big cats in northern Indiana

[red_zr24x4]

My brother was helping at the dairy farm across the street from his house yesterday, 3 people there, including him saw a BIG cat out in the field by the cows. They got a gun and through the scope (250yrds) they had a clear view of it. My brother was amazed.
About a year ago someone who lives within a few miles had a horse mauled , (people in St. Joe county might remember this ,was on the news)

So when DNR says we dont have big cats in Indiana DONT believe them!
This was in the North Liberty area.

 

[shooter521]

saw a BIG cat out in the field by the cows. They got a gun and through the scope (250yrds) they had a clear view of it.

They had a clear view of it, but couldn't give any more specific of a description than "a BIG cat"?

 

[Fishersjohn48]

Color? Markings? Relative size to the cattle in the field? My neighbors have a "big cat" 20 lbs of over fed fluff. More details are wanted please.

 

[red_zr24x4]

He gave plenty of description , I was the one who didnt pass it on.

he said-- Big as in not a house cat eastimated at 2'6"-3' at the shoulder.
fawn brown with some white on the chest
long tail, tail looked like it was the length of the body
He said that most of the time the cat was in view it was crouching like it was stalking and the tail was twitching
He told me this at about 9pm lastnight I will get more details today

the sighting was between 4-6pm

 

[Mgderf]

IIRC there is a big cat refuge somewhere in northern Indiana.
Maybe it was an escapee?
I would NOT be surprised though, if it were a wild cat on it's natural travels. There was a time when bobcats and the like populated Indiana.

 

[infidel]

Just heard a story today of a guy up north (sorry I forget where) that had a run in with what he called a cougar while bow hunting last week.

 

[jbhummer2]

There was tracks seen down in the North Liberty area about 3 years ago if i remember right. I have heard other people in the area make comments about seeing them.

 

[Bucky623]

They’re defiantly around. A farm five miles west of us (south of Rochester) had several hogs torn up and one killed, a while back, by something that left big paw prints that didn’t have claws showing but did leave claw marks in the hogs.

There is a place close to Monticello that is a shelter for big cats.

Bucky

 

[Fishersjohn48]

Found this on large cat "rescue". Great Cats of Indiana in Monticello. Sounds like a hell hole for large cats.
Big Cat News: Great Cats of Indiana

 

[MoparMan]

Theres another post on here about this in southern indiana. We've seen many at Atterbury. Just seen a couple stalking some deer last night actually.

 

[haldir]

There have been sightings reported of a black cougar in Kosciusko County several times over the years. A buddy of mine that lives near a swamp down there said he heard what he thought was one and has seen tracks of one.

 

[singlestacksig]

I saw one near the wabash in Fountain county, DNR says they are getting more reports of them, but can't "prove" they are back in Indiana till they get a body..

 

[JByer323]

I've seen (what I believe to be) a cougar while backpacking in the Hoosier National Forest before. I couldn't look at tracks, but I know DNR has lots of reports from down in that area.

Pretty cool, actually.

 

[hotfarmboy1]

My buddy saw one around here about a year ago less than a mile from his farm. It was near another nearby farm that raised cattle. Funny thing was, before this the farmer had probs with coyotes going after the cattle. But after the cat was spotted, he stopped having probs with coyotes, and they weren't around the area anymore. With no damage to his cattle. Andrew (yamaha on here) said it looked like it was a cougar/mountain lion. And was the reason he bought his 30-06 after I started bugging him to get something bigger. lol

 

[red_zr24x4]

Just talked to my cousin, he said someone over near Elkhart has trail cam pics of a couger from just a few weeks ago

 

[koenig clone]

cougars in indiana?

anybody ever seen one here first hand? I struck up a conversation with a stranger about deer hunting and he proceeded to show me a picture of a cougar dragging an 8 pt buck by the neck from one of his game cameras in the southern part of the state. I was skeptical about it, especially since i don't know him well. There are websites with sightings all over the state. I'm an avid hunter. I had never heard of this though. Just wondering if anyone else had seen one first hand. I'm sure someone will post some pics of some hot women, I won't complain about that either.

 

[czar996]

I have a buddy in the DNR and he was telling me that there are big cats in the south west. Haven't seen any nor heard first hand from anyone that has though...

 

[cue7467]

I hunt in Bloomington and we have heard the stories down there. A friend of my brother in laws has a picture of a cat of some sort dragging a deer through the woods on his trail cam. I am sure there is some around, heck I have heard stories of people seeing armidillo's in southern Indiana. I sure would like to see some of the "cat" pictures myself, but I always carry a sidearm while hunting either during bow or gun season. I see plenty of Coyote's but if I see a "cat" I am shooting it. Don't think Indiana has a season per-say but who is gonna argue if you shoot one?

 

[Cygnus]

Sweet what are they driving? Are they.....generous? Oh sorry.....

 

[Big John]

I have seen many many cougars around here. I believe most of them favor one particular watering hole but since I normally do not partake in that form of liquid refreshment I seldom go to that watering hole.

Cougar hunting is very specialized and the hunter must be well prepared and be able to recognize said cougar sometimes in very low light conditions. Sometimes the hunt is very quick but more then not it is a slow and steady hunter who will get his prey.