Big cats don’t live in OK

[BFE]

At a trappers convention probably ten years ago, a guy cornered a dnr officer that was a speaker. The guy had pics of a cougar with kittens off his trail cam. The officers response (head shaking) "That just can't be, we only released males, oh wait" then he got right lipped. It has been suggested forever that the IL dnr released cougar to help control the deer population.

Same down here in the southern 1/3 of the state. Our county is full of serious old sober English people that wouldn't lie on a bet that have seen them.
My mom seen one when I was a little kid, my dad laughed at her. Within a year he came home and told her he had to eat his words.
Its claimed that a male has a range of 40 square miles. That's a lot of ground to hide in, along with a high deer population would make it pretty easy to go unnoticed.

 

[Dave]

At a trappers convention probably ten years ago, a guy cornered a dnr officer that was a speaker. The guy had pics of a cougar with kittens off his trail cam. The officers response (head shaking) "That just can't be, we only released males, oh wait" then he got right lipped. It has been suggested forever that the IL dnr released cougar to help control the deer population.

Believe me they will help to control the deer population. In the 4 years I have been here hunters have killed 6 deer on my property. In those same 4 years I have found 4 times that many cougar killed deer. And that is just the ones I happen to stumble into.

 

[SBMF 2015]

Believe me they will help to control the deer population. In the 4 years I have been here hunters have killed 6 deer on my property. In those same 4 years I have found 4 times that many cougar killed deer. And that is just the ones I happen to stumble into.

That sounds like my dentist. He is almost obsessed with deer hunting. He said in the last five years years he has he has found 30 skeletons and lots of cat sign.

 

[Hpacres440p]

When we live in E Texas we had a 100 lb goat killed-found the carcass-one hind leg completely missing with dirt being piled up next to it. Called wildlife asking about cougars in the area, as we had seen 2 dead kittens on the side of the road nearby within the previous 6 months, as well as a dead adult on the interstates north of town, but were told " they aren't in this area". Next day the carcass was disappeared- over a 4' goat fence. No trace it had ever existed.

 

[Dave]

That sounds like my dentist. He is almost obsessed with deer hunting. He said in the last five years years he has he has found 30 skeletons and lots of cat sign.

This place is 1,200 acres. Probably 700/800 acres that I have never set foot on. How many more deer remains would I find if I had the time or the inclination to hike over every inch of this place. The house and the irrigated fields sit in the bottom of a narrow valley. About once a month I will see some deer come running very fast down the hill on one side, across the bottom, and up the other side. You know that they were spooked by a cat.

 

[greybeard]

When we live in E Texas we had a 100 lb goat killed-found the carcass-one hind leg completely missing with dirt being piled up next to it. Called wildlife asking about cougars in the area, as we had seen 2 dead kittens on the side of the road nearby within the previous 6 months, as well as a dead adult on the interstates north of town, but were told " they aren't in this area". Next day the carcass was disappeared- over a 4' goat fence. No trace it had ever existed.

I could have shot one here (San Jacinto County Tx) in 2006 but was unsure what the law was at that time.