Didn't want to step on Elksong's thread, so here is my version. This occurred in the 90's, near Dubois, Wyoming. A buddy and I were elk hunting, and took an afternoon break to do some fishing. We hiked into a steep canyon with our fly rods, fished for a couple of hours, and on our return, there was a buck mule deer which had been killed and eaten while we were fishing. He was laying almost in our tracks, so there was no way we could have missed him earlier. There were tracks of a mature lion and several little lions around the carcass.
Although he was almost totally consumed, I sat on the kill in hopes that the lion would return. She didn't, of course, but a coyote happened by and he went on full alert when he neared the carcass; don't know if he smelled me or the lion, but he left in a hurry. When Elksong posted his story, I dug through some old pictures and found the deer carcass. So, again, no lion, but a well consumed deer.
(http://i886.photobucket.com/albums/ac67/peastes/3a06c800.jpg)
I'm loving these threads. Thanks!
Cool.
Cool story and photo! I actually enjoy hunting in an area where there are other apex predators running around. I hunted in the Bob Marshall wilderness, quite a few years ago and the thought of running into a Grizzly kept me on my toes! I was only 14, but I remember how much sharper I felt like my senses were hunting there.
Neat stuff.I only ever found one real fresh kill and that was a 3 pt mulie buck killed by a 162# tom.I do find quite a few that are finished up.
Coyote probably smelled both you and the lion and decided he was walking into a nightmare! LOL.