GRONG Report post Posted March 15, 2006 For those of you who have been outdoors in the past several days know that we got a BUNCH of snow. Although not our hunt style of choice for lion hunting it's hard to pass it up. Dad picked up Andy "Littlebear" Knowlton around 3AM on Saturday and found a lion track way quickly! I got there at daylight and our hunter arrived shortly there after and we let the dogs loose. Since our dogs aren't used to snow hunting it took a while to get it going. Andy and I basically followed the tracks while hollering at the dogs to stay in close. This went on for an hour or so. It's amazing how much a lion zigzags and wanders all over the place.... JEEZ! We trudged through about 6-8" of snow for about 3 miles when the dogs finally got seriously interested even though the snow was piling into the tracks. We crossed a big draw and the dogs bolted across and within a couple of minutes they were barking treed. Andy and I hauled butt over there and snuck in the final 50 yards. There was a beautiful lion treed up high in a dead pinyon tree. We took tons of video and pictures as the falling snow continued. At one point it must have snowed over an inch in about a 15-20 minutes, it was a freakin blizzard. Dad and Franco got there just after the blizzard and he harvested the lion with his bow. We had a blast and walked our tails off in the snow! Here's Andy and I and his dog Bonnie who is a great "treed" dog. Thought I was done eh? The storm was just getting started so we headed up north. It snowed for the next day and when it finished there was a foot and a half to 2' of the white stuff. Dad got out on Sunday morning and found where a nice tom had crossed the road right where he did about a week before, walking right by a cow elk he'd killed a couple weeks ago (the same one that we killed the huge female off of 8 days ago). The storm was still crankin so we couldn't do to much with it. Our hunter got to Tusayan about 11:30PM and we hit the roads about 12:30AM. Randy Bryant and the hunter Shawn Mays led the way in the truck. Luckily nobody had been on the roads yet and after about a half hour and 50 yards from where the big tom had crossed the day before, here he was again crossing the road just an hour or so ahead of us!!!!! What are the chances of that? We slept there on the side of the road in our trucks for hours. At 3AM another lion hunter drove by and saw us there and also spotted the tracks. I'm sure he was bummed to see us there. Soon as nighttime faded we had the dogs out and were ready to roll. This time the snow was knee deep which made walking TOUGH!!! Andy and I hit the trail again while the hunter Randy and the hunter drove ahead to see if the lion crossed in another place. We had a really tough time staying on the track cause of all the dogs but after about a mile and a half ol' Hap hit the scent finally and within about a 1/3 mile had the tom lion in a big ponderosa. It took us a while to get there. Andy and I were both dripping with sweat when we got there but were happy to see the lion up for sure. Once again we took a lot of pictures and video and Shawn finally got him with a perfect shot from his Hoyt bow. Thanks to Andy for coming up and sharing in the hunt with us. I had a blast with you as well as my Dad. You're welcome to hunt with us anytime! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZP&Y Report post Posted March 15, 2006 Great Pictures and Fantastic story! Nice to see an archer gettin' one of them cats too! Dogs are a howling! Thanx for sharin' Doug AzP&Y Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dds Report post Posted March 15, 2006 Josh, Awesome! Thanks for the post. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Redbeard Report post Posted March 15, 2006 I just got back from Andy's house hearing the stories and seeing all of his pictures. Wait til you see the one of the second lion with its glowing eyes. It looks like somebody photoshopped it. You guys are really hot right now. How many lons have you caught in the last month? Andy was actually talking about heading back to Tucson this week to hunt. You better call him up and talk him out of it. Andy is pretty psyched to have got two in two with you guys. I warned him that his gut would hurt after spending so much time hanging out with you laughing his butt off. He said you must have ADD or something cause you never stopped entertaining him. Makes me remember the good ol' days. Hunting with you. I still crack up every time I think about all the crazy stuff we used to do. I need to hook up with you all next time you go out. I need a good laugh and I love seeing those dogs do their thing. If it snows again maybe I'll try hunting with my chesapeak bay retriever. I hear your Dad's best dog is part bird dog. Way to go man. I'm so glad you got to hang out with Andy too. He's a solid hunting partner for sure. Chris Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billrquimby Report post Posted March 15, 2006 Josh, that was a great tale and well told. Have you thought about selling any of your stories? Also, do you and your dad do all of your hunts on foot? BillQ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DEERSLAM Report post Posted March 15, 2006 AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME! Way to go guys Thanks for the pics and story. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
COOSEFAN Report post Posted March 15, 2006 A big congrats to you guys! I know of several guys that were out runnin dogs last weekend and have one bobcat to show for it! You guys worked your butts off and were well rewarded! That last hunters name is Shane May , just for the record, and he has been trying to get a cat for several years now with Randy, sounds like teaming up with you guys did the trick! Great job! JIM Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bowhunter4life Report post Posted March 15, 2006 wow.what agreat few days.congrates to some great dog work.mike Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
azcouesandelk Report post Posted March 15, 2006 Absolutely Awesome. Cant wait til I get a lion someday. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KGAINES Report post Posted March 15, 2006 Congrats to you all, keep up the good work. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
az4life Report post Posted March 15, 2006 So how many of them lions have you got this year Josh? I cannot imagine a better year of lion hunting cept if I got one! Congratsto both hunters, Guides and Ol Hap. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GRONG Report post Posted March 15, 2006 You guys are all too nice. Andy was an absolute blast to hang out with and I could easily tell he's got a passion for lion hunting and I'm proud to call him a friend of mine. Redbeard, you're lucky to have him as such a good friend, he's a classy dude that's for sure! Bill I've never sold any stories but I've had a couple published over the years. I do enjoy it. Yes I'd say we do 99% of our hunts on foot. We use the mules occasionally but not to often. Dad uses the mules a lot when he goes out trailing by himself. Jim, Total brain fart there about his name being Shane, my bad. az4life, I think we've caught 10 so far and have killed 7 of them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HEADACHE Report post Posted March 15, 2006 Josh Epperson is the MAN! Hey Josh I got a Bluetick . . . gonna send him to live with you until he can trail for me Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
az4life Report post Posted March 15, 2006 Josh If you have caught 10 and shot 7, what did you do with the other 3? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SunDevil Report post Posted March 15, 2006 where were your snow shoes? looks like you might need to invest in a pair. CB Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
