ARSavage

I am in North Central AR. We just talked about this very subject last night. I have no proof of it but we have heard that AR Game and Fish are populating the Slymore WMA with some lions. Actually for whatever reason they are also re-populating the rattlesnake also.

metalback

I live in the Ouchita Mts in Arkansas on the way to Shady. I started a food plot a month and a half ago after a rain---and then it didn't rain for a month and I only watered a certain amount of it during that period. One side of it was bone dry and real dusty and I was noticing large paw prints imbedded. I knew they weren't bear and they were too large to be coyote, so I just didn't know what they were. In the last 2 1/2 weeks the deer and the turkeys have just dissapeared. And we have deer and turkeys in the yard everyday and evening. This morning I took a walk down our dirt road that eventually connects into Dallas (Ark). It's a forest service road that gets mostly 4 wheelers on it cause it's real rough and deserted. I went a mile or so and decided to turn around cause I hadn't seen a single deer or turkey track(which never happens, usually there's tons of tracks). As I was walking back I came to a wide turn in the road and looked 50 yds down the road and a mountain lion jumped out of one ditch and ran across the road in front of me. I saw it clear as day, with it's curly tail that looked like it was made out of spring steel. I now know why the deer and turkey are out of the area!!! Thank god I had my .357 Mag with me. It was pretty hairy walking past that spot where it had crossed, all the while staring into the dense woods and having the .357 in my hand ready to rock and roll. I never saw it again, thank god. I have no desire to kill a mountain lion but with the wife here and her only being 105 lbs I'll be keeping a very close eye on what goes on around here till I start seeing the deer and turkeys again. So for all the non-believers out there that say there's no mountain lions in Arkansas---I say there most assuredly are!!!!! Keep a close eye on your young ones when you have them out there with you in the woods!!

Webrep1

When I was in high school we kept seeing sign and sightings of lions on my folks farm. The local conservation agent was a family friend and he said we were seeing things.

Finally a neighbor farmer got a picture of one of the cats and gave it to the newspaper. When the article came out the Dept. of Conservation made a public announcement about the lions they had been monitoring in the area for the last 7 years. They didnt want to panic the cattle farmers or encourage people to hunt them.

The area Im talking about is between Mt Vernon and Springfield MO. If they are in MO they are in Arkansas!

Go Hogs!!!

Web

FroMan

I personally have never encountered one in the wild. But I know of many people, like others here have posted, that would swear that they are here.

I don't see why not, with all the game and mountainous areas that make up Arkansas, it seems like it'd be prime habitat for the cougar.

I think they AGFC still claims that we don't have them...I know a whole bunch of "eyewitness accounts" that say we do...

I believe the people who are actually out there...over some biologist sitting in an office.

daddy putt

If you know where Demascus is, they have proof hanging on there wall. The picture was taken last year.

SCRIDER1

The wildlife biologist I talked with after we got our Mt. Lion pic on our trailcam (in Conway County) told me AGFC knows we have at least a few Mt. Lions in Arkansas...what they don't know is if we have any NATIVE Mt. Lions. The ones we do have (they think) are escaped "pets"...believe it or not, some people import captive Mt. Lions and every now and then some escape. These escaped lions can breed and reproduce, meaning there can be more generations of these imported lions in the woods. I understood him to be saying that AGFC does not dispute that there are Mt. Lions out there..what they say is that it is thier belief that the native species of Mt. Lion that used to live in Arkansas are gone. What we do have are probably a Florida species. The AGFC guy I talked to is Donny Harris. If you're really interested in the true AGFC opinion, I suggest you give him a call at AGFC in LR.

SC in LR

ARBowHntr

Anyone have any idea what the G&F would do if'n you shot one?? Would it be considered ferel or killing an endangered species? I would like an answer before I shot one, or maybe i would ask after hehe. By the way on the AGFC website it says that the Florida panther was the panther,cougar, mountain lion that was in AR.

Cal g.

I'm not sure of the penalty, but it is against the law to shoot one. This is under the closed seasons part of Wildlife regulations.HH CG

Sparkthrower

Here is a picture of a cat just about to pounce on a deer, not a real good photo, but you can see what was/is fixin to happen before the game cam took photo. photo taken few miles north arkansas missouri line, close to westplains.

http://www.angelfire.com/ky3/sparkthrower/bigcat_and_deer1.jpg

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