Biggest lion you caught

[Yaak attack]

How do you end up with a lion that measures 8 feet 9 inches? Is this a 60" lion with a 45" tail or a 70" lion with a 35" tail. I have measured close to 500 lion tails and have never measured one over 36". I have never seen or heard or a documented cat that was over 60" long on the carcass. I am talking about some cats I have handled up to and including 16" toms. How can you get 105" from a lion?

[Lil Joes BigGame hounds]

Oh come on guys, I figured everyone had a pair of lion stetchers in thier shop. Right next to the blinker fluid for your truck.

[Yaak attack]

Don't get me wrong Lil' Joe. Lions just like snakes, will stretch like crazy once you yard the hide off.

[tntoutfitting]

Cant say what others measure or from different places, ours top out around 8' on the carcass(odd one at 8'1' to 8'2", very odd one!); any over 7'6" are big boys and those near the 8' mark are JUMBO's and I give them the benefit of the furry tip of those rascals tails. Maybe my tape is missing some inches, heard of 9' plus over B.C. way.......maybe I never seen a "BIG ONE" ?

But I have seen a "few" dead toms, maybe our genetics is stunted up here.......??

[tntoutfitting]

How do you end up with a lion that measures 8 feet 9 inches? Is this a 60" lion with a 45" tail or a 70" lion with a 35" tail. I have measured close to 500 lion tails and have never measured one over 36". I have never seen or heard or a documented cat that was over 60" long on the carcass. I am talking about some cats I have handled up to and including 16" toms. How can you get 105" from a lion?

Obviously ur not measuring them right, maybe you need more experience or a broader sample to survey from, tough to say; but I bet some "expert" will fill you in on here shortly, maybe even have grainy out of focus photo to support their data.......

.........do sasquatch even have tails.....what do they average, not a big Booner one , just a Poper?

[liontracker]

How are you guys measuring them? I measure mine like they do African Lions. Layed on their belly, whole and unskinned. Drive a stake in the ground at the tip of the nose and one at the tip of the tail, and measure in between.

[horshur]

Never measured the lenght of my largest Tom but he officialy net 15 7/16 . it was a fair hole and I was alone.

[liontracker]

Fair holes are the best, we have a few around here!

[Mike Leonard]

Lay the fresh dead lion on the ground on his belly. No field dressing no skinning. Drive a peg at his nose into the ground. Stretch the tail out and make sure he is straight and drive a peg in the ground. Roll him out of the way and measure. That is how lions are measured for length. Yes some have longer tails maybe fair maybe not but that is the way it goes. The guys that are measuring green hides need to get some bigger fatter freinds to pull so they can report larger lions. LOL!

[Ike]

I think some people must be hammering a nail in the wall, then tying a short bungy cord to the nail and then around the lion's neck, then measuring from the nail on the wall to the tip of the lion's tail...........

[hounder]

i passed on one that was twelve foot skull measured 22 1/32'' weighed 392lbs i crawled up and just asked if i could measure him and said sure " keep in mind this was all in animal talk" so i did and those where my results and i politely said thank you and i went on my way... sure wish i would've killed cat

[az_gogetem]

I'm flabbergasted. Obviously I'm not a very good lion hunter. I don't have the Resume any of you have. Seen lots of lions up trees, in holes, . I've NEVER caught one that is anywhere close to what you boys are talking about. A good tom in my range is 120 to 130. I've caught one that was probably 160-170 but didn't have a hunter so last i knew he was still bouncing around the rock piles. We get the length a good tom is 8 foot. But the weights, I don't see it here. Maybe my dogs just can't catch the big boys. I'm after the biggest footed tom I've ever seen right now. maybe when I catch him i'll be worthy.

Mike

[lionhunterdaves]

Sorry guys I typed that in wrong. He was almost 8'3" not eight nine and I might not be measirung him right. Nose to tale before he was caped out was when I measured him.

Openmouth, I have lots of pics and would apprecate the help posting them, that way I could shut up the smart @** in the last couple of posts. "Tntoutfitter, and hounder"

[Shorty]

Az_gogetum,

Earlier in the year Warner, Kelly Glenn and I took out a hunter from back east. I was just tagging along to help in any way possible and learn as much as possible. Anyhow after six previously paid hunts this feller had only harvested a small female with another outfitter. Warner really wanted to get him a big tom as this would be the last hunt the old mans wife would allow him to go on. When all said and done we got him a large tom (for the area) on the first day of the hunt. I saw the disappointment in the guys eyes when he walked up to his big cat. He asked what he weighed as Warner, Kelly and I were bragging on this cat. When warner told him 130-135lbs he looked like someone let the air out of him.

The old tom's teeth were wore down to his gums and he had many a battle scares. A nice trophy in anyones book. Well, after arriving at the house and Warners friends and help looking at thge cat and telling this gentleman what a nice trophy he had he finaly came arround. He told us he was very happy now that we explained what a hard living a desert cat had to make. He said he was expecting a 200lb cat. When the man left he was more educated than when he arrived and had finaly filled a life long dream with a beautiful tom.

That being said "BIG" is only realavent to the area you are hunting. It's true in every species of game in the world. I am not a trophy hunter allthough I do love harvesting monsters of any kind, that is not my main purpose. I only want to harvest a good representative of the area. A hunt is more than just a kill, it has all kinds of beauties wrapped within and I feel sorry for the people whom overlook them.

[Nolte]

Shorty,

You bring up a good point. I've never even seen a wild Lion alive/dead so I can't say much on that.

There are really three main factors when thinking about the size of animals. Age, Nutrition, and genetics. We pretty much can only influence the first one by letting young animals go. The last two are a bit more tricky. As a general rule, critters that don't hibernate usually have a larger body the further you go north (given that the age is the same). They just need to be that size to survive. Big difference in the size of whitetails from Texas to BC, or Lions from Arizona to Alberta. Now it seems for critters that tend to hibernate, the opposite is true because they have a longer time to be out and packing on the pounds. Black Bears in Alaksa (inland) tend to be a little smaller here in WI, while ours in WI are smaller than the ones they whack down in the Carolinas. The big trump card in all of this is feed. If you got a critter that has access to large amounts of grub, it really has a chance to get big regardless of the region(ie coastal bears on salmon).