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Could it be true?

ItalianHunter5

By ItalianHunter5,
in General Hunting

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ItalianHunter5 Newbie

ItalianHunter5

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So we have had a good season thus far. I shot a spike, my uncle a 6 and my grandfather a spike all in Columbia County all opening weekend. Yesterday I was able to fill a doe tag with a hefty one in Sullivan County. Now, the populations have been high and relatively the same at both properties the past few years but I have hunted Putnam and I will be again this week and haven't seen a thing. We brought my doe to my uncle's friend who we found out butchers deer and seems like he does a good job. He hunts no where else but Putnam and he said it has been the worst season he's ever experienced. He started telling stories and explained it by using mountain lions as the excuse, he said that the mountain lions are overrunning this area and killing the deer population. Could it be possible that there is an abundance of cougars now, I mean I know there is a sighting every once in a while but a new population? I don't know if I believe it.

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jjb4900 Newbie

jjb4900

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For the record, i'm not being wise with this cause i'm actually very interested. Have you ever laid your eyes on one jjb?

no, I was joking........there's been talk of cougar's in NY for years, I doubt anywhere in NY is overrun with them............I honestly don't think there is any concrete evidence of a breeding population anywhere in NY, other than the one that DEC says traveled through NY at one point and was eventually killed by a car in CT (if I remember the story correctly).

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jjb4900 Newbie

jjb4900

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I only hunt Putnam county, Carmel. It's been the worst year ever. I am 99.9999999999% sure it has nothing to do with lions.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2

you did have some pictures of decent bucks in the area prior to the season, didn't you? does anyone else hunt the land and do you know if everyone had the same experience?

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ItalianHunter5 Newbie

ItalianHunter5

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I believe so too, seemed like an extreme stretch to me, until there is legitimate proof I refuse to believe it. I've been hunting Putnam during the week. I've been out 5 or 6 times and have not seen a single deer. I don't know what is going on down this way but I have a friend hunting Westchester every day and he sees deer almost every day, I guess it's just a Putnam thing. I've been seeing deer upstate all the time, except today.

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bkln Newbie

bkln

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You got played ItalianHunter, this is an old urban legend, I bet you a dollar you will see them plenty after the season is over... They are nocturnal now and will come out after the pressure is over.... Just like every year. During the hunting season I see 2-3 a day with maybe one shot opportunity (which I took) but in January they will be all over the place.... Relax there are no lions here..... :-)

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Whelen Newbie

Whelen

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I hunt southern Dutchess and have never saw sign of a cougar. Saw a couple bears and a lot of coyote sign this year and they certainly have an impact on deer populations. Our deer sightings are down a little from previous seasons but not a lot, my daughter actually took her first deer on Friday!

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Pygmy Experienced

Pygmy

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When I was a kid, in the 50s and 60s, there were tales of these cats also.. Back then, they were called panthers, and the ones that people " saw " were always black..

 

Nowdays, they are called cougars, pumas  or mountain lions and are usually tawny in  color..

 

The evidence of thier presence as a breeding population is the same now as it it was back in the 50s.

 

NON-Existant....

 

And OH YEAH....The idea that the DEC is  subversively STOCKING them, is as ludicrous now as it was then.

 

Anybody who believes  that  probably also believes in Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny AND the Tooth Fairy.

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BizCT Grand Master

BizCT

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you did have some pictures of decent bucks in the area prior to the season, didn't you? does anyone else hunt the land and do you know if everyone had the same experience?

I only hunt 8 acres. Neighboring properties are hunters and a gun club. No clue who got what, but very little gun shots.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2

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josephmrtn Enthusiast

josephmrtn

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For the record, i'm not being wise with this cause i'm actually very interested. Have you ever laid your eyes on one jjb?

i never have but our local amish say they have seen a black one quite a few times... it attacked one of there horses and i saw the claw marks... it was REALLY bad! the horse almost died! it looked like it jumped from a tree onto its back... they said there cows and horses wouldnt go in that end of the pasture for a few weeks

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dbHunterNY Proficient

dbHunterNY

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years ago someone found a deer carcass up in a tree.  just this year supposedly people saw one dead in the road on route 7 around here early one morning.  a nurse I know took a picture of it but it wasn't the best as she drove by.  my wife and I saw something odd one night as it was going over the backside of a guard rail.  it was black though.. not a mountain lion.  there were thoughts that a small zoo not doing the best around here may have "lost" one of their cats.  nothing solid though and I've never seen one.  i'd say there's a 99% chance they aren't here.  if one got lost it'd die of old age from not finding a companion. lol

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BizCT Grand Master

BizCT

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years ago someone found a deer carcass up in a tree. just this year supposedly people saw one dead in the road on route 7 around here early one morning. a nurse I know took a picture of it but it wasn't the best as she drove by. my wife and I saw something odd one night as it was going over the backside of a guard rail. it was black though.. not a mountain lion. there were thoughts that a small zoo not doing the best around here may have "lost" one of their cats. nothing solid though and I've never seen one. i'd say there's a 99% chance they aren't here. if one got lost it'd die of old age from not finding a companion. lol

Mt lions drag and bury deer, not out them up in trees. A deer in a tree sounds like the action of a human.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2

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