Lion Catch Numbers for a Season...

[4walkers]

I'm real curious about peoples catch numbers for lions and bobs for an average season in other parts of the country. Here in Idaho I think people might average 5-10 bobs and 5-10 lions in a whole season. And thats hunting pretty hard. I've read testimonials from customers of pups on Three Bear Kennels(Mike Kemp) about going to 24 lion trees in 3 weeks. I call BS. Unless your running the same cats over and over and over. I'm sure theres better cat running than Idaho though and was curious. I would like to run some other states next winter where the numbers are higher than here. I've heard by several people that the Oregon coast has a huge bob population but am looking for more lions too, which you cant currently run in Oregon . Any info is appreciated.

[cord]

Me and my dogs have been to 16 lion trees since Christmas have on treed the same cat once that i know off

[jcutler]

I'm in college a long ways from home and I get to hunt about 4 weeks mid December-mid January. The area I hunt has very few roads and we can't use snowmachines or anything so it can be kinda tough to find a track sometimes and that's with a fair amount of walk hunting in a pretty decent lion populated area. That said in those 4 weeks I caught 8 total with one that might have been a repeat, so 7, maybe 8, different lions total. Twice I had a day where I caught 2. That was with a few weeks of pretty good conditions. I probably hunted 18 days total.

I think you're right, especially with the conditions the way they have been the last month, if you're catching 10 a season in Idaho I think you're doing pretty good.

[dhostetler]

I figure the biggest factor in putting up big numbers for most people is time. It seems when we have perfect conditions I am to busy to hunt. When I have time to hunt our conditions go to crap. I usually have around 30 trees a winter but right now I am only at 13 trees, so I probably will not make it to 30 this winter. During bobcat kill season I pass up most lion tracks and concentrate on bobcats, after that I run anything. Several years ago I had a buddy from the east come out with a tag and I treed 12 lions in 10 days. I do not at all doubt the 24 lions in 3 weeks testimonial. Most of western Montana has a good lion population and if you are lucky enough to have a 3 week stretch of good conditions and hunt everyday with good dogs and are not particular what you run 24 lions in 3 weeks is very doable, that is only 1.14 a day.

[muzzy]

you guys must have pretty low hunting pressure where I live in southwest Colorado if you don't leave the house by 2am your already beat to the better spots I run every good snow we get and im lucky to find a track every other time I go out of which I might catch half one a month is pretty good average here unless your an outfitter and can hunt everyday and have a bunch of people cutting tracks for you and I have talked to quite a few others in the area with the same experiences

[Mike Leonard]

Muzzy

I can agree with you on that because I am not far from you and I have never seen so many new trucks running all night and day and the catch numbers down here are lower than ever. This last big snow will help them whack a few more but they better get up early. Those are the days I stay home and work on chores, and wait for it to dry out and then at least you won't get run over or killed in a road rage fight. LOL!

I have been hearing some that the Big Gahoona in your area believes the lions have suffered some type of sickness running thru there because in his nearly 50 years of hunting that area he has never seen so few tracks. What is your take on that?

[Hound_Crazy!]

I think a lot depends on how people count, I know of a lot of guys that will catch a female and three kittens up the same tree and count that as four cats they treed in a day, and those numbers can add up in a hurry. I personally count how many trees i walk under, not how many cats are up in it.

[hounds43]

I live in AZ and it has definitely been a slow year as far as snow, however I have managed to keep a cat a week average since the first of the year and I thought I was doing ok since I do this for a living and have being hunting frozen dirt conditions quite a bit...... Total catch as of now is 7 lions and 2 bobers!!!!!

[Tim Cook]

Hunted two weeks in Wyoming this year and treed 6 different lions, none were in the same tree,they were all on different days and they were all mature cats.

[Cowboyvon]

Hunted two weeks in Wyoming this year and treed 6 different lions, none were in the same tree,they were all on different days and they were all mature cats.

I would like to know how many miles between tracks for you guys that drive roads?

[Tim Cook]

Cowboyvon, I'm not really sure I understand your question. In between each track Varys different but from the southern most lion to the northern most lion I would say 125 miles.

[davidg1!]

I have hunted 15 days caught 1 tom 2 females all dry ground but I dont have as good dogs as some other hunters I know of.

[Cowboyvon]

Sorry just wondering how many miles you have to drive to cut a track on average in a day..

[Tim Cook]

Cowboyvon, on average I would put 80 miles a day on a snowmobile .

[jcutler]

Obviously, there is never a guarantee that you'll find a track in a day, so it's a tough question to answer. I drive until I find a track. If I don't find one after my normal route I'll get out a walk a mile or two. I would say at most I drive about 60 miles in a day (not including getting to hunting area). I might find one after 1 mile of driving, and I might find one after 10 days and 600 miles.