Mountain Lions in IL?

I am convinced anyone who has "claimed" to have seen a mountain lion in illinois needs to quit drinking straight out of the river. I have been in the woods of illinois since I was 14 and most of my buddies bow hunt. You would think if there was one around somone would have seen it from a tree stand. Not running through their hay field mauling their horses. Its a bunch of crap. People just wanna create a big fuss and blah blah blah. Its gonna take more than a mountain lion to keep me out of my treestand. and if i DO happen to see one while im on stand... you better believe im puttin an arrow through it. IDNR can kiss my @ss. All i can do is smile everytime they sit in their tripod off my hunting land and i "find" an excuse to go out in the woods and make as much noise as possible Pucker up IDNR

Yes there are Cougars in Ogle County i'v seen one stone cold sober and about sh** my pants. I reported it to the ogle county sheriff oven by esmond on 64.

There's no doubt there are Cougars in Ogle County I saw and reported it back in 1993 to the Ogle County Sheriff's Department . Off highway 64 at the esmond curve

There's no doubt there are Cougars in Ogle County I saw and reported it back in 1993 to the Ogle County Sheriff's Department . Off highway 64 at the esmond curve

search on the wisconsin DNR website for mountain Lion. There is one confirmed to have come into IL and then return to Wisconsin where it was captured.

Theres one that escaped out of walworth and was last seen at white oaks and state line in Harvard IL.

personally seen one in Ogle county. Then there is the trail cam photos that ive seen from this area too. no not a bunch of crap. They are here just like wolves are, buy the way seen two of those also.

Where I deer hunt down in Alexander County there was one hit by a train a few years ago. One of our buddies has one on a trail cam just a couple miles down the road from our property. They have seen a cat walk into to woods right where my stand is. I live in Kane County and out behind my neighborhood I have found tracks of the big cats. I know they aren't coyote or a large domestic dog because noone has a dog with a track bigger then my fist in a ball. 280lb guys have big fists too. I find deer kills almost weekly when I'm shed hunting. coyotes dont cover their kills with grass but cougars do and they are usually always covered as well. 5 Miles from my house at a tree farm my buddy has pictures of a mountain lion on his trail cam. A friend that I turkey hunt with and ocassionaly deer hunt with has seen a document from the 80's which stated there were 2 pairs of breeding cougars placed in every county to keep deer herds down. 2 pairs means 4 cougars and cougars have more the one cub per litter if you will. over the years that number adds up.

Just in the paper this morning

There is one in jo davies county i know for sure.

For all you people in Illinois that dont believe that mountian lions are not in your state guess again. They are not here to scare you but to try and control the deer herd. Wisconsin dnr have been releasing them for years but deny it. I personally saw one in Vernon county in the early 90's. Was no house cat. Nor a bobcat. Looking thru bino's at about 800 yards for about 30 minutes with 6 other people. It was there. Amish kids have been attacked by them walking to and from school. Thier horses while going down the road. They dont call the cops or the dnr. They take after the cat and eliminate it. Plain and simple. I know people that have trail videos of the dnr unloading them by Lacrosse but still deny it. As we all know, dnr stands for damn near russians!

A few years ago the Chicago Police Dept. shot one in the city at Hoyne st. and Roscoe. That is about 2 miles west of Wrigley Field. It way one block from my grade school. Fox news had a video of it walking around earlier that day. The cornered it and it JUMPED OVER a police officer. That what they reported. They unloaded there 9mm, killed it and shot holes in some guys AC unit. A DNA test showed it was from South Dakota. Everyone thought it must have been someones PET that got out. Most PET Mountain Lions/cougars are captured in South America. Different DNA. A few weeks before a farmer in Milton WI. seen one in his barn. It cut its paw and left blood and tracks in the snow. The Blood and Cat in Chicago were a match. My guess is that the cat traveled south on some R&R Tracks from Wisconsin and into the city. I got a call and was there about one hour after it happened. Lots of cops with fancy uniforms, Tv folks, helicopters and city officals. No one believed it. I bet those cops had to clean their pants.

I found tracks , smelled 4 - 6 foot area's that had been sprayed it reaked like cat piss. If I wouldn't of found the tracks and sign I did I would still be a skeptic but other people in the area reported a large cat before and after I found the tracks and I never said a word to them we all had suspicions of a large cat in the area.... we just never talked about it because of people like you who thought we were crazy.

Hoyt, unfortunately there are mountain lions in Illinois. The Chicago PD (as stated below) killed one in an urban environment. You are most likely NOT going to see them until they attack, so that is why there are not a lot of sightings. I believe animals are adapting to the growth (residential and business) that is happening. They are getting wiser to survive because they are losing THEIR habitat as we grow ours.. Look at the coyote, you can find them everywhere. I had one in my backyard last month. I am saying since they are getting wiser, we as hunters have to get wiser as well.

Dang! elkhntr, I was going to reply to the Hoyt poster with the same information. I had a patient (I'm a therapist) who has showed me a couple of pics of a cat he took at his place in Bull Valley, IL (between Woodstock, Crystal Lake and McHenry) last summer. It is walking alongside his garden and it taller than a couple of 5 gallon buckets that are well in front of the cat. He contacted the DNR. They took his pics and told him that they were of a bobcat. Luckily, he had doubles made. I have never seen a bobcat that has a tail nearly as long as it's body and of solid tanish color!! If I can get in touch with him again I will see if I can get a copy to scan and post.

I, personally have never encountered any sign of a cougar/mountain lion in IL. Who knows.....my patient probably printed the pics off of the internet.

This might put the subject in a different perspective. This lion was shot in a suburb of Chicago supposedly the same one that was confirmed in Milton Wi about 30 miles from the state line. They then did DNA testing and believe it came from South Dakota. There is no doubt in my opinion that cougors have and will be in Illinois at times. The territory they can rome in is like the wolves, and if you don't think there are wolves in Illinois you might be mistaken also. http://neveryetmelted.com/2008/04/16/mountain-lion-shot-in-chicagos-north-side/