You know a bear is big when their head looks small.
You are correct on the Mt. Lion deer kill numbers, and they will also kill elk. When I was out there, one lion that the dogs were running was in the process of trying to kill a cow elk when the dogs caught up to it. The lion ran away, and because the dogs weren't used to blood, they stayed with the elk (which was still alive) and kept it at bay until Shane got there. He was upset that the dogs didn't stay after the lion, but after I talked to him a while I think he realized that the blood scent was more powerful than the lion scent, so they stayed.
Mark got his lion the next day - it was that female in heat. Jerad and I cut a fresh track lion track while elk hunting and we bailed off the mountain to get his lion dogs from his house. It was a female track that we cut, and the dogs finally treed the lion. Mark was on the opposite side of the canyon, and the dogs had the lion bayed in a huge pine. The terrain was so steep that Mark couldn't get over there. Jerad was tying up the last dog when the lion took a swipe at him and bailed out of the tree. Mark made a great shot from across the canyon and got the lion.
I wear an XL glove and that is my hand under it's paw, and this is a small lion....
The people in the area were having a problem with the local lion biologist, saying that ALL the lions in the area were collared and tracked, and there weren't that many lions in the area. (yeah right) When they took that lion in to be checked they gave the biologist an earful, and it just so happens that his bosses boss was there too, and he got an earful too. Well, he biologist was out in the area the next day trying to collar more lions. Turns out the biologists girlfriend was one of the biologists from Ca. that was part of the "put the lions on the endangered list" movement in Ca...............
