On 12/5/15 I was hunting my deer lease near Junction, TX. I was hunting with my newly built 260 Remington model seven rifle. I was hunting near a windmill with a brushy draw/creek. I was setting in a box blind and had a deer feeder to my left and right.
At about 4:40 PM I have deer at both feeders and I shoot a mature doe at the feeder to the left. She runs off and I decide to go find her. I climb down and walk the thick creek to the feeder. I find the deer and she is dead in the very bottom of the creek, and I let her lay in the creek as not to spook other animals. I make my way down the creek and back to my box blind. As I'm climbing back up the ladder to the tower blind, I see hogs at the feeder to my right. So I ease up the ladder and climb in the blind. I shoot and drop a spotted hog under the feeder. A short time later another group of hogs come out and I drop another.
Now all is still and quiet. I set the gun in the corner and watch a group of deer feeding on hand corn down a right of way in front me. About five minutes later I catch movement in my peripheral to my left. I look over into the thick stuff near the creek I had just come out of and I see a a long brown tail. I immediatly know it's a lion.
The lion briefly reappers from behind the huge cedar thicket and is low crawling and stalking the group of deer feeding on ground corn. He then gets behind a stand of thick Algerita. The deer bust him and they scatter like quail, and I mean in a hurry! The lion then sets on his hindquarters and is just watching the area the deer are in. At this point all I can see through a small opening in the brush is his back, mainly where his shoulder blades meet. I can see both tips of his ears, but only through the brush. He is facing directly away from me. So I put my 260 up and pick a small opening in which I can cleanly shoot through. He is only 40-50 yards from my stand, but it's so thick. I know this opportunity doesn't come along much, I figured now or never. I put the Leupold VX3 on the area where his shoulder blades are, and I squeeze off the shot. The cat drops and begins a violent flopping session. His long tail pounds the ground making a loud but deep thump. He does his for 2-3 minutes and then all goes still.
Of course by now im rattled, a nervous wreck and badly shaking. So I text my buddy I just killed a huge buck, as I wanted him to be surprised when I showed him my "buck". So about 5-10 before its dark I make my way to the cat. I slowly walk from the stand and round the large stand of Algerita. As I round the corner, I clumsily step on a large dead mesquite or cedar branch. It cracks loudly, and to my surprise the lion lifts his head, and looks right at me. So now my heart is really racing, and slowly retreat back. I'm inly 10-15 yards from him and buddy it's getting dark. I make a half circle and he is now licking his paw. I take a standing off handed shot at an angle from behind his rib cage angling forward. The cat jumps like I've never seen, and I cycle the gun to chamber a round. To my surprise I am now empty, as I forget to ammo up before making my way to the cat. So now I make beeline back to the stand to get ammo and wait for my buddy.
He arrives and it's now completely dark. I'm still excited, nervous, and pumped up as I tell my buddy the chain of events. A short time later and some very cautious searching, we located the cat. We were in awe, and the realization begin to sit in just how big this thing is.
He measured 6'8" and 120 pounds. He is truly a trophy of a lifetime and will be full body mounted. This cat has been killing a deer breeding facility bucks in a large enclosure. As a matter of fact, the biologist and rancher sent me trail cam photos of the deer in he enclosure, as well as the 2.5 year old deer he had killed.
If someone will PM an email or phone number I can send the pics. I'm not able to post pics but I would like to share them with the members here. Thanks
At about 4:40 PM I have deer at both feeders and I shoot a mature doe at the feeder to the left. She runs off and I decide to go find her. I climb down and walk the thick creek to the feeder. I find the deer and she is dead in the very bottom of the creek, and I let her lay in the creek as not to spook other animals. I make my way down the creek and back to my box blind. As I'm climbing back up the ladder to the tower blind, I see hogs at the feeder to my right. So I ease up the ladder and climb in the blind. I shoot and drop a spotted hog under the feeder. A short time later another group of hogs come out and I drop another.
Now all is still and quiet. I set the gun in the corner and watch a group of deer feeding on hand corn down a right of way in front me. About five minutes later I catch movement in my peripheral to my left. I look over into the thick stuff near the creek I had just come out of and I see a a long brown tail. I immediatly know it's a lion.
The lion briefly reappers from behind the huge cedar thicket and is low crawling and stalking the group of deer feeding on ground corn. He then gets behind a stand of thick Algerita. The deer bust him and they scatter like quail, and I mean in a hurry! The lion then sets on his hindquarters and is just watching the area the deer are in. At this point all I can see through a small opening in the brush is his back, mainly where his shoulder blades meet. I can see both tips of his ears, but only through the brush. He is facing directly away from me. So I put my 260 up and pick a small opening in which I can cleanly shoot through. He is only 40-50 yards from my stand, but it's so thick. I know this opportunity doesn't come along much, I figured now or never. I put the Leupold VX3 on the area where his shoulder blades are, and I squeeze off the shot. The cat drops and begins a violent flopping session. His long tail pounds the ground making a loud but deep thump. He does his for 2-3 minutes and then all goes still.
Of course by now im rattled, a nervous wreck and badly shaking. So I text my buddy I just killed a huge buck, as I wanted him to be surprised when I showed him my "buck". So about 5-10 before its dark I make my way to the cat. I slowly walk from the stand and round the large stand of Algerita. As I round the corner, I clumsily step on a large dead mesquite or cedar branch. It cracks loudly, and to my surprise the lion lifts his head, and looks right at me. So now my heart is really racing, and slowly retreat back. I'm inly 10-15 yards from him and buddy it's getting dark. I make a half circle and he is now licking his paw. I take a standing off handed shot at an angle from behind his rib cage angling forward. The cat jumps like I've never seen, and I cycle the gun to chamber a round. To my surprise I am now empty, as I forget to ammo up before making my way to the cat. So now I make beeline back to the stand to get ammo and wait for my buddy.
He arrives and it's now completely dark. I'm still excited, nervous, and pumped up as I tell my buddy the chain of events. A short time later and some very cautious searching, we located the cat. We were in awe, and the realization begin to sit in just how big this thing is.
He measured 6'8" and 120 pounds. He is truly a trophy of a lifetime and will be full body mounted. This cat has been killing a deer breeding facility bucks in a large enclosure. As a matter of fact, the biologist and rancher sent me trail cam photos of the deer in he enclosure, as well as the 2.5 year old deer he had killed.
If someone will PM an email or phone number I can send the pics. I'm not able to post pics but I would like to share them with the members here. Thanks
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