GRONG Report post Posted January 31, 2006 Yesterday Tim Maddock aka TAM shot this huge tom mountain lion with me and my Dad. He decided about a week or so ago that he really wanted a mountain lion. His wife also prodded him to get one cause she really wanted a life sized mount in their house. Howz that for rare? I'll let Tim fill in any details he wants to. All I can say is Tim was a blast to hunt with. We've only been around each other one other time I think with Mike (TREESTANDMAN) Udall on a Coues shed hunt in 6A a couple summers ago. Tim was everything an outfitter/guide could ask for, he never complained about what we needed him to or where we needed to get to. We hunted hard for 3 solid days and it finally paid off yesterday afternoon. Congrats Tim on a fantastic mountain lion!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tracker Report post Posted January 31, 2006 Great lion Josh, What kind of hounds do you run? Did you or your dad know the late Dawson Riley? I believe he ran hounds in Arizona for years before he passed away. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DEERSLAM Report post Posted January 31, 2006 Awesome cat, congrats TAM ps can you have your wife give my wife a call Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GRONG Report post Posted January 31, 2006 Tracker, plots, walkers, redbone mix and a couple others. Never heard of Dawson but I bet my Dad has. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tracker Report post Posted January 31, 2006 Josh, How do you get along with the Plots? I have had Walker, Bluetic, Redbone, Redtic, Black & Tan & Plots. Never had much luck with the Plots but I have seen some really good ones. I just have not had alot of luck. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
az4life Report post Posted January 31, 2006 Super Tom there TAM. Seems like you can Always count on Josh's dogs to find those kittys! Did you guys get any video of the hunt? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GRONG Report post Posted January 31, 2006 Tracker, my dad is the "dogman", I don't know much about the breeds I just try to keep the dogs going in the right direction. az4life, they're my Dad's dogs but that's a real nice compliment. I did get video of it but from quite a ways away. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shiras Report post Posted January 31, 2006 Josh, Way to go man! It seems looking through magazines articles and such, dry ground hunting is a lost art and most houndsmen keep their clients "on call". It's good to see there are still a few that seem to have a handle on it. -Shiras Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
.270 Report post Posted January 31, 2006 if you're gonna catch a lion in Az. you best have coldnosed dogs that are used to huffin' dust. especially this year. good job and a nice cat. Lark. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
25-06 Report post Posted January 31, 2006 Nice lookin cat TAM, congrats Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
COUESAZ Report post Posted January 31, 2006 Tam very nice TOM CAT you got. Congrats to ya. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TAM Report post Posted January 31, 2006 Just wanted to say thanks to Josh, his dad Randy, and Randy Bryant for all their hard work. I guess I shouldn't forget to mention that Hap, Rusty, Roxy, and Mike all did their part as well, those dogs are something else. Last Friday was the first day we hunted and we started the dogs at the bottom of a canyon where there was a day old lion scratch. They ran the trail for probably a couple miles to the top of the canyon. When we got to the top the dogs followed the track to the top of a ridge where they lost the trail. We circled around for awhile with no luck and called it a day. That night Randy Bryant called Randy Epperson on his cell phone and told him that he had run a lion off a freshly killed mule deer and that they never caught the lion and we were welcome to come run it on Saturday. We met Randy the next morning and he took us to the lion kill. The lion had been back that night and we turned one of the dogs out to pick up the trail. Soon we found tracks where the lion had crossed a dirt road and we turned out all the dogs and proceded to follow the trail to the bottom of a steep ridge with lots of rock bluffs perfect for a lion to bed up in for the day. We were all pretty optimistic until the trail went cold and we lost it. We tried to circle around and pick up some sign with no luck. This lion had been chased for two days in a row off a kill with no success. We decided to return in the morning to see if the lion returned to the kill during the night and give it another go. The next day we came back to the kill and sure enough the lion had come back and we were quickly on his trail. This time we decided to try and buy ourselves some time by circling to the other side of the mountain in the direction the lion was heading and try to cut some tracks coming off the ridge on the other side. After a little driving around sure enough Randy Epperson was able to find a couple of tracks in the dirt crossing the road. We had a pretty good idea which direction the lion was going so to save some time and wear and tear on our tired legs we checked some more dirt roads on the other side of the flat in the direction the lion had gone and before long Josh had found where the lion came off the flat and walked about 30 yards down the middle of the road and walked right back into the flat. We put a dog on the tracks into the flat and didn't get much. We were all pretty confused. We drove around for awhile looking for more tracks without much luck while Josh took a couple of dogs up on the ridge above the lion kill on a hunch that maybe the lion was just bedded up right above the kill. None of us were having much luck when Josh's dad Randy decided that we needed to check a road that follows the top of a ridge on the other side of the flat the lion had crossed. Sure enough before long we picked up the tracks crossing the road. We let the dogs out and they immediatly started working the trail and bawling pretty good. We let the dogs out at about 12:45 and followed as they moved twords a ridge with lots of rocky bluffs. A couple of times the dogs got hung up and we helped them along untill again we lost the trail. The dry hard dirt and rocks were not holding a lot of scent and making it difficult for the dogs to trail. While Josh and Randy Bryant continued searching the roads for sign. Randy Epperson and I decided that it was getting late and we just needed to go for it. We would take the dogs to the base of the ridge and side hill it and hope that we could find some sign or the dogs could pick up the trail. In no time at all one of the dogs named Mike hit the trail and started down the mountain back towards the road and all three other dogs followed right along. Randy immediatly knew they were going the wrong way and he quickly went down to get the dogs turned around. Pretty soon Hap and Rusty came running back up the trail towards me and right past me moving up the rigde barking as they followed the trail. Mike and Roxy came up a few minutes later and slowly worked the trail quite a ways behind where Hap and Rusty. As Randy was hiking back up the ridge to meet me Hap and Rusty went over the top of the ridge and we were out of hearing range from them but we could still hear the other two as they were moving a little slower. A few minutes later as we were hiking towards the dogs when Josh called us on the radio and said he could hear Hap and Rusty barking "treed" on the next ridge over. As we topped the ridge we could hear the same and quickly moved in to see what was going on and sure enough on the other side of the ridge Hap had climbed 3-4 feet up into the crook of a tree barking and barking. As we looked into the tree we could see crouched in the very top out in front of Hap was a big Tom. Randy and I closed the distance and I started to get my video camera ready to take some video footage and the lion got a little antsy so Randy told me he was coming down and I better shoot. It's a little embarassing to admit, but I missed the first two shots with my Ruger Super Redhawk in .44 mag, but the third shot was a solid hit which pretty much knocked the cat out of the tree but he caught himself and was just hanging there dangling so I hit him again and he crashed to the ground and half ran half slid about 50 yards or so down the steep sloap with all four dogs right on him the entire distance. We quickly moved up to find him laying there still fighting the dogs so I quickly shot him again right behind the sholder from about six inches away and finished him off. I had some serious adrenaline pumping through my veins and could not have been more impressed with the lion. It was a lot of hard work, and a lot of fun! Josh and Randy worked hard and their dogs are just incredible! I'll remember this one for a long time, thanks guys!!!! I've got some more good pic's I'd love to post if someone wants to post them for me. Just list your email and I'll send them over. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cramerhunts Report post Posted January 31, 2006 Tam you can send them to pcramer@boartlongyear.com and I will post them for you. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DEERSLAM Report post Posted February 1, 2006 Cool story Can't wait for more pics. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZP&Y Report post Posted February 1, 2006 BIG CAT! VERY BIG CAT! VERY VERY BIG CAT! Nice Shot(s) , I like the .44 mag choice. If you ever go to Alaska, you'll be ready and loaded for Bear. Ruger! Great job...and thanks for including us on the hunt -those dogs are impressive in this year of the drought..... AzP&Y Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
