Mountain Lion Really Killed this Whitetail
BuckManager.com | Non-typical Stuff
Readers of this site know that I usually write about deer management and anything related to hunting and white-tailed deer. In addition, I do my best to get the facts correct before publishing content that I feel is accurate and helpful to hunters and land owners such as yourselves. Well, about a month ago I wrote an article that featured the photo above of a mountain lion dragging a dead buck, and stated that the photo was a fake. As it turns out, the photo is not fake, but a really amazing trail camera photo taken on a ranch in South Texas.
Every deer hunter that has spent any amount of time in the woods, or more appropriately around a campfire with other hunters, has heard stories related to mountain lion sightings. In fact, that’s one of the best things about getting outdoors and into the wildlife woods–you just never know what you are going to see. And speaking from experience and these photos below, there are some pretty amazing things going on in the “woods” all of the time.
Photos, like campfire stories, are not always truthful. Before writing the first article about this photo of a mountain lion dragging a buck, I did a little research regarding the photo. If this photo had been faked, it would not have been the first. To make a long story short, someone admitted that they had ”made” the photo. As it turns out, the real owner of the mountain lion photo saw the article, contacted me, gave the real story, and provided me with additional photos to corroborate the mountion lion kill.
The photos below are in time succession, show a deer fleeing the area prior to the buck kill, and you can even see the drag marks in the dirt after the lion walks in front of the game camera. The ranch owner even said he found the whitetail’s head and remains about six weeks after these photos were taken. A truly remarkable occurrence, especially since it was caught on film. A special thanks to Chet Markgraf for his story and these photos!
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Glad you posted this. Some idiot in Pennsylvania photoshopped the image and it’s going around all over the place that it occurred in Cambridge Springs, PA.
Charlie | Sep 11, 2009 | Reply
My dad tried to say it was Photoshopped, so of course I had to google it. Thanks for the article about this mountain lion.
Andi | Sep 13, 2009 | Reply
I heard today that it was Artemas, Pennsylvania, and questioned it because it’s a rare occurance for a mountain lion in that area. Decided to look it up on the web. Thanks for the truth, so I can shut down the BIG BOY gossipers…
TORI | Sep 15, 2009 | Reply
yeah thanks for the truth shut the guys up at work
Jonathon | Sep 16, 2009 | Reply
Thanks for the pic… I too googled it because my hubby came home and said that one of his customers texted it to him saying that it was taken in Coshocton County, Ohio… LOL
Andrea K | Sep 18, 2009 | Reply
Thanks for publishing this!!! It tried to circulate the Indiana, PA area… that is a big cat for this area!!! Nice try people! Next time you want to say your trail cam got a pic like this, make sure you don’t get the pic from a popular site like this!!!
Chisy | Sep 18, 2009 | Reply
The picture has made it to Southeastern North Carolina as well. Several of my readers forwarded the photo or contacted me about it, amazed at the size of such a deer in our area as much as the presence of a “panther.” Enough of a hubbub that it makes our paper next week. While many of us hope we do have panthers in the Green Swamp, Colly Bay and Cape Fear Valley – we knew in our hearts this wasn’t from around here. Thanks for clearing it up. It’s an incredible sequence, regardless of the locale.
Wildman | Sep 18, 2009 | Reply
We live in a small town in ga called Thomaston. This picture broke out in a text message that my father in law sent me from someone who sent it to him. Now everyone in our small town is talking saying OMG theres a mountain lion. LOL, so I decided to google it because my sister just could not believe it. I pulled this up, so thanks for posting. Now I’m going to tell the truth that its not in damn Georgia, its in SOUTH TEXAS!
Laura | Sep 18, 2009 | Reply
This picture is also going around by text saying that it occured in Dinwidde, Virginia. I thought it was not true and google it and found this site. That’s what I thought.
Griffin | Sep 19, 2009 | Reply
Thanks for the article. I got this picture via text 2 days ago—saying it was taken in my area in central Virginia! My husband knew it couldn’t be true!!
Kris | Sep 19, 2009 | Reply
It’s going around in Western North Carolina now. The story is that “a farmer with motion sensors caught it.” Eastern mountain lions are SUPPOSED to be extinct in the wild–even though every person who has family that has lived here more than 2 generations has someone who has seen one in their family tree (there has been A LOT of alleged sightings lately too). I’ve heard either a mountain lion or a panther before—the eerie scream). I was so excited when it was texted to me. FINALLY, it though, we have PROOF. It was big let down that it wasn’t taken here. Anyways, FYI to anyone from the Appalachians if they get this posted, emailed or texted….
Haley | Sep 19, 2009 | Reply
That’s ok, in just one day this mountain lion pic has been showed to me twice and been in different places both times. North River, West Virgina, and Round Hill, Virginia. People just don’t have anything better to do?
Stephanie | Sep 20, 2009 | Reply
I of course being a child of the “snopes” era had to check out the credibility, so thanks for having an awesome follow up on this picture for the real story. Oh, and the story around my area is that the photos was taken in Batavia, NY.
Mandee | Sep 21, 2009 | Reply
Word is here that the mountain lion picture was taken east of Ava, Missouri. Funny thing is though, I didn’t know mesquite grew in the Ozarks! Pretty impressive cat if he is dragging this deer from MO to GA to WV, OH, and NC. Are people realy this naive, or just not too bright?
Doc | Sep 22, 2009 | Reply
The hard pan soil was a dead give away.
JohnOfArmstrongPa | Sep 23, 2009 | Reply
I’m glad I found this, but am disappointed that it really is not from central New York, as I had heard. The quality of the photo circulating around here is so bad that it’s impossible to make out details like the scrub brush or mesquite. That’s a pretty big tip-off that this photo/panther is not from this far north!
Phil | Sep 23, 2009 | Reply
This cat gets around. I too, was made aware of its presence in Batavia, NY. Anyone who studies whitetail could recognize the origin of that deer. Only in Texas do they have bucks small enough for a tabby to kill and carry ;)
Rob | Sep 24, 2009 | Reply
I live in north-eastern Iowa and I got this photo today saying it actually happened here. There’s been rumors going around that the DNR has released cougars around this area and this was a actual picture proving the DNR has been doing it. I knew I’d seen this photo somewhere online before, so I better check it out and make sure I was correct before I started spreading the word around.
TimIowa | Sep 24, 2009 | Reply
It doesn’t stop there… the photo made its way to small town Indiana. Laurel/Andersonville Area or Franklin County. If the picture had been true it would have put the kill pretty much in our backyard. Rumor-mill stated that the lion was killing cattle, running horses, people were finding dead deer; you name it the lion was jumping counties quickly with a long list of murder victims. If it wasn’t for my husband who had seen the photo on-line then there would have been a massive cat-hunt for a mountain lion that lives in south Texas. I don’t think the hunters are willing to travel that far!
The Griffin Family | Sep 25, 2009 | Reply
Thanks so much for posting this article… this “cat” sure does get around. I’m in a small town in Andrews, South Carolina. I received a telophone call from my grandfather stating that there was a cougar in a small community near us. Well, words going around fast so I finaly can shut them up. They sure had me fooled though! Thanks again!
blaine floyd | Sep 26, 2009 | Reply
Well, I was fooled when I saw the picture, but I went to a sniper school at Fort Hood and the hard-packed ground does give that away. Looks like Texas.
Blaine Floyd | Sep 26, 2009 | Reply
Thanks for bringing out the truth. This photo was printed in the local paper where I live in North Carolina. Three men submitted it saying the photo of the mountain lion dragging the buck was taken on their land in North Carolina. I can’t believe the paper printed it without doing a little research. Besides, I have never seen mesquite growing here in NC.
Mountainman | Sep 26, 2009 | Reply
How about that! My husband recieved this picture in an email and we live in St Louis, Missouri. It stated that this deer was killed by a mountain lion in Winfield, Missouri, which is about 45 minutes outside of St Louis.
Lori | Sep 27, 2009 | Reply
Glad I found this web site. I thought it was a Texas deer, but even in good copies of photo it looked photo shopped.
L Miller | Sep 27, 2009 | Reply
I too live in Virginia and the story going around was that it was taken in Halifax CO. Didn’t believe that and don’t believe this. Man, this is a joke. This may be real, if the cat found the deer already dead. In survival there would have been a fight and the deer would have wounds, hair pulled this way and that. Why would the mountain lion drag the whitetail buck somewhere first? If it killed because it was hungry, it would have eaten first, then cached the animal. It would not be hard to put the drag mark in place as part of the hoax. My feeling is, no blood, no kill. I’ll be a believer when another picture is provided.
Jimmy | Sep 29, 2009 | Reply
This cougar picture has made it to East Central Illinois and was supposedly taken here, but I believe you that it was taken in Texas.
Fat head | Sep 30, 2009 | Reply
I got this pic from my daughter, who got it from a friend and it stated it was taken south of Marshall, Texas.
phil walker | Oct 1, 2009 | Reply
Now it has made its way to Camden, Tennessee! Also said that it was caught from local wildlife camera… unbelievable!!
DN | Oct 1, 2009 | Reply
That is one traveling cougar! I got an e-mail from mom that this picture was taken two nights ago in Santee, South Carolina. Anyone that hunts SC knows our deer don’t get that big!!! LOL
Michael | Oct 5, 2009 | Reply
We had that same pic circulating our hunting community in Warren County, New Jersey. Damn, I love my stupid huntin buddies.
Lenny Duane | Oct 5, 2009 | Reply
Our local Fish and Game office here in Massachusetts just got a call from someone asking about this picture he received on his cell-phone, supposedly taken by a “state trooper in Copake, NY”. Glad to be able to debunk this myth before it gets too wide a foothold.
Brian | Oct 6, 2009 | Reply
This lion gets around. He made it to Pinos Altos, New Mexico too. We have whitetails but only a small subspecies called Coues. This would have been the world record Coues!!!! You Texans, keep your lion at home, we have plenty here.
C J | Oct 6, 2009 | Reply
It made its way to McDonough County in Illinois – and the picture was “taken” the night before bow season started on a local camera. Thanks for publishing this article. My dad’s an outfitter and his guys will be glad to hear that they are safe when they are hunting here.
Larry | Oct 7, 2009 | Reply
This cat has made the rounds. Just got a call this morning from a reporter wanting to know if this was true … the panther is now stalking deer in Clay County, Florida. Thanks for this article. I was able to do some rumor control.
Karen | Oct 9, 2009 | Reply
Have to agree that with a prior poster. Why are there no signs of a kill by the “cougar”. The deer looks untouched.
scott | Oct 9, 2009 | Reply
Boy that Cougar sure can travel! Word up here was that it was spotted in Cornell, Wisconsin, by a trail cam. Thanks for debunking the myth before I began to help spread it. Bob
Bob | Oct 14, 2009 | Reply
The same cougar was spotted in Trumbull County, Ohio, not to far from a busy highway, airport, and air force base. Maybe that’s how it’s able to be in so many places. It’s racking up some frequent flyer miles.
Matt | Oct 15, 2009 | Reply
The same picture was said to have been taken in Taylor, TX, by Lake Granger. He sure can move fast.
Eric | Oct 15, 2009 | Reply
Word around here is that this trail cam pic was taken outside Salem, Indiana. And no, we don’t have any big cats in the Hoosier state. I am amazed at the number of people that believe it was in Indiana!
Bruce | Oct 30, 2009 | Reply
That is some pretty crazy stuff! I have seen some stuff like that, but that is the most crazy thing I have ever seen. Congrats to the mountain lion.
cody | Oct 30, 2009 | Reply
This cat made it down to the Alabama/Tennessee line last week! :-)
Springer | Nov 4, 2009 | Reply
Well, add Calloway County just north of Murray, KY to the list. It was supposedly taken in Clarks River bottoms 4 miles downstream from my house. I was very suspicious so I wound up here.
Tim Ray | Nov 4, 2009 | Reply
I decided to do some research on this lion photo because it was given to me and I was told it was taken a few miles away from my house. Well, turns out it was, and I live 10 miles from where it was taken. My buddies and I hunt coyotes around here, so hope he doesn’t suprise us.
Cody K | Nov 5, 2009 | Reply
The same pic was sent to me saying it was shot in White County, Indiana. That is one fast and hungry cat!
Eric | Nov 5, 2009 | Reply
Crap, I covered 13 miles the last 3 days hunting for this thing in Delaware Water Gap PA
Rich P | Nov 6, 2009 | Reply
To Jimmy and Scott, I was just wondering if you two guys are hunters. If not I can understand why you wouldn’t believe these photos. I live in Texas, hunt all over the this great state and we have some pretty amazing things happen. If you do hunt and you’ve been successfull before, then you should know that there are times when you shoot an animal that you don’t always get the bloody mess that you’re shallow mind is wanting to see.
I don’t recall anybody on here asking you to believe it. What I will do is challenge each one of you to go down to Texas, go on a week hunt in an area like this, and spend your nights outdoors. Then we will see what your opinion is then.
David | Nov 10, 2009 | Reply
Wow, he really travels. This cougar was supposed to be up here in northeast Washington state!! ha ha.
Mike | Nov 13, 2009 | Reply
Well, that cat had people in a email uproar in Maine. Always been rumors of cats here. It spread thru the town of Ellsworth, Maine, like wildfire. It got me!
cyrus | Nov 17, 2009 | Reply
This cat has been everywhere. I got the picture in a text message about a month ago. Story is picture was taken by a trail camera somewhere around New Salem, North Dakota, which is about 30 miles strait west of Bismarck.
Mike | Nov 22, 2009 | Reply
I have been whitetail hunting in the same spot for 14 years. I have heard and heard again stories of mountain lions on my farm, but this year I was mowing around my deer stand in July and sure enough, a giant mountain lion ran out of the grass.
Tony battaglia | Nov 24, 2009 | Reply
Since almost every state in the union is represented I thought I better get southern Minnesota in here. We have some cougars around and we have rumors of DNR releasing cougars in the area. I’ve been hearing about this pic for a week or two. Most were saying it was taken by a trail cam near Winnebago, Minnesota, and included the name of the property owner. I researched the story on google when I first heard about it hoping I would get to see a video of a local cougar dragging a deer. I found it pretty comical when I received the pic from two different people today. One said from Truman and included the property owner’s name and one saying it was taken near Frost, MN.
Bill | Nov 24, 2009 | Reply
WOW, this is better than a big fish story! It looks like every state in the U.S. has claimed it. We got the picture about a month ago and was told it was taken within 30 miles of us in Tazewell, Virginia. Good thing our cousin recognized the pic.
Michele | Nov 27, 2009 | Reply
Just to let everyone know, the cat and buck are in Mississippi now. Not sure where they are headed.
Stacy | Dec 6, 2009 | Reply
This pic has been getting people in an uproar. But this is a actual photo very simular to this photo of a lion with a deer in its mouth, but this one was a smaller deer and was taken by cell phone on a front lawn on route 1A in Ellsworth. Now could it be possible that some people from up here are getting these two photos confused?
Frank | Dec 6, 2009 | Reply
I completely believe this. If you look at the drag marks made by the cat it’s kind of hard to get those marks exactly the same. Almost impossible. And cougars are known to drag their kill to a tree to eat so that they are not disturbed. Great pic!
Dylan | Dec 25, 2009 | Reply
ANY deer can be taken by a mountain lion. My question is (since this is obviously not an infra-red flash trail cam), could this buck have been near (50 feet or so) from the camera when it flashed before, thereby giving the deer night blindness and not allowing the buck to intelligently escape the lion (or even see it)? Just a thought…
Hunter D | Jan 4, 2010 | Reply
WOW, this cat has been around!! I live in southern Minnesota near Truman, where this cat was supposedly seen. Myself, as has anyone else that seen the picture, knew it was not from this area. You dont see hard-packed ground like that around here unless you are standing in the middle of a gravel road ;).
However, in response to Bill’s comment about the Minnesota DNR releasing Mountain Lions in our area, I will tell you that it is absoulutely TRUE! We lease some land near Truman MN for hunting and the landowner spotted a mother and 2 cubs on our land this fall. He contacted the DNR and they told him infact that they have released 3 mountain lions in the area. Their reasoning: To control coyote populations. Haha, what a joke!
Brandon | Jan 12, 2010 | Reply
Still circulating…now it’s in Kansas!
Christi | Jan 15, 2010 | Reply
It’s now in Gilford, New Hampshire. There have not been any mountain lions in New Hampshire since the late 1800’s, but every once in awhile there is a supposed sighting. This one got a lot of us excited. However, facts are facts. Too bad.
Paul F. | Jan 15, 2010 | Reply
What a popular photo. It has made it to Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire. The big cat was allegedly was in Gilford, NH.
Delong | Jan 18, 2010 | Reply
Might as well add Oklahoma to the list. The local pawn shop has this picture taped to the door saying it was taken in Whiteoak.
K. Williams | Jan 20, 2010 | Reply
Was told this mountain lion photo was taken in Gilford, New Hampshire. I was telling people it was true and now I sound like an ass. Oh well. Glad the truth is out!!
Terry | Jan 23, 2010 | Reply
I can’t say if it was 8 or 10 years ago, but I remember it was in August. I saw a cat just like this in Abbieville, South Carolina. I went to my wildlife dept and told them, but the guy just laughed at me. Well, kinda of. I told him If I saw it again that I would shoot it. I really wasn’t because he also told me there was a $60,000 fine and jail time if I did? This didn’t make sense to me since mountain lions are not here??? A few days later SHE was seen with 2 cubs (by me and 3 other people). As much time as I have spent in the outdoors I have never seen anything like that since.
William Cogburn | Jan 23, 2010 | Reply
What county and the nearest town?
Robert | Jan 26, 2010 | Reply
Thought you’d like to know that versions (PhotoShopped) of the cougar photos are making the email rounds up here in Maine as purported sightings of cougars on a “game camera.” Some people have a lot of time on their hands I guess.
Clarke Nattress | Feb 2, 2010 | Reply
Well, I feel pretty dumb. Chet’s neighbor told me that this was caught on Chet’s camera and I told him he was full of it. I got the pic from a friend in SC via text message and thought it was from out that way. Now, I see this and it verifies the story of coming from Chet’s camera. Right in my own backyard! Gonna go bring in the pets now. See y’all later!
Bill | Feb 8, 2010 | Reply
Maybe the picture could have been photoshopped, but if so, they did a good job. A cougar or big cat usually grabs prey by the neck, both to kill and to drag. As far as why the deer didn’t look like it had been put through the wringer, that is one big cougar, with plenty of jaw pressure. They kill pretty efficiently. Surely, if you ever had a house cat that catches mice or birds, you’ve seen some all torn up and others that barely have a mark.
This video was posted on some Colorado news website: Mountain Lion Kill Video
It is a different cougar, looks to be smaller, maybe a female. Assuming this was not somehow staged (and how would you propose to do that?), note the deer is not all bloody and beaten up. And note how quickly it was all over. Big cats put a bite to the neck if they can, to either damage the nervous system or asphyxiate.
Edward Akin | Mar 6, 2010 | Reply