Poke em, I work part time around Sidney and would take you coon hunting anytime I'm working over that way. I have two younger hounds one has great potential and the other is worthless. Coon hunting is a small step towards lion hunting. I have yet to tree a lion in NW Montana, but chase bobcats often. Tags in Region 1 are mostly draw for lions, and I have way more than $4000 in my two mutts. If you want to kill a lion and have a good hunt contact outfitters in an area where you can draw a tag. The $4000 is probably much cheaper route than owning hounds. If you are patient and enjoy hunting dogs try to tag along with some hounds guys and see what it's all about. Finding fresh tracks requires lots of miles, but the hunters that have well trained dogs are way more successful than guys like myself starting from scratch. Plains, Libby, and Eureka all have good lion populations and lots of outfitters/guides.