My First Mountain Lion Hunt
Gila Trophy Outfitters 07.27.11
After all the years of being a tag a long with my husband and the guides I grew up with, it was finally my turn to get to lion hunt! Previously, I had accompanied them to guide other hunters. I always asked that if they killed out to give me the chance to hunt one. Finally, they gave in and said they’d take me in the morning, and that I’d better be ready early: we were going to leave at 2:30 am to get to the place where we would start cutting for tracks. I was awfully excited and had burritos made and everything ready to go hours before we got rolling.
Two thirty in the morning came around really fast and I was ready to go kill my lion, knowing it was near the end of the season, leaving just a few more lions left in the quota to tag out. We set out right at 2:30, arrived at our chosen hunting spot and started cutting for tracks. We were just below the Davenport tower near Datil, NM. The roads were narrow and full of snow. The ice packed underneath the rough roads was making the truck get really close to the road’s edge, from where it was a sheer drop to the canyon floor far below. Of course I was on the side where all I could see was straight down the canyon, and every time the dogs would make any kind of movement in the box I would just hold on tight hoping we wouldn’t slip over the end. As we approached the end of the road I was starting to get even more apprehensive, as we had not even cut one lion track yet and by this point in all of the prior hunts I had been on, we had usually we cut a few of them. Then, just about the time I had given up, we hit a fresh track and quickly unloaded the dogs. They hit that track where it was hot were off, along with my husband Chad. I grabbed my pack and rifle and started up the steep hill they had ran up to catch up to them.
Just when I thought I was getting close to them, I heard the dogs hit something hard – it sounded like they were treed. I finally got to the top of the mountain, about 400 yards away from the truck. Just as I had thought, the dogs were treed with a lion sitting high up on a branch, angrily swinging his tail back and forth. I got a good rest on Chad’s shoulder with my Remington 22-250 and with one shot it was all over – he fell out of the tree with a large thud.
I was so proud I had finally shot my first mountain lion. It weighed in at about 115 lbs. It was one of the easier lion hunts we’ve had, and I was so thankful for such a good hunt! Guess it was just meant to be that day.
Hunting Equipment used:
- Remington 700 22-250
- Danner boots
- Crooked Horn Pack
Patricia Marshall and her husband Chad are the owners of Gila Trophy Outfitters, a husband and wife team that’s been hunting and guiding the Gila National Forest of New Mexico for decades. Visit their website at www.gilatrophyoutfitters.com.
