Let me start this by saying that I am almost, 30 and have hunted by myself since I was probably 12. I haven't logged the most time but have been in the woods a lot.

About 5-6 years ago my family had just purchase some land in Oklahoma on the red river. At the time, we hadn't put up any stands so I was sitting on the ground hid in some brush.

The sun was just coming up when I noticed what I believed to be a large cat top a hill about 40 yards in front of me. I knew it was a cat by the way it walked and it was coming almost directly at me with a very slow walk.

I couldn't pick it up in my scope so I was kind of getting a little nervous about the situation. The cat would walk and stop so this was probably a 5 minute encounter.

Luckily enough time had passed that I could make out it was the largest bobcat I had ever seen. I would guess 30+ lbs. If it had walked back into the woods shortly after I first spotted it I would have sworn it was a mountain lion.

Depth perception and size are very difficult in low light conditions and it effected me. I have seen numerous bobcats and at first I thought this cat was a 100 lb monster closing in on me.

Since they've banned dogs here in Or., it isn't uncommon to see them. We see them in the road a couple times a year and the county trapper is always busy killing mt lions that come into peoples' yards etc. This is a cat I shot a couple years ago while looking for deer. He just walked out and sat on a stump so I shot him.

My friend shot this bull with his bow opening day this year and, when we got there in the morning to pack it out, a lion was eating on it.

Man.....look at the paws on that thing. That is a huge cat!!

Here's another of him

Beautiful.....I would give my eye teeth to kill one. I don't talk about it much but we have had one down on our place that I have seen half a dozen times. I have killed plenty of bobcats so I know what they look like. The last time I saw him (or one) was when I had my wife and daughter sitting in the blind with me. Was a very uneventful morning. I was climbing down out of the stand and waiting for my daughter to start down the ladder. I looked up the road and saw something sitting in the road with its back to us. I knew what it was right away. By the time I got back up the ladder and stuck my unloaded rifle out the window it jumped probably 10-12 feet to the side and was in the brush!! Wife and child were mighty scared when I told them what it was. Walked down there and found tracks...no where near the size that your cat would have left but, still they were a lot larger than bobcat tracks. I have heard them scream a time or two down there when I was walk-in....in the dark...to the blind or back to my truck before or after the hunt. Sends chills up your spine!!

Enjoyed reading all the posts on mt lions, thought I'd share my own story.

I was turkey hunting once, sitting along the edge of a field. Across the field, about 150 yds, I catch a glimpse of a cat jumping across a little creek that cut across the field. The cat looked like it was probably 4-5 feet long, and a dark, black color. WOW! I just saw a mountain lion!

I sat there for a minute and it came sneaking up along the creek and walked 20 yds by me. It was bobcat that probably weighed 10lbs. I grew up in the country and spent most my time outdoors hunting and have a pretty good eye for catching movement and recognizing shapes and colors. Back then I could spot most things before they spotted me.

I still chuckle at what I thought I saw. I'm just glad the bobcat came by me or otherwise I'd still be telling everyone about the cougar I saw that one time turkey hunting...

That is exactly why I do not talk about it much as i stated in my post. No one believes me....so I quit talking. Even the tracks that my daughter and wife saw,and they swear by it, is not proof enough to the rest of the hunters!! Well, okay. There are other stories and there is more proof but, still....I am the only one that has seen or heard it!! Part of the reason for that is I spend a lot more time hunting than the others do.

I sure would like to have one

lol, I feel for you. I had a cousin that was wrongly evicted from his apartment once. The story sounded crazy so no one believed him. He finally wouldn't even talk or argue about it. I found out years later that it was true. Felt bad for him. Tough spot to be in.

What county are you in? I have never seen a lion that I know of in my life but have seen tracks on our place in Live Oak county in the 60's and 70's and they have killed them west of us. I know of 2 lions killed in the 70's and 80's in Bee County also. I have also seen sign on ranches in McMullen county on one ranch from a kill and the ranch next door had killed 3 lions on it in the late 90's to early 2000's. I have seen tracks in La Salle County also. So if you are in these areas then I will believe what you have seen. I have hunted and worked in South Texas, West Texas and the Panhandle in areas that have them.

When I was a kid I'd spend as much time as I could at my grandparents place in Comanche County. They had always talked of mountain lions (they called them panthers), but I never saw one. One morning while hunting with my uncle, we heard a horrible sounding noise that sounded very close to us.

After the hunt, we were walking back to the truck and the trail we took went right by a spring. The spring had about a 10-12 foot waterfall with a big pool below it. When we got to that point, my uncle grabbed me and pulled me close.

A doe laid right next the spring and had obviously been attacked by a mountain lion. I was very young and my uncle wanted me out of there, so he took me to the truck and left me inside it, then went back to try and get a shot at the lion (there was a tree stand that overlooked that pool). The lion never showed and I remember being a very bored and a bit scared. Seems like he left me there for hours (the wimps of today would call CPS, but all I wanted was to get to go hunting again the next day).

A while after that, I was sitting at the local cafe with my grandfather one morning after feeding cows. We'd go every morning and sit and listen the everybody complain about the lack of rain, too much rain, taxes, politics, etc. There was one little old man that always came in and always had a story. Even at a young age, I understood that the other men didn't pay much attention to him or believe much of what he said.

So, one day he walks in talking about shooting a "big" cat. Claimed he had gone down to the river bottom (which was near our place) to shoot squirrels, but saw a big cat on the branch of a tree and shot it. Then he started talking about how he got lucky as the cat fell into the bed of his truck because he'd have never been able to lift it. He then claimed to have shot it with a 22 through the big cats eye.

Of course, none of the adults were paying much attention to him, but I was maybe 12 and hanging on every word. Finally, he invited me to go out to his truck and take a look.

In the back of his truck was a mountain lion that had been shot through the eye. It's been many years, but I remember that it was considered a very large mountain lion and remember it weighed somewhere around 100 pounds. It was donated to one of the local junior colleges (Cisco or Ranger I think).

Anyway, I don't know that I believe any of the story about how he killed it, but I do know that I saw a mountain lion in the back of that truck and that it had been shot through the eye (a later story was that he shot it through the eye after the fact, but like I said, his stories were often false).

Anyway, just thought I'd share that story. I think those big cats make it through most parts of Texas. Like others, I've spent alot of time in the woods and have only seen one in Texas. I did have a game cam pic three years ago of what looked like the tail of a mountain lion, but who really knows if it was. They have been seen in our area, so it could have been. Those cats have very large ranges, so anything is possible.

That Comanche County mountain lion story might have happened on my deer lease.

I hunt in Comanche County south of Gorman. The guy who stays at a house on the property told me a very similar story. He doesn't own it but he grew up on the property that I hunt and it is still owned by his family.
He said that back in the 1970's his uncle was squirrel hunting in the pecan orchard where my blind is. There are tons of squirrels in there. His squirrel dogs started going crazy at something up in a tree. He saw that it was a mountain lion and killed it with his squirrel gun. He said that the story made the local paper, the cat weighed around 120 pounds, and his uncle ended up giving the cat to the local game warden.
I don't think that lions were ever very common in that area but after hearing this story I'm always hoping to see one.

I know every year there are tons of sightings!! If you think you see one go to the spot and photo tracks!! I know you might have to do some looking but seriously most of these reports are bobcats!! SORRY!!!

I've shot probably 15 bobcats in the last 3 years. We're flat covered up in them. Have even had one try to climb in the stand with me.

I know the difference.

Well here is my moutain lion story.... back in the late 80's there was a bar in Trinity county (back in the boonies) that had a mountain lion in a 30ft by 20 ft cage. After a couple of beers..I think, I asked to go and see the cat. Well I saw him and even got to play with him (he was declawed) the owner of the cat told me one thing... never turn my back to him. Well I watched the owner throw a basketball to the cat and he chased it around and put it in his mouth and burst it, pretty impressive. Well I played all I wanted too and decided to get out of the cage.... What is the first thing you do when you go out of a door? You turn and face the door ( I guess it probably was the beer) nah.. The next thing I knew the cat was sitting on top of my shoulders (he weighed about 200lbs) with his mouth around the back of my head... all I could envision was that basketball that he had burst. I reached up and threw him off of my shoulders (lots of adrenaline or beer not sure). Well when I ran through the door my friends (so called) were pointing at my right ear. I guess the cat had his long tooth in it and when I threw him off it ripped my ear open and I had to go to the ER and get 13 stiches. You should have seen the look on the DR's face when I told him how it happened, after he stitched me up he said OK now tell me the truth. I said it was a mountain lion and he just shook his head and walked out of the room. Needless to say I have a new found respect for lions and realize how quick he went from 5 ft from me to my shoulders. I know.... I was young, dumb and drunk you add all 3 together and bad things happen. I never went back to that bar.....

I know what you mean!!! People tend to discount things they haven't seen!!! I saw one last year out hunting and couldn't get my gun up quick enough and I know that Bobcats don't have long tails!!!

Well in my cases actual photos and seeing the dead lion in person are proof that they did exist on all 6 of them. Most sighting are bobcats like you say, but if there are lion kills then there are going to be sightings that are factual.

I have been hunting for close to 30 years and hunted in all types of terrain. I finally saw one this weekend at my brothers place in Haskell county. We drove up on the 4 wheelers to get some baling wire and jumped him out of his napping spot. I got an excellent look at him, so it was no bobcat. As stated above, bobcats arent that big and don't have long tails. My rifle was on my brothers 4 wheeler so I couldn't get a shot. I did go looking for it in the trees/brush, and I gotta tell you, that is a weird feeling when you know that the prey you are stalking, could be stalking you right back.

At least we can kill 'em out here. I moved here from California and the tree huggers got it so only Fish and Game can deal with "problem" cats. Unfortunetly they aren't a problem till they kill at least one person.

God Bless Texas!

mandrake,
I too came from Cali. down south, San Juan Capistrano. I agree that they've got there head up their rear out there.

Where did you live out there? Boy am I glad I got out of there!

Nice pics and great stories