Question for you Lion Guys

LAST EDITED ON May-07-14 AT 06:18AM (MST)[p]I was reading on the Sheep forum that there is not a ton of pressure from lions hunters on some of the Desert Big Horn sheep units here in Utah. Why is that? Is that due to the terrain or the remoteness of some of the units and the chance of only cutting one or two tracks?


Has been any contact from the DWR or Conservation Group efforts asking guys to run there dogs or take clients to these units to help with lion control?

You will find that the more remote rugged areas receive less hunting pressure. Also you will find that areas with little or no snow receive less hunting pressure. There still are people who hunt these areas, but more people hunt out of trucks or off atvs/snowmobiles than horseback or walking. Also there aren't as many dogs that can catch lions in the areas you've mentioned.

tallbuck1, terrain often does play a role in where guys can/will run their dogs. It's not necessarily about hiking through bad terrain to only cut 1 or 2 tracks(believe it or not you could hike some of those areas for a week and never cut 1 track)but more to do with why you'd hunt those high mountain top ledges that are hard to hike in and hard to stop a cliff wise lion in when you could hunt easier country with better results. Some of us still do hunt from foot or horseback but our motives our not to protect some sheep that were transplanted in our lion hunting areas.
Lion hunting is a very misunderstood sport, houndsman have to dedicate a major part of there lives, money, time etc to their sport year round. I know most don't understand it but we'd rather have a lion or two around to chase and train dogs with then a few sheep we'll most likely never be able to even draw a tag to hunt. I do understand both sides but it's definitely not in most houndsmen's main interest to kill off all of the lions for a few sheep. I know which animal the state makes more $ on so I guess most people think that animal should take precedence over the other.

I really appreciate both Catmans and mgd responses to my question.

I also see both's sides of the coin with wanting to have lions in an area to train your dogs on and to keep your passion for the sport alive but also trying to get rid of lions to help the sheep out a little bit.


Thank you for your guys perspective.



Tallbuck1