amayerican

Good point PA bow hunter. But I think there would have to be enough of them to post tags or a season on cats.

bearklr

I must say that I have to believe there are mountain lions in Pa. As far as having proof that is a different story. I have seen 2 in my life but having a camera with me wasn't the case. The first one i saw was in Juniata county Pa. My father, mother, cousin and I were spotting right outside of mifflintown near my cousins camp. As we were about to finished we saw what we at first thought was a very light or albino deer off in the distance. It wasn't moving at all so we just waited. It didn't take long for it to stand up on all fours and sure enough it was a fairly large lion. There was deffinately no mistaking it as the tail and head were clearly visible as it walked along the woods edge. It finally slipped into the timber. We later went back to camp and told the others of what we saw. Of course they wouldn't believe us so we took them to the spot of the sghting the next day. To our surprise we found the remains of an 8 point with tracks circling it. We cut the horns from the skull and I use them to this day as rattling antlers. The second one I saw was over the summer of 1999 as i was leaving allentown. As I exited on 78 west I saw what I first thought was a fox in the distance laying dead along the highway. As I got close I realized that it was in fact a mountain lion as it was merely 3 feet from my car as I passed by. Of course I couldn't pull over in the middle of the highway and when I went by the next day it was gone. I don't really care if people believe if there are lions in the state because it really doesn't make a difference to me but I just know what I saw and believe myself that they in fact do exist here in Pa.

fatsbucknut

Finally got a picture

Ghostfarm

The PA DCNR wants to build something called PA wilds in the remote North central region of the state, like adirondack park, for elk viewing etc. "This is a conspiracy involving the UN (that's right united nations)to depopulate the area and build a biosphere for the purpose of conducting top secret maneauvers. It will eliminate sport hunting from the area".

"Coyotes and mountain lions are being stocked to kill the deer herd so in the event of a revolution we will have no sustinence". I told this guy if he was hungry enough he could eat a coyote to which there was no response.

Sad but true guys these are honest to goodness quotes documented coming from PA hunters.

Unfortunately we have a base which may be doing more harm than good in promoting our sport or beliefs to non-hunters. If any of you guys really saw a cougar , good just don't come across like a lunatic. Anti-hunters are already using PA hunters on their web sites to promote THEIR cause. I wish I remembered which site. one quoted hunters as wanting a deer behind every tree and don't care about science based mgmt and PA chased their deer biologist out of his job!!!. Let's not get too carried away with this conspiracy stuff on top of our deer management feelings or pretty soon we're going to be laughed right out of a favorite pasttime. I hope you guys are worried too. these knuckleheads are well funded and are using us as tools to promote themselves!

lost horn

Man, that looks like one mad cat !

Sylvan

Right on the money Ghostfarm!!!

lost horn

I would hate to meet up with that cat in the woods !!

jhoffman

I have heard about mountain lions in NY since I was a kid. I grew up in Delevan, NY and there was supposably one sighted for many years in the wooded area between Delevan Elton Rd and Marble Springs Rd. There is alot of area to cover up there but I never seen it for my self so I was always a unsure.

I now live in Springville, NY and just this past year there were many reports in the area about Lion sightings. There was supposably one killed in Java, NY that had a DEC tracking collar, one was seen on Stinson Rd by a woman in her backyard one night skirting the woodline, and there was reports of a breeding pair on Beach Tree Rd. in Springville, NY. There was also an article about one of the mt lions from the Beach Tree Rd pair being injured and being captured and rereleased in the same area.

My neighbor is a DEC Officer and he will not confirm any of this but, he wpt deny it either. I have known him for quite a few years now and never have known him to beat around the bush about anything but, he gets pretty sketchy when the subject is brought up.

From what I have been able to gather as d\far as info on this is as follows: The high deer populations needed to be controlled so Coyotes were released alll around the southern tier, but what was not expected was that they would do so well and reproduce so rapidly. I never seen a coyote untill about six years ago now I see one almost everytime I am in the woods. There are more coyote tracks where I hunt than deer tracks in the winter. I have heard that there were six breeding pair of mountain lions released in the southern tier to help control the coyote population.

Although I still have not seen one for my self and I am a very avid hunter and am in the wood whenever i get the chance it is not too long ago when I remember people saying that there wasnot enough open land to support a bear population as far north as Springville, NY. I have seen 5 wild black bears from Machias, NY to Springville, NY in the last 7 to 8 years so I don't think it is entirely impossible for there to be a few big cats roaming around out there too.

I have an uncle in ID and he hunt mountain lions when he is lucky enough to draw a tag for one and he has hunted everything the western states have to offer and he said that unless hunted with hound good luck1 You'll not see one before it knows that you are there and then it is usually long gone.

I'd like to see some real hard evidence that there is even one my lion in NY though.

moose1915

and then the DEC released 12 breeding pairs of kodiak bears to control the mountain lions that were controlling the coyotes that were contolling the deer that were released to controll the turkeys that were released to controll the corn that was ............

ARROWCHUCKER

I hafta disagree with the coyote stocking theory, there is just too much inconsistency.