Well, I wanted to share a brief story with you fine folks and a few pictures from my hunt 2 weeks ago in Idaho.
A buddy and I went up to Montpelier, ID on November 30th in search of big cats. Lion season started on Dec 1st and we were eager for what was in store for us that next morning. The plan was to let me buddy take the first lion and I would be next in line for cat #2.
These lion hunters will cruise up and down every public road that surround the mountains where we could hunt all night long. Typically from 12am-7am. Once they find where a lion crossed the road, they will park their truck at that spot. It is a way to show other hunters that you already have a lion marked and you were planning on hunting it once the sun was up. It is very common for our guides and MOST locals to either leave a truck on the road or unhook their snowmobile trailer as a way of telling others that they were there first. Most folks see this and turn around and begin searching in another canyon.
On Sunday morning December 1st, our guides had already spotted a track for us to turn the dogs out. It appeared to be a good Tom. Our guides unhooked their snowmobile trailer at 3am and headed back to the main camp house in town to pick us up. After we got loaded up and back to that lion track, we noticed some other locals right there by our guides trailer and turning loose their dogs. Our guides were pissed! There is no law against this, but just a common curtsy within their town for MOST folks. Not everyone.
Well, that lion was now being chased by someone else, so down the road we went. We cruised about 1.5 hours north towards Afton WY. We were able to hunt just west of there in Idaho. Our guide unloaded the snowmobile and went off about 12 noon in search of lion tracks. About 30 minutes later he came back and said he found a good track crossing the road up on the mountain. We loaded the dogs up in a smaller dog box on the snowmobile sled and hauled them up the mountain. Once we were there, we turned them loose. The lead dog was set free first, then the next 3-4 followed. It was a rush hearing them bark off into the trees.
We let them run for what seemed like 20-30 minutes. They were headed south up the mountain, so we decided to drive the sleds back to the truck and see if we could drive closer. At about 2pm, we decided to start walking towards the hounds. They were 1.8 miles away, but that distance is measured as the crow flies. Not considering the up/down in elevation change. My buddy grabbed his rifle and I left my bow in the truck. About half a mile into it, I could see my buddy falling further behind us in the hike. I was told that we needed to hurry up and get to the tree once a lion was treed so we could keep him up there and not jump down. So, I was moving pretty good trying to keep up with the guide. After my buddy heard the guide tell us that the lion was still 2 miles away and not treed, he looked at me and said, "you go kill that f*ck!ng lion!" hahaha. We had a good laugh. He handed me the rifle and I kept going and he turned back towards the truck. That was about 2:15-2:30. I wouldn't see him again until 9:30 that night!
So now it is just me and my guide headed up. He had about a 50-75 yard lead on me. The snow is anywhere from 4" to 10" in some places. The dogs were still way off and we had a long hike ahead of us. I kept falling and slipping in the snow, the rifle kept slipping off my shoulder and I was shedding clothes every 30 minutes! Eventually, I stopped and took off 2 layers and was down to just my base layer long johns. It was snowing and I had a pretty good sweat working! My sweaty hair was beginning to freeze as well. Crazy feeling when you run your fingers through your hair.
After 3 hours of hiking up this mountain, we were finally at the tree. I was so beat! I would like to think that I'm in great shape for my age (mid 30's) and have done a lot of physically challenging things in my life, but that hike had to have been the hardest thing I have ever done!
We got the dogs tied up and away from the tree and that lion just sat there watching us. Not a care in the world. It was a sight to see! Shortly after that, I basically laid on the ground and pointed the rifle upwards towards the tree and squeezed off a shot. Hit him right in the chest and he came crashing down. He rolled about 30 yards and I had to put a 2nd shot in him just in case.
I was so excited to have that lion on the ground! However, now comes to really hard part....walking back down with a dead lion and 5 dogs. We quickly stared the hike down and it started getting dark. We took turns dragging the lion in the snow with one of the dog leashes and every step we took kept getting harder and harder. Even our guide was having a hard time. He told us later that the hike we did that afternoon with me was in the top 3 hardest hikes he had ever done!
About 1 hour into the hike down, we decide to hang the lion in a tree for the night. It was taking too long pulling the lion and trying to keep track of 5 hounds in the dark! So we lifted the lion up in a tree and tied him in tight. We made sure to keep him 6-7 feet off the ground so a wolf or coyote wouldn't try eating it. We figured another lion probably wouldn't fool with it since they are not scavenger eaters. We even left one of the Garmin GPS dog collars on the lion so we could track it again the next morning if we happened to forget where he was.
Back downward we went. Eventually, we made it back to the truck at 9:30pm. From the time we left until now, we had been gone for over 7 hours. We made it back to the main house around midnight that night. The next morning, we tried cutting for some lion tracks, but didn't find any. We drove back to where we shot my lion and hiked back up the mountain to get him. Took another 2:30-3 hours round trip. I was SOOOO happy that nothing messed with him that night! HA
That Monday was basically shot since we had to spend time retrieving my lion. Tuesday brought more success! The guides cut another lion track around midnight and we took a truck over there shortly after. We left the truck running all night and the headlights on so others would know someone was already hunting that area. We returned the next morning at 7:30am. We took the snowmobiles to the top of the mountain and found more tacks from the same lion. He was headed downhill. So, we turned the dogs loose and let them go to work. Soon after, we followed. It was all downhill and an easier hike. My buddy was doing much better on this trail. About 1 hour into it, we made it to the treed lion. He made a great shot and down it came!
Here are some pics
Here is the video of the lion my buddy killed
https://imgur.com/LDavzfo
Big shout out the H & S Outfitters!!
https://hsoutfittersidaho.com/
A buddy and I went up to Montpelier, ID on November 30th in search of big cats. Lion season started on Dec 1st and we were eager for what was in store for us that next morning. The plan was to let me buddy take the first lion and I would be next in line for cat #2.
These lion hunters will cruise up and down every public road that surround the mountains where we could hunt all night long. Typically from 12am-7am. Once they find where a lion crossed the road, they will park their truck at that spot. It is a way to show other hunters that you already have a lion marked and you were planning on hunting it once the sun was up. It is very common for our guides and MOST locals to either leave a truck on the road or unhook their snowmobile trailer as a way of telling others that they were there first. Most folks see this and turn around and begin searching in another canyon.
On Sunday morning December 1st, our guides had already spotted a track for us to turn the dogs out. It appeared to be a good Tom. Our guides unhooked their snowmobile trailer at 3am and headed back to the main camp house in town to pick us up. After we got loaded up and back to that lion track, we noticed some other locals right there by our guides trailer and turning loose their dogs. Our guides were pissed! There is no law against this, but just a common curtsy within their town for MOST folks. Not everyone.
Well, that lion was now being chased by someone else, so down the road we went. We cruised about 1.5 hours north towards Afton WY. We were able to hunt just west of there in Idaho. Our guide unloaded the snowmobile and went off about 12 noon in search of lion tracks. About 30 minutes later he came back and said he found a good track crossing the road up on the mountain. We loaded the dogs up in a smaller dog box on the snowmobile sled and hauled them up the mountain. Once we were there, we turned them loose. The lead dog was set free first, then the next 3-4 followed. It was a rush hearing them bark off into the trees.
We let them run for what seemed like 20-30 minutes. They were headed south up the mountain, so we decided to drive the sleds back to the truck and see if we could drive closer. At about 2pm, we decided to start walking towards the hounds. They were 1.8 miles away, but that distance is measured as the crow flies. Not considering the up/down in elevation change. My buddy grabbed his rifle and I left my bow in the truck. About half a mile into it, I could see my buddy falling further behind us in the hike. I was told that we needed to hurry up and get to the tree once a lion was treed so we could keep him up there and not jump down. So, I was moving pretty good trying to keep up with the guide. After my buddy heard the guide tell us that the lion was still 2 miles away and not treed, he looked at me and said, "you go kill that f*ck!ng lion!" hahaha. We had a good laugh. He handed me the rifle and I kept going and he turned back towards the truck. That was about 2:15-2:30. I wouldn't see him again until 9:30 that night!
So now it is just me and my guide headed up. He had about a 50-75 yard lead on me. The snow is anywhere from 4" to 10" in some places. The dogs were still way off and we had a long hike ahead of us. I kept falling and slipping in the snow, the rifle kept slipping off my shoulder and I was shedding clothes every 30 minutes! Eventually, I stopped and took off 2 layers and was down to just my base layer long johns. It was snowing and I had a pretty good sweat working! My sweaty hair was beginning to freeze as well. Crazy feeling when you run your fingers through your hair.
After 3 hours of hiking up this mountain, we were finally at the tree. I was so beat! I would like to think that I'm in great shape for my age (mid 30's) and have done a lot of physically challenging things in my life, but that hike had to have been the hardest thing I have ever done!
We got the dogs tied up and away from the tree and that lion just sat there watching us. Not a care in the world. It was a sight to see! Shortly after that, I basically laid on the ground and pointed the rifle upwards towards the tree and squeezed off a shot. Hit him right in the chest and he came crashing down. He rolled about 30 yards and I had to put a 2nd shot in him just in case.
I was so excited to have that lion on the ground! However, now comes to really hard part....walking back down with a dead lion and 5 dogs. We quickly stared the hike down and it started getting dark. We took turns dragging the lion in the snow with one of the dog leashes and every step we took kept getting harder and harder. Even our guide was having a hard time. He told us later that the hike we did that afternoon with me was in the top 3 hardest hikes he had ever done!
About 1 hour into the hike down, we decide to hang the lion in a tree for the night. It was taking too long pulling the lion and trying to keep track of 5 hounds in the dark! So we lifted the lion up in a tree and tied him in tight. We made sure to keep him 6-7 feet off the ground so a wolf or coyote wouldn't try eating it. We figured another lion probably wouldn't fool with it since they are not scavenger eaters. We even left one of the Garmin GPS dog collars on the lion so we could track it again the next morning if we happened to forget where he was.
Back downward we went. Eventually, we made it back to the truck at 9:30pm. From the time we left until now, we had been gone for over 7 hours. We made it back to the main house around midnight that night. The next morning, we tried cutting for some lion tracks, but didn't find any. We drove back to where we shot my lion and hiked back up the mountain to get him. Took another 2:30-3 hours round trip. I was SOOOO happy that nothing messed with him that night! HA
That Monday was basically shot since we had to spend time retrieving my lion. Tuesday brought more success! The guides cut another lion track around midnight and we took a truck over there shortly after. We left the truck running all night and the headlights on so others would know someone was already hunting that area. We returned the next morning at 7:30am. We took the snowmobiles to the top of the mountain and found more tacks from the same lion. He was headed downhill. So, we turned the dogs loose and let them go to work. Soon after, we followed. It was all downhill and an easier hike. My buddy was doing much better on this trail. About 1 hour into it, we made it to the treed lion. He made a great shot and down it came!
Here are some pics
Here is the video of the lion my buddy killed
https://imgur.com/LDavzfo
Big shout out the H & S Outfitters!!
https://hsoutfittersidaho.com/
