Jump to content

Arizona Trip and Pics

BizCT

By BizCT,
in Out of New York Hunting

 Share

Recommended Posts

BizCT Grand Master

BizCT

Posted
Posted

I survived another trip to Southern Arizona in search of a Tom Mountain Lion. Rattlesnakes, killer bees, wasps, scorpions, scaling rocks/cliffs, etc. I flew into Arizona late Friday night, 10/26. Was hunting with Wade Eckel, the owner of http://killerlionhunts.com/ The trip went as follows in as short of a version as possible:

Day 1 – 10/27: We did 77 miles on quad. Saw lots of lion and bear tracks. No Tom lion tracks were fresh enough to let the dogs loose on. Also saw a few Coues Deer does and 1 coyote.

Day 2 – 10/28: Found fresh Tom track of an estimated 80-90lb lion at 840am. Went with dogs for 2 hours in the morning with no luck. Tried to cut the lion off in the afternoon. After walking many canyons with the dogs, we ran out of daylight.

Day 3, 10/29: We chased the same 80-90lb Tom for about 5 miles on foot with the dogs from 8am-1pm. Then did a bunch more miles on foot from 4pm-dark. Dogs got a little crossed up with multiple fresh lion tracks. There were actually too many lions in the area. There were fresh lion tracks from the Tom we were after, a bugger tom, and a female. Walked through a few big swarms of wasps. I was advised to hold my breath and I wouldn’t get stung. It worked, thankfully. Found a horseshoe, maybe my luck would change?

Day 4, 10/30: Found the tracks of the 80-90lb Tom about 12 miles away. We seemed to be just 1 day behind. Didn’t let the dogs out this day. Wade told me that tomorrow we will leave at 4am instead of 6am, to start looking for tracks in the dark.

Day 5, 10/31 (Halloween): Out we went out at 4am to look for tracks in the dark. At 6am we found fresh tracks from that bigger Tom. Wade estimated this Tom to be 3-4 years old and 110-120lbs. We got the dogs and got back to the fresh track to start tracking at 7am. We did about 3 miles on foot, up and down canyons. This lion was obviously hunting deer as his routes were very erratic. At 855am we caught a glimpse of the lion running back down towards we left the canyon 3 miles away. The dogs were in chase, and we moved as quickly as possible back down towards the quads. On the way back, I found another horseshoe. My luck had to be changing? At 945am we found fresh track a mere 20-30 yards from the quad where the lion ran right by. The dogs treed the lion at 1020am. After a few quick pics and video, I shot the lion out of a tree about 35 feet up at 1030am. I used Wade’s 44mag trapper. Wade estimated this Tom at 3 ½ years old. This lion was 110lbs with an empty. With a fuller stomach this lion could have been close to 120lbs. I was ecstatic. Finally, I had gotten a great tom mountain lion.

Day 6, 11/1: Was the last day of the Coues Deer season for the tag I drew. We glassed and walked all day looking for deer. At 325pm we jumped a small 2x1 Coues Deer buck. I took a quick offhand shot at about 130 yards and missed just under him. Oh well. It was the only deer we saw all day.

Day 7, 11/2: Wade took me out varmint calling. He didn’t expect much with the full moon, but we gave it a shot. We did 3 sets and I shot a big female gray fox on the 1st set and a big male gray fox on the 3rd set. We were done in under an hour. I shot both with Wade’s 20ga. Remington youth model pump shotgun. I decided to end the day so Wade could skin the 2 foxes and get them in the freezer.

It was a great trip and I will be getting full body mounts of all 3 animals. I will have the 2 fox done together.

post-871-0-12789500-1352056511_thumb.jpg

post-871-0-20941800-1352056515_thumb.jpg

post-871-0-20879800-1352056519_thumb.jpg

post-871-0-21724800-1352056526_thumb.jpg

post-871-0-63325500-1352056529_thumb.jpg

post-871-0-27025400-1352056535_thumb.jpg

post-871-0-95967500-1352056539_thumb.jpg

post-871-0-70218600-1352056544_thumb.jpg

post-871-0-84558700-1352056550_thumb.jpg

post-871-0-33058000-1352056558_thumb.jpg

post-871-0-74297600-1352056577_thumb.jpg

post-871-0-75249400-1352056579_thumb.jpg

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites
BizCT Grand Master

BizCT

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Biz, whats on the 2013 schedule ? You covered a lot of ground this year. Always great to see hunting pics of animals we dont have in NY.

This December/January will be Minnesota for Bobcat.

Next October/November will be back to Pennsylvania for Whitetail with crossbow.

Next December/January will be British Columbia for Lynx.

That's all I got for right now.

Probably wait a few more years before another wolf hunt. Went in 2007 to Alberta and this past March to N. Ontario, both with no luck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 6 months later...
  • 6 years later...
Daveboone Proficient

Daveboone

Posted
Posted

What a great trip! I have long wanted to go on a US lion hunt. I was talking for a few years with a guide in Idaho. Winter hunt. I don't know if I could handle it anymore, but it still is a great thought. Also, simply don't have much room to properly display the kitty. What do you think you will do with your cat?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
BizCT Grand Master

BizCT

Posted
  • Author
Posted
What a great trip! I have long wanted to go on a US lion hunt. I was talking for a few years with a guide in Idaho. Winter hunt. I don't know if I could handle it anymore, but it still is a great thought. Also, simply don't have much room to properly display the kitty. What do you think you will do with your cat?


This was from 2012. I have full body mount


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Link to comment
Share on other sites
BizCT Grand Master

BizCT

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Price of those lion  hunts ?
Tried looking it up nothing shows  up ?
Or are they outlawed now in Az like Cali ?
 


Not outlawed. Killer Lion hunts. Was $3K to chase a Tom in 2012 when I went. Now it’s $8,500


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...