lion size

[Yaak attack]

It is not likely that a cat would grow over eight feet on the carcass. It is not likely that a cat would grow a 60" body and a 36" tail. The largest cats I have had my hands on were under 60" and I have mounted about 20 cats between 15 8/16" and 16". I am not even going to talk about weight, but there are limits to the lenght of cats and I have had a little bit of experience with them.

[George Streepy]

Some clarification,

I just took a tape out and measured a cougar hide. The cat weighed 152 lbs. From nose to base of tail is 71". That is 5' 11". The tail is 37". That is 3' 1". Overall length is 108" which is 9' even. You could argue where the tail started which may skew the numbers about an inch, but overall length would stay the same.

135 lbs cougar is 101" overall, which is 8' 5". The body measures 65 1/2", that is 5' 5 1/2". The tail measures 35 1/2", which is 2' 11 1/2".

I don't mean to disagree but that is what they measure. Both these cats were taken in Washington State on legal hunts. I have never had the skulls scored, but I am fairly sure they aren't over 15".

[killroy]

I know that I am way late but here are a couple of new stories...

A few years ago while hunting with my son-in-law, who had never taken a lion, we treed a big tom he took with a pistol. When we saw the size of the lion he wanted to take it in whole and show it off to his buddies. So we made a phone call for another houndsman to come in the next day with his mule and pick us and the lion up. When we got it to the taxidermist the lion weighed 185 pounds.

The next year I had a hunter that came from Wisconsin, he told me that if I got him a lion that weighed over 145 pounds he would give me $25 per lb. for each additional pound as my tip. We tree a big tom and he shot the lion with a recurve bow. When I saw how big the lion was I called for the pack team and packed out the lion. The next day at the taxidermist the lion weighed 187 lbs. The skulls on both lions measured
14 15/16.
Both these lions came off the same unit, southwest desert on the Utah Nevada state line.
p.s. yah the tip exceeded his promise.

[Catman]

Lions that people are measuring 9' on are skinned or I'm dang sure hunting in the wrong side of the world
If a fellow hooks two trucks together with the kitty inbetween I've found you can get 9', but it ain't easy
I'm not saying there couldn't have been any....I'm just saying they gotta be FEW

[George Streepy]

My brother and I weigh the same. He is 6" taller than me and in a whole lot better shape. I may be a little chubby . My wifes uncle weighs 10 lbs less than me but is 10" taller. I have a porkly friend that weighs the same and is 4" shorter than me. So he is over a foot shorter and weighs more than the wifes uncle.

Just like people cats can vary. That is why there is a standard for scoring, skull size. I could lie and say that the 152 lbs cat was nine feet long before we skinned it. I can't remember how long it was still intact. The cat I killed two years prior we knew measured 8'5" skinned. The 152 pounder measured longer than that before we skinned it, my dad made that perfectly clear after he shot it. He had the tape out pretty quick to rub in the fact it was longer than the one I had on the wall. I was amazed at how long those cats were. Honestly none of this is made up, they were apparently long cats.

The cats were taken two years apart within a mile of each other, and would have been born at about the same time. I wonder if that could have anything to do with it. I have heard similar measurements coming out of the same area from other hunters. It would be cool to have more info recorded when the cats are sealed by a biologist. It would be interesting to me to find out if these two were related or possibly litter mates. I realize toms have a long range and it isn't very likely, but it would be interesting to know.

[chilcotin hillbilly]

George, A 9 foot lion skinned is not that uncommon. The fellow I started hunting with measured them all that way and an average mature tom in my area goes 8'10. I have since started measuring on the body when possible and 58" to 60" is the norm and 34 " is more common for the tail then 36" except for this one

He had a 24" tail due to an injury.This was the heaviest cat of the year for me and suspect it was around the 200lb mark. My scale broke and it kept showing 270lbs so I had my wife hang on it just for kicks. Now I have something to talk about at christmas. The four toms I was able to wiegh this year went 154, 168, and 184. The one that went 184 suprised me as did the 154 I guessed smaller then that but a stomach full and a good fat layer makes the difference.

[George Streepy]

Chilcotin hillbilly,

I realize I don't have a monster here. I have treed a lot bigger. My point is more that cats vary in size, just like every other creature on this planet. I can't remember the actual measurement but the cat still in one piece measured over 8' 5". That is longer than the 7 foot some guys are saying. Really it doesn't matter, I am not trying to puff my chest out or compare to another guys trophy. I have seen cats that top the 8' mark pretty easily. They weren't all that big of cats either. They definitely don't score all that high when measuring the skull. Is there a difference from Northern cats to the boomers from the Southwest? Would different prey and weather make a difference on how the cats evolve? Can more snow make for leggy, lanky cats? I would think so. Some of these cats are surviving winters hunting in snow that is over 4' deep. I treed several that were in a valley bottom, the snow was 5'+.

Most of you catch quite a few more lions than I do. I am far from some sort of great lion hunter. I know both of these cats topped the 8' mark when still intact.

I always liked the pictures when you hold a cat like that. Makes them look huge. So you guys know I would rather hunt than talk or type about hunting. I appreciate differences and enjoy learning different opinions. Soon it will be time to hunt again, I can't wait.

[BlacktailStalker]

A skinned hyde measurement is a major exageration of what the beast really measured, intact and by no means gives an accurate description of the 'class' of animal as it walked IMO.
This goes for any animal.

[George Streepy]

How much is major. If a cat measures 9' skinned, what do you think it was whole? I would think drying would cause it to shorten up a bit. Stretching would bring it back out again. I would believe skinning wouldn't have a whole lot to do with the length of the tail. I confess, they were 5 footers, we just stretched the heck out of them. If you were to ask me there is no way a 190 lbs cat doesn't top the 8' mark. But according to some of you that is the way it is. I must be a nitwit, but I am ok with that. Next time out of curiosity I will measure before and after. Not as some sort of I told you so, but for the heck of it.

[Conejos]

So what your getting at is that lions vary in shape and size? I think we can all agree on that. Some are long and skinny some are short and fat. I think thats why we use the skull measurements for the books but I have also seen some little guys with a damn big pumpkin so I guess every system is flawed a little. Defferent environments and diets also cause cats to be different in size and appearance from what I have seen.

[Benny G]

Conejos,
Now that was funny! I fit into your catagory. In my youth, I measured just over 5' 7", today I don't figure I'd go that tall. I am, however, thick, or wide, maybe even have a little of that extra "fluff", but my pumkin has always been 7 & 3/4. So by scoring my skull, I could be a record class wall hanger!!!!

[chilcotin hillbilly]

The world record cougar was only estimated at 160 pounds and I know for the fact the guy estimates on the heavy side. He is the reason I try and wiegh as many cats as can. The cat in the picture above just squeeked in the book at an even 15"

[Yaak attack]

I did not mean to post and run. Let me explain it this way. I am a taxidermist that mounts a lot of cougars. When I say a lot, I mean, avg. over 50 a year for 15 years and probably a hundred more before that. I have dicovered two cats that weigh the same may mount up totally different sizes. Also two cats that have the same lenght and girth measurment may mount up different sizes. Thickness and elasticity of hide varies as much on cats as body physical makeup. The real key here is to realize that cat hide stretches. Skin a cat out except for a line along his backbone, then pull the skin back together in the belly. It will over lap. On some cats more than a foot, could you say this cat had a 47" girth measurement? Not if you wanted me to belive you.
Look, I used to catch rattlesnakes when I lived in west Texas. We would gas dens and sell them at the roundups. We once caught a snake that we felt was over six foot long. We could only get 5'11" out of him alive. We put him in the freezer and pulled him out the next day, after thawing he relaxed out to 6'3". after we skinned him and layed the skin out he was 7'6", and even more if we tugged. Did we catch a seven foot snake? Not really. Did we catch a 6'3" no. The "Big Snake" award at the roundups is measured alive. Cats are measured dead, but once you skin them all bets are off.

[houndnem]

I killed a very average cat quite a few years back. we were in a situation where we had to skin it and had nothing to measure the carcus with. I decided to measure the cat on my garage floor. I stretched it side to side and figured that would make it close to accurate. It came out 8' even. the cat couldn't have weighed a hundred lbs and the scull was 13 1/4 ". I argued with my taxidermist insisting that nose to tail this cat was 8'. to humor me he mounted it 8' long. It was horrendus to say the least. it looked like the oscar meyer weiner cat. garranty that cat was under 7 feet on the carcus. even though I had stretched it side to side, making it shorter than what it could have been,it was wasy longer than on the carcus.

[George Streepy]

I figured that a skinned hide would be longer, but not that much. Now I really want to know the difference between on the carcass and skinned. But like Yaak Attack says, it will probably vary. Next one I will have to do a before and after skinning measurement, just for kicks. You lion hunters probably catch more lions in a good season than I catch in three so I'm not trying to argue. More curious than anything.

I know 120lbs cats can grow to 175lbs after being killed, that wasn't my intention. I didn't think it would change that much, but maybe so.