by Cory Smith
“ … cougars vary in moods just as much as mankind. Because of their feline strategy and craftiness, they are most difficult animals to hunt; I know none more so.” -Theodore Roosevelt
Behind every hunting story is the ancestral feeling of the need to pursue wild things in wild places. You add in the use of a dog and it becomes almost primordial. The strings between a hunter and canine are so interwoven throughout history that it’s hard to determine who reached out first, us or the dogs. Once you’ve been around hunting dogs, you can’t help but smile as you watch them work.
That is where this story truly started, with a passion for working dogs of any kind and in any terrain! I love watching dogs work, from labs pushing through the decoys, pointers locked down before a flush, and my personal favorite, hounds hot on a trail baying through the timber. As a boy, I remember watching Old Yeller and reading Where The Red Fern Grows and thinking, “One day I’ll have a dog like that!” Through the years I have had them all, but something was always a little different with me. I wouldn’t ever consider myself a purest of one hunting style, I loved them all. As the years passed, I realized it was that pursuit of the next adventure that would drive me towards new and wilder places, and it was that desire that led me to chase something that I would more than likely never see in my home state of Texas!
I remember it like it was yesterday. It was 2015 at the Safari Club International show in Dallas, Texas. I must have stood there for fifteen minutes watching a video and I knew right then this was a hunt I wanted to do—Mountain lions, in the snow, with hounds. These outfitters were checking off all the boxes for me. Wild places, physically demanding, hunting with dogs, it was all there, and I was hooked! However, as sometimes happens in life, that dream got moved around and pushed back. But, in the fall of 2021, it all came rushing back, and it was go time.
I started researching where you could pursue cats with hounds, what time of year was best, and what states produced the largest “toms,” which is what the males are known as. I quickly locked in on Utah. That’s where I wanted to go for several reasons. The first was that it not only produced cats, but it produced big cats—toms often over 160 pounds! Secondly, it was a beautiful, rough, rugged state. It was country that would push my limits physically and make memories that would last a lifetime! I found Alpha Outfitters who had a reputation of being very solid, only shooting toms, and producing big cats. I reached out to owner Garrett Smith. We talked about how they hunt everything Utah has to offer, and they are known for really big tom cats! Garrett and I talked several times over the next few weeks and finally got my dates ironed out for the last week in December. He told me there would be a chance for rough weather and possibly big storms with lots of snow, but, he said, “Let’s go get you a lion.” We made the final arrangements for lodging and who my guide would be for the first few days, then said see you in a few weeks!
Three weeks later I found myself in Utah meeting my guide for my first day, and my heart was racing. I had all my gear loaded and ready to go! I walked through those hotel doors at 3:30 a.m. to the blowing snow, a sign across the street reading 4 degrees, and I instantly knew it was going to be everything I wanted it to be, and more. My guides, Kayson Borg and Wes Fautin, and myself, literally put in hard miles each day. I fought as hard as I’ve ever hunted those four days. We used trucks until it got too rough, then ran snowmobiles, and we pushed it to the limits every day! We cut tracks daily and we treed a few larger females, but mother nature had other plans. With two and a half days left, I was advised if I wanted to get back to Texas anytime in the next few weeks I better leave now because the blizzard wasn’t stopping! In those four days it snowed over 54” and that storm produced more snow in that area of Utah than had been seen in over twenty years! Was it a success in terms of me killing a mountain lion? NO, but it was worth every second of it and I would do it over again instantly. I have always said, the kill isn’t what makes the memories, it is the people and the journey!
As I drove home, I thought about how amazing the trip was and that maybe I could do that hunt again in a few years. Little did I know, the outfitter I had chosen was one of a kind, and truly a man of his word. Garrett called me a few days later to see if I made it home safely. During our conversation, he made an offer I couldn’t believe. He said, “Come back next year!” because he wasn’t going to let Mother Nature drop his success number down because of a little snow. My Dad always told me things have a funny way of working out better in God’s timing rather than our own. The dates Garrett invited me to come back were early, which put several things in my favor. The bigger lions had not yet been picked over so our odds would go up, early November should be better weather, but it was also my oldest son’s birthday week. I contemplated for a day or so what to do, then I pulled my son, Carter, aside one day and asked him, “Do you want to have a birthday party, or would you rather go on a big hunt with me?” He is a very meticulous kid and carefully evaluates his decisions. I could see the gears turning, then he replied, “For what?” I couldn’t complete the entire word “LIONS” before he said yes! That entire summer we prepped for the physical demands of the hunt. Carter walked with me every day with a small pack on. I talked to him about how it was going to be hard, but fun. When that week came around, we were both itching to go! We drove to Utah and got into the area we would be hunting a day early, and we opted for a meal from the Jetboil instead of a restaurant because, according to him, “We are outdoorsmen this week!”
That next morning, we met our guide, Ryley. We loaded our gear around the dog boxes, and off we went into the darkness! Lion hunters start early. You can’t cut dogs loose until sunrise, but you can cut trails anytime, and if you find the right one, you just wait! Although there was no snow in the forecast, the drive towards the mountains seemed eerily familiar. The further we got out of town, the harder it was snowing! Thoughts came creeping back from the previous year, but I was assured the spot we were going had a big tom in it, and we were going to burn him down. Ryley was one of those guys that as soon as you meet him, you are connected like an old friend, and we swapped stories over hot coffee as the thermometer on the truck plummeted into the low single digits. We pulled off onto a logging road and started cutting trails. It was all too familiar, too much snow. The tracks we found were covered with 4” of fresh powder, but then around 9:00 a.m. it happened. We cut tracks in the area where the big tom was seen the week prior, and although it looked to be maybe a day old it was still in good shape. The race soon started, and it was a dash. Dog collars were flying, tracking gear turned on, loaded our packs, my bow, and grabbed some water! Ryley hollered over the dogs with a big smile, “Put on your gaiters. The snow up where that tom is headed is deep.” It seemed like an eternity, but within a matter of minutes the chase was on, and I knew this was the point when the work really started. We were fifteen minutes in and the blueticks were screaming ahead. By the time we reached the mouth of that steep box canyon, they were already a long way out in front of us. When we hit the first steep section, we stopped to watch the dogs as they were blazing up a rocky outcropping. It was everything I wanted in a lion hunt with hounds! Carter gave me a hug and we turned to see Ryley just smiling, every hunter knows that look, and we all laughed as he said, “They are on him and moving quick, let’s go!” We had covered roughly another mile when things really started getting, in the words of my son, “sketch.” The easy terrain we had been in quickly went to ice and nearly vertical! We were steadily traversing a cross-hill section when Ryley spun and blurted, “They are treed. We might have that big tom!” That is when my only fear happened. I knew going into this hunt that my son had never been in steep terrain. This would require a fast learning curve and in that excitement, he lost his footing! Time seemed to freeze for a few brief moments as he slid helplessly down the hill nearly sixty yards, but somehow, he managed to stop! I unloaded my pack, and went bailing down to him. After a brief injury check, we slowly worked back up to my gear. He wasn’t hurt, but he was rattled really bad. Not just physically, but mentally too! I told Ryley to give us a little bit, which he completely understood, and he asked if it was ok if he kept following the hounds. I assured him we would be fine, and he said he would leave a radio and call when he got to the tree which was about another half mile away! I told him before he took off if it wasn’t a shooter we were going to start going back towards the truck, but if it is that big tom we will be there!
Carter and I sat for about 20 minutes. We talked about the mental side of life, how quitting is easy but pushing through fear and adversity is what makes you stronger! I told him that if he wanted to go back, we could, and the choice was his. But, if he wanted to continue then we would go home with a better story than any of his friends would have when school started back from Thanksgiving break! As we sat there talking and laughing, he decided it was worth it, and he wanted to keep pushing towards the lion and we did what the kids nowadays call “hugging it out.” Then the call came across the radio we had been waiting for! It was Ryley. The radio was crackling, but it cleared up enough that we heard “Cory, get up here, NOW! You are going to want this tom!” I looked over at Carter he said, “Let’s go Dad!”
It took us about another forty-five minutes, and in total nearly four hours to cover those 3.5 miles that the dogs covered in what felt like thirty minutes! When we got there, it was picture perfect. In the tree was the biggest cat I had ever seen in person! The dogs bawling their hearts out surrounded by cold snowy mountains all around, and my son right by my side. This hunt was checking all the boxes from that video that started this whole wild adventure! We decided where to shoot from and discussed where to place the arrow. I was getting ready to send it and I assured Ryley one last time I was capable of making the shot! At that moment, time slowed down. Cell phones recording, cameras on red, dogs hollering, it all went quiet as I knocked my arrow and drew my bow back. I slowly looked around at everything, everyone, it all seemed surreal. It was perfect and I will never forget that moment! I took a few deep breaths and asked if everyone was ready, then let my Hoyt Ventum PRO eat! I felt it as soon as I released the arrow. All archers know that feeling, and I remember thinking “MONEY” then it instantly all went back into hyper speed again! After 30 seconds of chaos, it was all over. The big tom tumbled out of the tree and down the hill. The dogs went bolting after him! The barking stopped. Then, from about eighty yards below us, I hear the words loud and clear, “He’s done! You got your LION, and he is a tank!” The next hour was spent taking pics, giving high-fives and hugs, and reminiscing about the adventure we all just had! Then, like always, the real work started with skinning, quartering, and packing it all back down that mountain to the truck! As we walked back, I still couldn’t believe it happened on day one, my oldest son was with me, and that I was going home with one heck of a mountain lion!
All lions are required by Utah DNR to be checked at a station within twenty-four hours, so the next morning to make sure everything was done according to state law we headed over to the local check station. We checked in and then headed to the truck to start taking measurements for their record keeping! Tip to tip my tom measured right at 7’7” missing roughly 2-4” of his tail. According to the biologist he was estimated to be roughly 4-5 years old and between 165-175 pounds! They keep records of all the lions that are harvested to track life span, population density, predator to prey ratios, and make sure the ecology of Utah stays well balanced! They also remove a molar that they use for exact aging and they let me help with the extraction!
To say it was an amazing trip would be an understatement, and as Carter and I explored our way home, we planned out the next adventure! Success was had, memories were made, friendships were developed that will last a lifetime, and the thrill of the hunt will continue next season!
