JoeRE

I want one to finally wander up into NE iowa...would love to tap one with bow, rifle, or muzzleloader...instead all we have are the occasional bear and "wolf" and a bunch of guys at every bar talking about how the DNR is introducing mountain lions to control the deer herd LOL.

hammerman

Supposedly there's been 3 "confirmed" sightings in Oregon Illinois over the last couple of years. I think Oregon,Il. is only 60-70mi from Iowa.

fastetti

I personally think they are all around the midwest but one cat can cover so much ground that you never know where its going to go. Heck, the one that was shot a few years ago by my place in Chicago was said to have come out of North Dakota when they did the DNA test. Personally, I think it may have been someones pet that got a little too big and got out and no one claimed responsibilty but it could have migrated down from North Dakota just as easily.

Now, I'm not sure at all about this, but I thought it was illegal to shoot a mountain lion unless it was attacking you if your state doesn't have a season. Again, I'm not sure about that but it is just what I heard out of one state, can't remember which one. If it isn't a law then good luck, I think if I heard they were allowed to be shot and I was in my stand and saw one, I'd let an arrow fly!

Iowabucks44

When i first started bowhunting 25 years ago i knew of 4 different people in my area that had them for pets. I agree with fastetti thinking that a few of these "pets" would easily be too much for someone to handle when they matured and could have been released or simple got out of their enclosure. Although a few of the reported killings the last ew years have proven that they were infact wild animals, not pen raised.

It not at all illegal to shoot a mountain lion in Iowa....yet. I'm sure sooner or later the "antis" will make sure they are protected.

I'm not disproving the OP's belief but i do think alot of the sightings in the state are from people that couldn't tell a cat from a mountain lion. As a matter of fact, last week i saw a video on Youtube that a lady in Iowa City made of what she thought was a mountain lion walking around her housing edition, which was really only a large housecat. She was clueless.

BigGameTreestander

I live in southwest Minnesota and there has been alot of mountain lion sightings here to and one of my friends almost hit one last year. I was also i shown pictures of a 6 pointer that got mauled by one by my place not too long ago. I think it would be cool to hunt for one and mount it as long as they dont kill ya tryin to do it.

tsaxybabe

I was hunting alone in a treestand one morning earlier in the season. It was the first or second week of October. My stand is right along the Iowa River in Han**** County. Across the river I saw movement, so I watched it intently trying to figure out what it was. As it got closer (though still on the opposite side of the river as me, a little over 100 yards), I started to get a little scared...it was not a deer..not a coyote..but a mountain lion. The thing was HUGE. People don't believe me when I tell them, but it was tan colored like a deer, but low to the ground, long long tail, and had a gait so smooth it looked like it was on roller skates. Now, I've just heard a few weeks ago that there have been confirmed sightings in the area I saw it. Honestly I was half hoping for it to come close enough for a shot, but half scared that I would miss and suddenly have a pissed off cat climbing my tree!

BarnesX.308

We have that in PA. Except it's the game commission. But the DNR and the paper companies are funding it. The game commission also stocks coyotes in PA to get rid of the deer.

Game commission is busy!!!!

travis_ranger2000

There has been 3 spotted here in Indiana, and 1 of which was a few miles from my brothers house and 1 a few miles from our house! Yeah I carry a pistol now while bowhunting.....

phil_pick

I hunt near Lacrosse WI, and I was informed last year by the land owner that a mountain lion actually killed a horse just a mile from their land. I started carrying a pistol with me when I hunted up there.

Valentine

Joe Paterno, of Penn State, start recruiting in Iowa ??????