south texas mountain lions

has anyone ever seen one and where?

Check the TPWD sight they have alot of good info on mountain lions if you do a search

Saw one just south of San Antonio back in 95 while playing golf.

Saw one in brownwood Last year

There was 2 killed on the ranch next to ours last year. they had killed a bunch of the rachers goats and they suspected it was a mom training her young ones to kill before she weined them. And a couple of weeks after they killed the goats the hunters on that ranch jumped a momma cat and two younger ones and they killed the momma and 1 younger and the last one got away.

A trapper took 11 off of the ranch I Mule Deer hunt on in Hudspeth County...saw one while hunting, but didn't give us a good shot.

Saw my first one last year with a buddy of mine while driving around the ranch filling feeders. This was in Refugio county.

Saw a huge one that was road killed on I-10 between Houston and SA in about 85.

In about 2004 another crossed the road in front of me near dusk just south of the BP check point in Hebbronville.

Closest encounter was at a small lease in Benevides in 2002. After cleaning a hog, I took the gut bucket and dumped it over the edge of a steep ravine we used as a dump. Must have almost hit a small mountain lion, cuz it shot out of there and was up the opposite wall and into the woods before I could react. I suppose if it had come up my side I could have whacked it with the bucket... I figure he was holed up in the underhang about 6-8 feet below my feet, and probably raided our gut dump on occasion for food. Fairly young cat, but still a bit of a pucker factor

Saw one many years ago close to San Roman in Starr County on FM 649. He was pretty close to the SW corner of the Robert East Ranch.

The other one I've seen was out in Presidio County, but that's more west Texas than South Texas.

I saw one about an hour south austin. it didnt look to terribly big.

Bobcats, one and all.

Saw one a few years ago in northern Bexar county while I was driving down a jeep trail that went through the dry Cibolo creek bed. There had been reports of a sighting, and when I crossed the creek the cat ran out in front of my jeep and ran down the middle of the road for about thirty yards and then jumped back into the brush.

I couldn't believe what I'd just seen, it was almost like watching it in slow motion, as I recounted that scene.

I saw another one west of San Antonio during a late evening after I got out of a deer blind and waiting on the road for my ride to show up. I looked off in the distance at a cat with a long tail standing there broadside looking at me about 80 yards away.

It was unmistakeable as he was standing broadside in that gravel road, he turned and walked straight away with that familiar side to side sway of a cat, for several yards before vanishing into the brush.

saw a small one in Junction last year. i've been on the look out for it ever since. you really start to think about them when walking to and from the stand in the dark.

Saw one north of Jacksboro and we had one on our old lease in Throckmorton.

I saw a Black one chewing on a Chupacabra that Big Foot stepped on...

Saw one in Real County north of Leakey in 08. Landowner had seen him as well as others.

Okay, anybody have one on game camera picture? Last year there was some pictures floating around of two lions at a feeder in Mexico, what about Texas?

I saw three of them on the internet just yesterday...

Was in the elevator with one this morning... sure glad I wasn't wearing my young buck lure... Might of got me in a bind

I went mule deer hunting year before last south of Alpine and the day before they had killed one and shot at another and both were close to feed pens. One was lying under a cedar bush next to a main trail that the deer used to come to the feeder. The other was in a small deep draw about 50 yards from a feeder. I know Alpine is not south Texas, but I was thinking how the feeders brought in the deer and then the deer drew in the mountain lions. By the way, I guess Alpine is south of somewhere though.

LMAO... nice.

Back in 2004 I saw two of them after a monring hunt near rio grande city in starr county.... I tracked them for about 3/4 of a mile down into huge wash out where their tracks just disappeared.

Poisonivie Not to start an argument but I'm just curious why you posted "bobcats,one and all."All?There might be a few wide-eyed hunters but "all"?. Granted I've never seen one but the tracks I taped across 200 yds.of sandy loam leading to a cattle trough in deep S.Texas weren't a bobcat and I've seen about a 1000 bobcats in my life.Nor were they the tracks of a 35lb.coyote or dog.What were they? Sure looked like a big cat to me. Kix

Saw one in Junction 3 years ago chasing a hog!

I shot one in bastrop county in 05. it was small and had spots on it the game warden told me it was a young mtn lion but it was attacking my cousins goats

I was born and raised in South Texas and have called critters all over S. Texas, W. Texas and New Mexico. I am sure glad that I am not getting paid on the number of lions that I have seen respond to a call.
I will say that I have seen quite a bit of lion sign along the Nueces River between Cotulla and Freer. Lots of cover, water and food...not a lot of reason for them to roam as far as they do out west.
Adios,
Gary

That's cuz they were circlin' to get around behind ya.

We put up a pen and feeder about a mile east of the Pecos a couple of years ago and the first time we went to refill it there was a lion killed doe in the pen. Lion had hit her outside the pen, she got in, and the lion had her then. Called in a state trapper at the time and he confirmed it was a lion kill.

I know that there are at least 19 radio collared lions between freer and cotulla according to a study. A hunter at our neigboring ranch said he saw one in 2006 with a collar as well. This is in Encinal texas near the Junco ranch in northern Webb county. I've yet to see one. Hopefully one day. we are approximately 7 miles south of the nueces. I do a fair amount of calling always keeping an eye open for one of those things. For now its just coyotes,bobcats,racoons coming in. never seen a fox in my neck of the woods in Encinal either.

Can you shoot one with a collar?

A friend has a ranch out of Junction and showed me photos from a feeder camera of a nice size lion. They were also missing a zebra and some non white tail deer. I don't know if a cougar could take a zebra, though.

thats why i carry my 357 on my hip out in junction!

I've never seen one... but 10 years ago or so we saw tracks.

A male passing through is one thing... if you get a female set up on you to raise cubs... you are going to lose a lot of deer.

LOL. Almost spit out my Dr Pepper on that one

ya you can shoot the collared ones. i'm sure the tpwd would like you to contact them after you do so. the collar may have some contact info.

My uncle saw one in montgomery county near Magnolia Texas were we hunt. I have never seen it but I have come across some very large cat tracks in the sand befor.

I'm working across the road from the Junco Ranch, I'll be keeping my eye out for those cats.

Just making the funnies, Kix. Everytime someone posts a pic of what they call a M. lion, everybody call it a bobcat. I'm just jumping on the bandwagon. I'm all for big cat sightings. I stalked a black lion one day and when I finally got him in my crosshairs, he was about 8" tall. I felt stupid.

A buddie of mine's fathers leases about 250 acers of cattle pasture with a creek running through it. Its on the outskirts of justin texas which is about 5 minutes from the Texas Motor Speedway. Anyways me and him have been on the creek numerouse times and have seen a mountain lion twice and heard him countless others. Its pretty cool, but needless say i always look behind me alot when calling coyotes.

Did you guys see or read this?

http://www.buckmanager.com/2009/05/21/mountain-lion-really-killed-this-whitetail/

That is awesome. I have seen the pic but to see that, that is great.

My uncle saw one about two years ago were we hunt in montgomery county in Magnolia Texas.

Wow KOP, now that is getting close to me! How reliable a witness is your uncle?

4 years ago I walked into a customers back yard in north Dallas @ Preston Rd and Westgrove and found a Mountain Lion eating duck eggs from a nest by the pool. The thing saw me and kept eating. My customers were in their house taking pictures of which they sent copies to a game warden.

It had about 3ft of tail hanging off it's butt and was bigger then a large dog so don't tell me that I saw a bobcat.

I have seen with out a dout two in Erath county. One at our rach and one while calling but it did not give a shot came in found out that what was going on was not normal and left. The neighbor has seen one since then.

This was on one of our game cameras last week southeast of Hamilton. This picture is cropped and enhanced.

Here is the unedited photo..

That is a big bobcat!!!

Poisonive Sorry about that;I thought you were serious.In my defense I must say I just recently gravitated from an extremely popular forum where belittling,condescending and "I know it all" were the major themes.As a Texas boy I think my place is on a Texas hunting forum where,as far as I've seen,that is not the case.I do have a "lion sighting" pretty close to yours.One day I watched a young lion cross a sendero back and forth several times,my heart was pounding,I saw one!I finally realized it was a big feral housecat.Well,maybe someday.Good hunting this year. Kix

I am with Taz, looks like a bobcat to me.
Adios,
Gary

You would think if there were that many "real mountain lions" in Texas, and that there are so many game camera's out there we would see a lot of pics posted. I have my doubts about their numbers. I know they are cunning and travel great distances, but we gather so many deer to feeders which would make easy access for them to hunt. So why don't we get pics of them if they are really there???

It is... but at least it was a picture of a cat..

That's a good point. I have wondered the same thing. It's like the buffet at Golden Corral for a lion. Maybe they are just really smart and don't want anything to do with humans? I really want to believe they are out there.

My reason for the reply asking for pictures. Everyone wants to see one but... Same reason you don't see any killed by cars and hunters during the deer season, they aren't there.

I grew up in South Texas and I remember seeing pictures in the newspaper of lions that had been hit by cars and those that deer hunters had shot. The outdoors columns were the "internet" of the day ('60's). If they were out there, we would be whacking and stacking them and showing them off on the internet.

i saw one about ten miles south of corrizo springs. i was in the deer stand and only saw him for a sec as he slipped through the brush. i thought i was just seeing stuff. then i ran into the ranch manager and without me saying anything about it he told me a lion has been chasing his cows through the fences. so if i see one make sure and shoot him

Never seen any while hunting worked at backwoods taxidermy shop for 5 years had one guy bring in 2 cubs from west Texas only confirmed I know of

I found some extremenly larger cat tracks in the grasslands this weekend, Way to big to be any bobcat.

While elk hunting in the Trans-Pecos this weekend I found a nice set of lion tracks in some mud that had dried a few days earlier. This was in extreme southwestern Pecos County. On the same ranch but in western Terrell County a lion killed a deer at a feed box/water trough. The cat jumped the deer at the feed box and the deer ran about sixty yards one way and then the cat drug it the opposite way and up a canyon wall that we could not follow.

Earlier this year while counting elk from a helicopter, a biologist spotted 2 cats feeding on a dead deer. They flew back to the headquarters and the biologist took a shotgun and drove back and then walked in to the kill sight. He wasn't really expecting to see them and ended up killing both! Still slopping over the deer and not paying attention.

Not South Texas though.

Back in the late 70's my parents were sleeping with the windows up and heard what they thought was a woman screaming. Dad thought that there had been an accident down on the pavement about 80 yards away. Never saw anything but it caused about 40 heifers to bust out of a fenced pasture. They heard the same scream this past summer while night fishing on the river of Bridgeport Lake. Found some tracks and we hung a dead calf from a tree with a cam on it. Unfortunately all we got was a pack of wild dogs, some buzzards, and what I think is the tail end of a coyote.

Here is an interesting read. I know of a ranch back home in Garza Co. that hunts them with dogs once a year.


http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_br_w7000_0232.pdf

Was quail hunting on the Rio Grande two years ago in Sanderson County. My brother in law and I were almost positive we saw a mountain lion, but were skeptical at best. The next year a group was mule deer hunting and a guy killed a mountain lion. We did find cat tracks that year about six inches long from front to back. I believe the pictures of the cat killed were on this forum. We made probably 100 calls over that area and were never able to call up any bobcats. So I know for a fact they are around.

I saw one crossing a road in Mcmullen Country near Whitset last weekend.

sweet

there are more than a few mountain lions in south texas....family friend killed one between hondo and bandera on off hwy 173 in 94', not really south texas but close enough. Its real enough If you wanna see it its mounted and on display at the b&h liquor store in Hondo, Tx.

we have seen 3 at our ranch, 2 in 95' and the latest one in 08'...I'm not saying the brush is eat up with them, but they are there.

Ive seen 2 in s. texas, one about 25 yrs. ago while driving east
of Cotulla and the other one on my lease outside of Crystal City
in 2006. Have seen tracks on other places in the brush country.
My father-inlaw killed one near Laredo many yrs. back.

1000%

oh yeah I know a landowner whos place I hunt on shot one in webb county in the 80's

Wow, lots of skeptics.
Feed store in Leakey had game cam pics of one nearby, local guy, last year..

I saw one in '92 near San Saba along the Colorado River and then again on the same property in '99. First one was in the spring and he saw my brother and I and turned and ran off. The second one was tailing a doe down a cut thru of mesquites and cedars. By the time I grabbed the rifle he slipped into the thick and dissappeared.
Ranchers and GW's say they travel up and down the Col. River.
Neither one was black though.
Also talked to a GW about not getting them on camera. He thought that they probably set up on the game trails and hit their prey then. They do not like to get out in open spaces if possible.

i havent seen any but i hear our crazy A$$ nabors Lions all the time at our lease