Colorado Mountain Lion

Back in the mid-winter of 2015 I made my first trip to Colorado to try for a Mountain Lion. The area for that hunt was on the "Front Range" part of the state, about an hour straight north of Denver. Although we tried hard, the weather and snow did not cooperate. Lions are hunted with hounds....pretty much impossible to hunt them any other way. But you need some good solid, un-blown snow cover to find a fresh enough track to turn the dogs loose on. After a few days and a lot of miles of trying that year, it was simply not to be.

Fast forward to last week. I'd set-up another hunt with a different outfitter in western Colorado. I hoped there would be more reliable snow cover to count on, in that part of the state. I arrived in Grand Junction on a Sunday evening and met the outfitter. After a few hours sleep that night, we were up at 2 AM on Monday morning, and headed into the hills with the outfitter and his hounds. With 6-8 inches of snow on the ground up high, we got pretty lucky and found a fresh track on that first morning before dawn. After waiting for legal hunting hours to turn out the dogs, followed by a couple hours of chasing, the lion treed. Fortunately he ended up being a good mature Tom. He weighed around 165 lbs, and that was with a mostly empty stomach, so he was a pretty good-sized one. It was a fun hunt while it lasted!

Of course we had to do the classic chest-grab picture!

And BTW, if anyone is ever interested in a Lion hunt with hounds, I can highly recommend the guy I used. His family has been doing it for decades, and they have a reputation for very high success.

Also want to mention that the meat is supposed be excellent, and we saved it all. I had most of it turned into brats and sausage, along with cutting out a few roasts. So far I've tried the brats, and they're great. You'd swear you're eating pork.

Congrats.... Great pics! WoW!

Bow or Gun?

Brew I used a bow on him.

Do they carry trichinosis...probably spelled that wrong...so the meat had to be cooked well done?

Yes from what I've read, similar to bears, mountain lions can also carry the "Trichinella" parasite which can result in the disease Trichinosis, from ingesting the living parasite. From what I've learned, freezing the meat at 5 degrees or colder for a few weeks will kill the parasite, and so will cooking it thoroughly above 160F. I think it's more rare to occur in lions but I'm not taking any chances. So we didn't make any steaks since they'd be cooked med-rare, and instead just roasts which we cook all day, and the sausage and brats which we'll cook at high temps.

WOW Greg... what a beautiful BEAST of a cat!
Congtatulations on a fine trophy my friend!
That full-body is going to take up some space!!

Yes, congrats. that would be a hunt of a lifetime. Meat from one would surprise many if they didnt know what it was. I ate some at a wildgame fry years ago and thought it taste like pork white meat. Ted Nugent says mountain lion back straps is his favorite cut of meat. h.h.