Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), this was not my hunting effort. The information I got was as follows:

IT WAS KILLED ON THE MONCRIEF RANCH APPROX. 20 MILES WEST OF FORT WORTH. BY A COYOTE HUNTER USING A CALL. THE HUNTER IS 6' 2".

Hey DoK,
I think that is JJ Hackewicz. The lion was taken in Washington State, I believe.

From JJ: How is this for a non-hounded American lion? We used a predator call after a bit of tracking in the snow to verify the age of the tracks.

Not all American lions or cougars are small. Some are quite large and can be an amazing challange. We can no longer hunt with hounds in Wa. State so it's foot tracking in snow or using a predator call. Here is a real beauty we took this morning. For the record I'm 5'10" and 175 pounds so you can see the size comparison. Not bad for an "American lion" and a hunt without hounds! For those who think you cannot hunt cougars without dogs successfully we have now taken 18 lions this way! This is the biggest and will likely be the biggest for us

It was everything I could do to hoist it up like this for the photo. It would have been easier if it were a barbell because there are no good handles on a lion! I don't think I had it up off the ground completely or for more then a couple seconds.

Might as well quit lion hunting I'll not likely ever beat this one!

Here's a photo of a lion taken in British Columbia. Hunter and date unknown.

No doubt about it - them's some BIG lions!

The first photo has been doctored, either that or the guy has six fingers on one hands.

The one from BC looks a bit odd too - like the legs on the person are way too big for the head. But I don't have time to zoom in on it and see if there is any weird looking stuff.

Dave, that's some BIG kitty feet!!!

You mean you guys actually call mountain lions so they will come to you!!!!???? And the bigger the lion is, the happier you are...right?!!! Then you HUG THEM!!!!! Boy! I knew you southern Canucks were tough, but this is ridiculous!!! I hope you guys carry a lot of bandaids when you are doing this! The picture of the one from Canada has to be a fake because no one from Canada would do that unless they were really, really beered up!!! Fred

I have yet to see one in the wild, have spotted tracks several times, and I'm sure they have seen me plenty!! They are elusive, I have seen many Lynx but not Cougar. One of the few animals I have not been able to spot yet.

The first photo has been doctored, either that or the guy has six fingers on one hands.

The one from BC looks a bit odd too - like the legs on the person are way too big for the head. But I don't have time to zoom in on it and see if there is any weird looking stuff.

Dave, that's some BIG kitty feet!!!


The Canada picture guys legs look to me like he's wearing coveralls. That's Just the way coveralls make you look. They make you look a lot bigger around than you really are.

WF30-06

Yeah, Walter, that's true, but the proportions just don't look right - size of the head vs. the apparent distance between the knee and ankle, and the height of the person's head vs. the width.

I zoomed in on it with ArcSoft Photo Studio and there's some suspicious looking parts of the photo. Looks like the person's head has been stretched vertically to make it look more normal.
The eyes look too 'tall' and the colors don't match all over the face.

Anyway that's my opinion.

OK it's definitely faked.

If you were holding up something like this, you'd definitely wrap both hands clear around it.

Think about where your left hand would wrap around the front of the animal, just behind the front leg.

Now look at that picture and see how fuzzy that area is. Someone filled in it in, otherwise you'd have one giant hand that blows the picture (sort of like the top picture where the editing of the hand made it look like 6 fingers).

Want to hear something really funny? The original picture in this thread has been floated around Pennsylvania internet addresses as having been shot in the Keystone State, near the state capitol. :rolleyes: Riiight. And does anyone want to join my Sasquatch hunting on Monday? ;)

Seriously, why do people try to fake this stuff? Do they actually think people will believe such incredible stories without question? Do they have such a need for attention?

As for the B.C. pic, I agree with Mike. It's definitely faked. I spent 11 years in the photography business and can tell it was manipulated.

From Boone & Crockett:
http://www.boone-crockett.org/news/trophyWatch.asp?area=news#watchBB7DC690-F619-498B-AF6D-D4B2D3694C0B

One Big Cat
February 7, 2004
2/6/04 – Kansas, Iowa, Texas, Pennsylvania? – this cougar sure is getting around. We've received numerous emails asking about the story behind this B&C Trophy. Here's the skinny posed in Trophy Watch last January:


The big tom was taken by Ron Hisler from Duval, WA, with one shot from a .30-06 shooting Barnes X bullets. His partner, Jim Hackewitz used a varmint call to bring in the big cat – taken within 6 miles of Bellevue, WA. Bellevue is a major suburb of Seattle. Washington voters passed a bill banning the hunting of cougars with dogs a few years back. Good idea?

UPDATE: Unofficial score – 15-12/16, which would be in a 6-way tie for #7 all-time. Included in this list is a 15-12/16 tom taken by the only American President in the records book – Boone and Crockett Club Founder, Theodore Roosevelt, which when entered was the World's Record at that time. Roosevelt took his cougar near Meeker, CO, in 1901.

4/30/03 UPDATE: The official entry score for this cougar is 15-7/16.

http://www.boone-crockett.org/news/imagesWatch/bigcat.jpg

What's the official weight? And did anyone ever confirm if the guy holding the cat really does have 6 fingers on one hand? :)

I don't know the weight, not sure if JJ weighed it or not. I'm pretty sure he doesn't have six fingers, probably is the side of his hand being flattened by the weight of the cougar.

It doesn't look like he has six fingers in the picture with just the paw.

Zoom in 3x or 4x with some bitmap editing software.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), this was not my hunting effort. The information I got was as follows:

IT WAS KILLED ON THE MONCRIEF RANCH APPROX. 20 MILES WEST OF FORT WORTH. BY A COYOTE HUNTER USING A CALL. THE HUNTER IS 6' 2".

The Moncreif Ranch is about 10,000 acres and was one of the first ranches in Texas to be high fenced.
Since, it is ringed with residential development, I am sure I can get a good deal on a house close by if this picture is real.

I have seen two mountain lion in the last 25 years and each year there is sightings within 100 miles of Fort Worth, but nothing the size of this kitty.
It looks like it was lying down and someone pieced this picture together. A lion like that would cause a stir at the local gun shop, and that didn't happen.

Makes a good story though-

From Boone & Crockett:
http://www.boone-crockett.org/news/trophyWatch.asp?area=news#watchBB7DC690-F619-498B-AF6D-D4B2D3694C0B

One Big Cat
February 7, 2004
2/6/04 – Kansas, Iowa, Texas, Pennsylvania? – this cougar sure is getting around. We've received numerous emails asking about the story behind this B&C Trophy. Here's the skinny posed in Trophy Watch last January:


The big tom was taken by Ron Hisler from Duval, WA, with one shot from a .30-06 shooting Barnes X bullets. His partner, Jim Hackewitz used a varmint call to bring in the big cat – taken within 6 miles of Bellevue, WA. Bellevue is a major suburb of Seattle. Washington voters passed a bill banning the hunting of cougars with dogs a few years back. Good idea?

UPDATE: Unofficial score – 15-12/16, which would be in a 6-way tie for #7 all-time. Included in this list is a 15-12/16 tom taken by the only American President in the records book – Boone and Crockett Club Founder, Theodore Roosevelt, which when entered was the World's Record at that time. Roosevelt took his cougar near Meeker, CO, in 1901.

4/30/03 UPDATE: The official entry score for this cougar is 15-7/16.

http://www.boone-crockett.org/news/imagesWatch/bigcat.jpg


:eek: my real question is HOW can he even lift up a cat that BIG, my dad shot a 300 lb blackbear and couldn't even lift it above his waist and my dad used to lift weights he could bench 500+ lbs.. still can.

Heres a link to the original thread at the Campfire.
http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=117038&page=&view=&sb=5&o=&fpart=1&vc=1

I am so jealous!!!!!! I hope I get one that big one of these days. It's a fine looking animal, whoever shot it.


Walter30-06:cool:

Now just what is so unusual about having six fingers? I have six fingers on each hand and I’m no freak.. I bet I can type faster than you too. ;)