What was I running?

[waylon]

Took my 2 potlickers out tonight about 2 miles from the house where the neighbour has been seeing an old short tail poking around and had told me the goats had been spooked up by something before dark set in. Got to location about 7:15pm and the snow was still good and soft. Dumped clifford and he took out and struck not 30 yards into the brush and went to cold trailing and working hard on something, turned maggie to him cause she is better on a cold track and she is bawling and they start heading towards the bluffs along the hill side where it gets super thick and rough. Tell the cousin there probably trying to line out a cat track and we had better head to them. The two go up and over a hill out of hearing only opening here and there so it's tuff to keep up plus im fat so that dont help either. We take a short cut to the top of the biggest hill and we here them down in a rough draw and they sound bayed insted of treed. I tell my cousin that i am afraid the jumped a hog and probably are trying to keep him bayed, so i try to hurry to them to remind them we aint hog hunters and they blow out across the field that the draw leads to and head over into the other hill about 1mile away. We make our way into the ticket and start looking for dog tracks cause now i am not so sure its a hog and we start seeing dogs tracks in the rocks. We hear them again over the hill and back inside another draw. There moving along fairly good and i am just walking on there trail when i spot this track were they came through ( thats another one cut off in the pic to the bottom)

We call my nieghbour on the cell phone and tell him what I think were on, where were at and he tells us what draw to cut across and head them off. Make it to the dogs and there bawling and chopping at a 6 foot goat proof fence that fences the nieghbours goat field in. These same tracks lead up to the fence then about 5 feet on the other side and they go on into the goats area. The dogs are spent and so was i plus i didnt really want them in an inclosure like that with 60 goats so we called it a night. i laid my flash light next to the track made a scratch on it with my nife and it measure almost 4 inches across i aint saying what i am sure we were after but it wasn't no bobber. can you guys tell me if this is a lion track or what. We see them around here 4 or 5 times a year and my neighbour has spotted one back in this same area less than a year ago. He only has house dogs so they didnt make it and I aint a lion hunter but think thats what this is what do you think, am i dreaming here or what there was no other tracks around that the dogs could have been on??????

This hunt took us about 3 hours and I know this is the bobcat section but I am not sure what it was we were after so i didnt post it in there in case i am wrong

[d_j__c]

thats a lion for sure and most likely a big one if it has a four inch foot. rule of thumb is round toes is a tom oval toes female. (those ones are round).

[catenaround]

im thinking long tail to

[FullCryHounds]

Well if you hadn't mentioned the size, I would have said a bobcat because of your location. But if that track was 4 inches across, it was probably a lion. The only thing I don't see in that picture is the snow around the track isn't matted down from the fur around a lions foot.

[FullCryHounds]

Here's a pic that shows what I'm talking about. Lion track on left, dog on right.

[waylon]

When i took this pic the snow had started to get hard gagain and feeze over and this spot was in a bad thicket where little sun gets to, would that keep it from leaving those fluffs from its fur, and would a cat in this hotter climate have much fur on its feet. How far apart will it's tracks be if it's running verses walking. i may go back in this daylight and walk it out to see where it went on the other side of the goat field and try and gets some better pics if i can. by the way thanks for all the input guys.

A couple of last questions here, how far would a lion travel in a night, could it be possible to find this same lion with in 5 or 10 miles. The terrain were we stoped this hunt is where a 65,000 acre ranch backs up to me and my neighbour but there are no real roads just rough trails and little human activity. could a guy locate this same lion with out dogs that are looking for lion or is it a lost cause, not that I would even consider trying it again of course

I know i asked alot of questions but it aint every day something this cool happens to me

[FullCryHounds]

I would definately be going back in there. The size and picture sure look like a lion but it's just missing the marks around the foot. Short hair, maybe? It could have been the type of snow conditions or something else but I'm not sure. Maybe someone else has some ideas? Got my curiosity up of what it might have been.

[liontracker]

That snow is awfull wet. I don't think there would be much fluff left to the fur after running that far in it.
Dandy lion though.

[TomJr]

If I saw that track here I would definatly think lion. Lions in my area don't have super fluffy feet and on the rare snow days they will leave tracks just like that, if they bother to get out while the snow is still on the ground

[waylon]

Thanks guys. Now I am really stoked about this. I hope to get to walk it all out today before it gets dark and maybe hunt tonight in the same area he or she headed

[jasonrinebold]

Lions like goat meat as much as deer.

[FullCryHounds]

That's an understatement Jason!!

[Birney Bobcats]

I would say you have a long tail runnin round down there. Put him in a tree, and take some pics.

[waylon]

Well now we cant purposely set out to run a lion here unless one has tampered with stock or is causing you trouble, then your are allowed to kill it if you catch it in the act. BUT dogs have a mind of there own and any thing could happen when you run trashy dogs like i do, I just got my new classis 70 exp 2 dog system. but i may forget to use it when i get to hunt that country again in a day or 2

[Birney Bobcats]

Ata Boy.