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Mountain Lions In the News again......

If these guys are in the NE part of the state, it sounds like yet ANOTHER good reason to excercise Iowa's open-carry law.

In Canada, it's illegal to fly in bush-country without a rifle. In Michigan, there are certain areas where a firearm is recommended or required. Why would states and provinces pass CYA legislation like this if the danger from predators was so minimal?

Suppose the odds of a dangerous encounter with a mountain lion, even in a state that's loaded with them, is ten million-to-one. The odds of winning the lottery are eight times as thin, yet someone takes home that money. I'll throw a dollar at the lottery twice a year, but don't like those odds when my (or my kids') life is at stake.
 
I think these cats have been passing through here longer than you guys might think.I live in Nw iowa and was catfishing the little souix river one day when i was a kid, musta been 15 yrs ago.I found a set of tracks in the mud on the river bank Id never seen before and asked the guy that was with me what they were.I cant remember if he said cougar or bobcat but he had seen them before growing up in northern minnesota.I think theyve been here quite awhile and are just starting to be populated enough to draw attention to themselves.You also have to wonder how many of these sightings are real.They say if you live in cat country your lucky to ever see one so how likely is it that all these people are seeing them if weve only got a few around?
 
Personally, I'm not too worried about any close encounters with mountain lions here in Iowa. I would bet that the majority of them are being released by people who have illegally had them as pets but once they get too big they dump them out into the countryside. I did hear a rumor that one of the ones that was killed recently was declawed...not a natural occurance for sure.

There is hardly enough habitat in most parts of Iowa to support pheasants...let alone enough habitat to allow an influx of mountain lions which have a huge home range and dislike any human disturbance.

My 2 cents worth
AJ
 
I hope they are here, it is a neat thing, however, a chance encounter would have to be more than a million to one. I have hunted mountain lion before, in Idaho, where the population is high, and we traveled for hours on end without cutting one set of tracks, finally we were lucky and cut a big set and in the end I harvested an extremely large Mountian Lion, but once again, we were in an area with high numbers of Mountain Lions and they were few and far between.
 
I have family in Carrol, and apparently there were one or two of those things running around Swan Lake. My cousin almost hit one crossing the road.
 
Hey IA Craig,
I have had the cougar roast before. And take it from me it was some of the best meat I have had. I've ate bear,moose,deer, and elk. And iwould would have to say that it ranks right up there. But just my opion.
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Hey IA Craig,
I have had the cougar roast before. And take it from me it was some of the best meat I have had. I've ate bear,moose,deer, and elk. And iwould would have to say that it ranks right up there. But just my opion.
smile.gif
 
nope idsman, i live right on the border between palo alto and clay county.
 
Well we have just had another confirmed sighting of a Mountain Lion here in Harlan, Iowa. About 3 miles from my home! On April 19 at around 2 am a Shelby County deputy saw one cross the road and go into the ditch, he turned his car around and the thing just laid in the ditch looking at him. I have included the website with the story. http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?brd=901

If this doesnt work try www. harlanonline.com
 
My brother from Carrol has just shared his first personal sighting with me. It was just on the south east edge of town and the cat ran across the road in front of his car. He also lives on that side of town and says he has heard a cat at night on two different occasions. I have heard numerous second hand accounts from people in the Carroll area
 
2 of my bosses kids have seen the cat in carroll co. from the reports of where it has been seen so far i'm sure it has crossed through my back yard already. not sure on shooting it but would like to see it.

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sec/treas Hunters Helping Hunters
http://www.hhh-usa.org
 
I know of a few in Mitchell county. There was one that walked around a friends yard about 3 weeks ago, and another one that killed a calf. Then while deer hunting, we ran one out of a woods.
 
My brother and I were down turkey hunting in the Loess hills early in the morning and heard what sounded like a loud scream. About noon we left the field and came across an old boy out driving around and got to talking to him. We told him about what we heard and he said that he has heard it many times and that it was a cougar. He also said they have sighted one in the area and the DNR has been told but unfortunatly it's not a "confirmed" sighting so who knows?!?! It sure as hell won't keep me from hunting down there, way to many big bucks and turkeys to give up that land to some over grown cat...
 
Here is an article from the Minneapolis Star Tribune. I wonder if it was the same cat seen in Savage.

Bloomington police kill 90-pound cougar

Associated Press

Published May 31, 2002
Bloomington police have destroyed a cougar.

Officers answered a complaint Thursday night about a large animal lingering in the underbrush near a hiking trail.

When officers arrived, they found the cougar lying about 30 yards from the trail. Insted of fleeing, the cougar stayed put. Officers determined the cougar was a threat and destroyed the animal.

The cougar weighed about 90 pounds. Police say the area where the cougar was found is heavily used by walkers aned children.

The Minnesota DNR has been contacted.
 
Wow! Two nights ago we had a Mountian lion in our BACKYARD!
Unfortunately I was at work on this particular evening and was on the receiving end of a frantic phone call from my wife and kids at 10:30 at night. When I got home the next morning all my kids could talk about was the lion in the yard. My 9 yr. old daughter of course being the bravest one of the bunch just kept saying "COOL".
I spoke with the neighbor later that day. He was across the road a week ago at one of his houses he just rented and was up in a tree cutting branches, when he looked down and a lion just came walking out of the bean field right into the yard!
Last month there were three sightings within 100 yds of my bowstand down by Hancock on the Nisnabotna river. This is getting way out of hand now with them in my backyard.
Would any of you hesitate to shoot one, even if it wasn't threatening you?? Because all of a sudden I have the urge to take me a Lion as well as a deer.
 
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