DIY mountain lion hunt

[wolfpup]

Any of you guys try doing a diy mountain lion hunt with your own dogs? I’m trying to figure out my options because it’s always been a dream of mine to shoot a mountain lion. I was stupid enough to pay the 1000s of dollars for an outfitter and that is simply not going well. I can’t afford trying a second time but do have experience with coon dogs and have friends with dogs that would be interested in trying to hunt lions with them. It’d be way cheaper and more fun. Doesn’t matter so much if you don’t have success on a diy hunt but when you spend almost 10k on a guided/outfitter hunt with little to no action it really sucks.

 

[PathFinder]

From someone who has started basically from scratch, it's not nearly as simple as you're wanting to believe. Unless you have 10k-20k to invest in finished dogs (and know what you're looking for in one), it's gonna be a long, long road. Thousands in tracking equipment and dog food. Years of beating on vehicles. Loads of time out on the mountain gathering dogs that went all over trashing or just plain lost.
Plan on 3 years of 30 hunting days minimum and triple what the guided hunt costs before it works out training dogs. That's if you live in a good area to hunt. Don't forget you'll be paying for, dealing with, and feeding those dogs all year long. They need to get out and run, they can't just sit in a kennel all the time.
If you just want a lion, it's not the way to go.

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[justinspicher]

I just usually wander around lost and hope to find one.

This hasn’t worked very well but it is still better than being at work.

 

[Wrench]

If you know where the toughest old bucks that don't want to come down the mountain like to winter..... you have a great spot to begin your search. Late season calling after spotting tracks would be my play.

 

[Axlrod]

Back in the early 90's I had a buddy that bought some pups, and trained them. He would run roads til he cut a track, then follow the track until he jumped the lion and release the hounds. Within a couple years he had really good dogs. As was stated above it is a lot of time and money.

 

[wolfpup]

From someone who has started basically from scratch, it's not nearly as simple as you're wanting to believe. Unless you have 10k-20k to invest in finished dogs (and know what you're looking for in one), it's gonna be a long, long road. Thousands in tracking equipment and dog food. Years of beating on vehicles. Loads of time out on the mountain gathering dogs that went all over trashing or just plain lost.
Plan on 3 years of 30 hunting days minimum and triple what the guided hunt costs before it works out training dogs. That's if you live in a good area to hunt. Don't forget you'll be paying for, dealing with, and feeding those dogs all year long. They need to get out and run, they can't just sit in a kennel all the time.
If you just want a lion, it's not the way to go.

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You’re right on the money sir and I’m not naive to any of the points you made. However, in my case, the dogs are already owned, at least some if not all of the tracking gear needed is acquired, and the rest as far as finding a lion and the wear and tear is a part of the adventure. I know it’s maybe not easy, but when you save up for that dream hunt and it simply doesn’t work out that really sucks. I’d rather fail on my own on a diy than pad someone else’s pocket for the same outcome.

 

[Calling2death]

If those dogs are true coon dogs and are good they should be broke and more than likely won’t run a cat.

 

[Telford29]

Find a fresh track, turn em loose and have fun. Good luck to you.

 

[yfarm]

Trained by a Hound Dog

A History about Lion & Bear hunting in the Western United States along with some that hunted them.

trainedbyahounddog.com

Interesting reading about how hard it was.

 

[PathFinder]

You’re right on the money sir and I’m not naive to any of the points you made. However, in my case, the dogs are already owned, at least some if not all of the tracking gear needed is acquired, and the rest as far as finding a lion and the wear and tear is a part of the adventure. I know it’s maybe not easy, but when you save up for that dream hunt and it simply doesn’t work out that really sucks. I’d rather fail on my own on a diy than pad someone else’s pocket for the same outcome.

Having hounds and having lion dogs aren't the same things. The type of hunting is very different for the hound. Not that some dogs don't learn to do both, but they're basically starting over at step one learning to hunt lions.
We hunt with guys who have good coon dogs. Even hunting with our hounds, I've never seen one of them make a tree. What I'm saying is don't expect them to just take a lion track and go the first time. It will probably take them a full season to start to figure it out.
It's a bummer that things didn't work out with the outfitter. But it may be easier to find a better outfitter.

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[MallardSX2]

Don’t get attached to your hog dogs or your lion dogs….

Words to live by.

 

[DB29]

Find a fresh track, turn em loose and have fun. Good luck to you.View attachment 809134

This picture is amazing!!

 

[BLJ]

These guys went out to New Mexico from WV with bear dogs and were successful.
A couple of times actually.

 

[BLJ]

Apparently the r link didn’t work.

Look up The Untamed on YouTube. They’ve got some pretty good videos.

 

[Coldtrail]

Lots of non residents kill lions all over the west using hounds that all specialize in something else back home. It's more about finding the right track in the right conditions to have a successful run, at the risk of stirring the pot it really doesn't take much of a specialized dog to trail a hot lion in fresh snow, it's in the questionable conditions or bare ground that you need the better more disciplined dog. It also doesn't take a bakers dozen dogs, a tracked UTV and lots of diamond plate to be a lion hunter, lots of hunters, myself included have treed lions with 1-2 of the right dogs.

You'll find that locating a track during those prime days is the tough part. Things get competitive those early mornings, but it's not impossible if you do your homework and aren't afraid to get going early. I wouldn't hesitate at all to run a decent coon dog or two on a lion, obviously there is always risk, for any dog hunting anything but I've found that a smaller pack keeps the vet bills down because the 1-2 dogs know to keep distance on a caught lion rather than a larger pack that talk each other into trying to pull hair.

 

[Coveyleader]

The guy I used to run with had two Jag Terriers, that was it. They are dinky, yet they had no issues at all putting cats in trees, or cliffing them out. Lighting fast! It's the "cat dog thing" that puts them in the trees.

 

[hwy1strat]

If you’ve got the dogs and tracking gear then why not just try it? Drive around, look for a track, turn em loose, and see what happens

 

[wolfpup]

These guys went out to New Mexico from WV with bear dogs and were successful.
A couple of times actually.

Thanks, it can’t be that complicated to do it on my own and I’m still sick after spending 1000s of wasted dollars on 2 tracks in a week of hunting and no lion. I cant do any worse on my own really but in all fairness the outfitter “claims” I can come back for free sometime but only time will tell if he’s telling me the truth. Seems like a nice guy and legit but the how can I know for sure. All I know is, there’s no way I can’t grab a couple friends and dogs and do the same thing without the costs of paying someone else to get nothing.

 

[wolfpup]

If you’ve got the dogs and tracking gear then why not just try it? Drive around, look for a track, turn em loose, and see what

Having hounds and having lion dogs aren't the same things. The type of hunting is very different for the hound. Not that some dogs don't learn to do both, but they're basically starting over at step one learning to hunt lions.
We hunt with guys who have good coon dogs. Even hunting with our hounds, I've never seen one of them make a tree. What I'm saying is don't expect them to just take a lion track and go the first time. It will probably take them a full season to start to figure it out.
It's a bummer that things didn't work out with the outfitter. But it may be easier to find a better outfitter.

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The outfitter says I can come back for free but only time will tell if he is lying or telling the truth. Seems like a good guy but what I was told when booking the hunt and what i experienced were totally different things. Maybe he’s totally legit and good idk. I can’t help but love his dogs and it’s not their fault. What I do know after watching him try with his dogs, is there’s no way I can’t do as good or better on my own with dogs from the east coast that are already running bobcats, coyotes, foxes, etc. It’s just the principle of spending 1000s for nothing when I can invest that into my own endeavors and if that fails I at least will have more fun.

 

[Coldtrail]

In defense of your outfitter, guiding lions with hounds has lots of variables out of their control but reputable outfitters will absolutely give you another chance, they don't want anyone telling the story about not being successful. That being said there are plenty of houndsmen outfitters that for a variety of reasons shouldn't be taking people's money and don't care about the unsuccessful client because most customers are unsuccessful.

I would say with 100% certainty that even an unsuccessful lion hunt with your own dogs and friends will be more rewarding than paying to get hauled around and walked into a tree. Just do your homework and have some fun.