lions carrying kills?

[bad moon]

curious as to how far you have seen a lion carry its kill before finding a place to eat it?

[houndnem]

fathest I have ever seen was close to a mile. average for me is 500 yrds. the one that went a mile was a big tom in the snow and there were several places where the deer never toched the ground for 500 yards. It looked like he was slinging it over his shoulder and packing it.

[BLACK RHINO]

Shortest. About 8 ft. Longest, 250 yards. But we have huge amounts of heavy timber, So generally they don't have much of A need to move their kills very far to feel secure and comfortable.

Rhino.

[007pennpal]

Do wolves or coyotes in the area make a difference? Ever see one with a kill in a tree?
Sean

[BLACK RHINO]

Have seen where A pack of wolves follows A lion around stealing it's kills. That lion would kill every third or fourth day. Wolves would come up from the last kill and steal the new one. Coyotes are annoying I am sure but have never seen where they had enough jam to make A lion leave it's kill. No have never seen any sign of A kill off the ground. Always on the ground and buried to reduce scent dispersion and to prevent freezing. As in all things very little is impossible. But have never come across A kill hung up. And if there were wolves and coyotes in the area would be of A greater advantage to keep any moving of the kill as short as possible. Further they go the greater the odds of sumthin else finding that scent trail.

Rhino.

[BuckNAze]

Yes lions will carry their kills up into trees at times

[BEAR HUNTER]

About 20 yrs ago I was living in Grants Pass Oregon. My dad bought 10 registered milk goats all about 80 lbs each. At night we would lock them up in a stall in the barn. There was about a 3 ft gap between the stall wall and the roof. A lion came in, killed a goat, pulled it up out of the stall and then about 500 yards up the hill. This was back before I had hounds or even knew hounds existed. This happened every night until there were only 4 goats left. Yeah I know we probable should of fixed the hole but we didnt. We moved out shortly after. I heard later a government hunter came in and killed 5 lions .

[BuckNAze]

Ive found a 2 point buck in a tree with just the spine while shed hunting, but heard of several instances, plus I cant see why jaguars could do it and a lion couldnt, just something that has to be learned. Im sure more then you realize it do it in wolf country.

[BLACK RHINO]

Lol. Trust me I live in wolf country. And am not saying it is impossible, But up here don't think we have many trees with adequate branches to accommodate that endeavor.

Rhino.

[BuckNAze]

Not saying they do just because it's wolf country, just a theory. I just know what Ive seen, dont know what else would carry a 2 point rag horn up a tree, it was probably 10ft up on the first branch though. Big ponderosa.

[BLACK RHINO]

Shows how tainted these forums are that you can't just share the knowledge without having to defend every last detail. So for clarifications sake. I am NOT saying that lions can't or won't drag their kills A mile, or Drag them up A tree. Am saying once more that I do not believe that the lions up here move their kills that far. Or drag them up trees. One they would be at A disadvantage to move them any further then necessary. As the scent drag would expose them to more instances of other predators harassing them. As I often laugh. Those that are in the lower 48 think they have wolf problems because it is A recent thing to have to worry about. At the extent it is now. Hold the phone. am not saying that there was never A wolf population on hand. just that they are more prolific recently. They have been here all the time and we have lost A few dogs to them. Hell we have enough of them that we were perfectly willing to donate most of the stock to that fantastic program. Personally would donate the rest of them. Can quote the rarity of it being A issue when I read Del Camerons book. and how A good dog got killed because the young guy turned the dog loose on A wolf track.... Speaks to me that the young guy had rarely seen A wolf track to cut A dog onto one. But we live and hunt around them all the time. Some times it costs you. That is the risk involved. As far as long tails the cover is plentiful so not often they have A problem with finding A place to hide A kill. Which can often be A problem in the south of 48 territory. Besides that our deer are not exactly light unless you get A fawn. And yes have seen some pretty powerful things from long tails. But there is always the point of being realistic. And have hunted lions that pretty much had little more then Moose in there territory to hunt. Odds on dragging one of them up A tree??? None. And the sucker would be froze up and they couldn't eat off it by the second day. Too cold in the winter. Summer, well never run them in the summer. Except for dog or horse or lama, donkey killers. Dry ground on some of them but not A typical situation. But have crossed A few kills and always on the ground. So that is my experience. On another note have seen A golden eagle take A head and large portion of spine with some of one front shoulder up into A tree to pick at. When the bird let it go it did hang up. But not A typical incident I am sure. Some of them big Ponderosa pines. hell yeah if I was A cat and could get it done I would drag lunch up there. Just not A typical incident in the areas I hunt. Just because the situation here is what it is.. Does not mean it is entirely relevant to the conditions elsewhere. It is what they do here in the conditions they have here. Hope that is clear enough. To be understood. And research the game and relative weight of the prey A Jag takes. As well as the conditions and subsequent predators/Scavengers they have to deal with. Compare the trees... Now you have A relative representation. I can do A lot of things.... Doesn't mean they have to make sense to do them... But the smart ones always look like they do....

Rhino.

[BuckNAze]

I agree with you 100%. I wasnt trying to disagree, just knew what I saw was a lion kill and that it was up in a tree. And no you are absolutely right of course a lion isnt going to pull an elk or a moose up into a tree. Let along a big doe or a big buck. Its more then likely going to be something small if it even happened to. Which like you said in most cases probably rarely happens. Evening dragging them long distances probably isnt very likely but cant happen. Wasn't disagreeing with anything you said. I think we can alll agree things like this may happen just not very often.

[007pennpal]

Seems to me they always just drag them down to a flat spot to eat. I never understood why kills are usually done on a hillside. Must be a lions favorite way to cut angle on downhill pray. I pattern them hunting down form the ridges on sidehills favoring deer/elk.
Sean

[horshur]

I only seen in once where the cat moved the kill a fairly long way....he moved it up hill in pretty steep country probably 500 meters or so.......seemed farther then that.

he moved it because I had discovered the kill the the same morning he had made it.

it was a mature mule deer doe but really just a bag of bones do to hard winter and deep snow.

[papa]

found a deer that had been drug up into a tree that was growing out of a rock face. Nothing but a lion could have gotten it up there. Old time lion hunter was with me and he said it was a first for him. The more time you spend in the woods the more you realize there are lots of first time experiences out there. Never say never!