big cat has to go

[PyroDon]

Last night at some point our Dog "Dawg" tangled with the cougar .
hes pretty torn up and at the vets for a day or two. figure hes lucky to even be alive.
with little kids and other stock around I wont. tollerate the big kitty .
while I have hunted deer and just about anything else thats native around here , Ive never tried for a big cat .
any suggestions? will they come to bait? better to hunt from a tree stand or a blind. I saw it during deer season chasing a doe .
just wondering if a live chicken would work to bait it in .

[NWoods_Hippie]

PyroDon,

First, if you are going to have to get rid of this big cat I would keep my mouth shut about it. I believe that Cougars are a protected species, not that your home and family shouldn't also be protected, but if the "wrong" person were to find out you could get in some serious trouble!

Cougars are moving into territories where they haven't been seen in years and years because of habitat loss in other areas. Cougars also wander for 100's of miles, and maybe if you can wait this out, keep the kids and dogs inside for a week or so (I know that sounds harsh) which will remove food source temptation maybe this cat will move on and you won't have to kill it!

Just my 2 cents,
Margie

[tallpaul]

Good luck... do a search around the net- there were a few stories out there. Patience will be a key. Likely I'd be packin till the deed was done and over with. I'd keep the biggest gun I could shoot well on me and a shotgun or rifle handy if possible. Hope your dog heals. You be carefull- they sometimes confuse humans for kitty food

[tallpaul]

As far as the maybe it will go away comment above... it seems appropriate for society today... maybe it won't bother us and someone else can deal with it... I do agree with the shut up portion though. If ya contact wildlife officials even before you actively hunt it I am sure they will have somethin to say It may be worth an anomynous call though they may trap it themselves... its a gamble but may be worth askin.

[Ed Norman]

Run it with any dog that will trail a house cat or bobcat. They all smell the same and cats are scared of dogs.

[Beaners]

Originally Posted by Ed Norman

Run it with any dog that will trail a house cat or bobcat. They all smell the same and cats are scared of dogs.

Obviously the cat wasn't too afraid of dogs to have torn up one to begin with.

I have little experience with this but good luck and keep it as quiet around "the neighborhood" as possible. This is a threat that needs to be dealt with but not everyone will see that.

Kayleigh

[PyroDon]

well according to fish and game there arent any in this area
of course we dont have bear either or didnt until three got shot .
Guess it must be a long tailed bobcat on steroids

[Yeti]

I have to ask. if you hunt this cat as a preditor do you get to keep him? if so I have buddy who I can tell who would most likely drive down to do the big cat in. he would love to have a cougar in his collection.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

SOUNDS LIKE A FERRAL CAT TO ME

just a very big one ,so shoot away , identify exact branch of species post mortom
OH no wait maybe we should spend a few thoudand dollars hiring proffesional trappers then search for a place to relocate so it can be released and start causing problems there to

if they say they don't exist where you are then such things don't exist and you have shot nothing but a ferral cat

[big rockpile]

Run it over to Missouri! We are to kill all we see.Conservation Department don't want them to get started here.

big rockpile

[PyroDon]

I thought I might try to get a pic or two of it I have a 22-250 telephoto and 44 wide angle the darn thing might be so camera shy it keels over from stage fright.
I know its got a nice big mouth the fangs are 3 and a half to 4" spread and jaw opening of 8"s , found tracks just out side the pony fence yesterday, we've been putting him in the barn at night

[bgak47]

I doubt if you'll have any success hunting a cougar without a trained pack of hounds. I hope your dog is OK.If you can't hunt it with hounds, you better resign yourself to keeping your kids & dogs inside, or real close.

[jen74145]

I would think a live chicken might be good bait... but a cheap wethered goat might be better (and I adore goats, but kitty does have to go before a human gets hurt). Pick up a dairy wether, tie him where you can watch (sounds like you know kitty's hunting pattern already) and there ya go. No more kitty.
Hopefully you can spare the goat a mauling, and use him for your freezer... but if not, might be $ well spent.

[PyroDon]

well i know where it marks its territory and know where it spends alot of its time . It wasnt shy about showing its self every other morning during deer season.
the timberline it travels is is only 100 yards wide in palces with open field on each side .
Have fish and game coming out to check it out will have to see what they say .
if they say we dont have them here well then I guess we wont.Ther vet contacted them.
seriously doubt hounds would be needed though its walked with in 25 yard of my tree stand while I was in it during deer season.
we had been taking a live and let live attitude about it but it keeps coming closer . found where the dog got into it with the cat and its only 200 yards from the house .

[Bearfootfarm]

Originally Posted by Beaners

Obviously the cat wasn't too afraid of dogs to have torn up one to begin with.

I have little experience with this but good luck and keep it as quiet around "the neighborhood" as possible. This is a threat that needs to be dealt with but not everyone will see that.

Kayleigh

It doesnt have to be afraid of them. Cats often fight when cornered, especially by just one dog. But they will normally run from a pack. Its the only practical way to hunt one. You could sit for MANY hours over bait and never see it, but if the dogs will tree it you have a chance of killing it.

[Beaners]

Originally Posted by Bearfootfarm

It doesnt have to be afraid of them. Cats often fight when cornered, especially by just one dog. But they will normally run from a pack. Its the only practical way to hunt one. You could sit for MANY hours over bait and never see it, but if the dogs will tree it you have a chance of killing it.

200 yards from the house doesn't sound like the dog cornered it but I could be wrong. It sounds like the cat appears pretty frequently in one area so I'd think waiting for it wouldn't be absolutely hopeless.

Kayleigh

[PyroDon]

we set up game cameras on the trails today they put time and date of the pic
from what we've observed over the last year he makes his rounds early in the morning didnt catch site of him yesterday but there were two of us at oppisite ends of the property watching it must have been in the draw on the far side of the creek the guy with me radioed that three deer that had been feeding across from him took off like shots to the west, while he was telling me this the four deer feeding in the field across from me took off as well but to the east. theres a narrow heavey wooded draw that runs between the two fields . It likes to croos the creek where the draw meets it . there a wide beaver dam . looks like a well used crossing from all the tracks . deer tend to cross about 20 yards downstream from the ---- where the water is very shallow. over the last couple years we've been getting preditor rich lots of bob cats and coyotes .

[mdharris68]

3 S's here, spoken to me buy a sherriff who had a large inventory of cattle. Shoot, Shovel, Shut up. Fish and game has an uncanny way of finding dead cats and will expend all resourses to find the shooter, even though we do not have courgars in kansas. MY 2 CENTS

[TedH71]

I know someone in Kansas who hunts bears and cougars with Plott hounds. I could get you into contact with him. I think hunting cougars are pretty much legal anywhere except in wacko California...

[big rockpile]

Here is looking at you baby!!



big rockpile