Montana Mountain Lion- The Rookie Hunt
- Thread starter Gerald Martin
- Start date
AZ402
Well-known member
That's a great looking Tom! Congrats!!
shoots-straight
Well-known member
Very nice cat Gerald.
Gerald Martin
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2009
- Messages
- 8,643
Huntman, Zarech Epperson is the dealer for Build Block. His business is based in T. Falls so you were probably dealing with him. I used it for the basement of my house and it was great to work with.
Thanks for all the congratulations guys. Now about how much the cat weighs.... Rick has been in taxidermy for over 30 years and we were having a conversation about how most people overestimate the weight of mountain lions. He was saying how most mature toms will weigh between 115-130lbs with a few monsters that weigh in the 150 -180 range. Rick was fortunate to kill the number 10 (at that time) B&C lion in 1988. That cat weighed 182lbs. dressed. Our conversation centered around how cats that are brough into his shop that weigh 120lbs. become 150 pounders after a week of stories. We all know how that can happen.
So my asking you guys to guess how much my lion weighed was a bit of a trick question.
We guessed the cat to weigh 120-130lbs when we shot him. It was a tom and he did not have a full stomach. Weighed whole, my cat dropped the scales to 117lbs. Its probably safe to say that cat could have weighed up to 135 with a full stomach, but it goes to show how deceiving judging a cat's size can be. At any rate, he's exactly what we thought he would be when I shot him and I'm thrilled with him.
As an aside Charlie's son killed a cat this morning that they weighed in at 150lbs. I wasn't on the hunt and I haven't seen pictures yet but Rick said it's a monster. And yes that 150lbs was on the same scale that mine weighed 117 on.
My hunt wouldn't be complete without trying the meat. I've heard a lot of people claim lion meat is delicious. I'm happy to report that they are correct. Junior and his family joined us for lunch after church and we had chicken fried lion loin. Delicious!
Thanks for all the congratulations guys. Now about how much the cat weighs.... Rick has been in taxidermy for over 30 years and we were having a conversation about how most people overestimate the weight of mountain lions. He was saying how most mature toms will weigh between 115-130lbs with a few monsters that weigh in the 150 -180 range. Rick was fortunate to kill the number 10 (at that time) B&C lion in 1988. That cat weighed 182lbs. dressed. Our conversation centered around how cats that are brough into his shop that weigh 120lbs. become 150 pounders after a week of stories. We all know how that can happen.
So my asking you guys to guess how much my lion weighed was a bit of a trick question.We guessed the cat to weigh 120-130lbs when we shot him. It was a tom and he did not have a full stomach. Weighed whole, my cat dropped the scales to 117lbs. Its probably safe to say that cat could have weighed up to 135 with a full stomach, but it goes to show how deceiving judging a cat's size can be. At any rate, he's exactly what we thought he would be when I shot him and I'm thrilled with him.
As an aside Charlie's son killed a cat this morning that they weighed in at 150lbs. I wasn't on the hunt and I haven't seen pictures yet but Rick said it's a monster. And yes that 150lbs was on the same scale that mine weighed 117 on.
My hunt wouldn't be complete without trying the meat. I've heard a lot of people claim lion meat is delicious. I'm happy to report that they are correct. Junior and his family joined us for lunch after church and we had chicken fried lion loin. Delicious!
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DRAFTSTUD
Well-known member
Ummmm, Ummh! That does look like a nice boneless pork chop. Really enjoyed following you hunt. Thanks for the ride. John
wingman1
New member
Are you sure about that weight? Nice cat. How did you eat that thing? They stink worse than a dead coyote.
HUNTMAN
New member
I had crazy dreams after eating my lion.Just saying.It was good thats for sure
wingman1
New member
Amand
Member
Great looking cat. Nice job.
arffdog875
New member
Yum !!!! When is dinner???
Horn Seeker
New member
Never noticed ANY off smell with a lion... lope maybe, but not lion!
Dang... I thought he was bigger for sure! We've weighed 35 or so through the years, but close friends have also weighed hundreds more. He is right, many many will go 120-130... and the females will go 85-100 most the time. The biggest cat i've heard of weighed, from a credible source, was 226... and I can only assume he was CHOCK full of deer at the time??? (I also want to say, the biggest I've seen or heard of NEXT to that is 186)
Great hunt, pics and story!
Dang... I thought he was bigger for sure! We've weighed 35 or so through the years, but close friends have also weighed hundreds more. He is right, many many will go 120-130... and the females will go 85-100 most the time. The biggest cat i've heard of weighed, from a credible source, was 226... and I can only assume he was CHOCK full of deer at the time??? (I also want to say, the biggest I've seen or heard of NEXT to that is 186)
Great hunt, pics and story!
PAhunter
Well-known member
Awesome pictorial and story! Dang, I'm hungry now . . .
Goldtip
New member
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2009
- Messages
- 1,142
Wow, awesome write up and awesome cat. Can't wait to get one for myself one of these days. Congrats!
fishfrey
New member
Thanks for taking me along for the hunt. Its something I will only get to dream about.
Congrats on the cat. Let us know if you do any more cat hunts.
Congrats on the cat. Let us know if you do any more cat hunts.
Bambistew
Well-known member
Congrats on the kitty. Their moving up my 'list' quite steadily, and will hopfully get in a hunt in the next couple years. I have a good friend in MT that puts a few nice ones on the ground every year. I think they've killed around 120 cats (theirs, and for clients) over the years. They took 3 that were over 180lbs, and that was just barely. The biggest I think was 184, was the prior state record, and last I knew the mount was still in the Bear Claw tavern in McAllister, MT. Most they kill are the 120-140 range, big mature toms. Seems like the realy big ones have about 20-30lbs of meat in their belly.
226lbs... thats insane.
I've had kitty a couple times in Chili. Not much flavor to it.
226lbs... thats insane.
I've had kitty a couple times in Chili. Not much flavor to it.
