or its scent a few hours later.
The victim, Ryan Hughes, is believable. I don’t think he’s lying to us,” state Game, Fish & Parks Department spokesman Mike Kintigh said. “I can’t explain why we’re not finding any physical evidence, or why our dogs weren’t finding scent in that area.”

Hughes told investigators he was out ice fishing on Sheridan Lake when he was attacked by an 80- to 90-pound lion at about 2:30 p.m. Saturday as he stood on the shoreline.

He suffered lacerations on his right forearm and punctures on his right hand, as well as scratches on his face. But GF&P investigators did not find any blood at the site where Hughes said he was knocked down and wrestled with the cat for five minutes. Nor did they find any recent signs of lions, including tracks or kills or “scrapes” that mark their territory.

A trained pack of GF&P hounds worked the area Saturday afternoon and evening and Sunday morning without striking a scent trail. Kintigh said that was puzzling, particularly because scent conditions were excellent on Saturday -- a mild, calm day.

Hughes did not return a call from the Journal left on his cell phone Monday afternoon. He did tell investigators that he consumed four beers before the incident. But Kintigh said there was no indication that Hughes was impaired.

GF&P is tentatively calling the incident a confirmed lion attack. If that designation sticks, it will be the first known attack by a wild mountain-lion on a human in South Dakota. Kanta said there have only been about 120 such attacks in Canada and the United States in the past century. About two dozen were fatal, and most resulted in more severe injuries than Hughes suffered.

A captive lion attacked a boy in Custer State Park in 1969, after vandals released it from its cage. And a 16-year-old boy reported a mountain lion attacked him near Ramona in eastern South Dakota two years ago.

GF&P officials ended up calling the Ramona incident a “near miss,” at best. The boy, armed with a rifle, said he accidentally ran into the lion after he followed it into a farm shelterbelt. The boy said he fell down and accidentally discharged his rifle after the cat swiped at him with a paw and tore his shirt.

State trapper Jack Alexander and the GF&P dog team went to Ramona to search for the lion the next day. They located two coyotes and a house cat but no mountain lion.

On Saturday, Hughes drove himself to the emergency room at Rapid City Regional Hospital, after reporting the attack to authorities. He was treated for his wounds and given a rabies inoculation, Kintigh said.

GF&P officers did take some hairs from Hughes’ fleece and are going to test them to determine whether they are from a lion.

People living in the area or recreating in the Black Hills shouldn’t overreact to the reported attack, but they should use reasonable precautions, he said. GF&P has information on mountain lion behavior and tips on handling an encounter at its Web site, www.sdgfp.info.

Contact Kevin Woster at 394-8413 or kevin.woster@rapidcityjournal.com

http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/article ... 963117.txt

Legislator, lion advocate disagree on value of killing cats
By Kevin Woster, Journal staff Monday, March 03, 2008
40 comment(s)
The reported mountain lion attack Saturday on an ice fisherman at Sheridan Lake could be a sign of more serious problems to come with the big cats, state Rep. Betty Olson of Prairie City said Monday.

Olson, who tried unsuccessfully during the 2008 state Legislature to liberalize regulations on the killing of mountain lions outside the Black Hills, said the attack on Ryan Hughes of Rapid City proves the danger of lions and could help make her case stronger in the next Legislature.

“I do know that if I’m reelected, I will be bringing my mountain lion bill back next year,” Olson said. “Hopefully, we won’t have a dead body to talk over.”

But Dr. Sharon Seneczko, a Custer veterinarian who heads the Black Hills Mountain Lion Foundation, urged the public not to overreact to the attack – the first known on a human being by a wild cougar in South Dakota. But the incident is the latest proof that three state mountain lion seasons and larger lion-kill quotas might be increasing the number of problem cats rather than reducing them, Seneczko said.

“I really, really believe that the more heavily you hunt them, the more trouble we’re going to have – unless they take them all out,” she said. “And I think it would be a real shame to do that.”

Hughes, 33, told investigators that he was out ice fishing on Sheridan Lake at about 2:30 p.m. Saturday when he was attacked by an 80- to 90-pound lion as he stood on the shoreline. Hughes suffered lacerations to his right forearm and punctures to his right hand, as well as scratches on his face.

State Game, Fish & Parks Department officials are considering the report credible, even though trained mountain-lion hounds taken to the scene about two hours later couldn’t find the cat or its scent.

Olson said the incident shows that her bill, which would have allowed mountain lions outside of the Black Hills to be treated like varmints and virtually shot on sight, was justified. HB1171 died in the House on a 26-42 vote.

“You’d think I might get more support for that bill next year from some of the Black Hills legislators who voted against it,” she said.

Senezcko argued there are many unanswered questions about the attack. It might have been from an injured, sick or young lion – possibly one orphaned during the hunting season. Such cats are more likely to cause troubles than those taught to hunt properly by their mothers, Senezcko said.

“I’ve always been concerned that the season would not make us safer and, in fact, might make us less safe,” she said. “This clearly shows that hunting seasons on lions don’t make you safer, necessarily.”

Contact Kevin Woster at 394-8413 or kevin.woster@rapidcityjournal.com