Was out shed hunting this weekend, found some great horns. On way back to truck i glassed a lion on a kill in a ditch futher up the hill. Decided i couldnt get close enough to shot with only gun i had (my bear 44) so i made move to hike back out to truck grab the 260rem drop off horns and extra gear and hike all the way back to top. Took a hour to do the 3 miles roundtrip and 800'elevation each way to get my dragging fatarse back to rimrock trying to keep wind favorable. On the high ground i double-checked quota since i had signal and needed a break to catch breath, all good! Slowly i gained a view into the drainage being careful not to skyline and no lion was to be seen. It was middle of day so i glassed every rock/bush that cast a shadow but couldn't find where the cat went but suspected he was there somewhere. After about 30 minutes sitting i notice movement below the dead deer. Sure enough the lion walks up drain past the kill and finally turns broadside at 225ish and boom. This is my first lion (zero interest dog hunting) so i was amazed how fast and even far he went with a perfect shot and offside leg blown apart. He dropped dead 150ish yards from where i shot him but once he fell down he nearly disappeared in grass, would of been tough to find had i not seen him drop. Super excited, just a young tom but i dont care as i may never buy another tag. Today i went back to same area and matched up one of the big 5pt horns i had found morning i shot him. So last week i picked up a bunch of horns, drew a NM deer tag and shot a lion, not a bad mid april week! Hope spring is treating you guys well also.
Lion lunch, only ate neck and jaw so far
Set that i found left that same morning and matched up today, cool 5pt left beam is 51" long
My first lion, spot and stalk
Lion lunch, only ate neck and jaw so far
Set that i found left that same morning and matched up today, cool 5pt left beam is 51" long
My first lion, spot and stalk
