Might wanna post your question in the BigGame forum...I've never been. Cougars don't officially exist in Southern Illinois, but they do Wardens deny their existance but say IF there were cougars they would probably have been brought in to control coyotes. Sounds like crap to me. More than one person who I trust has seen them. If I ever see one, and have something with me big enough I'll give serious thought to "harvesting" it.