Coyote calling surprise!!!!!

[bigpapa]

Very good young man that is awsome, and unfortunately i live in north florida the big cats are protected. But we have all the coyotes you want. Good hunting to all.

 

[ronstone09]

Hey Guys, got a calling story for you!
On Thanksgiving Day, we got done with dinner & the family stuff really early. Since I have a whitetail doe tag, I decided to go to one of the 3 units it is valid for. I parked on state property & seen 2 moose right away. Kept hiking about another mile & seen no deer sign but I had been following a pair of very fresh coyote tracks. I came to a rough little canyon where I had some visibility so I decided to try to kill those coyotes. I always have a few mouth calls in my pack no matter what I am hunting because predators are my favorite critter to hunt. I had been calling less than 10 minutes when I seen something coming. I knew immediately that it was not a coyote but thought it was a bobcat. I was sitting there wishing bobcat season was open when I seen a long tail! It was a lion. It sat down near a pine tree at about 120 yards & was just watching my direction. I had a lion tag with me. I tried all my soft coaxing sounds that usually work on coyotes but it would not move closer or turn so I would have a broadside shot. I was carrying my custom 22-250 built on a Winchester action with a 28" Shilen barrel. It is a tack driver. I reload 52 grain Hornady A-Max's in that rifle. Very accurate & also a good fur bullet. I finally decided to take the shot. I slowly got my rifle up on my shooting sticks knowing the shot would have to be very precise to drop this large predator. I centered the crosshairs of my Leupold 5HD 3x15 scope on the throat of that cat & touched the trigger. I hit exactly where I was aiming! The cat dropped in it's tracks!
I have hunted/called predators for 30 years & this is the pinnacle of my calling career. There is no female quota in the unit I was in so I knew I did'nt have to worry about that. It was a female & when I checked it into the fish & game, they said it was 4-5 years old.

Thanks, Kirk View attachment 162006 View attachment 162007 View attachment 162008

Great job ! We're overrun with cats here in oregon as their numbers have doubled since they outlawed dogs !

 

[okie man]

Last time I hunted elk in the tioga unit the amount of cat sign was scary

 

[fmuguira]

Good Job! Our deer herd and I both thank you.

 

[ajkellerusmc]

Awesome Cat, Congratulations. I have had a lion tag in my pocket for 24 seasons...someday!!!

 

[Gater]

Awesome Cat, Congratulations. I have had a lion tag in my pocket for 24 seasons...someday!!!

 

[338LAPUA]

Congrats and thanks for sharing

 

[Buck1970]

That is really amazing!
Congratulations, that has to be the greatest achievement in predator hunting.
I had no idea they would come to a call.
They are extremely rare in my parts, but legal to kill.
I've only seen two in the Wild, one as a boy and one as a grown man. I still remember both like it was yesterday.
One of the better stories I've read.

 

[keithcandler]

Hunt of a life time. You seized the day, and you were prepared! Get some 9x10 of those pictures!

Heck of a hunt!

 

[Whiskey_Tango]

Nice work OP! I wish they could be thinned out here in Calunicornia.

 

[Danehunter]

Now THAT'S calling! Trophy and story of a lifetime.

Eric B.

 

[HRM Johnny]

Excellent! Great shot. Great kill. Great cat. Thanks for sharing. I hope you get it mounted.

 

[5.56×250]

I saw a mount in Kentucky at a store once, that while very expensive to reproduce, was the most impressive mount I've seen of any kind. It was a full body mount of a probable 160" NT whitetail buck in the process of being taken down by a lion. The deer was off balance with its eyes rolled back and the cougar was stretched out with its claws embedded in the bucks shoulders. The claw marked were about 4 inches long to show the raking as they dug into the running deer . If I ever killed a catamount, I'd have a hard time not attempting something like that. It was something else!

 

[mitebeck]

I was on one hunt years ago with dogs and it was easy, dog ran it up a tree and shot it out with a 223 contender. Great tasting meat, but I'm in Washington, the liberal bastion state. No hound hunting allowed, and the cats are now in our yards.
https://wdfw.maps.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=cef2c2d13a104439b3322feb2c83e377
This is an incident map of Cougar sightings and livestock kills. I'm in the woods and walk/ hunt my acres every day looking for cats as they had one follow two people walking in the woods and they shot it in the face just north from me.. Where the wife and I walk in a wooded walking area...cougar sightings. I'm out of town but one killed a goat in city limits...I walk, carefully, looking, carrying my colt 45, hoping