Crazy how a cat can kill such big bucks. To bad a hunter couldn't have taken him. Maybe those big bucks should stay by themselves so much and bring some buddy's to hang out with so they can't get snuck up on so easy by a sly cat.
Mt Lion Kill
- Thread starter Ikeepitcold
- Start date
Crazy how a cat can kill such big bucks. To bad a hunter couldn't have taken him. Maybe those big bucks should stay by themselves so much and bring some buddy's to hang out with so they can't get snuck up on so easy by a sly cat.
Musket Man
Veteran member
Drhorsepower
Veteran member
A have a good friend who's a biologist specifically with predators. He told me during the hot part of the year they kill 2 deer a week. I do not know about the only eating liver though.
hvfd21walker
Active Member
Cats usually stay on a kill till it's gone or either ran off. They don't sport kill like wolves.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Elkoholic307
Banned
I heard a mature lion will kill 1 deer a week. Only makes sense they'd get 2 if it's hot. Either way, that's A LOT of deer!
I doubt it's 1 a day and I also doubt they only eat the liver. If that were the case, there'd be a whole lot less deer on the mountain.
ssliger
Very Active Member
They also say they kill mature bucks since they can see the antlers above the brush and they use them for leverage.
tdub24
Veteran member
I believe they do somewhat "sport kill" when mama is trying to train her kittens for survival. I think then she will kill more than they can eat.
ElkTrout
Veteran member
Thanks for sharing the pic! We have come across numerous cat kills when we are running them. It seems they will usually pick them clean from my experience.
Sent from my iPhone
Sent from my iPhone
Same here. I've come acrossed a few also and they are usually buried under brush and picked pretty much clean.
shootbrownelk
Veteran member
From what I was told by a Wy. G&F warden, you CAN pick up sheds, but NOT any antlers still attached to the skull plate, without a tag & inspection from a warden. That was a long time ago, maybe things have changed? Anybody know?
Drelk
Active Member
- Jul 25, 2011
- 170
- 0
^^^^^^^^I'm pretty sure this statement is correct. Our local game warden just spoke on this topic at a hunter safety class. He said that he realizes that in some cases he understands if due to the remoteness of the find (skull plate still attached) that u bring it out with u, and then contact him immediately and be prepared to document the find.
For a cat to only eat the liver is a little impossible in my opinion, unless they rip everything out of the way and drag it out of the carcass until they get to the liver. Otherwise they would have to eat their way to the liver.
Also, as far as picking the bones clean, that could be done by countless other animals after the cougar has left. Not arguing, I have zero cougar experiences in my life, but would love to hunt them someday. I'm just considering different scenarios, but would be curious to know if anybody has much documentation on how they feed and mow much they kill????
Also, as far as picking the bones clean, that could be done by countless other animals after the cougar has left. Not arguing, I have zero cougar experiences in my life, but would love to hunt them someday. I'm just considering different scenarios, but would be curious to know if anybody has much documentation on how they feed and mow much they kill????
I'm no expert but a lion does pick them pretty clean. They'll revisit the kill until done and usually don't go to far away. Last winter found bloody drag marks in a skiff snow, wasn't there at 10pm the night before. 8am the next morning its was a hide and bones, not a speck of meat. Tracks showed a momma and to cubs ate well that night. IKIC, that's a big buck, must be a BIG cat. What would the GPS coordinates be on that kill site!!!!!??????? Haha
HuntWYODon
Very Active Member
Most of the time they kill big bucks. I've heard a few reasons why but from what I've seen it's mostly true. I was hunting in Eastern Wy. in 1986 and camped along the Chugwater River. I had my buck hanging in a tree on other side of river. Late at night I heard a lion growling/snarling. I went outside my tent with flashlight and saw the lion about 60 yds. away by the river. I yelled at it. Went back to sleep hoping he wasn't going to chew on my deer. Next morning I looked at where the lion was and in the middle of the river was a 5x5 buck about 25 in.. The whole side above water looked like a skeleton because it was picked so clean. I don't know if all the noise he was making was from fighting/killing deer or was pissed off that he couldn't drag all the way across. Told Rancher and he asked why didn't I shoot him. Told him I thought about it but didn't want to wake him up. 
Hunting lions is critical, if you can get a tag I would encourage you to hunt them.
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk
gonhunting247
Veteran member
- Jan 21, 2014
- 1,216
- 797
As far as picking them clean, I think it depends on the situation. If the hunting is real good (relatively easy) then why wouldn't they move on to a fresh kill. I've seen some hardly eaten and some picked clean. Different variables to consider, such as was mentioned earlier, a mother could be teaching young, or could have been spooked off. Did birds or competition find it, etc.
On some domestic damage cases they do kill multiple animals at once. (here again maybe because it's so easy)
They do go in behind the last rib and eat the liver and lungs first a lot of times,(one of the identifying marks when IDing a kill) although a lot of times they will come back and eat the rest. Most Canine and bear kills will have the hams torn out, they seem to start there more often.
Other IDing marks on skeletal remains is to look for left over skin on lower legs. A cat will pull the skin down in a tube like removing a sock with his claws to get to the lower leg meat. where a canine or bear will just chew it up. Bears and cats like to cover their kills when done feeding.(Canines don't).
It does seem like long tails take their share of big bucks. I haven't quite formed a solid opinion on this one, but I've been told this is probably due to big bucks solitary nature. Less ears, eyes and noses to detect them. It does make sense!
Thanks for a fun and interesting subject
And I agree, get a tag and hunt them. What a cool trophy!
On some domestic damage cases they do kill multiple animals at once. (here again maybe because it's so easy)
They do go in behind the last rib and eat the liver and lungs first a lot of times,(one of the identifying marks when IDing a kill) although a lot of times they will come back and eat the rest. Most Canine and bear kills will have the hams torn out, they seem to start there more often.
Other IDing marks on skeletal remains is to look for left over skin on lower legs. A cat will pull the skin down in a tube like removing a sock with his claws to get to the lower leg meat. where a canine or bear will just chew it up. Bears and cats like to cover their kills when done feeding.(Canines don't).
It does seem like long tails take their share of big bucks. I haven't quite formed a solid opinion on this one, but I've been told this is probably due to big bucks solitary nature. Less ears, eyes and noses to detect them. It does make sense!
Thanks for a fun and interesting subject
And I agree, get a tag and hunt them. What a cool trophy!
Last edited:
As far as picking them clean I'm not sure. I've come accrossed a few Lon kills and I've seen both. I always figured they ate till they where stuffed full, buried the kill and moved on. I've seen one of the kills stripped down to just tendons and bone. It looked like a burlap sack shredded. But then I saw a few Magpies on a deer carcass and it looked the same, like a burlap sack where they just stripped the meat off.