Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire AR deer hunter kills Mountan Lion

Probably not unusual for some of you guys that live in areas that have Lion populations but it's rare here.

Mountain Lion

Deer hunter shoots mountain lion on opening weekend of modern gun hunt

JONESBORO, AR (KAIT) -

A hunter who went out to bag a deer met instead a 148 pound mountain lion, according to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

In a news release by the AGFC, Douglas W. Ramer, 62, of Bastrop, Louisiana said he was hunting in Bradley County when a mountain lion moved toward his deer stand. The hunter shot and killed the mountain lion because �he felt threatened�.

The mountain lion was killed east of Hermitage Saturday morning, the first day of the statewide modern gun deer hunt.

The carcass of the mountain lion was given to biologists with AGFC.

According to state regulations, �non-game wildlife (except migratory birds and endangered species) that present a reasonable threat to people or property may be shot during daylight hours or trapped without a depredation permit.�

Ramer has not been charged with any violations.

According to AGFC, five mountain lion sightings have been reported in Arkansas and confirmed in the last five years.

Copyright 2014 KAIT. All rights reserved.

Well, AGFC has changed their tune. In the past they stated there were no "wild" lions in the state and all those seen were pets that had escaped. I saw one of those "escapees" in 1985.

In the past , non-residents couldn't legally kill non-game quadrapads.

Well this appears to be a confirmation to what they know but may not want to admit. Glad the hunter is ok.

148 lbs?

Sweet...

Summer job in oilfield in about 1970. The old fart (at that time) clearing drilling locations with his Cat told me of often seeing M Lion tracks in the sandy roads of Arkansas woods when he was a kid and sometimes on top of his made earlier in the day when he was hunting deer or squirrel.

attention deficit disorder we can't help it if you are too stupid to comprehend....

They need more...we have plenty to share

Meh76, the Enabler.

The AGFC prefers to haul in Timber Rattlers and dump in the National Forests. They don't have time to worry about Mountain lions, feral hogs or the now damn near nonexistent quail population.

attention deficit disorder the liberal dumbass from hell

Four years ago I hunted deer in central NV at Reese River. It had snowed a little the night before. I walked up a road too steep to climb with a vehicle when there is any amount of snow or mud. I came back down 1/2 hour later to find fresh mountain lion tracks following my footsteps up, then off to a side canyon nearby. It was a BIG male from the track size.

I was spooked, and I live/hunt in country full of lions. I can imagine the AR hunter's reaction.

Kansas Fish and Game has changed their tune in recent years, primarily due to multiple pictures from game cams. Not a lot are seen, but one or two a year. Two weeks aho they had a picture on their website of one seen in southeast Kansas.

Bear sitings are happening more frequently in southern missouri. One hit on highway yesterday. That's good for an hours discussion at the break table around here.

I saw pics of the bear hit on the highway there. That thing was a thumper!

There have been about 45 documented mountain lion sightings in Missouri in the last dozen years. The MDC doesn't just take gossip as evidence, they send a team of biologist out to investigate credible reports. It takes hard evidence to be listed as an official sighting so there is no doubt by now there are lions here. At least a few scattered around here and there.

The bear population is listed as about 300, mostly in the Ozark region. I had a bear respond to a raspy jack call while I was coyote hunting several years ago. Pretty cool experience. The bear population is slowly growing. According to a recent long term study the average Ozark male bear is about 325 lbs. and females running about 250 lbs. or so. I know of one pest bear that was killed by a homeowner that was over 400 lbs. The bear recently killed on the highway was 560 lbs.!

What the Ozark region does have in numbers is about 10,000 wild hogs. And they are a genuine pain in the ass. Some of these get big as a Volkswagen it seems.

What that Arkansas hunter did would be illegal in Missouri, but I do not think anyone has ever been prosecuted.

�Mountain lions are classified as "extirpated" in Missouri, but remain protected under the provisions of the Wildlife Code. However, section 3 CSR 10-4.130 (6) of the Code provides that any mountain lion attacking or killing livestock or domestic animals, or threatening human safety may be killed. Mountain lions killed during the protection of life or property must be reported to MDC immediately and the intact carcass, including pelt, surrendered within 24 hours.

In 1996 MDC established a Mountain Lion Response Team (MLRT) with specially trained staff to investigate reports and evidence of mountain lions. The MLRT has investigated hundreds of mountain lion reports. Animals reported as mountain lions include house cats, bobcats, red foxes, coyotes, black and yellow Labrador retrievers, great Danes and white-tailed deer. Almost all reported tracks have been those of bobcats or large dogs.

Mountain lions prey principally on deer and medium-sized wild mammals, and they occasionally kill livestock and pets. Attacks on people are rare but have occurred in some western states. There is no substantive evidence that mountain lions have attacked livestock, pets or people in Missouri.

The risk of a mountain lion attack in Missouri is very, very small�almost non-existent. People, livestock and pets are at much greater risk from automobiles, stray dogs and lightning strikes than they are from mountain lions.

MDC wants to learn more about mountain lions in Missouri and encourages all citizens to report sightings, physical evidence or other incidents so they can be thoroughly investigated. To make a report, contact the Mountain Lion Response Team by e-mail at mountain.lionmdc.mo.gov.�

Since you can only shoot one during daylight hours, I assume that if it finds you in your stand before daylight, it gets a free meal?

I'd bet there's a Yeti or two roaming around in them thar woods!

Exotic pets is, for some reason, kind of a big thing in Arkansas. Shortly after moving into my new home in Arkansas I had a sheriff's deputy pay me a visit to tell me to keep an eye out for a 600lb tiger that was running loose.

A mountain lion was spotted sitting on the front porch of my cousin's house. That could only be an exotic pet set loose. My bet is, the vast majority of mountain lions in Arkansas are exotic pets set loose when they get too big to care for. AGFC deals with this problem all the time.

I don't know if Arkansas has more than it's share of exotic pets or not, But a Mountain lion that has no fear of people and associates them with food is not a good thing.