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Mountain lion shot on 1st day of Utah deer hunt

Interesting | 1:43 p.m. Oct. 22, 2009

"He said the best approach is to try to scare the mountain lion away by standing tall, making noise and grabbing sticks and rocks. If it does attack, Davis said the victim should try to inflict pain by hitting, kicking and poking at the cat's eyes."

Great plan--if that does not work you are dead. I do not see the cat picking up sticks or rocks to chase you away. This thing was set to pounce and kill him.

This is pretty simple...kill or be killed. The penalty for "standing tall rocks/sticks etc" is a little too high. It think I will go with the same method this hunter used.

Plink!

Anonymous | 2:03 p.m. Oct. 22, 2009

How would he like it if someone rolled into his neighborhood and shot his wife while she was nursing?

utah4me2006 | 2:10 p.m. Oct. 22, 2009

Has anyone looked for the kittens (cubs). It would be sad to have them die just because their mom wanted an easy meal. Hopefully, a zoo would like to have the cubs?

Comments continue below

Concerned | 2:20 p.m. Oct. 22, 2009

Is anyone looking for the kittens? What would happen to them if they were found?

Gameboy | 2:26 p.m. Oct. 22, 2009

So, as a result of this guy's negligence, he killed several big cats instead of just one. The cat didn't attack, he invaded her territory. She was warning him as she was protecting her cubs---which will now starve to death. Nice job....

Cat Lover | 3:41 p.m. Oct. 22, 2009

Oh Good Grief! The guy was NOT negligent, and he had every right to be where he was. What should he have done; wait and ask the Cat if she was a mother and "nursing" her babies? I'm a cat-lover, but I believe what he did was the right thing. As for the cubs, the Division of Wildlife will do everything in their power to find the cubs and take care of them. I know without a doubt, those cubs will be found.

K | 4:08 p.m. Oct. 22, 2009

Those of you who are all on your 'high horse' about this. I would just love to see what YOU would do if you were in a situation like this.

It's not like he went huntin' for the cat.

To me a human life is worth more than many mountain lions'.

Good shoot | 4:09 p.m. Oct. 22, 2009

I see the "Animals are better than people" crowd are out in full force today.

Cougars are not endangered. There are plenty of them to go around.

And female cougars typically lose at least half their cubs before they reach adulthood. The biggest culprits are the male cougars themselves, who will eagerly kill any unprotected cubs they find in their territory.

tubapro2002 | 4:26 p.m. Oct. 22, 2009

After watching the DWR mismanage wildlife for close to 20 years, the cougar population has surged to terrifying heights. I personally think that if you see one you should kill it, because you really should never see them, the fact that you do proves the overpopulation. These are animals people, not humans!

Put the guy in jail!! | 4:37 p.m. Oct. 22, 2009

what a bunch of hog wash! I have hunted all my life and I have NEVER come close to a mountain lion. The big cats ALWAYS hear you before you hear or see them and get out of the way. You NEVER hear of a man surprising a lion ...NEVER!! Lions stalk humans at times but the only way to shoot a lion is if you are stalking the animal. I say this guy is making up a story and figured he could get away with a nice pelt with this tall tale! I say take away his gun and give him a 10k fine!! Then put him in jail for a while to re-think his life and death (so-called) encounter.

WRONG!! | 4:39 p.m. Oct. 22, 2009

this makes me sick!! what the heck?? Of course you shoot over the lions head before you take its life! That's the law of the jungle and the risk of hunting.

re:tubapro2002 | 4:48 p.m. Oct. 22, 2009

this is the same mind numbingly dumb mentality that almost made the grizzly bear extinct. I see ANYONE shoot a Lion I follow the guy to his truck and get his license and then go straight to the cops.

Jonh | 5:32 p.m. Oct. 22, 2009

Wow what a bunch of arm chair quarterbacks we have here. The one that c racks me up the most is the one about "NEVER surprising a lion". I have spent a good portion of my life outdoors too and on one occasion I did come upon a pair of lions that either didn't know I was there or didn't care because they were too busy doing what they were doing. In any event this lion did know this guy was there. I believe the Fish and Game when the say he was defending himself - none of you were there, none of you performed an investigation of your own, and I doubt any of you have the training nor background to perform such an investigation - just big mouths and responses based upon emotion.

Outdoorsman | 5:32 p.m. Oct. 22, 2009

From this report, I suspect the guy is/was just stupid. It would be startling to see it, the story is overdramatized and exaggerated. Female cougars are only a little bigger than a retriever, which isn't very menacing, especially if you have even a short stick. He was not in significant danger.

Anonymous | 5:42 p.m. Oct. 22, 2009

unless the lion was hungry or protecting her cubs.

Hoopman | 7:34 a.m. Oct. 23, 2009

RE: Outdoorsman ,
Why dont we test your theory of how menacing a female cougar is, with you as the test !! We will even give you 2 short sticks if that helps you !
You obviously have never even seen Lion except on TV
go back to sleep now !

Re: Put the guy in jail!! | 8:52 a.m. Oct. 23, 2009

You might be too noisy to be able to surprise a cougar, but I'm not.

My buddy and I were hiking Ibapah Peak a few years ago and we surprised a big tom cougar who was just walking across a meadow in broad daylight. We were upwind of him and he didn't even see us until I let out a yell.

Cougars are normally nocturnal and shy around humans, but in isolated areas (such as the Deep Creek mountains) they can be active during the day. This incident is not that unlikely.

K | 8:54 a.m. Oct. 23, 2009

I still say we put all these "experts" out there with a mountain lion and see what THEY do...

Fredd | 10:01 a.m. Oct. 23, 2009

In the big scheme of things there are more humans than lions. So which is more valuable? Just saying....

Hank | 1:02 p.m. Oct. 23, 2009

I too have spent most of my life in the outdoors, hunting etc. I have some nice pictures of cougars that I have seen. I have shot over the heads of wild animals that were charging and scared them away. I have chased bears and others away with sticks, rocks and a lot of noise. But if I were that close to that crouching cat and had a gun I would have shot it. They are simply too fast to be thinking about picking up sticks or shooting over their heads. You would not have to worry about following me to my truck, I would gladly give you my name address and phone and be grateful that I could still share that info.

Meow | 1:06 p.m. Oct. 23, 2009

what about the kittens?

Finch | 2:52 p.m. Oct. 23, 2009

@4:37 p.m.

You need a cell mate?

What if this cougar would have killed a jogger or mountain biker or a child on a walk with parents or, or, or.......?

This is nothing more than an exploitation of the hunt from bleeding heart anti-gun quacks!

If only | 8:13 p.m. Nov. 4, 2009

I think they need to open a tree hugger animal rights activist hunting season

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