Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Cougar Weight Estimate

Years ago I shot a cougar. Never weighted it at the time and
have often wondered at approximate weight. Any hunters
(or taxidermists) who could venture a guess?
--81" nose to tail
--42" base of neck to base of tail
--55" front paw span
Thanks for any comments.

Well, I dont know, hides can be stretched so thats a pretty tuff way to estimate weight. I would say skull size would give a better estimate of cat age, and if you know the sex. Then if the cat was in good shape one could guess using averages for lion size.

In the 1980's I was single, self-employed and could afford to kind've semi-retire during the winter. Sometimes I hooked up with wildlife research projects. The wages were McDonalds but the work was facsinating.

I worked on the capture team on what was at the time the largest cougar project ever undertaken.

Being able to guesstimate the weight of the cougar in the tree for correct tranquilizer dosage was important. We had an ongoing sixpack bet as to who could come the closest. Once I had some experience under my belt and saw a few cougars and their actual weight on the scale, I could come within +/- 5 pounds (but that wasn't good enough to win--the houndsman could often come within a pound or two).

Yours sounds like a 4 ft cougar. If it's a male 4 years or less, 115-120lbs. If it's 4 years or more, 120-135lbs.

I was in on the capture of one male that weighed in at 168lbs and aged at about 3 1/2 years. A year later another team accidently cought him again and said was up to 190lbs. Two years later, the cougar was outside the study unit and killed by a hunter. The male weighed 210 and made B&C.

A year after the study shutdown, a young, enthusiastic houndsman killed the biggest cougar I have ever seen or a photo of. Its head was bigger than a basketball. It was skinned by then, but I think it would have easily gone 225lbs.

Any cougar approaching 200lbs is big and uncommon--like a 1000lb bull elk.

Casey

The nose to tail measurement combined with the maximum girth of the chest behind the front legs gives a pretty good estimate. I have developed a regression line for southwestern cougars but it doesn't work for animals north of, say, I-70. I think that Casey's assessment is not far off...

Wonder how big this kitty equates to?
Mike

or this?

Both of those are big cougars. See how thick that first one is around the neck, the upper legs and broad back? That tells me he is an older male, 175lbs, maybe even 190lbs. The other male is 10-15lbs lighter.

Nice <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Casey

contender
I was going to guess 115.5, but I don't have as sound a basis as alpine crick, so would defer to him as definite ballpark.

Actually, I was kidding about the .5. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Holy [bleep]...that is a PIG...................

Holey Moley, you ain't kidding. I hadn't looked at the attachments until you mentioned it. I reckon they weren't killed in Minnesota. What's the deal, Sapper?
t

The tom was taken in Idaho.
Weight was 194.0lbs.
We have enough to deal with are timbers!!!
Don't need,want or care for them devils around here!
Mike

Do you have a weight on the second one?


Two subspecies of cougars--one subspecies in Western CO, eastern Utah, and the four corners region, and the other subspecies in Idaho--are considered to be the largest subspecies in North America by taxonomists. Of course, in reality, big cougars have been found all over North America.

Those are both healthy lions.

In all reality, you probably have cougars in Minn. It's VERY common for cougars to be present and people have no idea they are there--or the number of cougars that are present. Cougars have been steadily repopulating the eastern U.S. There is probably a viable cougar population in New Jersey.

It would be interesting to see the interaction of wolves and cougars and the effect on each population in the upper midwest.

Casey

Having grown up in northern Minnesota, I can tell you from firsthand experience that there are big kitties in those woods. I've been stalked on a couple occasions, caught a glimpse of the cat once. There was one that would sometimes lay out & sun itself on the stacked plywood at the lumber yard.

Cool pics, BTW

I've never yet cut trail of one here in my stomping grounds(north of Park Rapids).
With milking goats here I see all kinds of pred's!!!

chesty,
You must be a range boy!
That country screams of cat!
I'd love to be able to run a few trap-lines over there!!
Mike

I've been playing desert rat for nearly 20 years in AZ, but have really been missing the woods lately......like to run a couple trap lines up there myself.

Here's a tomcat I took some years ago, with my bow. Took him into town and weighed him on the feedstore scales- not sure how accurate, but he weighed 160 pounds even. As you can tell by the belly, he had been pigging out on a fresh deer kill just before he got shot.

Thanks for the information and pictures guys. I got mine in
southern Utah near "Tropic". I used a M19 Smith .357. After
seeing those big brutes, I'd probably want carry something a little bigger in that area.
I did see a full mount many years ago that supposedly went
over 200 lb. which was owned by Win Conduit of Saratoga, WY
He told me the record (at that time[1964]) was shot by Teddy
Roosevelt. I can't remember if he meant weight or skull
measurement. Thanks again for the comments.

I believe it was skull, but that record has since been eclipsed.
Haven't heard of or from Win in a while which reminds me I ought to get in touch. He's a pretty good guy.
t

I think Alpinecrick is pretty close. I shot a youngish tom a while back that went 84" nose to tail that weighed 120 lbs.

Not a monster, but a nice size for a rug! (grin)

Ok, I'm in too! Any guesses on this one?