Lion down in Wyoming: Handgun shot! New Pics!

Airedale56

Member
Saturday morning at dawn I was west of Wheatland, WY to hunt with my old dog man.

We started out to the west and headed SW of town along the Laramie Range mountains.

About 0945 we cut a real fresh track in the fresh snow and turned the hounds loose. I thought it was less than an hour old. After sticking their nose in the track we found, they were straight away on the track, bawling like mad dogs.

Well, of course the lion took the worst country he could find. They bayed him with in 1/4 mile, but he skipped out and the dogs continued the chase; Rocky country.

After about a mile, they treed him. It took us until 1130 to catch up. Man, lion hunting is a LOT of work, especially for an old fat guy like me.

The country was up and down, varying around 5250 feet elevation.

We had to use radio telemetry to find the dogs as the wind was blowing all the sound around. After getting the general direction, we moved in and found the dogs had this Tom treed about 20 feet up a Pondersoa pine.

As we moved in the dogs continued their baying. We eased into position to try to get the shot. It was 1135 AM.

I got set up to take a broadside right shoulder shot to take both shoulders. We had 4 dogs under the tree and didn't want to get any of them hurt when the lion came out of the tree.

I wanted to take some photos of the Tom in the tree, but my dog man said the cat was about to bail, so I lined up the sights on my John Linebaugh Custom Sixguns Ruger Blackhawk conversion in .500 Linebaugh caliber.

This revolver shoots a .512 diameter 410 grain cast bullet at 1200 fps. At about 12-15 yards I lined up the sights to take both shoulders and to wreck everything in between. In case he landed in the dogs, he'd have a hard time swiping at them.

I pressed the trigger, recoil followed ( I didn't hear the shot) and the cat went rigid and launched backwards out of the tree, dead in the air, and about landed on his back on top of one of the dogs, Ketchup, the big Bluetick.

My dog man said he had never seen anything kill a lion so fast, even when hit with rifle calibers. He didn't climb, jump or anything. Just DRT. (Dead, Right There)

The dogs closed in and started wooling him around, getting their reward for chasing this tom down.

Lots of work to get him skinned and haul him out followed. We had to tie the dogs up. They wanted to get some teeth in him.

He was 8' 7" from nose to tail, about 165 pounds. His belly was empty. His face, nose and gums and even the right corner of his mouth were severely scarred from a RECENT fight.

The wounds weren't even completely scabbed over. The right corner of his mouth and upper right gum line were open. I was surprised he even had a functional right eye. I wonder where the guy is that whipped him. His skull measures about 8" wide by 9.75" long. EDIT: Those measurements were taken with the hide off, but the meat still on. I don't know anything about records and such. He's surely smaller with the meat off and dried. I wasn't trophy hunting. He just happened to be the guy in the tree. I still want to see the one that fought/whipped him.

When we skinned him out, imagine my surprise when the bullet was recovered under the skin on the left shoulder. It weighs 397.5 grains after punching both shoulders. I was sure it had sailed right through. Lions are DENSE.

Game Warden estimated his age at 4 years old.

Tom is in the bottom of the freezer in the garage right now. I haven't mentioned that to my wife yet..... I'm just too tired.

I love living in Wyoming.

Best wishes from Cheyenne, Wyoming.

John

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Hope you enjoy the pics!


Is it a bullet failure if the gas check comes off?

Big Ol' Punkin-Head!

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Great job on taking a really nice lion, fine writeup and
photos also.











"If you're lucky enough to live in Wyoming, you're lucky enough.
 
You have a new world record with those measurements! I think you need to remove the skin before you take any skull measurements. Sounds like you have a fun hunt. Looks like a fighter.
 
That's a nice cat, glad that you were able to get one. How many miles did you end up walking all together?, just a guess would work. That's nice that you guys cut such a fresh track. Are there alot of lions in that area?

Nice story and pics, thanks for sharing.
 
Originally Posted By: jackray76Outstanding, congrats on the Lion. Did you have an Airedale in the pack that bayed up the Tom?

Jack in Missouri

No. I didn't put the Purdy dog in the pack. She doesn't know any of the dogs and I worried that they might turn on her when treed.
 
Originally Posted By: FullCryHoundsYou have a new world record with those measurements! I think you need to remove the skin before you take any skull measurements. Sounds like you have a fun hunt. Looks like a fighter.

Thanks Dean. See my edited comments in the original post. We'll use calipers to measure him later. I'm sure he's lots smaller than a world record cat. I've seen pics of some Canadian cats that were LOTS bigger than this guy.

My first ever lion. I've chased a bunch with this dogman, first one I've taken.
 
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Here are some dog pics;
Ketchup
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Lulu
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Lad is the red dog in some photos

Here is the damage to the corner and inside of his mouth from fighting

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I forgot to mention the 3/4 curl bighorn ram and two ewes we saw about 3/4 mile west from where I shot him. Plenty of food for cats.

This revolver was the one used:

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And this was a 122#, 6'10"er from 2004. Not my cat, just holding it.

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Originally Posted By: gonzagaThat's a nice cat, glad that you were able to get one. How many miles did you end up walking all together?, just a guess would work. That's nice that you guys cut such a fresh track. Are there alot of lions in that area?

Nice story and pics, thanks for sharing.

Hey Gonzaga!

According to measurement taken via Google earth, it was only about mile direct line from where we put the dogs on the track to where they treed him. Back and forth, up and down, a little more.
The walk back to the Ranger was sure easier! We cut downhill to a road and then back.

When I moved to Platte County in 2000, the mortality quota was 32 lions killed before the annual harvest would be shut down. It never was shut down. Not enough folks hunt them I guess. It's been dropped a lot since then, but there seems to be plenty of cats for the guys who will go through the work to catch one.
 
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Good job. That country would be dang hard to chase cats in with all the rocks and the way they jump rocks. Was going to go out today south of point rocks and look for a track, but work got in the way toda!!Dang it.
 
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