I got back from Diamond MT Utah on Monday with a big tom lion. Shot at 4 yards with my Bowtech 82nd airborne. 1 mile hike up a big mountain in 10-12 inches of snow. Killed within 8 hours on my first day of hunting.

Very cool I have been waiting for you to get back and post pics.

Glad you did good.

I will go on one of these hunts before I check out of this life, if at all possible. I would love to have one of those made into a rug.

Rug.... When I get mine it will be full body mount don't care how much it costs. Those cats are cool.

You are soo lucky! I've always wanted one with my bow too.

Oh congrats!

Joel-

Way to go bud - that is super cool.

I have a very short list of species that I'd like to one day pursue, that's surely one of them.

concur.

LIfesize for sure. This hunt is a A$$ kicker. You guys get in shape if you want to do it. I have had the opportunity to hunt and kill Blk Bear elk shiras moose antelope buffalo mule deer whitetail and cougar The lion hunt was the hardest most exciting hunt I have been on. What a rush for sure. The lion outfitter I used has never had a unsucsessful lion hunter. If any of you want his info let me know. Joel

that sucker is huge.

Beautiful cat. I want to do that type of hunt before I leave this world.

NICE Lion!

You obviously had fun!

Hope you saved the meat..you are missing out on a real treat if you didn't..

Congrats!

Ingwe

To put in perspective on how big the cat is I am 6' 1" and weigh 265. Good size cat

I've heard that before, but not sure I could bring myself to eat one...

Congrats to the hunter! Wish more people would come here and kill them suckers! Way too many running the hills!

ok I'm jealous.

I dont think I could bring myself to eat it either. The dogs seemed to really enjoy it though. Thanks for all the nice comments. Joel

Nice very nice !!! Congratulations !!!

Nothing like hunting with dogs !!!

Dino

Nice Cat.

Jayco

Too bad...its not only good...its real good!

Ingwe

Taste like chicken?....

Nice kitty, Joe!

If I ever got something that special, I would be tempted to get it mounted by This company because cats are reportedly very difficult to get really right.

I am very sure that they will NOT be inexpensive, but they sure are good -- at least IMNSHO!

Here are two of their mounts...





John

cats are hard to get right I have seen some that were done by guys who normally do a really good job on deer, elk, bear, yotes, ect...(cougar and bobcat) that looked like absolute chit.

Do your research and pick someone who knows how to do cats. A once in a lifetime animal deserves a taxidermist.

Nice cat Joel.

Joseph

Very Nice lion.

No offense, but that's not my opinion of cat done right...

I stopped in this taxidermists shop this fall and saw these two cats he was working on. He is on my short list of people that could do a cat for me.

That is awesome. I would love to go hunt a mountain lion

Very nice cat congradulations. If your looking for a someone that knows how to do cats let me know. Here is a couple pictures I took at there shop. Some of the best I've seen.

This is one of my personal favorites...

I can see why.......

No offense taken.

Can you post some photos of some mounts that you like (and who did them)?

In case I ever get a really special animal and want it mounted, I am saving information on real top-notch taxidermists (costs be damned!).

John

Good job on the cat joelblitz. Big tom for sure!


Travis

Hey Joel,

Which outfitter did you use? Does he have a website? How much did your cat weigh and how about skull measurements? Do you mind if I ask the cost? Thanks. I have always wanted to go on a lion hunt.

Sorry boys, but IMHO there is only one place to send a mountain lion if you want it done right.Phil Soucy is amazing. His work is more consistently accurate than anyone else I've ever seen. http://www.philipsoucy.com/index.tpl
See example below.

Big Sky:

Very nice composition -- in addition to the taxidermy as such, the animal's position is very well complimented by choice of that branch!

Keep'em coming!

John

Hey, that's my ex mother in law!

Now THAT'S a mount!!!!! Yeah!

Out of all the pics shown here.

Big Sky's is the only one that has it right.

The others are VERY UNNATURAL to the point of being gross.

That one cat looks like a Saber Tooth Tiger, ugh!

For those of you that have asked, the outfitter is Josh Horrocks out of Vernal Utah. His websight is www.2doghuntin.com He has never had a lion hunter go home without a lion. We guessed my lion weighed between 130 and 140 maybe bigger. I am 6 foot 1 in and weigh 265 for comparrison. I have a top notch taxidermist that has a cat in his showroom that is the best I have seen. I am going to do it on a pedetsal with a red rock formation with the cat stepping out on a limb. I will be going with a closed mouth as I personaly like the looks and think they look more intimidating that way. I will post a picture when it is done although it will probably be a year or two. Thanks for all the comments.

That's cat done right!

Congrats on the cat. BigSky, that mount is sweet.

Congrats on the Big Cat that is too cool.


BTW the ex-mother in law comment was TFF, LOL..................DJ

Nice cat, congrats on a sucessful hunt.

That is a wonderful job, but I have never been big on open mouth mounts. They just always look fake to me.
This is about a 100 pound cat that I am very happy with the looks of.


I have another full body of a 120 pound cat, but the taxidermist (same one) had a stroke and died literally while mounting it, and it completely dried before it could be finished. I keep it where you can't see it real well.

Ditto on Phil Soucy.
He's done several of my mounts.
World Class Taxidermist.

More examples?

My wolf


My Kodiak Brown Bear



Phil took 2nd place at the World Taxidermy Competion with my Lynx.
Amazing.

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/7605/l3hi8.jpg





These are Soucy mounts that I took pics of at that show...





[img]http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/1182/s7bn3.jpg[/img]

This Leopard is simply STUNNING.

[img]http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/8920/s6ik8.jpg[/img]

[img]http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/6691/s5ry6.jpg[/img]

Congrats!! I 'need' some friends with hounds... A cat hunt is definitely on my "must do" list.

Hey joelbiltz now thats something to be proud of. Just found your post, Nice job to hang in with the bow.I would like to hear how you came about found your outfitter, pm if you get time. Congrat's BIG TIME!!!

DUDE!!! 4 yds.??? With a BOW??? What a rush THAT musta been.

Congratulations...

Joel,
Way to go, bud! That Bowtech sure made things look interesting. Would have liked to see you haul the 358 SFB up there for that!
I'll be over with Ritzi sometime to check out the pics.

Big +10 or whatever were up on Phil Soucy cats. Not many in the same league...but many think they are. Compair their work to Phil's, and see why he is the best!

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