Eye to Eye with the Ultimate Predator
(Mountain Lion Nevada 2008)
By
Eric Stanosheck
 One
of the hunts that I have always wanted to go on was a Mountain
Lion hunt. It seemed that every year I had spent my budget on
fall hunts and holidays and when the Mountain Lion season came
around I was always left wishing. Finally this last Fall I
decided it was time to quit dreaming about it and just do it. I
have a philosophy that life is about turning the things you
dream about doing into the things that you have done, and so my
outfitter search was on. I ended up booking with Mosquito
Valley Outfitters in Vya, Nevada on a cancellation hunt and
after communication with owner Ryan Schliesser, and his wife
Angie, I was convinced that I had booked with the right outfit.
They were passionate about hunting Mountain Lions and have a
track record to prove it.
My trip couldn’t come soon enough as I had
been preparing for this trip for months and had my open sights
.50 Caliber Hawken Muzzleloader driving tacks out to 50 yards
which I assumed would be the extent of my shooting range on a
Mountain Lion hunt. Little did I know how close my shot would
be. Days in advance I had my fully packed heavy duffle bag and
my gun case and 1 carry on plus all of my video equipment and
tripods. A few years ago I got into videoing my hunts and now I
am in the works of producing hunting DVD’s so I definitely
wanted to capture this dream hunt.
February 2nd I boarded my flight
from Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX to Reno, NV. Ryan picked me up at the
airport and we proceeded with our first task of buying a Nevada
hunting license and a mountain lion tag. What should have been
an easy task was further complicated as the big box hunting
stores in Reno were completely out of tags and waiting for the
ones that would be good after March 1st. After a few
quick calls Ryan had one located at a small store 2 hours away
(fortunately in the direction we were headed). That night I met
John Stevenson, the other hunter in camp, and we attended Ryan
an Angie’s youngest daughters B-Day. It was great to get to meet
all of the family members and hear some great hunting stories.
Unfortunately the blizzard would keep us from getting to the
ranch that night so we stayed in a hotel in Cedarville, CA.
Day 1 of the hunt didn’t happen as planned
due to weather. First we had to make it out to the ranch in Vya,
NV. After getting both trucks buried in snowdrifts and digging
them out we arrived at the ranch and found that both generators
had failed which meant no water AND no electricity. We got our
gear sorted out in the bunkhouse while Ryan remedied the
generator problems. Even though Ryan has dogs that can track on
dry ground or snow, the wind that day would have blown any good
scent off the snow and it would have been futile to go out that
day.
February 4th – we got up early
and found clear skies and wind that was barely blowing – today
was going to be the day, I just had a feeling about it. We
drove about 1 1/2 hours south of Vya, NV and started running
side roads. Ryan and John split off in one direction and Angie
and I went the other. Not 5 minutes up our road we cut a fresh
set of lion tracks! Angie and I both hoped out and looked at
them and I was excited that we found a track. Being the first
Mountain Lion track I’d ever laid eyes on, I wasn’t sure if it
was a Tom and didn’t have a comparison to know if it was big. I
wasn’t interested in chasing a female or a younger Tom so I
relied on Angie’s experience. She stepped off the length of the
walking stride and found it to be 44+” total and looked at me
and said “This is a good Tom”. No sooner had we let the 2 dogs
out on the track when Ryan radioed us to see how we were doing.
Angie told him about the track and what she thought and he said
he’d be right over to check it out. Sure enough Ryan was really
excited when he saw the size of the mountain lion track and in
turn my enthusiasm skyrocketed.
Ryan put out 2 more dogs to help on the
track since the Mountain Lion was obviously hunting Mustangs.
His tracks were right in the horse tracks in many places. Soon
we watched all of the dogs clear the top of the mountain after
they sorted out all of the tracks. John wanted to come along on
the chase and sacrificed his day of hunting so the 4 of us
geared up and started following dog tracks and sounds of distant
bellows. As we got up to 5000 feet or so the snow depth
increased substantially. At times we were waist deep in snow
which took a lot of time and energy to trudge through. Every
time we could hear dogs a couple hundred yards away they would
start moving again. It was like being on an emotional
rollercoaster, we were almost there and then the lion increased
the distance another quarter mile. This happened 4 or 5
different times before we even got our first glimpse of the
Tom.
We found out why he kept giving us the
slip, this big Tom wasn’t going to climb a tree. He would back
himself into a large Juniper trunk and turn and fight the dogs.
When I first made eye contact with the Mountain Lion I was
absolutely amazed, and truth be known that experience was worth
the trip right there. The lion could have disappeared into the
mountain side never to be seen again and I would have been
satisfied with the hunt. There is something majestic about
being eye to eye with the greatest hunter in the wild and not
seeing an ounce of fear in his eyes. Ryan worked hard to get a
few dogs called off and tied up before he would tell me to shoot
but as he was tying up the second dog the Tom was on the move
again in the waist deep snow that hampered us but somehow he
glided across it.
On to the next tree, and once we got close
again he would go another 200 yards. It seemed this process
would never end as we had been doing this for the last 4 hours.
In pure exhaustion I had to convince myself mentally to keep
going and just then we caught a break. The Mountain Lion had
found a huge old Juniper to hide under and the branches kept the
dogs far enough away that he was content with his position. The
base of the juniper was 8 feet around. This allowed Ryan and I
a stalk from his blind side while John and Angie videoed from 30
yards back. The plan was to get to the tree and lean around the
right side for the shot. After trying it I found that the lion
was concealed and I’d have to go around the left side which
meant I’d have to lie down on my side to shoot under the
branches.
 At
a distance of less than 2 feet I extended my Hawken rifle and
squeezed off the shot when the dogs in the background were clear
only to hear a “CRACK”!! The cap had gone off on the
muzzleloader and not the powder. Apparently the hours of
trudging through the snow, and the sun beating down on the
barrel had caused some condensation in the nipple. Ryan pulled
me by my ankles from under the tree and I placed another cap on
the gun. This time the shot would not be as easy and the
Mountain Lion knew where I was. I extended my gun and the
second cap repeated the action of the first one and the Mountain
Lion became more agitated. I prayed that the third time was the
charm as there was no turning back and I was committed to
harvesting him with my Black Powder Rifle. The Tom had nestled
himself deeper against the trunk so I had to crawl further
around the tree. As I lay down the Tom and I looked eye to eye
and his look told me to move out of the way quickly. In the
video you can see me moving back first and then the Lion lashing
out from under the tree and biting the neck of the dog that
jumped in between us. It was all reaction and instincts and
happened in a fraction of a second. This was my chance, the
vitals were open, no dogs in the path of the bullet, hammer
pulled back, KABOOM!
Smoke filled the air as I knew I had made a
fatal shot on the Monster tom at a distance of 1 ½ feet. In
reaction he grabbed, slashed, and bit into the neck of the
closest dog throwing him down the mountainside. The cat saw on
opening and took it running a mere 20 yards across the hill
before he expired under a tree. I was exhausted, elated,
saddened, and overjoyed all at the same moment. The flood of
emotions we all get when the hunt is a success poured into me as
I sat there in the snow, unable to move my cramped legs. I took
that moment to take in all of Mother Nature’s grandeur and
thanked her and the entire team of people and dogs for making a
dream come true for me.
When I approached the fallen predator I was
purely amazed at his size. Ryan estimated him at 180+ lbs and
said he was probably more than that. Amazingly as big and old
as this Lion was, he was in perfect physical condition and
really a prime example of the species. After a long photo
shoot, quick skinning job with my trusty Cutco knives and a
heavy pack down the mountains we arrived at the trucks just
before dark.
The trophy Tom has a short face which
affects the final score of his skull which is just under 15”.
Regardless, he is an absolute brute and is the new #13 in the
world in the Longhunter Muzzleloader Record Book as well as
qualifying for the Boone and Crockett Awards Book.
This mountain lion hunt will definitely go
down as one of my top hunting memories so far. Now that the
full length DVD is done I find myself watching it regularly just
to keep the great memories fresh in my mind. I can’t wait to
get the full body mount back from my master taxidermist next
March and I already have a spot in my trophy room reserved for
him.
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