Kevin Van Dam Forums

My uncle called and said the DNR contacted him and told him there has been a confirmed cougar on his property. Said they have been watching the area for weeks and have found 4 dead deer all piled in the same place while watching for poachers. They found cougar tracks leading up to the pile and markings on the bodies consistent of a large cat. They took castings of the prints and the biologist confirmed it was a cougar.

There have only been 4 killed by hunters in Iowa in the past 100 years.

So next week (assuming I can talk my buddy into joining me) I will be hunting the cougar hoping to get him off the property before he develops the taste for beef.

Good luck with getting that bad boy BBK! I want to see pictures when you drop him dead What’s you and your buddy’s arsenal for going after him?

What are your state laws concerning the hunting of cougars?

calling cougars is a hard thing to do from what I have heard, and I dont have the guts to do it. lol.

Down here in NM you just buy a tag OTC and if you tag out you call it in. There area stays open until all the tags to that area have been filled. I know a few guys who have called in mountain lions while trying to call in bobcats, one of them had a license and tagged out but he said he was scared shipless. I saw pictures of that one and holy cow it was big. I also know a guy who trapped a mountain lion and had to call a warden to put it to sleep so he could could release it from the trap.

We actually have alot in our area. they keep breeding more and more in colorado and have nowhere for the cubs to go but farther south for new territory. then those cubs grow up and have more cubs and they keep getting pushed south to us. two months ago we had one kill alot of goats behind my house, and i doubt it was yotes cause I keep them in check similar things have been happening up and down the town. The common belief is that its just a big lone male working up and down the riverbank….a few people claim to have seen tracks but I still havent.

Anyway you dice it, those things are down right scary. they are HUGE, they are MEAN and they have no fear. after seeing how big one is, there aint no way in hell im gonna tango with him.

No season, no laws, not protected. Everywhere around us is protected but Iowa is not.

They figure this cat to be in the 90-110lb range, a small male.

Ahh grow some balls, as long as you hit him in the front half you’ll have enough time to get another shot off before he tears into your face.

cougars are cool as shit. I love hunting but I dont think I could ever take a courgar.

BBK - 20 May 2012 12:55 PM

No season, no laws, not protected. Everywhere around us is protected but Iowa is not.

They figure this cat to be in the 90-110lb range, a small male.

Ahh grow some balls, as long as you hit him in the front half you’ll have enough time to get another shot off before he tears into your face.

By the way, do you need to know what kind of gun to use or what grain bullet to use?  I’m supprised you haven’t asked that one yet.

Several years ago I had an encounter with a cougar while hunting.  I was sitting in a shooting house that was sitting on the ground.  Just after daylight, a cougar came out into the green field and just sat down like he was waiting for breakfast to come along.  I just knew that was going to ruin my hunting for the day.  I tried making some noise to scare it off, but it wouldn’t budge.  So I step out of the shooting house, in full camo, and try to scare it off.  I looked at me for a second or two and then decided it wanted to get a better idea of what I was.  As it started coming my way, I raised my rifle and was fixing to shoot it.  Once I raised the rifle, it took off.  I told the guys at the hunting camp and they told me to call the game department.  The people at the game department didn’t believe me and were adamant that there were no cougars in that part of Alabama.  I told them I lived out west and I was very aware of what a cougar was.  But they were in complete denial of the existence of cougars.  I thought that was rather weird.  But anyways, I asked them if I had shot the cougar, would I have gotten in trouble for it.  They said yes, unless I could prove it was in self defense.  Hum, how could I get in trouble for shooting something that didn’t exist where I was in hunting?

They just spotted anther one in Michigan.  Of course they (DNR) will always say the cougars are transients.  If they admitted there was a breeding population here they would have to come up with money to protect them.

what you going to use? .222, .243, .270 with 100 gr. should do the job. shoots flat and fast and accurate. scoped you can drop him a long way aways.

CincySid - 21 May 2012 11:06 AM

what you going to use? .222, .243, .270 with 100 gr. should do the job. shoots flat and fast and accurate. scoped you can drop him a long way aways.

be hard for him to get a far shot cause of where he lives. to thick.

You know cougars have really good hearing.  I recommend these soft soled hunting boots.

http://s1054.photobucket.com/albums/s482/OtterTail23/?action=view&current=huntingboots.jpg

RiverRat - 22 May 2012 09:51 PM

You know cougars have really good hearing.  I recommend these soft soled hunting boots.

http://s1054.photobucket.com/albums/s482/OtterTail23/?action=view&current=huntingboots.jpg

lol they can double as a decoy