Watch your back .....

[Jgoding]

Hey Ed,

Kevin is a proud owner of a............pomeranian..... We do it sans dog since our lab passed around 10 years ago or so. She grew up on upland and in her later years didn't quite get what it meant to sit in a duck blind.... Pheasants and mountain quail is what she knew best.

[David Lee]

Kevin uses Jeffy as a Bird Dog .... heheheheheheheh ...

D.~

[flyfshrmn]

The deer population decreases in both California and Nevada that I discussed are based on information from the respective departments of fish and game and direct discussion with both the field biologists and game wardens in those areas. I hunt deer quite a bit, both archery and rifle, find cat tracks and kills often, and have seen several mountain lions while hunting deer, something that used to be considered extremely rare. But sightings are increasing in frequency, there have been three reported kills of humans in California, and at least one disappearance of a child in the Chico area that has a great deal of evidence for cat predation as the cause. For comparison, I worked and hunted for four years in NE Nevada, a state that had at the time a healthy population of mountain lions and saw only one. I have a second home in the Lewiston area and my former hunting partner up there has seen several cats and there have been several instances of cat/human interaction that involve stalking by the cats. I have found fresh tracks and deer kills in my yard at Lewiston. As for the turkeys, I don't believe the cats view them as primary prey, but they certainly take them when the opportunity presents and I have found several kill sites, evidenced by cougar tracks and turkey feathers spread all over the area. The deer population decreases are much more evident in the NE California areas, especially around Burney and the Lassen area and East to the Nevada line, deer Zone X4, where the herd is currently at about 10% of it's historical average. All of the X zones have seen large decreases in the herd populations and the Fish and Game biologists have attributed it directly to mountain lion predation. I have hunted and fished in those areas since moving to California in 1963 and it has become extremely rare to see any deer, any where in those areas. I often drive Highway 88/89 in the Lassen area at night and it's rare to see a deer up there now. In the late 60s on a trip in that same area, I counted over 150 deer seen in one night. Same thing in the mountain areas in zones D3-5. Huge decreases in the deer populations attributed to multiple factors but with mountain lion predation being the most important.

[David Lee]

The deer population decreases in both California and Nevada that I discussed are based on information from the respective departments of fish and game and direct discussion with both the field biologists and game wardens in those areas. I hunt deer quite a bit, both archery and rifle, find cat tracks and kills often, and have seen several mountain lions while hunting deer, something that used to be considered extremely rare. But sightings are increasing in frequency, there have been three reported kills of humans in California, and at least one disappearance of a child in the Chico area that has a great deal of evidence for cat predation as the cause. For comparison, I worked and hunted for four years in NE Nevada, a state that had at the time a healthy population of mountain lions and saw only one. I have a second home in the Lewiston area and my former hunting partner up there has seen several cats and there have been several instances of cat/human interaction that involve stalking by the cats. I have found fresh tracks and deer kills in my yard at Lewiston. As for the turkeys, I don't believe the cats view them as primary prey, but they certainly take them when the opportunity presents and I have found several kill sites, evidenced by cougar tracks and turkey feathers spread all over the area. The deer population decreases are much more evident in the NE California areas, especially around Burney and the Lassen area and East to the Nevada line, deer Zone X4, where the herd is currently at about 10% of it's historical average. All of the X zones have seen large decreases in the herd populations and the Fish and Game biologists have attributed it directly to mountain lion predation. I have hunted and fished in those areas since moving to California in 1963 and it has become extremely rare to see any deer, any where in those areas. I often drive Highway 88/89 in the Lassen area at night and it's rare to see a deer up there now. In the late 60s on a trip in that same area, I counted over 150 deer seen in one night. Same thing in the mountain areas in zones D3-5. Huge decreases in the deer populations attributed to multiple factors but with mountain lion predation being the most important.

Very interesting observations .

I have always assumed that poaching has been the biggest factor in the decline of Deer population up that way , but I NEVER poo-poo the observations of anyone who spends a lot of time in the bush - time in the wild trumps paper 'facts' every time .

BTW , you and I have hunted the same country - I used to spend a lot of time from Badger Mt. in the South , up to Brush Mt. at the highway junction - a beautiful area !!

D.~

[Mike McKenzie]

as indicated by this photo below...A pretty nice 6x6!! Off hand it would make one a little leery of elk hunting alone..Never mind how you'd pack all the meat out...



Anyway the truth can be found here... http://www.snopes.com/photos/hunting/stalking.asp

In the hills where I grew up mountain lions were not uncommon but were rarely seen. However, I'll never forget the momma lion and her two cubs I saw..They were just moseyin' along while the cubs played with what ever attracted their attention. I was watchin' from about two hundred yards away and across the canyon, while settin' atop a horse. Momma just ignored the horse and I. It would'a been nice to have had a "modern" camera and telephoto lens!

As to lion populations, Calaveras County (where I live now) certainly has its share..Last year there were two killed in pastures where they were eatin' Goats. One was killed down on the hiway. Several years ago a lion killed a deer in my neighbors back yard. What the lion didn't eat the coyotes, Foxes and Vultures ate..Nothin' wasted!

Several years back the Sheriff and Hiway Patrol were doing a search and rescue operation up and down the river canyon that borders my back yard, they were using a helicopter and flyin' up and down about 10 miles of the canyon while using special infrared cameras..My neighbor who's a Deputy Sheriff said they spotted 5 lions during the search which is a heck of a lot of them for such a small area!! I guess my point is the there seems to be a pretty good lion population around here also more turkeys that anyone would want and at any given time I can spot anywhere from 3 to a dozen deer feeding across the canyon and my shrubs and flowers get pruned on a nightly basis. I've never seen a turkey kill (other than by Bow and arrow or shotgun) Deer kills seem rare given the numbers of lions...I guess Goats are easier for the lions! Ha.

Mike

[flyfshrmn]

This picture is a Photoshop hoax. It's been around the net on deer and elk hunting sites for a couple of years and the original picture on the cat is found on a retired wildlife biologist's site. Doesn't mean it can't happen, though. I have seen a hunting kill appropriated by a lion on Stover Mountain, near Chester.

[1flyfisher]

Atleast he had a gun (had the photo been real).
I saw a REAL pic like that as I stated above....only it wasn't a hunter but a mom and her toddler 2 year old in a park with a lion's head peering out through the bushes staring at the kid from about 25/30 feet away lickin its chops.
No attack happened thankfully.