We had just been sitting about thirty yards away from this drinker getting ready to start calling for coyotes and/or bobcat when this mulie doe came in for a drink. She milled around for a bit and was snorting and stamping her feet. Initial thought was a coyote or bobcat scent was in the air when out of nowhere this lion erupted and the chase was on. I think the reason we didn’t see the cat creeping in was we were so focused on the mulie. Look at the muscles in the front and rear leg.
So the question to ya’ll is: Was the lion successful?
It looks to me like the deer's legs are extended back like she just completed a leap. The lion's legs are bunching up to make a leap, and I've read that lions do incredible leaps. I think that if the hunters didn't interfere that lion had venison for dinner.
Hern, I have no clue he is/was a professional photographer and has more cameras and lens than I have rifles. The camera he had on this stand had a "semi" long adjustable lens. I do know it was a Pentax and a Tamron lens. He was sitting behind me a little off to one side. Next time he stops by I'll ask him and let ya know.
Now if this was a PA mountain lion the deer would not have gotten away and the lion would have consumed all bones, feet, etc as to not leave any trace.
Now if this was a PA mountain lion the deer would not have gotten away and the lion would have consumed all bones, feet, etc as to not leave any trace.
The more I look at that picture, the more sure I am. So, I'm doubling down on my original "Yes" answer. That lion made good on his next leap and caught the doe by the hindquarters. Then he clawed his way up to the front of the doe, clamped down, and cut off her wind. He had deer liver for dinner that night.
I'm going with yes.
Deer wasn't expecting the lion and had to make a quick turn from watering hole where lion already has momentum going forward. I've been wrong before and I'll be wrong again so we will see.
After we had gotten over our initial shock of what we just witnessed we decided to wait five or so minutes, or at least until we stopped shaking, to follow them and see if the lion had killed the deer. Lions do not have the lung capacity of a deer so we thought that if he had not killed or at least brought the deer down it should not be too far down the trail. At about the seven minute mark my partner started to break down his equipment and pack it away. As we are about to get up we gave the drinker one more look and to our amazement this is what we saw.
He just milled around a bit very slowly and then walked away into the night. We went back the next day and followed the trail but alas no dead deer and no sign of a struggle. I’m glad I had Steve with me and that he is an accomplished photographer as I’m sure nobody would believe the story without the pictures. He had dozens of pictures of the initial “attack” but most are fuzzy and not very clear. It was a night in my hunting career that I'll never forget. And no we did not kill the cat, maybe we'll go back another day and try to call him in.
coyotejohn, Thanks for this little shared adventure! I loved it, especially the anticipation! I have to rate this one as among the best threads I have read on the HPA Forums.:surprise2::wink2:
Not to be a skeptic but... I thought this pic looked familiar to me
If you Google lion chasing deer and click images the same image pops up as one of the first images with a trail cam time stamp at the bottom....
Maybe just coincidence
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