BigGameHoundsmen.com

az_hunter wrote:So if lions don't cross a road that means they aren't moving? I think lions are moving whenever even if you don't find a track crossing the roads. If a lion doesn't cross a road it seems like some lion hunters not all but some will be out of business cuz it seems like they rely on a lion to cross a road. Does anyone feel the same?

i agree with you on this one azhunter..but i mean if these guys want to/have the the availability to just raod hunt like that good for them..but we walk the country mostly, i mean if you can get a good track off the road awesome but if not that dont mean the cats aint movin.. means you really dont wanna catch one..atleast where i've hunted

a road cant take you everywhere a critter goes..

yeah i guess until you hunted out here you wouldnt understand. im willing to walk a lot of places as long as im doing it for a purpose and not just for exercise. i get enough of that just going to a couple trees a night

foxcat wrote:yeah i guess until you hunted out here you wouldnt understand. im willing to walk a lot of places as long as im doing it for a purpose and not just for exercise. i get enough of that just going to a couple trees a night

its called free casting, common lion hunting practice done in the southwest..lots of guys do it on horse back or mule. lots of guys walk..depends on preference or wallet size..
so continue to be an expert lion hunter in a state not even allowed to pursue lions and do what you want..all i was reffering to was different hunting styles between here and there
and also, i was born and raised "up there" so i do understand.

I never have been a fan of road hunting. But who is to say a lion wont walk 50 feet from the road and go the other way? What's the point of training a pack of hounds to run lions or what ever it is they do run if you just keep them in the truck untill you find a track? Why not let the dogs earn that lion? That's what all the training is for like breaking them off trash and working the dogs with sent so they know what you want. I think you need to work just as hard as the dogs do. Also need to be in just as good or better shape as your hounds. Just my opinion get out there and actually hunt the lions

AZ hunter I totally agree with you. I am still kinda new to this lion hunting and I know I don't have near the success I would if I could get myself more interested in driving roads. I catch a few but to me its just alot more enjoyable to go hiking and freecast the dogs. To me it seems much more natural and more like I'm hunting with my dogs. On the other hand you can't argue with the success of driving roads and cutting tracks and if thats what some guys enjoy then more power to them.

Totally agree conejos!! But like you said its about being out hunting with the dogs give the lion the respect that it deserves huntint the lion in his territory. Im just starting out to ran some bears this last bear season and now trying to catch me a lion! I was just asking what ppl thought a full moon would to to the lions if anything trying to get as much info as I can while im young. Cuz I don't know much about what a lion does! Get out as much as I can between going to work as I can. I don't have any made dogs just started from ground up! But that's besides the point anyways. I know these lions can be tricky so I have to know as much as I can so I can try to out smart them

your right we cant hunt lions here, and i dont. i hunt fox and bobcats. back to the point, i was talking about seeing tracks across the road and whether the moon affects them moving. and if the cat was walking 50 feet off the road, my dog would have no problem winding it. some times the animals are moving, sometimes there not. pretty cut and dry. and to you athletes who think you are as in as good shape as your dogs, come out here during bear season and we'll see if you can keep up. you can stay at my place, and we will go hunt. then you can judge how "in shape" my dogs and i are in.

foxcat wrote:come out here during bear season and we'll see if you can keep up. you can stay at my place, and we will go hunt.

Dont do that Foxcat,cause then some of these boys will find out how successful a good rig dog can be. Apparently its a well kept secret outside of Ca,OR, and WA. Oh except for Ol Ike, some told him years ago

This is a good topic. Would like to hear the opinion from some of the well experienced chaps.

In Africa our large predominantly nocturnal cats (Lion and Leopard) have greatest success when there is little or no moon and heavy wind. Leopard especially because it is a solitary hunter and relies on a very close stalk before launching at the prey. Dark = good camouflage and windy = noisy brush to mask the footsteps and a channel of head on wind.
There is a theory that full moon nights with no wind result in the cat being very visible and audible when patrolling thereby making more misses and having to hunt further for success. Some believe that they make more use of this time to scent mark their territory.
Personally I think there are many other factors like temperature, competitive predators and receptive females. The nature of the feline that relies so heavily on being secretive and unnoticed must be reluctant to parade in full light for all to see.

I think lions move all the damn time, Lions are where ya find them, or where your dogs find them!!

no moon now and im seeing a lot more lion tracks....in the same area i was hunting when the moon was full..

FOXCAT were the deer in the same area when you hunted in previously and are they in there now?? Just trying to see if that plays an effect on it or not. thanks DC

yeah the deer were still in the same area, lots of them. it borders the timber and the brush. unfortunatly my pup went to runnin deer. yep shes a helluva trash runner. time for some cats and tritronics.

LOL yeah i hear ya. Good luck with the pup. I have been seeing a hole sh*t load of deer in the area i have been hunting. I think i counted 5 big big bucks 4x4 and better and countless does in less than 24 hours. oh well it's good for checkin dogs and breaking young ones. I have a year and a half old that i raised from a pup and he wont even think about messin with one but he will damn sure start a bear fox or cat. I just need to see soem more coyotes to check him a few more times and he should be good to go i am very very pleased with him so far. Sorry to get off topic DC.

Well i can tell you fellars this, i hunted with AZ_HUNTER this weekend and we walked some horrible hellacious nasty terrain..... as a crow flies 1 mile we walked 5. i would love to have some ya fellars come huntin with us, and i would definitly see some of these dogs wind a cat at 50 feet in the area we were in, now bear, i can see em doing bear, a damn human can wind a bear at 100 yards they stink so bad. put your dicks away boys, just cause ya say you can piss further don't mean your dogs hunt better.

And if your dogs aren't in shape then catchin a cat where we were will be impossible unless ya happen across it. As for huntin california..... No offense gentlemen, but F california. I'll stick to AZ where we still have some rights. I like to be able to hunt Lion 90% of the year. CA will open up some day when enough babies get drug off by them lions. Until then come visit AZ and we will go run them cats!!