# panthers in georgia



## tail_slider3d

I know I have personally seen two panthers while hunting here in Georgia.  One was late in the afternoon and the other was in broad daylight, less than 100 yards away.  If you talk to the biologist and DNR they say no but me and a few others say yes for sure.  You cant deny that bloody scream they make at daybreak.

Anybody else seen one?


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## t bird

My cousin hunts some land here in Milledgeville beside the sinclair dam and swears up and down he saw one last turkey season on two different occasions, My aunt saw one in the stand not 40 yards the other day and freaked out and I know she don'e lie, she want hardly go hunting untill gun season is in!


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## gapeach

*Spotted 1 in Banks County*

My father saw 1 and also heard one scream late at night close to his house off of Martin Bridge Rd. in Banks County...DNR told him the same thing...they are not here in GA.  My dad swears different though.  He says their scream is a scream that you can recognize (like no other...)


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## Hawkeye

Yes there are panthers in Georgia, I know in Alapaha Ga, I had a lease on teh Old Saw Mill Road Off 129, and I seen a panther twice and everytime we shot a deer and left it overnight to find, we would find it burried in leafs and branches and the hind quarters eaten, coyotes do not do this.
Then In 1993 a big panther chased our cook back to the cabin and he had a real closed encounter, then last year we saw a black cat, weigh 75 to 80 lbs only 50 yards away, sitting on the paved road.
So anyone who says there aren't is doing so because they have not seen any.
That doesn't mean they don't exist in Ga.


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## Paddle

I haven't seen any Black Panthers, yet. I'm still hopeful. A guy in our club THOUGHT he seen a Black Panther last year but it turned out to be a Black Hog this year.

 I've heard around the campfire that Troll's will make a scream that sound like a Black Panther's. It is a loud and long high picthed scream like a woman or baby.  

I have too many Big Foot's around my stand and I think they keep the Black Panthers ran off. 

 There is only 80-100 Florida Cougar's still in the wild. Maybe Georiga needs to start a relocation project and get the herd in Florida back up.


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## Palmetto

Paddle said:


> There is only 80-100 Florida Cougar's still in the wild. Maybe Georiga needs to start a relocation project and get the herd in Florida back up.


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## doenightmare

Maybe they will rename them GA panthers.


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## hoghunter78

here's something for all you guys that think there isn't any panthers in ga.. come to telfair county and i'll personally show u differnt.


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## Paddle

hoghunter78 said:


> here's something for all you guys that think there isn't any panthers in ga.. come to telfair county and i'll personally show u differnt.



 Could you just post some pictures?

 How many have you seen?

 Do they hang out in the same place all the time? 

 Any info would be helpful.


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## Researcher31726

There have been sightings in Terrell and Clay Counties by reliable sources. They are here! Some of us are just more fortunate than others in being in the right spot at the right time.
Sue


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## hoghunter78

i dont have any pics. but i'll try and get some and i will post them. i have one in the woods behind my house if u go outside at night if u don't see him you can hear him scream. my wife will not go outside by herself at night b/c of it.
hey if any of you guys have a good used trail cam for sell email me .


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## hoghunter78

i have seen a few personally, and as far i can tell they do stay in and around the same area. but if you think a big buck is hard to see. they are very nockturnal and mark there teritory from what i can tell by scrapping leaves and all from around the base of a tree.


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## Dewaine

My wife was driving south on 23 in Blechley Co'. on the way to Cochran.  A black panther came out of a pine thicket and stood on the side of the road.  She stopped as did a guy coming the other way.  After it turned back and they each drove forword he said to her "did I just see what I thought I saw"?  They both saw it!  We called DNR and reported it and they said sometimes they travel up from Florida, but are not indigenous to Georgia.


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## Booner Killa

I saw one too. Bigfoot had it on a leash and was walking it through the woods of one of my perfect hunting spots. I was mad...        Just kidding boys. Is this debate ever going to end????


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## merc123

When I lived in Florida there used to be some that layed on our front lawn.  My Dad would see them when he would get up in the morning.  They were pretty scary when they look at you.  Panthers and mountain lions.  Scary creatures.


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## Paddle

hoghunter78 said:


> here's something for all you guys that think there isn't any panthers in ga.. come to telfair county and i'll personally show u differnt.



 Instead of taking you up on the invite to watch the panthers down there just post some pictures, it would save me some gas money. 

 Do you have the Black Panthers? Those are the ones I'd like to see.

 If you posted a picture of one in Georgia I think it would be a first. You'd go down in Woody's history.


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## Ron288

Many people believe that there is one animal that is called a black panther. Really, the term black panther is refering to a melanistic (black) member of the Panthera family, or big cats. This means it could be a leopard, jaguar, lion or tiger. There were commonly black tigers until the turn of the 20th century. The last marbled black tiger ever known was killed in 1992 in the cane fields of India. There has never been a high occurence of black lions that we know of, probably due to their habitat and the extreme heat a black lion would endure. This leaves us with melanistic leopards and jaguars. The term melanism does not mean that they are actually black, but that they are full of color. If you view a melanistic leopard or jaguar in good sunlight, you can see that they are acutally a very dark brown with black spots. 
Their are no big black cats that live in North America, we have no wild black panthers. 

The dark color of the panthers is advantageous for them to hide in the dark forest or jungle and to hunt at night. Commonly, leopards and jaguars are a golden yellow with black spots. The leopard's yellow and black spotted pattern works very well to help hide them in the open grasslands of savannas.The melanistic color variety happens only about 5% of the time. Both color variations can be born to the same litter since it is a recessive gene. 

The animals below are all black leopards. They are a lot smaller than a tiger but they make up for its size with brain power. The leopard is the smartest of the big cats. It is the only big cat that has learned to store its food above ground from scavengers. It can carry prey twice its body weight high into the tops of the trees to save and eat at his leisure. Its brain power also gives it an advantage as a more cunning hunter.  A full-grown leopard can weigh up to 150 pounds.


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## gordylew

Ron288 said:


> i have heard them before fishing at night over on allatoona lake.



Now I can,t believe the story.   who taught them panthers to fish?  what next? you,ve seen them riding four wheelers.


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## Dough

gordylew said:


> Now I can,t believe the story.   who taught them panthers to fish?  what next? you,ve seen them riding four wheelers.



Where do they get their fishing licenses?


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## Ron288

down at the honda fishing tackle store on hwy 20


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## caught

IF YOU SHOOT ONE ARE YOU GOING TO HAVE THE FEDS SHOW UP AT YOUR HOUSE AFTER POSTING IT ON HERE???????


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## Slingblade

You should have tried the old "Here kitty, kitty kitty" trick; that gets them everytime.


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## kevincox

t bird said:


> My cousin hunts some land here in Milledgeville beside the sinclair dam and swears up and down he saw one last turkey season on two different occasions, My aunt saw one in the stand not 40 yards the other day and freaked out and I know she don'e lie, she want hardly go hunting untill gun season is in!



I saw 2 one morning hunting just off 441.  My mother and I saw one off short-cut rd near the  Milledgeville airport several year ago. We just looked at each other with mouths wide open! I know they are here!


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## seaweaver

Fella If I lived out where they roam like you I would make it my mission to get pictures.
Stop thinking like proud crackers and think like you are in Africa.
 Hang a goat in a tree w/ a trail cam low and one high....
and fame and gloy is yours.


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## Chief

I know there are black panthers in Georgia. My in laws have one. Seventeen years ago, my sister-in-law brought home kitten that had lost its mother. Its eyes were still shut becasue it was so young. I bottle fed it and eventually it grew up. It is now seventeen years old and probably will not live much longer. It kind of resembles a house cat and it weighs about 7 pounds. After reading this thread, I became concerned so I went by there and studied it. I am sure now that it is a pigme black panther. By the way, her name is sweet pea. 

In all seriousness, there is no doubt in my mind that some big cats do roam the woods in Georgia. There are too many sightings for every single one of them to be discounted as a case of mistaken identity or a hoax.

J


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## shadow2

I believe that they are here as well.  I am certan that i saw one down in Emanuel couny about 8 years ago.  Until recently the official word out of Missouri was that there were no large cats there either but cattle farmes had a different opinion.  Then just this fall/winter somone got a pic of one on a trail camera and it was confirmed by the DNR.  DNR said that some mail mountain lions were moving down from South Dakota.  Now if those cats are moving that far it only makes sence that some could have moved into Ga from Fl.


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## Emmersom Biggens

I caught one on one of Triton Mike's swim bait thingy's. I let it go though. It was a section of lake that was catch and relase only. I dipped it in catnip.


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## Big Dawg

*I got pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*

I was lucky enough to get a picture of 3 cats at once but I can't get it to upload...anyone want to help me.....I'll email it to you.


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## seaweaver




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## RackNBeardOutdoors

I saw one the other day in my yard, it tried to eat my 2 Labs, Really!!! I PROMISE, I would have taken a picture with My digital camera, but the batteries died, and the spare ones that I always keep charged were dead as well. He hung around for a good bit, and I found a throw away camera, I took some pictures with it, but they didn't develop right. But thank God for chain link fence, because I love my Labs. Once he saw he realized he couldn't get my labs, the panther tried to break into my truck and steal my Toyota. When it couldn't, my wife and I heard it scream really loud and distinct, and you know it is a panthers scream, you just know.


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## gacowboy

MEOW MEOW MEOW!


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## BowArrow

Nobody can produce any hard evidence that we have cougars in Georgia. None - Zero - Zilch


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## emtguy

Said this before but i'll say it again.

I was 12 years old and a DNR ranger came to our school for a presentation and afterwards in the q&A session i ask if they are any black panthers in Ga. He said he didnt think so but ya never know and i replied well i seen one sat. morning and there is one that screams behind my house all the time at night.
Next thing i know after the show he was wanting to know how i knew it was a panther and i said "cuz i shot at him with my 20 gauge sat." I said i can show you a track and low an behold that got his attention....the next morning he was back with some more guys and my dad carried him to our back feild that i had seen him in and they took plaster molds of the tracks...now in fairness i have to say the black panther is not correct, they look black but actually are a dark brown if you look at them closer than 100 yrds(which is about the distance i shot at him..hah)

they are panthers in ga, i got no reason to lie about it and if you think im full of it well im sorry. just telling what happened.


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## gbear36

I can tell you that there have been one or two located , seen and watched in Seminole County, Ga. Belief is they cam cross the Chatt from Fl. I know one stayed for years around river rd..


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## KING'S OWNER

This is the first time I have tried to talk to any body here but I believe that this website I am gonna turn loose on yall will hopefully open the minds of some. Now I personally have never seen any big cats here or know anybody who has but the videos on this site are pretty clear that anythang is possible. These cats are in Mississippi and Alabama. 
http://www.thejump.net/multimedia/cougar/cougar.htm


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## polaris30144

Just goes to show you how some people think....."If I haven't seen it, it don't exist". 
 Using that logic; I have never seen a wild alligator in Georgia. Does that mean they don't exist? 
 Only narrow minded people insist that something does not exist based entirely on their ignorance of a particular subject. Unfortunately they are usually the most vocal also.
 A lot of people write about "facts" here disputing the existance of cougar, moutain lions, panthers etc. The only "facts" I have read is that those people repeat hearsay from someone else that they don't exist. Not one "fact" has been expressed.
 Not one wildlife bioligist has come forward to say that there is not a doubt that they do not exist in Georgia. In fact they offer reasons why people might be seeing them. Migrated from Florida, got loose from someone, etc.
 To the people that are being so insulting to the people that have seen them, all I can say is; "Better to keep ones mouth shut and appear a fool, than to open ones mouth and remove all doubt". 
 I believe in God, though I have never seen him in person. Using the logic of the naysayers, I must be a crackpot for believing that God is here in Georgia.
 I'm not trying to rile anyone, just asking that tolerence be shown to others. Just because you haven't seen something in person, does not mean it doesn't exist.
 To me it is more believable to hear about these sightings than to read about all the monster bucks that got away.   The same people that report the big bucks, did have a chance to "prove" the big buck existed if they were hunting but failed to by way of a book full of excuses. Why is it that they might be more believable?


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## muddy_feet

gbear36 said:


> I can tell you that there have been one or two located , seen and watched in Seminole County, Ga. Belief is they cam cross the Chatt from Fl. I know one stayed for years around river rd..



I've saw that one before in the mid '90s.  Also saw one on Three Notch Rd in Seminole County during the same time period and he was also seen by my father on the same night.  Last year I also saw a med-light colored on Yates Spring Rd on the Miller/Seminole County.  I saw a Florida panther on I-10.  My Great Grandad was a Ranger and he saw them.  My dad remembers seeing them and hearing them before Lake Seminole was backed up and the before it was trailor park central.  The lady that works for my mom saw one walking throught the field in from of her house in Mayhaw.  Her husband is a Decon and she is very active in the church so I doubt she lied.  She called the DNR and they told her she was mistaken.


I remember everyone saying their were no armidillo's in Georgia or skunks....so I could careless if anyone believes me.


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## mwalker1313

One was seen "cougar" here in winder near the airport  about two years ago by two guys that I worked with very reliable. We went out looking for it and found tracks in the mud.


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## gbear36

Muddy -You are correct, it was in the late 80's-early 90's. I graduated in 88 and deer hunted that area frequently after school. Several of the guys I hunted with had seen him, and I know they would not lie nor would they have any reason to. You from Seminole? Pm me I would like to see if we know each other as I am sure we have some familiar friends..


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## meateater

I wish someone could explain to me in depth why any animal, in this case a cougar or panther wont cross the state line? As I posted years ago, I saw one at our family farm in Brooks County. "Take a picture" sure thing, why dont you "take a picture or it doesnt exist" guys make sure to get a picture of the next falling star you see, or perhaps the next car accident as it happens in front of you. I was on a tractor hauling hay, didn't think to CARRY MY CAMERA. My Mom and Dad didn't believe me until they walked up on the cat a few days later. Believe what you want to but do not tell me what I saw. God has blessed me with absolutely perfect vision. Our farm borders an 8900 acre plantation. In my forty two years I have seen two GADNR folks in the area. Tell me again why there can't be any Panthers living there?


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## polaris30144

A Good Southener Knows how to cultivate Shade...*and knows if they aint got nothing good to say*....apparently some don't........


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## muddy_feet

gbear36 said:


> Muddy -You are correct, it was in the late 80's-early 90's. I graduated in 88 and deer hunted that area frequently after school. Several of the guys I hunted with had seen him, and I know they would not lie nor would they have any reason to. You from Seminole? Pm me I would like to see if we know each other as I am sure we have some familiar friends..



Sure am, Ole Green and White alum from '96.  Not much on the deer hunting but I was born with waders on.  

It's funny how a couple of people in the same area see the samething during the same time period and only know of each other yet someone from 5 or 6 hours away claim we are crazy.  

I think the traffic, urban sprawl, skyscrapers, 4-lanes, techno music, gel head, collar poppin, BMW driving, mocochino drinking,.............I better hush before.

I'm just picking on ya'll ATL folks....


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## white lab

Paddle said:


> Could you just post some pictures?
> 
> How many have you seen?
> 
> Do they hang out in the same place all the time?
> 
> Any info would be helpful.


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## Swamprat

Who freakin cares......either post up some real pics or just drop it.

To the point I can honestly believe there is panthers in S. Georgia. Other than that don't give me this crap about seeing a black panther in Metro Atlanta, the last time that happened was when Malcom X was in town


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## jimbo4116

Ted Turner Released several moutain lions on his Plantaion in Jefferson County, Fla, north of Hiway 27 and east of Tallahassee.   This was a few years back.  This did happen because he was fined by FWC.  Made the local news down here.  Don't know how many.  But their have been sighting  as far north as Thomas and Brooks in GA over the years.

Local legend has it that two Echols county hunters killed one with a tracking collar on it and then hauled around for a half a day before buring it their back yard.  Don't know if I believe they killed one but can believe they haul it and the collar around and then buried it in their back yard


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## Son

*Panthers in Ga*

I see em all the time. When they stop at an intersection, their hubcaps keep turning on those oversized wheels. This isn't Mexifornia....YA KNOW..!

I'd be more worried about Floridas Burmese Pythons. Now that's something that's been confirmed without a doubt.


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## R G

One ran across the road in front of me a few years ago near Hillsborough in the National forest.  It was late spring and I had been dog training.  It was about 11:00 am and I was just poking along in my truck in no hurry.  Several rabbits had run across the road when all of a sudden this panther or cougar jumped from one bank across the road, landed at the far ditch then jumped up the other bank and was gone.  Happened in just a heartbeat.  It was amazing just how quick it appeared then disappeared.


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## Hawkeye

Yep no Cougars in Georgi Just some overgrown bobcats with long tails and brown.


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## DRod121

Me and a friend were bow hunting in Columbus last year and he turned around and looked behind him and there was a black panther sitting on a rock looking straight at him 20 yards away.  He yelled at it and moved trying to scare it off but it just sat there till after dark.  He said all he could see after dark were green eyes looking at him.  We were camping and slept with a shotgun the rest of the time.


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## Researcher31726

DR,
What part of Muscogee County were you hunting?
Sue


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## irishleprechaun

they are among us...


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## J.D. Squire

I believe it is possible there are a few cougars/panthers in Ga, a sustainable population? Not so much. Any animal can leave its home range I.E. Florida. I do not believe there are any Black Panthers that were not someones pet at some time. For those complaining about not being able to take a picture..You make the claim, the burden of proof falls to you. If I claim to have a winning lottery ticket should Galotto not ask for proof??


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## emtguy

seen a panther....shot at it with a shotgun( i was 12 ) it ran off. Told DNR bout it they didnt beleive me so they came to house i carried in the woods where i shot at it and there were BIG prints in the mud. They took plaster molds of them and thats last i seen panther or DNR.. Trust me panthers are in Ga.


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## buckmanmike

We saw one last deer season, and several times in the last few years in Randolph Co.


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## Researcher31726

THEY ARE HERE! Just because there are no photos, it does not mean anything....That's a cop-out by non-believers.

Non-believers, take it like this...Smokey and I are Seminole fans, you may be a Dawg, Gator, Yellow Jacket, Tiger fan...whatever...Good for you; good for us.  I doubt that I will be able to persuade you to come to your senses to become a 'Nole, just like you don't need to expect me to sing the praises of Tech. 

You have your reasons; we that know that panthers exist have our reasons, too. 

Sue


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## BigRebel5571

my uncle has property in Girard on the river and my cousin was walking an old road with his friend in mid-day and saw a black animal run across the road about 400 yards away, at first they thought it was a hog but as they approached were the animal crossed at they saw the footprints. They weren't hog tracks and they were to big to be a bobcat. He took a pic of the tracks and looked them up on the internet. He still swears that it was a black panther


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## Georgia Hard Hunter

I have only 1 thing to add there are a trillion trail cams operating right now in Georgia and we have NO PICTURES of the legendary panthers


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## Researcher31726

I agree with statement. It does not change my belief. 
Sue


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## BowtechRedneck

*There are to panthers in georgia*

I dont know if it is a pather but it was a big cat.Taken by trail cam in bibb county behind armstrong near where they where searching for missing person.


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## RackNBeardOutdoors

looks just like a bobcat


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## Ruger#3

*No dog in this hunt!*

I'm new to the state so have no opinion either way. I will add that 10 years ago Arkansas DNR folks were running all over the state denying that the sightings of cougars in the national forests were viable. Many a hunter was laughed at for reports of large cats. Just had to be bobcats, over zealous imaginations etc.

Here's the latest data;

http://www.easterncougarnet.org/bigpicture.html

I've seen the DNR "experts" eat crow more than once in my lifetime.


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## jklaus

man It sure is funny how long we can talk about some things that are so silly I dont think my 4 year old girl could make up a lie so dumb so me some picts.


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## BowtechRedneck

I dont know about you but all the bob cats I have seen have no tails.


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## GoldDot40

Back in the late 80's through early 90's there were several guys that hunted with us in Wilkes County who claimed to see black panthers around in the swamps. One guy had some pictures of one, but I haven't seen this guy in 10+ years. My dad says he's seen what he believed were black panthers down there also.


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## big john h

*cougars*

My uncle drives a train between chataahooche and jacksonville 2 or 3 times a week. He's been doing it 23 years and has seen a panther/cougar over 50 times. He can't swear that he hasn't seen the same one multiple times but he thinks he's seen different anmlas most of the time. the tressle goes through woods/swamps/etc.


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## GoldDot40

All it takes is a little research...it's amazing what you can find.

_With officials refusing to acknowledge its existence in the wild, the Eastern Puma risks losing protection under the endangered Species Act while fragile ecosystems of the eastern U.S. hang in the balance. 

Fast Facts Pumas were eliminated from most of eastern North America by the turn of the 20th century due to uncontrolled hunting and trapping, habitat fragmentation and destruction, and decline in their main food supply - the white-tailed deer.

 During the 20th century, the white-tailed deer has made a dramatic comeback in the east. Without sufficient predators such as the puma, deer overpopulation is becoming a serious problem in many eastern states. History has shown that without sufficient predators in an ecosystem, those species whose numbers have not been controlled will become vulnerable to diseases that could threaten their entire populations and ultimately destroy the ecosystem. 

 Through the research and hard work of organizations such as the Nature Conservancy, the Conservation Fund, and the Appalachian Restoration Campaign, habitats capable of supporting pumas remain throughout the central and southern Appalachians and in the North Woods of New England.

 Despite hundreds of puma sightings reported each year to organizations such as the Eastern Puma Research Network, many wildlife officials "vehemently deny or refuse to acknowledge panther sightings north of Florida and east of the Rockies, even ones with documented evidence." -John Lutz (Director, EPRN)

 Description
Eastern pumas are usually reddish brown-tan in color. They have white fur on the belly and under the chin. Black markings are apparent behind the ears, on the face, and on the tip of the tail. *(Note: On a different website I found that some eastern pumas can have light grey or charcoal colored coats.....AKA Black Panthers)* On average, they weigh between 65 to 130 pounds and grow to be 6 ft in length. Their western counterparts can grow up to 170 pounds because of availability of larger prey. Many eastern pumas have an upward turn or kink at the end of the tail and a swirl or cow lick in the middle of the back. Puma cubs are pale with spots and have rings around the tail. They lose their spots and rings at approximately six months of age. 

The largest of the purring cats, the puma is also the largest cat that cannot roar. Rather, they make three distinctive sounds described as "chirping like a bird, crying like a baby, and screaming like a woman". They are known to survive in various environments including mountain forests, grasslands, swamps, and seacoasts. They can adapt to extremes of temperature as well. In addition to deer, they prey on beaver, porcupine, bobcat, rabbit, raccoon, opossum, and even fish. In the west, pumas also eat lynx and young elk or moose. 

Primarily nocturnal, they are most active one hour before sunset to two hours before sunrise. This combined with their elusive nature makes proving they exist almost impossible.

History, Distribution and Controversy

Also known as cougars and mountain lions, pumas once boasted the most extensive range of any land mammal in the Western Hemisphere. From the southern tip of Chile to as far north as the Yukon, pumas once inhabited both North and South America from the Atlantic to the Pacific. By the turn of the 20th century, however, pumas were eliminated from most of eastern North America due to uncontrolled hunting and trapping, loss or fragmentation of habitat, and mass slaughter of their main food supply the white-tailed deer. 

At this time, the only documented eastern pumas in the wild exist in south Florida where they are known as the Florida Panther. The remaining documented eastern pumas are found in sanctuaries and captive breeding facilities such as ours. In 1973, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service had placed the eastern puma on the U.S. Endangered Species List, affording it protection from its former persecution. However, some federal and state officials now would like to see this cat removed from the list, arguing that the puma is already extinct in the east except for Florida.

There once were believed to be 32 subspecies of puma in North and South America. In 1999, a landmark study of puma genetics by Melanie Culver indicated that no significant genetic distinction exists among all pumas living north of Nicaragua. Unfortunately, another argument for removing the eastern puma from the Endangered Species List could be based on the results of this study. By categorizing all pumas as one species, one could assert that the eastern puma is not endangered because plenty of pumas still survive out west. This is a dangerous premise because it does not consider the critical need to preserve ecological balance throughout the east.

During the 20th century, the white-tailed deer has made a dramatic comeback. Without sufficient predators such as the puma, deer overpopulation is becoming a serious problem in many eastern states. History has shown that without enough predators in an ecosystem, those species whose numbers have not been controlled may suffer starvation and become vulnerable to diseases which could threaten the entire population and ultimately destroy the ecosystem.

Several conservation groups have been investigating the puma in eastern North America for many years. The Eastern Cougar Foundation (ECF), the Eastern Puma Research Network (EPRN), and the Cat Specialist Group of the World Conservation Union's Species Survival Commission are among the most prominent. The EPRN has documented more than 5100 sightings throughout the east since 1965. The ECF reported more than 165 sightings in WV, VA, NC, PA, and NY during the year 2000. Other reported sightings in 2000 occurred in AL, IL, ME, KY, MA, WI, LA, NJ, MD, VT, OH, NH, TN, IN, AK, MI, FL, CT, MS, DE, SC, MO, GA, Ontario and New Brunswick, Canada.

Despite numerous sightings over the years, only a dozen were accompanied by sufficient field evidence to be confirmed by biologists. To confirm a sighting, evidence in the form of a live or dead animal, body part(s), scat, hair samples, tracks preserved in plaster, or video/photos is needed. While proof exists that pumas still survive in the east, the challenge is to prove they are reproducing in the wild. Until a confirmed sighting of a cub occurs, officials will continue to deny there are reproducing populations of pumas in the eastern U.S. Rather, they will claim the sightings are more likely to be of escaped or released captives.

Conservation groups such as the Appalachian Restoration Campaign, the Nature Conservancy, and the Conservation Fund are working to ensure the preservation of appropriate habitats and corridors throughout the eastern U.S. Research and habitat analyses to date indicate that good cougar habitat remains in the central and southern Appalachians and in the North Woods of New England. In their 2000 paper entitled Field Evidence of Cougars in Eastern North America, Chris Bolgiano, Todd Lester and David Maehr of the ECF stated, "Given the well-known regrowth of forest cover and resurgence of deer herds across the east, it's likely that human rather than biological constraints will limit the establishment of viable cougar populations". _


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## GoldDot40

This is a reply from an email I sent to my cousin who spent more than 10 years as a GA DNR officer. I asked him if there was proof of black panthers in GA. 

His reply:
_Yes, there has been a mountain lion run in in Murray
County. One got "loose" from the CCC center up in the
north end of the county a couple of years ago. It
showed up on Cohutta and tried to take down a guy on a
horse on a trail. A local hunter wound up killing it.
He swore there was more than one. When DNR checked the kill out, the one killed was a different sex than the
one that escaped. The state also had tabs on the one
in capivity there also so it was most likely wild. It wasn't "black" but they can have dark grey fur to appear black. A black panther and mountain lion are just nicknames for the eastern puma/cougar. Basically they are all the same species.

Craig Cylke of Ellijay Wildlife Rehab is a good contact on them. If you want to see one up close, look him up on the net and take a trip up one Sunday when he opens to the public. It is well worth it._

That's proof enough for me....


----------



## Researcher31726

Bassquatch,
Thanks for the 411!
Sue


----------



## dawg2

I have a BIG BLACK CAT that has killed and cached deer on my property in Harris County. I have seen it run down the road and into the woods (where I got casts of the tracks) and showed them to several DNR folks and two of their Biologists looked at them, I saw it last year when I was with my surveyor when I bought some more land and it came crashing down out of the tree when we came out of a gulley. I told him it was a big BobCat and he said no it wasn't. I used to be skeptical, but now am not. I move a trail camera around, but no luck yet. I do have one night pic on the night my dog went nuts but all I got were two big glowing eyes. I put deer scraps to attract it, but I am trying to find someone who might be able to clean the picture up. The DNR guy said they have a loop of about 200 miles they work so it can disappear for months...
Oh yeah, the first Biologist said they don't exist. So I told him I'll just shoot it and call him back, then show him it does. He then said they're protected. I asked if they don't exist, how can they be protected. He told me they "used to" be in GA


----------



## Researcher31726

If they "used to be" in GA, why can't they still be here?
Sue


----------



## dawg2

That is what I asked and I never really got a straight answer.  There are two people in the past week here that have seen a tan panther (in Harris county) and another in Russell County, AL.


----------



## Vernon Holt

Don't quite understand why this subject holds such fascination for so many.  Facts are, most reasonably informed people are willing to accept the fact that there are some things "that were" in our state, that simply exist no more.  The Cougar fits clearly in this category.

It is interesting to note that most of the so called sightings have taken place in parts of the state where it is least likely for a Cougar to exist.  I refer to areas which are well populated.  The premise is that these sightings are people related and not Cougar related.

Conversely, so called "sightings" seem not to happen in areas where likelihood is greatest that a Cougar could  exist.  To illustrate this, I have lived, worked, and hunted extensively for many years in the areas of the lower Savannah River swamps, the Altamaha River swamps, the Okefenokee Swamp, and the pine barrens in between.  I have seen and heard lots of critters, but nothing that would even resemble a Cougar.

By the way, a Florida Panther that gets ramblin' fever and strays into Georga until it is killed on a highway does not meet the criteria of there being "Cougars in Georgia"

Neither does a caged animal that somehow happens to excape somewhere in N GA meet the criteria.  If an excaped or secretely released animal meets the criteria, then you can state clearly that GA also has Boa Constrictors, Emus, Ostriches, Kangeroos, Elk, Fallow Deer, man eatin' Piranhas, and Alligators in N GA lakes and streams.  You be the judge.


----------



## dawg2

Ironically, where the cat I saw (as have others) is NOT in a well populated area.  It is only a few miles ( as the crow flies) to one of the largest military reservation in the country: Ft  Benning, which is also not very populated.  Everyone knows there are pigs, black bear, deer, etc. in the area.  But when a big cat lurks around scratching up deer (have pics of scratched deer on my trail cam), killing a deer about 100 yards from my house in my woods where my kids play and caching it (pulling it into thick brush then burying it under leaves and sticks) , it makes me a little cautious.  I have never heard of boas, fallow deer, kangaroos, parrots, gerbils, so on, being too awfully dangerous or actively attacking people, BUT I do know that a large cat (especially if it is a released pet and now has no natural fear of humans) can /does/will attck and kill a human adult / child.  So maybe it makes people a little nervous when they are out in the woods hunting a herbivore that wants to run away from you but there is a CHANCE there is a carnivore looking for meat like you are and not just deer meat.  Just my thoughts.


----------



## dawg2

Oh yeah, there is still a guy missing from a couple years back who was surveying the gas pipeline in the area and disappeared.  Apparently they found his boot and a shredded shirt.  He strayed off from the others and they never found the body.  Who knows what happened, but it makes you think twice before you go skippin through the woods.


----------



## Hi-tech Redneck

there a several viable answers as to why someone could have seen them. they traveled, got loose from local zoo or pen, used to be someones pet, etc. it is a miraculous world we live in and i would not ever bet against it! i believe too often humanity thinks it has everything figured out. we often think we are omnipotent with such declarations as "it's not feasible!", "there is no proof!", etc.
one of my teachers told me years ago he saw two in front on him during bow season. he said it was right at dark after he got out of the stand and could tell they were LARGE dark colored cats. no one believed him. a few days later the front page of the paper read something to the line of missing cougars were tranquilized and recovered. but what if they were not caught? could they survive? reproduce? is there a substanial population? definetly not. could there be some in the state? sure.
what gets me is why people doubt so easily? i remeber being a kid and thinking the woods were an intriguing place full of wonder and excitement, especially at night. i still enjoy having that curiosity to spark my imagination. what if...? i would love to see one. this weekend, after it gets dark and i leave my stand. all the critters start to stir about, and the sounds of the night commence, i will let my mind and imagine wonder what excatly is out there..?


----------



## dawg2

Well I just posted a pic of some tracks I got and started a new thread called one big cat track in fact/fiction.


----------



## GrlsHnt2

hoghunter78 said:


> i dont have any pics. but i'll try and get some and i will post them. i have one in the woods behind my house if u go outside at night if u don't see him you can hear him scream. my wife will not go outside by herself at night b/c of it.
> hey if any of you guys have a good used trail cam for sell email me .



I am right there with ya! When I was a little girl we had one that roamed the woods behind our house. We lived on 100 acres. It would always show it's face from between the shrubs at the edge of the yard right after the sun went down. 

Every one has an opinion...my opinion is that the folks that don't believe they are here will become believers when they come face to face with one. It ain't fun and you will never want to do it again!


----------



## MaconCo_Deerman

My in-laws have have seen a black panther in Macon County on several occasions.  The last sighting was about 7 years ago.  It does appear hard to mistake a large black cat for something else.


----------



## doublebarrel

I have seen one black panther and two dark brown ones in Greene Co. First one was the black one . I was driving home from a fishing trip on the Oconee river around 1970 on a good dirt road and i had my old Ford running about 50 and came around a curve where the double branches boat ramp is located now and got to within 30 feet of it as it crossed the road! There are some in Taliaferro Co. also!


----------



## squirreldoghunter

My brother and I were riding on a back road on Ft. Stewart a few years ago when a large cat trotted across about 50 yards in front of us. I stopped the truck and we watched it until it disappeared in the woods. We looked at each other and at the same time we both said "that wasn't no bobcat!" It was tan with no spots and a little white on the belly. It also had a tail that was about 3 feet long. Talking to a DNR guy a while later he stated flatly that there were no large cats in GA. Hmmm. He said we saw a bobcat...of course, bobcats are called that for a reason. He mentioned (as I've heard before) that if there were big cats in GA one would have been run over or someone would have gotten a picture on a trail cam by now. Later we heard that a collared Florida panther had been tracked coming up through SE GA heading north and was finally caught up above I-16 somewhere. During that time there was not one reported sighting, no trail cam pics and he didn't wind up roadkill. So...? 
I hope they are out there and I don't mind hearing the stories because it's a little comforting to think some wild might survive in GA between all the subdivisions and strip malls.


----------



## northgatrapper

as many people have trail cams  and swear there are lions here     no one has a pic of one?


----------



## carl fountain

check the dec. issue gon mag./ga. spycam.. that is definatly not bigfoot climbing on that feeder in screven cty...


----------



## deedly

http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=153399&highlight=panther


----------



## jody7818

deedly said:


> http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=153399&highlight=panther



Read post # 36 in that thread.  That's my proof.


----------



## MKW

*...*

All I can say is...The absence of proof is NOT proof of absence.

Mike


----------



## Researcher31726

squirreldoghunter said:


> I hope they are out there and I don't mind hearing the stories because it's a little comforting to think some wild might survive in GA between all the subdivisions and strip malls.



I like that!
Sue


----------



## Researcher31726

MKW said:


> All I can say is...The absence of proof is NOT proof of absence.
> 
> Mike



Danggit, Mike, that's another thought I wished I had come up with first! 
Sue


----------



## dawg2

MKW said:


> All I can say is...The absence of proof is NOT proof of absence.
> 
> Mike



I need to remember that one.


----------



## jamie.brett.sr

My uncle saw one in north georgia while he was fishing


----------



## Luke0927

i heard one scream probabably 10 years ago in North Forsyth County...i was sitting on the porch with my grandparents right about dark......they heard it as well


----------



## Researcher31726

Luke0927 said:


> i heard one scream probabably 10 years ago in North Forsyth County...i was sitting on the porch with my grandparents right about dark......they heard it as well



Thanks, Luke!
And everybody knows we Georgia folks were brought up not lying about our grandparents!
Sue


----------



## MICHAEL TAYLOR

*PANTHERS*

I HOPE YOU ALL WATCHED THE HISTORY CHANNEL LAST NIGHT. IT SHOWED PROOF OF BLACK CATS IN USA. VERY GOOD SHOW. YOU CAN GO TO HISTORY.COM AND READ MORE ABOUT IT. IN THIS DAY AND TIME WE NEED TO KEEP AN OPEN MIND ABOUT THINGS. IT HAS BEEN PROVED ANYTHING IS POSSABLE.


----------



## Researcher31726

MICHAEL TAYLOR said:


> ...IN THIS DAY AND TIME WE NEED TO KEEP AN OPEN MIND ABOUT THINGS. IT HAS BEEN PROVED ANYTHING IS POSSABLE.



Michael,
You are speaking the truth there!
Sue


----------



## basslure

why hasnt anyone ever hit one with a vehicle


----------



## Researcher31726

basslure said:


> why hasnt anyone ever hit one with a vehicle




They move too fast when they sense danger.
Sue


----------



## Daddy Rabbit Kennels

*Sorry for OFF Topic~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~?*

Sorry for the Off Topic, but I want to tell Sue, her Box is Full!! 
I need her e-mail a.d. so I can Foward her a letter about  HSUS  & PETA Meeting we starting, her in N.E.Ga. this Saturday the 15th. It Not looking Good!!
D.R.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>


----------



## reylamb

MICHAEL TAYLOR said:


> I HOPE YOU ALL WATCHED THE HISTORY CHANNEL LAST NIGHT. IT SHOWED PROOF OF BLACK CATS IN USA. VERY GOOD SHOW. YOU CAN GO TO HISTORY.COM AND READ MORE ABOUT IT. IN THIS DAY AND TIME WE NEED TO KEEP AN OPEN MIND ABOUT THINGS. IT HAS BEEN PROVED ANYTHING IS POSSABLE.



We obviously watched different shows.....there was no proof of large black cats in the US.......although there was proof of a black tom cat, so I guess that was proof of black cats......


----------



## AccUbonD

reylamb said:


> We obviously watched different shows.....there was no proof of large black cats in the US.......although there was proof of a black tom cat, so I guess that was proof of black cats......



If you are speaking of the WV footage you may be correct. ONLY if the history channel lied on the yardage to that cat. The documentary stated that it was almost 300 yards from cameraman to cat, if so that is a world record domestic cat.


----------



## GoldDot40

I KNOW y'all don't believe everything you see on the History Channel?!?!?!!? The same channel that says the Earth is billions of years old and will be around billions more on one program....but only a couple thousand years old and nearing its end just an hour later on a different show.


----------



## killerv

tail_slider3d said:


> I know I have personally seen two panthers while hunting here in Georgia.  One was late in the afternoon and the other was in broad daylight, less than 100 yards away.  If you talk to the biologist and DNR they say no but me and a few others say yes for sure.  You cant deny that bloody scream they make at daybreak.
> 
> Anybody else seen one?



I saw one  at no more than 20 yards a little over 10 years ago while bow hunting. I simply couldn't believe my eyes, no one believes me though. It was a black cat, long tail, probably in the 60lb range. Anyway, i have heard that scream you talked about also. I just remember it being a cold rainy day in December  while in a deer stand and something that sounded like a woman or witch moaning or dying just let loose for about 10 minutes. It was just these long dragged out moans of death. I have described it to others and have always been told it was probably a panther. All I wanted to do was climb down out of the tree, make it to my truck, and go home. It was startling.


----------



## Andrew256

RackNBeardOutdoors said:


> looks just like a bobcat




I've never seen a bobcat with a tail before. My family is from Miller Co. I have never seen a big cat down there but My uncle has shown me tracks and last weekend I went down to have Christmas with them and on the night of 12/22, I went outside to pee (because my Dad was occupying the only bathroom in my grandmas house) and I heard a big cat scream. I know what I heard. Anyone ever hears that, they know what it was- no doubt. This was at about 10:30pm. I'm new to these forums. I honestly didn't know that there was any debate weather or not there were big cats in S. GA. Ask anyone that raises hogs down there what they think.


----------



## J-Dog

My brother in law saw one in ogelthorpe county near crawford, I have actually saw one on Lake Lanier Islands.


----------



## GA DAWG

How come I cant see one??? DANGIT!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## dawg2

GA DAWG said:


> How come I cant see one??? DANGIT!!!!!!!!!!!!



Keep looking.  I didn't see a 14 pt. deer until I was over 30.


----------



## GA DAWG

Yea but I saw a 14pt buck when I was 11... I'm in the woods day and night most of the year lol....


----------



## ruphus

there have been a few sightings in and around lincoln county. a collared cougar was caught nearby in wilkes county . dnr could not deny that one


----------



## reylamb

AccUbonD said:


> If you are speaking of the WV footage you may be correct. ONLY if the history channel lied on the yardage to that cat. The documentary stated that it was almost 300 yards from cameraman to cat, if so that is a world record domestic cat.



In the WV footage they went with the yardage the eyewitness that shot the video told them.  During the "reinactment" his words were, I was standing right here and the black panther was standing right there.  Not much to lie about.


----------



## potsticker

While they were very popular back in the late 60's and  70's, their ranks since have slowly dissapeared over time, now only a few are seen annually, normally around section 8 housing and crack houses. The dwindling population quit carrying signs several years ago! Hope that straitens that out.


----------



## Researcher31726

potsticker said:


> While they were very popular back in the late 60's and  70's, their ranks since have slowly dissapeared over time, now only a few are seen annually, normally around section 8 housing and crack houses. The dwindling population quit carrying signs several years ago! Hope that straitens that out.



Different mammal being discussed.
Sue


----------



## GA DAWG

potsticker said:


> While they were very popular back in the late 60's and  70's, their ranks since have slowly dissapeared over time, now only a few are seen annually, normally around section 8 housing and crack houses. The dwindling population quit carrying signs several years ago! Hope that straitens that out.


----------



## Outdoors

Son said:


> I see em all the time. When they stop at an intersection, their hubcaps keep turning on those oversized wheels. This isn't Mexifornia....YA KNOW..!
> 
> I'd be more worried about Floridas Burmese Pythons. Now that's something that's been confirmed without a doubt.





10-4


----------



## patchestc

many golfers on the PGA tour have never hit a hole in one,
yet many plinkers like me have hit one.  pure luck.
I have seen a black panther (lion) with my own eyes.
no doubt about it.
when u see one, u can join the crazy person (or liar's)  club.


----------



## dawg2

patchestc said:


> many golfers on the PGA tour have never hit a hole in one,
> yet many plinkers like me have hit one.  pure luck.
> I have seen a black panther (lion) with my own eyes.
> no doubt about it.
> when u see one, u can join the crazy person (or liar's)  club.



Don't worry.  Unless someone has seen one, it's like talking to a sack of pecans.


----------



## potsticker

RackNBeardOutdoors said:


> looks just like a bobcat


If it iz its got a prostetic tail!


----------



## dawg2

Researcher31726 said:


> Different mammal being discussed.
> Sue



We're talking quadriped, not bi-ped.


----------



## sticker

*what is this??*

my brother got this picture years ago in Cook County Georgia.  Every one blew it off and claimed it to be a dog.  Never saw a dog that looked like that


----------



## dixiesportsman

looks like a hyena, between hyenas, big foots, and black panthers, i think i might just quit hunting until we get the population down a little bit


----------



## GA DAWG

I've saw thousands of dogs that look like that.


----------



## reylamb

Looks like a dog to me.  Almost looks like a bear in the bushes behind it though.


----------



## potsticker

Letz face it boys, itz a black panther!


----------



## dawg2

*better look*

I don't see a long tail.  If you closely at pic 2, you can see a thin tail between the legs. Muzzle is too long for a cat, and stance/posture is typical of a dog.  Not a cat.  I wish it was though, believe me.


----------



## potsticker

looks like a little lab work to me.


----------



## Wornout Trails

*I Saw One!!!*

Go to the North Ga. Hunting Thread and check out:  (Ghost and the Darkness).................It has had over 5000 hits...and still going.................            W.T.


----------



## ch035

i used to hunt in millen on a tract of lan called Kano's tract... my teacher who grew up there used to swear that there was a panther on that land! 

I know if i saw a panther this series of events would occur...

1. I freeze and crap all over myself
2. I hurry up to take pictures and then burry it before DNR arrests me for shooting a protected species


----------



## Son

still ain't seen any sign of any. No black ones anyway.
Snake and panther threads always gets lots of hits.


----------



## rebelyeler

i was sitin by a fire one nite in mcrae,Georgia and heard a scream that sounded almost like a woman but my granddad said it was a panther


----------



## Incawoodsman

I was camping at the coosa lock and dam one night, and I was woken up by what I though at the time was a lady being murdered in the most horrible way. The scream was terrifying. Thought something was gonna eat me in my tent that night . 

   People always believe this cry is the skunk ape


----------



## Southernhoundhunter

I'm not going to say I believe or don't believe, It's kinda hard to say. Something I noticed on this forum was that numerous people said they have seen one in the Milledgeville area. Just a thought


----------



## Southernhoundhunter

squirreldoghunter said:


> My brother and I were riding on a back road on Ft. Stewart a few years ago when a large cat trotted across about 50 yards in front of us. I stopped the truck and we watched it until it disappeared in the woods. We looked at each other and at the same time we both said "that wasn't no bobcat!" It was tan with no spots and a little white on the belly. It also had a tail that was about 3 feet long. Talking to a DNR guy a while later he stated flatly that there were no large cats in GA. Hmmm. He said we saw a bobcat...of course, bobcats are called that for a reason. He mentioned (as I've heard before) that if there were big cats in GA one would have been run over or someone would have gotten a picture on a trail cam by now. Later we heard that a collared Florida panther had been tracked coming up through SE GA heading north and was finally caught up above I-16 somewhere. During that time there was not one reported sighting, no trail cam pics and he didn't wind up roadkill. So...?
> I hope they are out there and I don't mind hearing the stories because it's a little comforting to think some wild might survive in GA between all the subdivisions and strip malls.



My Grandfather saw the Cat you are talking about. He saw it in NE Bryan country and I believed it was captured in Bulloch county. I'm not sure where it was released from but they released it to do an experiment to see how far panthers traveled. This one (if my memory serves me correctly) traveled well over 100 miles in a matter of days. If one can travel a few hundred miles in a few weeks. Whose to say there is not one in Georgia. Until  a carcass shows up, we can't say. Also I heard that one reason a confirmed sighting or body will never exist is because of tax dollars. If an extremely endangered animal is found to be in Georgia. DNR will have to research it extensively and DNR barely has the money to write paychecks every week much less research a big cat....sorry for the double post i went back and read all posts


----------



## Queegua

There were reports of a Panther or Mountain lion taking a guy's dog out of the bed of the pick up he was driving...yes driving..was some years ago and happend in the Cohutta WMA area...there were several scratches along the side of the truck and was reported to the DNR and the story published in the local paper with photos of the truck...the fellow said it happend so quick he just got a glimpse of it leaping out of the back with his dog in it's mouth...I don't know if it was a Black one or not...but pretty sure it was a big cat.


----------



## rutandstrut

I have seen one at less than 40 Yards chasing three does in a State WMA in Central Florida. When I told the Biologist they did not believe me. I kept on talking about it and told the Biologist that I could show then the tracks that the Cat had left. I guess they started to believe me because they asked me to show them where I was hunting. We drove back to the area where I had seen the Panther and showed them the Tracks that were left on a Sugar Sand Logging Road where the Cat had crossed chasing the Three Deer. They then proceeded to ask me to remove my Stand and Hunt in a different place. They taped off the Logging Road 200-300 Yards on each side of the crossing and then proceeded to plaster cast the Tracks. They say that we do not have Panthers in Central Florida either, but we have seen and heard them here and approx. 90 Miles North East of Orlando. One was also killed on Interstate 4 by a Motorist approx. 30-35 Miles West of Orlando. 

The Florida Panthers are not Black. They may appear Black, but are actually Dark Tan to Light Brown in Color similar to a Cougar! They have a very long Tail that curve upward. I would guess they weight between 115-140 pounds in weight.


----------



## Wide Earp

Queegua said:


> There were reports of a Panther or Mountain lion taking a guy's dog out of the bed of the pick up he was driving...yes driving..was some years ago and happend in the Cohutta WMA area...there were several scratches along the side of the truck and was reported to the DNR and the story published in the local paper with photos of the truck...the fellow said it happend so quick he just got a glimpse of it leaping out of the back with his dog in it's mouth...I don't know if it was a Black one or not...but pretty sure it was a big cat.



I know I'm gonna get a load of crap for this but I and a close friend of mine saw one a dark colored one we both called it black but it was night, on the cohutta wma, it crossed the road near the mill creek overlook


----------



## Keebs

*Eeerrie Feeling*

It's one of those sounds that when you hear it, you know it, you never forget it, and that is the scream of a panther.  My sister & I heard it off in the edge of the woods in one of the cow pastures, in Irwin County, back in the mid 70's.  We both looked at each other in disbelief & hi-tailed it to our Papa to tell him & he told us that it was a panther.  Believe it or not, but I know what I heard & I will NEVER forget it, that's for sure!


----------



## longears

There must be a thousand gun carrying rednecks who look at this site every day, and no one has killed a panther yet.  heres yo sign.


----------



## Zeus01

There are brown panthers in south florida, but you tell a game warden you saw a black one in NW Florida and he will laugh at you. This comes from the people that let you legally kill 2 bucks a day every day of the season, and expect to build a large population of mature bucks in FL. Even though I almost wrecked my truck trying to keep from hitting one standing in the middle of the highway in the middle of the day at about 50 yds. It stood better than waist high with a 6 ft. long tail that twitched at the very end like a house cat. So laugh all you want, I guess some people don't mind paradeing their ignorance aroud for all to see.


----------



## nickel back

longears said:


> There must be a thousand gun carrying rednecks who look at this site every day, and no one has killed a panther yet.  heres yo sign.



I would not kill it to make  a point....that they are out there


----------



## GA DAWG

I would but its never gonna happen.Cause their is no such thing as a black panther.Brown ones yes......Black ones.NOT HARDLY.


----------



## gtrman

*Panthers?*

OK.  I have watched this post with great interest for a while, and finally could not contain myself.
My family has been in the fur business buying and selling furs and hides of all types since 1923.  Now, in that 80 years we have bought literally millions of pieces of furs and skins from millions of different trappers, coon hunters and fur houses from all over Georgia, the United States and other parts of the world.  For every pelt we bought, there is no telling how many traps were in the ground to catch that one coon/fox/otter/beaver...whatever.  These traps were set by men making their living from these furbearing animals, not hobbyists.  Those same people spent more time in the woods in one trapping season than most folks today spend in a lifetime.  All of this equates to God-knows-how many hours spent looking for sign, and finding out how to catch something to put money in the trappers pocket, and food on his table.  Many times we have been  called by someone who said they had caught a black panther.  EVERY time the animal was brought in, it was indeed a huge long tailed black cat.  Either a feral cat or common house cat.  We bought and saw many, many cat skins over the years (we have traded in cat skins from many species throughout North and South America, Africa and Asia, so yes we HAVE seen black jaguar/ Panthera onca skins from Brazil)...But we never bought any skin/hide/fur/whole carcass of a Puma concolor coryi.  Nor were they Puma concolor arundivaga, aztecus, browni, californica, floridana, hippolestes, improcera, kaibabensis, mayensis, missoulensis, olympus, oregonensis, schorgeri, stanleyana, vancouverensis or youngi. 
Add in the above stats to those deer/bird/rabbit/turkey hunters in the field or with trail cameras out there.  There are still no black panthers killed that I am aware of.  Add to that the millions of cars and trucks running up and down the millions of miles of rural roads and interstate highways in Georgia...and you guessd it...no dead black panthers, again, that I am aware of.
I certainly am not so vain as to say the folks who have claimed to see this phenomenon are liars.  It is my opinion, bolstered by the aforementioned reasons, that these people are mistaken.  I believe they have seen something, just not a black panther.
To address some other opinions, questions and myths regarding panthers, see this web site from Florida Game and Fish Commision:
http://myfwc.com/panther/rosie/describe.html.
Just my 2 cents.


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## Deadringer

I went to college in FL and hunted with two buddies that both had land in Okeechobie.  One had 9,000 acres that only he and the owner's daughter hunted.  The other had a lease on 40,000 acres.   I had some of the best hunting I have ever had down there.  Deer, hogs, turkey (more dense than you can imagine), coyotes, bobcats and yes, panthers.  I saw one with my own eyes one evening.  I had set up in a climber in some pines on the edge of a cow pasture.  I was facing the road.  I saw a 6 point (didn't shoot), a coyote (at 100+ yds shot once b/c my buddy told me to blast any and all coyotes but missed), a bobcat (didn't shoot) and then...yep!  A Florida panther.  He wasn't black, he was yellow/brownish.  I was amazed.  It came front my front left going to my back left.  I was able to glass it, so I am 110% sure of what I saw.  

When I told my buddy that evening what I had seen he said he wasn't surprised.  But he was Edited to Remove Profanity ----Edited to Remove Profanity ----Edited to Remove Profanity ----Edited to Remove Profanity ----Edited to Remove Profanity ----Edited to Remove Profanity ---- that I put my rifle scope on him because of the thought of the fine one would get for shooting a panther.  (not that anyone would know on 9,000 acres!)


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## Deadringer

That pic in my avatar are two of the does that I took...these two from the 40,000 acre lease.  Slickheads were alright because we were poor college kids!


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## gtrman

*clarification*

No doubt in my mind one can see a panther in okeechobee.  The puma concolor coryi naturally ranges there if I am not terribly mistaken.  Here is a link to a road killed panther on I-4 in Central Florida in 2006:   http://www.local6.com/news/8700561/detail.html
My post above was referring specifically to black panthers in Georgia.  I should have been more clear with my post, cause I have heard from folks seeing panthers in that part of FL more than once, and have seen roadkill pictures of panthers all around that area more than once.  I certainly cannot refute or deny that evidence.  But I have never seen such here in GA.


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## Zeus01

Like I said before, If you rely on information from the Florida Game and Fish commission, you may as well be talking to someone born and raised in New York City. The last time I checked, The board that makes Florida game laws are appointed by the governor. You don't get the position because of knowledge about wildlife, but rather because of the size of the contribution before the last election. It may have changed by now, but I doubt it. When I last checked there were multiple women from the Miami area on the board. When I read the minutes for the last meeting, It was obvious that most of them had never hunted a day in their life. I have hunted FL for 35 years, and I could write 50 pages of examples to back up my claims. On the other hand I have hunted Georgia for five years and have the exact opposite opinion of the Georgia game officers. They seem to use common sense in the makeing of their rules and regulations. 
  I would like to thank gtrman for setting me strait on the 120-140 lb. cat with the 6 or 7 ft. long tail that I almost ran over in broad daylight. All these years I thought it was a black Panther with yellow eyes. Now I know that It was just a house cat. I guess it was standing on the hood of my truck and that was what made it appear so big.
  And I also spent 14 years surveying the woods of NW Florida. That means I spent 40 to 60 hours a week in the woods for 14 years. And when I would get off of work, I would go to the woods. So If time spent in the woods gets you credibility, I should have more than a game warden and a trapper combined.
  Why do I bother trying?


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## Rebel 3

Zeus01,
In GA the Board of Natural Resources is also made of governor appointed officials.  Many of these officials have little or no hunting experience compared to the general outdoors man.  Their lack of experience in no way reflects on the experience of the officers of the Dept of Natural Resources.  I am sure it is real similar in Florida.  The board members are not in general law officers or biologist.  The information that is given out on stuff such as panthers is compiled from other DNR employees such as Game Management biologists.


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## gtrman

*Tail length of Panther?*

Here is some biological data taken from 3 Texas cats, Felis concolor Linnaeus:  External measurements of a large adult male: total length, 2.6 m; tail, 927 mm; hind foot, 259 mm. Total length of three males averaged 2.3 m; of females, 2.0 m. Weight of three males, 160-227 Lbs; of six females, 105-133 Lbs.
Note that the biggest male was 227 Lbs.
The tail length was 927 mm or 36.5 in. I am not certain if that measurement was taken from the biggest cat or not.  Point is, check some biological data, OR go measure the tail on the biggest taxidermied cat you can find.  The tail on a 120-140 lb cat is NOT 6 or 7 feet long.  Not on ANY big cat in the world is the tail length 6-7 feet long...Bengal Tigers, Jags, Leopards, Cheetah...you name it.  I have a good friend who owns Gatorama on Hwy. 27 in Palmdale, FL.  He has a REALLY big Puma concolor coryi.  Its tail is nowhere near 6-7 ft. long.  I think folks are simply mistaken sometimes with what they see or think they have seen.  In any case, folks are definitely mistaken when they think they are seeing large cats with 6-7 ft. long tails.  Even when they are looking at the largest captive cats of any species they can find.  Using that reasoning, I would think that if one were mistaken over the tail length, maybe they were mistaken by the species they saw as well.


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## Zeus01

One could be mistaken that someone that uses big words and measures texas cats in meters, might know what they were talking about. Lets look at the other facts about the cat I saw, It was at least 6 ft. (2 meters) from tip of nose to base of tail. It appeared to be between 120 and 140 lbs. The cats back was straight so it was easy to judge the length. The tail curved down then up and looked like an s. So that could explain a misjudgement in tail length. I still say it was longer than his body. I have just read all 3 pages of posts,again. Most of the close up daytime sightings seem to be consistant with length and weight of the cat I saw. The clear, close up picture of the large blak cat pictured in the first page of posts is identical to what I saw. Now yesterday you said what I had seen was a ferrell house cat or something of that sort. Even though the cat I reported seeing stood waist high and had a 6ft. long body w/out tail. Now today you take the most easily misjudged part about the cat and try to disprove me, while ignoreing the other parts of the account and ignore them. In fact you proved the rest of what I said to be consistant with the findings on the Texas cat. Is your last name Gore by any chance? All I wanted to do by posting my story was to compare notes with other people that had seen something similar to what I had. Why don't all the non-belivers start their own thread and leave this one alone. Because I don't care if you were raised by a pack of Concolor Coryi, that doesn't change what I saw, and it never will.


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## Zeus01

Rebel 3
  Come down to Florida and try to go grouper or snapper fishing and you will see what I am talking about.


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## Soccerchick12

aw kewl
I thought u was talking bout the Tiftarea Panthers
My bad!


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## gtrman

*Mistaken?*

I would like to make some clarifications and comments...some parts of my prior posts have been misunderstood.
"One could be mistaken that someone that uses big words and measures texas cats in meters, might know what they were talking about." 
I don't believe most folks mistakenly think people that use big words or the metric system know what they are talking about.  With a dictionary and conversion chart or calculator, big words are easily understandable and the metric system is easily converted into U.S. customary units or English units, so people can sort through anything that is over their head.  How exactly do I not know what I am talking about?  Have I posted some or any incorrect figures or information?  Please show me and correct them if so.  Also, why would you say I do not know what I am talking about?  Do you know me, my business, my experience or my education and studies?  To make that statement is "parading ignorance around for all to see" on your part, in my opinion.
As far as facts of what you saw, they are your facts.  Your perception is your reality, as it is with most men.  I cannot make you believe you saw anything other than what you thought you saw.  I can look at the other facts presented and assimilate the information as best I can.  
You say this cat was spotted in the middle of the road in the middle of the day.  But it seems that is contrary to the studied habits of a Florida panther...Florida panthers are primarily nocturnal, which means they are most active during the night. They also are active during the evening and early morning hours. These active periods are when panthers hunt their preferred prey, white-tailed deer and wild hogs, and are the times when you are most likely to see a panther crossing a rural highway.  Panthers are often resting during the day, and traveling and hunting during the cooler night.
You say the cat's tail "twitched at the very end like a house cat"...Well, did you know the Florida sub-species has a right-angled crook at the end if its tail due to an abnormality in its last 3 tail vertebrae as a result of inbreeding?  
You say you almost hit the cat at 50 yards?  I wonder if you had to slam on brakes to come to the stop, or just swerved past him while you got to check out his tail twitching.  If you saw him, then slammed on brakes at 55 mph, using the following calculation (http://www.csgnetwork.com/stopdistinfo.html) it would take about five to six seconds to stop and your vehicle will travel about 265 feet.  Five or six seconds is a long time for a cat to stand there and let you get stopped, then let you check him out real good.   Also, if you got stopped 50 yards away, you would have first seen the cat with your naked eye at about 140 yards out.  That is quite amazing species ID with the animal standing still, without any optics to help you out at that range. 
You say at 50 yards you can see the cat had yellow eyes???  Amazing.  To see eye color at that distance is remarkable.  Most of these cats have an amber/pale gold color eye, but it does often look yellow.  At 50 yards, that can be hard to distinguish.
However, congratulations.  With the exception of the 6-7 ft. long tail error, the rest of the anatomy of the cat you do seem to have correct.  So with the above, I hope to have not ignored any part of your account.  I would like to point out and correct here if I may:  "yesterday you said what I had seen was a ferrell house cat or something of that sort"  No, what I wrote was:  "Many times we have been called by someone who said they had caught a black panther. EVERY time the animal was brought in, it was indeed a huge long tailed black cat. Either a feral cat or common house cat."  That did not have a blame thing to do with you or your account.  I am sorry you felt as if you needed to go on the defensive for my account of my experiences.  
"If you rely on information from the Florida Game and Fish commission, you may as well be talking to someone born and raised in New York City."  Do you REALLY think FWC lets some dummy with no training write information fact sheets and publish them on the web for all the world to see?  Come on, you know better than that.  There are old wildlife biologists in the commission that have forgotton more about the animals in their state than most of us will ever know.   
Why would you ask if my last name is Gore?  That just makes no sense and is kind of silly.  But just to let you know, it is not.  You guys in Florida love him enough to give him your vote in heavy numbers though...maybe it would help my credibility with you if it was.
Don't get so frazzled.  I have just as much right to post my experiences as you.  I just wanted to let the guys who say they saw a panther IN GEORGIA hear my reasoning for why I think they are mistaken...I said MISTAKEN, not liars or village idiots.  Just because I don't believe there is such a critter as a Black/melanistic Florida Panther does not mean I think the guys who say they saw something that looked as such are flat out lying.  But the fact is there is a SEVERE lack of evidence, both physical and biological to substantiate any claim of these black Florida Panthers, especially in Georgia.  The ONLY evidence we have thus far is what someone says they saw.  That ain't enough to get the Black Florida panther out of the cryptozoology category.  Your account of what you saw is no different...And, by the way, concolor coryi are not pack animals.  Check that biological data...


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## troutman34

I too have seen one in the Milledgeville area, off Hwy 212.  The guys that have hunted our club for years kept telling me that Panther was going to get me because I slept in the back of my truck.  I thought they were just messing with me, but one night as I was pulling up to the gate of the club, I saw the thing cross the road right in front of my truck.  No mistaking that was a Panther (very dark color.)  I will never sleep in the back of the truck again.  I believe them now, they were not kidding.  If black bears can migrate down from north ga, then how could panthers not possibly be migrating up north from florida.  I don't recall there being a cougar border patrol on the florida/Georgia border.


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## Vernon Holt

*Panthers in Georgia*

gtrman: We (or at least some) are pleased to have someone participate in these discussions who obviously knows a great deal about the subject at hand.

If you were to read some of the back threads on the subject, you would see that more "panthers" in GA have been heard than have been seen.

Would you please comment on the tendency of these highly secretive animals to emit the blood curdling scream which is heard so frequently over GA?? A high percentage of the screams are heard in locations that are least likely to contain the critters.

And further, what other creature will make such a sound as to be mistaken to be the dreadful panther?? Thanks


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## gtrman

Vernon:  The following is an excerpt from an interview with Stephen Williams, who is (or was?) the president of the Florida Panther society:  "THE OFTEN TOLD TALE OF THE PANTHER OR COUGAR SCREAM, WHICH IS SAID TO SOUND LIKE A WOMAN SCREAMING, IS ONE WHICH, AS FAR AS I KNOW, IS NOT BASED UPON ANY RECORDED EVIDENCE. AMONG THE NUMBER OF BIOLOGISTS, TRACKERS AND PROFESSIONAL HUNTERS WHICH I HAVE MET, NONE HAVE EVER CONFIRMED HEARING SUCH A VOCALIZATION BY THE CAT. ON ONE OCCASION, AN INDIVIDUAL CLAIMED TO HAVE TAPE RECORDED A CAT NEAR HIS HOUSE IN NORTH FLORIDA. THE CRIES OF THE LIMPKIN (A LARGE SWAMP WADING BIRD) EMANATING FROM THE SPEAKERS DISPROVED HIS ASSERTIONS. I DO HAVE NEARLY AN HOUR OF RECORDING OF THREE DIFFERENT CATS, TWO FEMALES AND A MALE, WITH A REPERTOIRE THAT WOULD PUT AN OPERA STAR TO SHAME. IT AMOUNTS TO THE VERY SAME CATERWAULING YOU GET FROM THE COMMON HOUSE CAT, ONLY AMPLIFIED MANY TIMES OVER AND MUCH DEEPER. THE ONE SOUND THAT THEY DO MAKE WHICH IS MOST INTERESTING IS THE UNUSUAL BIRD-LIKE CHIRP WHICH THEY USE TO COMMUNICATE WITH KITTENS. YOU MIGHT ASK IF YOU HEARD THIS SOUND IN THE WOODS, "WHAT KIND OF BIRD WAS THAT?!" 
I too have heard a eerie screeching sound at night as well.  Just never thought "panther" right off the bat.  I was wondering...can anyone who has heard these screams tell me if the sounds sound like the following recordings?
1:  http://www.thefirering.com/sounds/foxscreams.wav
2:  http://www.thefirering.com/sounds/adultbarnowl.wav
3:  http://members.aol.com/CatmanNo1/BOB-CAT.wav
Also, Vernon, I cannot profess to knowing so much about Florida Panthers, I just researched them a little bit, and have a good friend who headed the FWC small game department for many years, who was also privy to participate in some cat studies in South America and Africa, then share his information with me.


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## Zeus01

Florida panthers aren't black so don't give me facts about the Florida panther.I saw the cat in a tight curve doing maybe 35. He was 50 yards when I first saw him and less than fifty feet when he lept out of the road. I asked you if your name was Gore because he takes one or two facts out of thousands, and twists them to suite his purpose, and makes hundreds of millions of dollars off of people's hysteria. Even though I never claimed to see a Florida panther you quote me fact after fact about the Florida panther. I had to survey some jobs in meters so I can convert meters to feet in my sleep. As for the game warden biologists, Two came on our property in the 70's to study Gopher turtles. When I asked them how many snakes they had run out of the Gopher holes, They replied " Snakes don't live in Gopher holes, do they? 
  The only reason I replied to your post was to see how upset I could get you, and how many Hours I could get you to waste doing a bunch of research to prove me wrong. I like to see overeducated people try to enlighten us morons. I hope that anyone that has posted a panther sighting on this thread, and has been convinced by your research that they didn't see what they saw, will post a retraction to their sightings. That should settle the debate once and for all. When you convince everyone else they were mistaken, then I will agree with you also. I am just a dumb redneck, I never claimed to be anything else. But, I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night.


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## GA DAWG

gtrman, yall still in the fur business?? If so.How much does a coon bring nowadays here in GA on average??


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## TROY13

Til someone shoots, runs over, catches, gets attacked, and/or is killed by a panther in Ga. I ain't believing a story that includes a panther sighting. Just because ya think you heard one don't mean he exist. Just ask a hunter how many B and C bucks he has seen or heard but never killed. It amazes me how many hunters do not really know what they saw and yes sometimes shoot. How many times has a hunter come back to camp looking to find help looking for the 300 pound 18pt B&C buck he has shot. Only to track the massive deer and upon locating the beast does he become a 150 pound 4 pt. I now have to ask, who has killed or caught a panther in Georgia?


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## BowArrow

Where do all of these panthers go to die? Some secret place known only to the panthers.

Has anybody seen a cub?

If you hear something scream at night, how do you know it is a panther?

How do they avoid all of the trail cameros?


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## new blood

*dead black animal on 75*

Was anybody driving up 75 just north of Macon and see the dead black animal in the center lane. I've been reading the posts about these black cats for years on this site and I actually have a friend who swears he saw some kind of black cat hunting in Ledowisi, GA. Anyway, I was riding shotgun coming home from Hilton Head and we had just gone through Macon and gotten to wear 75 turns back into a 4 lane highway when I saw something black in the middle of the road. As we got closer, I kept saying that has to be a dead black lab but as we passed it I swear that the tail looked to be longer and more slendor than any dog's tail I have ever seen. I wasn't able to positively ID it as I turned around and looked because of all the cars on the road. The rest of the ride home it really bothered me because it just didn't look like a dog as much as I kept telling myself that's what it had to be. Had I been driving I would have turned around to check it out. Did anydody else see it? I saw it about 7:00pm last night.


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## ambush80

ive got pics of a 260lb. mountain lion killed by a car in Jackson Co. NC.  last weekend.  I dont know how to post them here but if someone PM's  i will e-mail them and you can post them


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## BowArrow

If one is killed with a collar, that means he was released into the wild by a human.

If you hear a scream in the night, how do you know it came from a panther (cougar) which you have never seen screaming.

Panthers have been reported in every county in Georgia. My question is, where do all of these panthers go to die and their carasses disappear? I am seventy years old and I don't remember a single carcass being found in the wild.


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## ambush80

BowArrow said:


> If one is killed with a collar, that means he was released into the wild by a human.
> 
> If you hear a scream in the night, how do you know it came from a panther (cougar) which you have never seen screaming.
> 
> Panthers have been reported in every county in Georgia. My question is, where do all of these panthers go to die and their carasses disappear? I am seventy years old and I don't remember a single carcass being found in the wild.



what is your e-mail? i will send you the picture.  North Carolina to Ga isnt very far for a mountain lion to travel


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## C.Killmaster

ambush80 said:


> what is your e-mail? i will send you the picture.  North Carolina to Ga isnt very far for a mountain lion to travel



It's not really that far, but they don't have them in North Carolina either.  I looked on the net and couldn't find any articles about one being killed there last weekend.  If it was a picture someone forwarded you in an email, I think they are pulling your leg.


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## letsgohuntin

BowArrow said:


> Panthers have been reported in every county in Georgia. My question is, where do all of these panthers go to die and their carasses disappear? I am seventy years old and I don't remember a single carcass being found in the wild.



I can't recall seeing a carcass of ANY animal in the woods that died of natural causes.  When an animal is sick and about to die, they will get in the thickest, nastiest stuff they can find.  They (panthers) are not just going to fall over in the middle of the trail or in a wide open area.


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## Rebel 3

letsgohuntin said:


> I can't recall seeing a carcass of ANY animal in the woods that died of natural causes.  When an animal is sick and about to die, they will get in the thickest, nastiest stuff they can find.  They (panthers) are not just going to fall over in the middle of the trail or in a wide open area.



I find animals dead in the woods from time to time, but few people spend as much time in the woods as I do.  If you walk in the woods enough you will find dead animals from time to time.  I have found about every animal I can think of in the woods dead except a panther.  Why?  Because there is no native population of them in GA.  I guess there is a remote possibility one could roam up from Florida every now and then, but rarely.


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## ambush80

C.Killmaster said:


> It's not really that far, but they don't have them in North Carolina either.  I looked on the net and couldn't find any articles about one being killed there last weekend.  If it was a picture someone forwarded you in an email, I think they are pulling your leg.



It wasn't reported to the news.  It came from a good friend of mines father.  I will send you the e-mail if you PM me yours.


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## ambush80

ambush80 said:


> It wasn't reported to the news.  It came from a good friend of mines father.  I will send you the e-mail if you PM me yours.



It was a hoax.  I tracked it down:

http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/mountainlion2007.asp


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## dorkmen

I have heard either a panther or the banshee in Treutlen county in South, GA. I do not care what anyone else thinks. My blood went to ice. Thank God I did not see anything that dawn.


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## adam27

We have seen a pair of "black panthers" at our club in Meriwether. They are almost a charcoal to dark brown color, about the size of a labrador retreiver with a tail that is about 3 to 4 feet long. The DNR also told us that they didn't exist, however one got hit by a car about a mile down the road fom our club. The sheriff's department told us that a mating pair had been placed there by the DNR to help control the deer population. So who do u believe. We saw them for 3 years in a row and after that one got hit by a car we never saw the other one again.


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## jonkayak

*Adding fuel to the fire*

This report is kind of old but interesting to read. The report is some 46 pages long. I cut and past some of the Georgia high lites from it but not all of them. Take the time and read it its kind of neat. The one that gets me was the one tracked to Washington Ga. Thats in between Athens and Augusta. Thats a lot of ground he covered. Remember this report was published in 1995 so think about the ground they could have covered since. Also after reading this tell me Georgia DNR can't say they don't know there here after all they *arrest two people for shotting* them.  In the report T23, T32 .... is in reference to a mountian lion/FL panther (not black panther).

A Link to the site were the report is found

www.floridaconservation.org

The link is to the PDF file for the report titled

"FLORIDA PANTHER REINTRODUCTION FEASIBILITY STUDY 
by Robert C. Belden 
and James W. McCown 
Final Report 
Study Number: 7507 
Study Period:  1 July 1992 - 30 June 1995 "


www.floridaconservation.org/panther/pdfs/reintroduction.pdf

Here is what part of the report says.

"Two sub-adult males (T42 and T43) dispersed from their mother (T41) during the study.  They remained a 
family group in the northern Columbia County area from their 15 July 1993 release until 1 November 1993, when 
T41 was located with the resident adult male (T33).  T42 dispersed 47 km to an area along the Alapha River east 
of Valdosta, Georgia, and T43 dispersed 150 km to an area along the Ochlockonee River south of Cairo, Georgia 
(Appendix A).  These males were estimated to be 14 to 18 months-old when they dispersed." 

"Home ranges for wild-caught males in this study (648 km2) were comparable to those of transient males in southern Florida, which might be expected given the transient behavior of released wild-caught males in northern Florida and southern 
Georgia."

"The Georgia wildlife management areas (WMA) where mountain lions established use areas/home ranges contained estimated deer densities ranging from 589/100 km2 
(1/42 acres - Dixon Memorial WMA) to 965/100 km2 (1/26 acres - Paulk's Pasture and Rayonier WMA's) (Georgia DNR WMA Hunt Maps)."

"Therefore, deer densities in northern Florida and southern Georgia appear to be sufficient to provide for 
panther nutritional demands while having minimal impact on a huntable surplus.  Furthermore, the availability of 
wild hogs and other small prey not only add to the panthers diet, they also lessen the number of deer required. "

"There are enough habitat and prey available in northern Florida and southern Georgia to support a viable, self-sustaining population of Florida panthers.  This population would expand in a relatively short period of time and dispersers from this population likely would travel throughout many of the southeastern states. "

"Locations of wild-caught male T48 along the Chattahoochee River, Seminole, Miller, Clay, Randolf, 
Quitman, and Stewart counties, Georgia, April - June 1995. "

"April 1993 along a dirt road in Echols County, Georgia, approximately 7 km north of his last known location. 
Georgia Department of Natural Resources arrested a suspect on 13 July 1993 and charged him with killing T35. 
The suspect was able to lead investigators to the animal's remains and confessed to killing it with a bow and arrow."

"T37, a 1.5 year-old, wild-caught female, was released on 22 February 1993.  She remained around the release 
site for 5 days before moving to the St Mary's River, where she remained for 2 weeks.  She was found to be eating 
discarded chicken carcasses behind a commercial chicken operation.  She then crossed the Okefenokee National 
Wildlife Refuge and traveled south along the Suwannee River to Occidental WMA, where she spent a few days. 
She then turned north and spent 2 weeks on Grand Bay Creek near Valdosta, Georgia, before continuing her 
northward trek during the next month (12 May 1993 - 15 June 1993).  She was captured on 16 June 1993 near 
Sylvania, Georgia, approximately 270 km from the release site.  She was transported back to Florida and re- 
released in Osceola National Forest.  She then moved northeast and, for more than 2 months, restricted her 
movements to the hardwood forests along the St. Mary's River south of Folkston, Georgia.  She moved north to the 
Satilla River north of Folkston in August 1993, where, except for several excursions, she spent the remainder of 
her life in a 111.3 km2 home range.  She was struck by a vehicle and killed 7 March 1995 on I-95 while on an 
eastward excursion (Figure A8).  As with most of the other animals that occasionally wandered out of their home 
range for a few days before returning, these excursions seemed to begin when T37 reached sexual maturity, and the majority occurred during the cooler months." 

"T40, a 1.5 year-old wild-caught male, was released 22 February 1993 and remained around the release site for a 
week.  He then traveled southeast and spent a month in a small (24 km2) area south of Macclenny, Florida (Figure 
A14).  He then traveled north along the St Mary's River, made a large kill on White Oak Plantation, and continued 
north, paralleling highway 301 to near Jesup, Georgia.  He was recaptured near Statesboro, Georgia on 22 June 
1993 more than 240 km from the release site.  He was transported back to Osceola National Forest and released.  
He had traveled northeast into Paulk's Pasture WMA near Brunswick, Georgia by 2 August 1993, where he 
remained for 2 months.  He was shot and wounded in the back with an arrow on 28 September 1993.  He was 
captured and transported to the Gainesville Wildlife Research Lab the next day.  A suspect was arrested by Georgia Department of Natural Resources and convicted.  T40 was treated and released back into Paulk's Pasture 10 days"

"Fig. A28.  Locations of wild-caught male T48 along the Chattahoochee River, Seminole, Miller, Clay, Randolf, 
Quitman, and Stewart counties, Georgia, April - June 1995. 

Florida Panther Reintroduction Feasibility Study 
Final Report 
40 
after being shot and remained there until December 1993.  T40 shifted into a 1610 km2 home range centered 
around the Canoochee River on Ft. Stewart Military Reservation (Figure A15) after making a few northerly 
excursions.  T40, now more than 2 years old and sexually mature, made numerous excursions away from Ft. 
Stewart during the next 6 months.  Most excursions were westerly along the Altamaha and Ocmulgee rivers and 2 
reached as far as Fitzgerald, Georgia, more than 160 km from the center of his Ft. Stewart home range.  During 
June - July 1994, T40 gradually moved north, stopping 1 August 1994 near Louisville, Georgia (Figure A16).  He 
used this area exclusively until November 1994, when he made a southern excursion that stopped just north of Ft. 
Stewart before returning to the vicinity of Louisville.  He left Louisville in January 1995 and traveled north to an 
area near Washington, Georgia, more than 380 km north of the original release site.  This excursion and apparent 
shift in use areas carried him into areas beyond our ability to respond to potential emergency situations involving 
this animal, and he was recaptured on 24 January 1995 and removed from the study.   T40 never established a 
home range with the exception of the 6 month period he remained on Ft. Stewart.  He had a series of use areas that 
were utilized for a few weeks to a few months.  Abandonment of a use area was generally preceded by a series of lengthy excursions.  He was never located with a female during this study."

"traveled to western Georgia between 9 
March and 23 April 1995.  He traveled along the Chattahoochee River and many of its tributaries between 
Lumpkin and Blakely, Georgia "


----------



## C.Killmaster

jonkayak said:


> Also after reading this tell me Georgia DNR can't say they don't know there here after all they *arrest two people for shotting* them.  In the report T23, T32 .... is in reference to a mountian lion/FL panther (not black panther).



Table 1 in the appendix indicates the total number of days each cat was in the wild.  All of the study animals were removed after the completion of the project.


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## GAcarver

If there are BIG CATS in Florida, then what would keep them from crossing the state line?


----------



## jonkayak

I'll make some calls and see if I can get some info on this report and find out more. Cause I was also wondering if the "number of days in the wild" just relates to the number of days they were not in the holding pens,  or just the total number of days they let them roam. None the less they were roaming in Georgia for awhile and several were also spotted with other not study group members.

Jon


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## ogre

I Was Hunting In Greene County 3 Years Ago,saw A Panther It Was A Dark Silky Grey.dont Know Which Kind It Was But It Was About 150lbs Or So,and It Wasnt No Bobcat!


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## lakepups

I'm new here on GON.  Funny, I was running a google search this
afternoon to find a picture of a panther to ask my wife is "this is
what she saw" today.  Sure enough, it was, and strangely we find
that saying this is like saying we've spotted big foot or something.
Odd to me, because I saw a panther approximately 9 years ago.
Both sightings were at mid-day, approximatly 2:00pm.  Both were
trotting (cats have a very unique gate) across the highway right
in front our cars.  With my "cat" sighting I almost ran the car in
the ditch trying to avoid the cat.  The cat I saw 10 years ago
dwarfed any bobcat, and had an enormous/thick tail, in a rather
"U" shape.   Medium to dark gray, with a hint/tint of brownish
color.  Right at the bridge on Murder Creek on Highway 129 south
of Eatonton GA, right at Lake Sinclair.   There were 3 of us in
the car, we all saw the same thing, it wasn't big foot, it wasn't a
dog, it WAS a LARGE cat (perhaps 6' long, nose to tail).  We didnt
stop to ask it's lineage.  We did realize, simply, at that size, WE
were introduced into the food chain...   Not a happy thought...
My wife and daughter today saw the same thing.  By their
description, it was a little smaller than the one I saw years ago,
perhaps 5' across, large/thick tail, same color as I described earlier,
and definitely a CAT.  I dont know of any house cat that's 5 or 6'.
Bobcats dont have tails, plus dont get this size either.  Our sightings
weren't incumbered by trees, or at night, or diluted with beer.  All
were mid-day, and we were all VERY sober.   This one (today) was
sighted approximatly 6 miles from the first, on Hwy 212 between
Eatonton and Milledgeville, very close to Lake Sinclair.  Sorry, no
dash-mount-cameras...  Just honest truth.  There are big cats out
here.   I dont know how they got here, I dont know whether they
were invited or not, but I do know they are here, they're not
black bears, they're not dogs, they're not extraterrestrials, and
they're not big foot.


----------



## olcowman

Am I out of my mind, but didn't GON have a picture a few years back of a feller standing next to a pick up holding the head of a great big cougar/panther? I think it was sent in anon. and was claimed to have been shot in the Cohutta WMA?

I also recall a article in the Atlanta paper sometime, maybe the same year anyway, regarding the escape and ensuing efforts to capture a mtn lion that had escaped from that santuary/rehab deal up in Ellijay. Anyone recall the outcome or any follow up data on either of these two news items? Were the two ever connected?


----------



## Newt

I can only speak for my neck of the woods but I assure you that there are Cougars, Panthers or what ever here in SOWEGA. Although if someone has seen a black one I would let somebody know. They do not exist anywhere according to DNR. But we do have panthers here.


----------



## GT-40 GUY

Some Escaped From The New Orleans Zoo During Katrina.


----------



## Chattooga River Hunter

*Re:*

Guys, let it rest!  This insane debate goes on in every southern state -to no end - I guess it is an ego thing.

There is no way there is a wild breeding population in GA.  There is absolutly no evidence except the "usual" night time drive-by sightings (which never produce any evidence) and the "ol" lady screaming in the woods claim.  "Yep, I heard it, and I know it was a panther.......them dang DNR types don't know what they talkin' about."


----------



## ugaboy

*Panther on Gwinnett/Forsyth Line*

I just wanted to tell everyone about the panther I saw the other day at the Chattahoochee River right there in Shakerag. Was on my way down there to trout fish and on the way down the trail I passed a panther dragging a fellow trout fisherman by his left leg. Had to be about 200lbs, but luckily he didnt mess with me.


----------



## GAranger1403

Madness!!!! these things are a viscious cycle. Will the madness ever end!! Kudos to GTRman. You can type till your fingers fall off man its a lost cause. I have got to where I don't reply to these things, but had to to tell you "right on man". I get Qs or calls 100 times a year on M. lions and black panthers. Argue till I.m blue that there are no breeding populations of M.lions in Ga. NEVER been any B. panthers. There have been escaped illegal pets and some experimental cats but that is it. I love these cats and look forward to the day someone proves me wrong and proves they are here in GA. Millions of game cameras, 10s of millions of drivers, digital cams,phone cams, 10s of thousands of hunters and fisherman with guns, how many panthers do we have to show???? Again Kudos gtrman.


----------



## GAranger1403

I must reinterate the illegal pet trade is responsible for some of the sightings. 100s of exotic cats are being kept in Ga and Fla and some times these can escape. Never found any case of black leopards or jags however. Some of my relatives had a pair of M. lions several years ago as pets. They were free roaming on their property in AL. The authorities found out and confiscated them. I personaly have seen a JUNGLE CAT "Felis Chaus" in the wild here in South GA. These look similar to small M. lions, this was someones escaped or released pet. There are several people who have M. lions here in GA legal and illegal. Like I said before I know someone who has 12 right now that were confiscated.


----------



## rumcreek

GAranger1403  you stated in a previous post that "I get Qs or calls 100 times a year on M. lions and black panthers. Argue till I.m blue that there are no breeding populations of M.lions in Ga. NEVER been any B. panthers. There have been escaped illegal pets and some experimental cats but that is it."  

Most people just report sightings of the large cats, people who have seen these cats don't call you or the DNR to argue the fact that they are breeding or not.  They just report simply seeing them, your own words state that "There have been escaped illegal pets and some experimental cats but that is it." Alot of us know what we have seen and granted there are probably some that are strecthing the truth, but there are some of us that have definitely seen these large cats. By your own admission it is possible that the cats we have seen could be escaped pets or "experimental cats". I, for one, don't really care if the cats are breeding or not, but they are for sure in the woods of Georgia, either escaped, experimental, or wild. As for wild cats, if there are any "actually" in Florida then a person would be shallow minded to think that the cats could not have traveled up a river system and remained undetected to most. Also, any hunter in his right mind would not report shooting a large cat to the DNR since its illegal to kill them, even though they are not supposed to be here. What gives with this? Please see (h) on the following list from your Ga DNR web site

391-4-10-.09 Protected Species of Plants and Animals. Amended.
(1) Mammals:
(a) Corynorhinus rafinesquii: Rafinesque's Big-eared Bat (rare)
(b) Eubalaena glacialis: North Atlantic Right Whale (endangered)
(c) Geomys pinetis: Southeastern Pocket Gopher (threatened)
(d) Megaptera novaeangliae: Humpback Whale (endangered)
(e) Myotis grisescens: Gray Bat (endangered)
(f) Myotis sodalis: Indiana Bat (endangered)
(g) Neofiber alleni: Round-tailed Muskrat (threatened)
(h) Puma concolor coryi: Florida Panther (endangered)
(i) Sylvilagus obscurus: Appalachian Cottontail (rare)
(j) Trichechus manatus: West Indian Manatee (endangered)

 Wow, isn't that a florida panther? Well according to this DNR list we could very well have seen one of these ellusive cats. As far as a picture, I don't think anyone walks around with a camera on the ready, and if they do, they aren't crafty enough to get close to these animals. I've hunted 28 years and spent countless hours in the woods all over this state and have seen 6 bobcats while hunting in general. Now on the other hand while targeting bobcats while predator hunting I have been crafty enough to harvest 11 over the years. Cats are the most cautious of any animal that I have observed, I can only assume that a panther or cougar is alot better at going unseen than a bobcat. There is a healthy population of bobcats , yet many hunters never see one in the wild. Somehow these panthers(that don't exist) made the protected species list put out by the GA DNR. That tells me that there are very few of these cats in Ga, so therefore the sightings should be very,very few and far between, which they are. The facts say that there are large cats (PANTHERS) in Ga, so until all the nay sayers do the necessary research on the subject, I would ask that you all keep an open mind on the matter because a few of your fellow sportsmen have actually seen a panther/cougar. Just because some of you have not been fortunate enough to see one certainly doesn't prove that they don't exist. The evidence proves that they do, they have, or that they sometimes inhabit Georgia. Before you all reply DO SOME RESEARCH and GET EDUCATED !!!!! Its all there in black and white if you would just look for it.


----------



## bhamby

RackNBeardOutdoors said:


> looks just like a bobcat



RackNbeardoutdoors ain't never seen a bobcat cause if he had he would know they don't have a tail


----------



## GAranger1403

I can't say that no one has seen these things, but what I can say is no one produces proof. Forget photos, no one can even produce, hair, scat, or prints here. Are our panthers bald supernatural cats that float and never take a crap!! In that case we do need to find one because we may have a new species on our hands. I have been places where M. lions occur, most recently central america, I had no problem findind 100s of prints and piles of scat. I went and investigated a "panther" last year a man and a woman swore up and down that one walked on their porch, across 20 yards of muddy driveway, not a print to be found!!!! Except for prints by armadillos,coons, housecats, etc. They could not explain how these 10 pound animals left prints but not a 100plus pound cat. I look forward to the day a legit population is found, they are my favorite big cats. I will gladly eat a plate of crow. But at this time I have seen no evidence. I have really good friends who swear they are here but like every one else NO TANGIBLE PROOF. I don't even need photos show me some tracks or put a cougar Edited to Remove Profanity ----Edited to Remove Profanity ----Edited to Remove Profanity ----Edited to Remove Profanity ---- IN MY HAND!!!! If you can't do that don't waste my time. I'm late for my meeting with bigfoot and the tooth fairy!


----------



## GA DAWG

Just thought I'd report..I still aint seen one


----------



## Craig Knight

GA DAWG said:


> Just thought I'd report..I still aint seen one



me neither but you did see a mean ground hog the other day didnt ya!


----------



## rumcreek

GAranger1403 said:


> I can't say that no one has seen these things, but what I can say is no one produces proof. Forget photos, no one can even produce, hair, scat, or prints here. Are our panthers bald supernatural cats that float and never take a crap!! In that case we do need to find one because we may have a new species on our hands. I have been places where M. lions occur, most recently central america, I had no problem findind 100s of prints and piles of scat. I went and investigated a "panther" last year a man and a woman swore up and down that one walked on their porch, across 20 yards of muddy driveway, not a print to be found!!!! Except for prints by armadillos,coons, housecats, etc. They could not explain how these 10 pound animals left prints but not a 100plus pound cat. I look forward to the day a legit population is found, they are my favorite big cats. I will gladly eat a plate of crow. But at this time I have seen no evidence. I have really good friends who swear they are here but like every one else NO TANGIBLE PROOF. I don't even need photos show me some tracks or put a cougar Edited to Remove Profanity ----Edited to Remove Profanity ----Edited to Remove Profanity ----Edited to Remove Profanity ---- IN MY HAND!!!! If you can't do that don't waste my time. I'm late for my meeting with bigfoot and the tooth fairy!



I hope your meeting went well. Maybe the evidence you seek has already been found by someone at GADNR. Surely they had to have some "TANGIBLE PROOF" to be able to classify it as an endangered species in Georgia. As far as me collecting evidence for you, I will not trespass onto someones property after a chance road sighting of a 100# plus cat to try and find anything. Lets just examine what could happen. Maybe the cat doesn't like being followed and turns on me and I have to shoot it in self defense   Lets see, thats trespassing, killing an endangered species, probably hunting from the road, illegal discharge of firearm, and probably more . Then I'd have to explain to the deputy or game warden that I was just trying to collect some scat or a hair ball from the cat because GAranger1403 wants some in his hand. (Then as the officers were handcuffing me and loading me in the car)I would still be trying to explain to them that I was only attempting to prove that it actually did exist so I wouldn't waste anymore of GAranger1403's time because he may have another meeting with bigfoot or the tooth fairy. I somehow don't think the officers or the judge would buy that story and then I'd be doing time for trying not to waste your time.  But seriously though, enough wasting your time, What evidence does the GADNR have possesion of to be able to honestly list the panther as a endangered species in this state? Make some calls Monday to the endangered species department at GADNR and try and find out, because if there is no evidence, how did the panther make the list ?? Maybe the evidence you seek to put in your hand has been under your nose this whole time and you just didn't smell it.   I'm just funning with you, but it is a valid question. Why are panthers on the list?


----------



## Ths dog hunts!!

My Mother is from deep South GA!! I use to hunt there regular!! Th big thing was always!! Big Cat tracks at the roundabout swamp!! Months & months of runnin cats at night!! Color variation is exactly that!!! & cats are cats!! & the legend is someone has always got a pack of dogs to catch it!! Proof is the cat on th tailgate!!!


----------



## GAranger1403

Ahhh, these threads are great, love 'em!!


----------



## jrc3200

cougar... Gold Creek Golf Course in Dawsonville Ga, neighbors, workers, and golfers have all seen him.  Go play in the bunkers in the a.m and look for tracks, appearently most of the sitings have been around there and I have seen the tracks myself.  Onsite security guy says he sees him about once a month.  A friend told me he saw him running across the fairway.  The course is now closed and in bankruptcy so go fish the GREAT pond they have and look out for him.


----------



## jonkayak

Rumcreek

I think you are right in that no one says they are breeding or living just that they saw or think they saw one. Also not many people will believe there are any running around with out hardcore proof regardless to the info provided. I know a guy that was hiking on the A.T. in Ga. with a small group a few years back that furnished me with a photo that he took while they were camping one night. In the photo is a tent and behind the tent is a Ostridge of all things. Now no one believes that there are many of them running around here but he did have a photo and it turned out a farmer just down the road had lost some due to a fence but it was funny nun the less, and I don't think anyone would have believed him without that photo. 



Jon


----------



## BurningMan

You have a better chance of spotting big foot.


----------



## ultramag

When my dad was squirrell hunting in Dekalb county around Stone Mountain off of south hairston road he came face to face with a black panther.He said it had yellow eyes and came within 20 feet of it.He said at night you could hear that thing screaming like a womanThis was in 1950. He was 12 years old


----------



## dajudge43

*panthers*

you guys can forget the panther, bigfoot ate it


----------



## HawgCalla

not sure if this has been posted yet, put heres video of a melanistic (black) panther stalking a dear. I believe footage was shot in Al. 
I personaly believe, as I have seen & heard the big cats where I hunt.. 






<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xhUE58vV2Ws&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xhUE58vV2Ws&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>


----------



## bwarren2

Funny how the DNR says coyotes don't harm the deer population and they say black panthers don't exist in GA. Hmm, they say isn't so, therefore it must not be true. 

I guess the one I saw in Eatonton last year was a black coyote, a black hog or an overgrown ground squirrel.  Those who have seen them know the truth.


----------



## chevyguy

Theres a lot of ignorance going on in this thread.

I haven't seen any in GA but that does not mean they don't exist in this state. But I have seen 3 in South Carolina. I posted it on this site before, the story must be in another thread on here.

1 I spotted was crossing the road on Hwy 125 right outside SRS toward Barnwell, SC. It was a fairly large cougar and his tail was almost as long as his body. After he crossed the road he dipped into the woods and I lost site of him.


Another I seen was in the Savannah Wildlife Sanctuary (or whatever the name of it is) it is actually in SC across the Savannah River from downtown Savannah where the dredge project dumps the silt they clean out of the river channel. I was rounding a bend on the road that goes on the west side of the dredge project land (no traffic exists on this road, it's special purpose only) and there was a large black cat in the road. I seen him jump from the road into a tree and that's all I seen of him.

I seen another black one in the same exact spot as the last one, probably the same but I'm not sure.

Those are facts, I really could care less what anyone else thinks.


----------



## C.Killmaster

rumcreek said:


> Make some calls Monday to the endangered species department at GADNR and try and find out, because if there is no evidence, how did the panther make the list?



Panthers were extirpated from Georgia ~100 years ago.  The last remnant population of the eastern cougar is now only in Florida and now know as the Florida panther.  The reason they are still on the list is because they were found here at one point and we border a state that has them.  What possible reason would DNR have to lie about having panthers?  Florida has less than 100 cats and it's widely advertised with lots of effort to protect them.  If Georgia did have a population of panthers, why would we not do the same thing?

Take another look at the protected species list.  On it you will find the Ivory-billed Woodpecker.  This bird has been totally extinct since the 1940s.  Is this another DNR conspiracy that they don't want you to know about?

Basically what this means is that there has been no physical proof that these animals exist here for a very long time.  But, if a panther ventured from Florida (highly unlikely) or an Ivory-billed Woodpecker turned up they would be protected.


----------



## XJfire75

Grandma swares up and down they seen one out in their field in Murray Co. about 5 miles west of Grassy Mt.


Reports of an Aardvark as well. And plenty of bobcats.


----------



## swashmore

*I believe*

I saw one in southern coweta county 15 - 17  years ago. I could not believe it. Shortly after I saw it, news reports began to emerge about others in the area that had seen a large cat with a long tail. It was on channel 2,5,and 11 but the DNR came on and completely dismissed the idea that panthers were in GA. I also know of two other individuals in the Eatonton / Sandersville areas that have also personally witnessed panthers / mountain lions - both are honest ethical hunters. I believe that at some point a panther will be killed (by a vehicle or hunter) or captured on a game cam. Until that time I am one of the believers!


----------



## LAKOTA

Ever heard this in the woods? I have heard it several times and wanted to climb the highest tree I could find.   Listen Here


----------



## dawg2

LAKOTA said:


> Ever heard this in the woods? I have heard it several times and wanted to climb the highest tree I could find.   Listen Here



Did you record that?


----------



## doublebarrel

I saw a very dark colored mountain lion or panther run across the dirt road right in front of my pickup in Greene County in the late 1960s.It was no more than 20 yards away and had long tail and did not have a collar on it!


----------



## rumcreek

*????????????*



C.Killmaster said:


> Panthers were extirpated from Georgia ~100 years ago.  The last remnant population of the eastern cougar is now only in Florida and now know as the Florida panther.  The reason they are still on the list is because they were found here at one point and we border a state that has them.  What possible reason would DNR have to lie about having panthers?  Florida has less than 100 cats and it's widely advertised with lots of effort to protect them.  If Georgia did have a population of panthers, why would we not do the same thing?
> 
> Take another look at the protected species list.  On it you will find the Ivory-billed Woodpecker.  This bird has been totally extinct since the 1940s.  Is this another DNR conspiracy that they don't want you to know about?
> 
> Basically what this means is that there has been no physical proof that these animals exist here for a very long time.  But, if a panther ventured from Florida (highly unlikely) or an Ivory-billed Woodpecker turned up they would be protected.



Well then, seems like there is a possibility that some of the cats might have gotten confused about where the Fla/Ga state line is. I can't understand why the DNR flatly refuses to acknowledge the thousands of cougar sightings in this state. Why would the DNR or one of its employees claim that all these Georgians were lying about the sightings? I  believe that all these people probably did not actually see a cougar, but common sense should let anyone know that some of these people have actually seen a one in the state of Ga. As far as protecting them, the DNR has no chance at that type of funding, I don't have enough time or patience to explain the funding, quite simply the state gooberments priorities are definitely not in favor of the ga sportsmen or the hard working and underpaid DNR officers. As far as the ivory billed peckerwood, I honestly would not know one if I saw it, but I promise to you its not hard to recognize a 130 pound plus cat, they are awesome and one of a kind. I have only seen one and there was no mistaking what I saw. I was glad to be in my truck when I saw it. I am unaware of these DNR conspiracies you speak of. Please enlighten us on a few, they should make for some good reading. Just for the sake of giving you something to ponder on, if the overall climate in Ga hasn't changed then it would be possible that there could still be few cougars and peckerwoods scattered about the state. There is certainly more deer for the cougars to eat now and alot more trees for the peckerwood. 100 years ago Ga had alot more agricultural fields than it does now and alot less trees and they both were here then . Granted the human population has grown but mostly in the larger cities. There is still plenty of undeveloped land for either to go mostly unseen on. Basically you(the DNR) can't prove that they are gone and we(the eyewitnesses) can't prove that they are here until someone leaves one on the DNR's doorstep. I guess we've reached a stalemate.


----------



## danbo

*I will drop one on the door soon.*

We have spotted a big black cat on my place in Johnson County three times in the last three weeks. My wife got within clear eyesight Monday afternoon. I thing he was pushed out of the Ohoopee River swamp with all the timber cutting that has been going on. I got pics of the tracks and sent them to GADNR. The pics were not too clear because of the dry conditions. I will get better ones after it rains and post them here also.

I have his pattern down and plan to set two trail cams with hug bait this weekend. 

I will hunt his area this deer season with the intent of providing the disbelieving DNR a carcass.

They are here folks and there are more than you think in rural Georgia. I have heard rumors for years that DNR introduced them into Ga along the Savannah River but nothing can be confirmed. They have also been spotted by expert hunters in the Dublin areas on the Oconee River for years.

This may be better than Turkey Hunting!??


----------



## GA DAWG

I'm still looking for one


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## onemilmhz

I'm a believer, having seen one for myself in Tattnall County several years ago.  Usual story, no proof, but it was my own two eyes and not my sister's best friend's cousin's boyfriend on a cub scout trip!


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## danbo

GADNR is aware of the fact that we have many of these cats in Georgia. Local Rangers may or may not be aware but the State officials are on board. 

But--they will never acknowledge this??


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## SHOOT FREAK

there are panthers in georgia ive seen um i want deny it. i dont care if dnr or you say there aint.


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## chevyguy

A person reported seeing one to me today in Columbia County GA, it crossed the road in front of them. They called DNR and was told that it was a bobcat. It was spotted going into the woods directly behind a housing community and was within a mile of several thousand houses. 

They also reported it to Columbia County Animal Control after DNR would not acknowledge them seeing a mountain lion/cougar/panther. The Animal Control replied that they did not have any way of catching a large cat but 30 minutes later were seen on the side of the road at the scene were the cougar was reported.

This person also contacted WRDW 12 News about the issue after DNR said it was impossible to spot a cougar because there are none in this area.

The person done all of this on their own before they informed me of the sighting.

I went and checked out the ditches at the road, hoping to find a track but it was grassy on both sides of the road.


----------



## jstar08

Dewaine said:


> My wife was driving south on 23 in Blechley Co'. on the way to Cochran.  A black panther came out of a pine thicket and stood on the side of the road.  She stopped as did a guy coming the other way.  After it turned back and they each drove forword he said to her "did I just see what I thought I saw"?  They both saw it!  We called DNR and reported it and they said sometimes they travel up from Florida, but are not indigenous to Georgia.


One morning back in 06', on my way to work(Warner Robins) on Highway 23, 10 miles below Cochran, there was a bunch of cars beside the road and a few more pulled off in front of me, I thought someone had a wreck but when I got closer there was a long black animal in the road, almost took up the whole right lane (from head to what looked like to be tail). I didn't stop but asked some of my buddies what it was later on, they said it was a panther. I didn't think much of it. Until now, I didn't realize they "supposedly" didn't reside in Georgia. Many people from my home county (Dodge), say they exist.


----------



## doublelungdriller

GA DAWG said:


> I'm still looking for one



me 2 but i think we are wasting our time here in georgia.


----------



## chevyguy

This was an older lady that spotted this cougar. She was concerned about it being in an residential area, that was the only reason she reported it to the news.

There's an article about it in today's Augusta Chronicle if anyone is interested in seeing it.


For the non-believers out there, just because you haven't seen it does not mean it's not true. 

Someone spotted a bear a few months ago and reported it, in the newspaper it stated that DNR said it was not possible because bears are not in this area and the person had mistaken a dog as a bear (pretty much calling them a liar)






chevyguy said:


> A person reported seeing one to me today in Columbia County GA, it crossed the road in front of them. They called DNR and was told that it was a bobcat. It was spotted going into the woods directly behind a housing community and was within a mile of several thousand houses.
> 
> They also reported it to Columbia County Animal Control after DNR would not acknowledge them seeing a mountain lion/cougar/panther. The Animal Control replied that they did not have any way of catching a large cat but 30 minutes later were seen on the side of the road at the scene were the cougar was reported.
> 
> This person also contacted WRDW 12 News about the issue after DNR said it was impossible to spot a cougar because there are none in this area.
> 
> The person done all of this on their own before they informed me of the sighting.
> 
> I went and checked out the ditches at the road, hoping to find a track but it was grassy on both sides of the road.


----------



## GA DAWG

I've seen lots of evidence of bears..Tracks,scat,marked trees,trailcam pics,treed a few.EVEN saw some DEAD ONES..If we have so many panthers..Wheres the tracks,scat,trailcam pics and dead ones and I aint treed any either LOL.........


----------



## neatplants

Two nights ago I saw a large brown cat. I'd say it was between 2.5 and 3' tall. It was pretty much a solid brown color. I'm sure it was a cat and not an otter or whatever. I got a good look at it for about 10 seconds with my flashlight. This was in Spalding County, pretty far from florida. After describing it to my grandfather, he said it was a brown panther. Any ideas?

edit: I called the DNR, and they said I saw a coyote. Now I'm not really confident I saw a cat, it was pretty dark.


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## capulliam

none of yall heard of panter creek? i live in toccoa georgia but i can tell u that many people have seen panthers up here in the foothills of the mountians.


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## GA DAWG

capulliam said:


> none of yall heard of panter creek? i live in toccoa georgia but i can tell u that many people have seen panthers up here in the foothills of the mountians.


Does none of them have cameras?


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## artz

Twice, when I was a youngun', In the early and mid-seventies in Heard county. In the evening, west of Franklin, off Straylott rd. (when they were still all dirt roads and no one around) a black panther. It wasn't no itty bitty kitty that went "meow" either, and a goldish brown panther on the banks of the chattahochee south of Franklin, in an area that used to be known as Starrs bottoms (from the Starr brothers dairy)


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## chevyguy

Read this, the Georgia State Patrol reported seeing a large cat and cubs with infrared

http://www.macon-bibb.com/EPE/Panther.htm

edit: and cubs. meaning that they reproduce here


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## chevyguy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOHFT9RUW3I&feature=related

http://www.cryptomundo.com/bigfoot-report/sc-black-panther/

http://www.anomalist.com/features/jag.html


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## Chattooga River Hunter

The fact is panthers are reported all the time, but there is no evidence. I thought trail cams would finally prove it, and they have, cause out of the millions of trail cams in GA woods today, not a single confirmed pic to date.


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## chevyguy

Chattooga River Hunter said:


> The fact is panthers are reported all the time, but there is no evidence. I thought trail cams would finally prove it, and they have, cause out of the millions of trail cams in GA woods today, not a single confirmed pic to date.


See, the only problem I have with that is I have seen 3 personally in South Carolina not far at all from the Georgia state line. 

Are you telling me the panthers are so smart that they know where the state line is located?

Maybe the reason trail cams haven't caught one is because they are, in fact, so smart. Theres a human scent there and an electronic device in operation.

It was no surprise to the native americans that black panthers existed


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## rumcreek

*NEWSFLASH: Naysayers eat crow!!!!*

Well well well it seems like there is yet again more proof that they are here in GEORGIA, I hope you naysayers have fun trying to remove your foot from your mouth.  Guys don't be so ignorant not to realize where there is smoke there is fire. Man I know it is really tough being the DNR guys that basically told US (people that HAVE seen cougars/panthers/etc) that we were mistaken ("it was a big dog, a bobcat, your imagination,etc") but that many sightings is no fluke as you can see by the recent kill. Yeah I guess that cougar got on a bus from south fla or the more likely "explanation"(spin/lie/etc) was that it was raised in captivity, but there are too many sightings to justify the captivity angle.The only thing thats in captivity is all you guys minds that didn't believe what you were told 1000's of times. I don't like rubbing it in but you asked for it with your wisecracks and assumptions, but as always the TRUTH has risen to the surface. Unfortunately the few cougars that ARE HERE really are in danger because you fellows made so many people look like fools and liars. Alot of people are to blame and you know exactly who you are.


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## chevyguy

I bet that cougar had heard about the black panthers in GA so he caught the bus up here from Florida to see for himself 

...and the bad part is, he was in the woods during deer season and he wasn't even wearing an orange vest


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## EEFowl

Lets see; ....159 counties in Gerogia, at minimum - multiple sightings of cougars by several different people in each county for years and years.  Using a conservative estimate of 3 cougars per county adds up to almost 500 individual animals.  That is just the ones that are seen.  One would have to assume if cougars are here that some of them are never seen.  500 cougars is 5 times as many cougars as Florida says they have.  I know what it is, Florida is also part of the "Georgia doesn't have any cougars" conspirisy.

How come nobody in Georgia ever gets a confirmed picture of one, finds one dead on the road, or shoots one that is not someones pet that was released?  Of the 100 or so cougars in Florida some get hit be cars every year and people get confirmed pictures of them all the time.  

Also, I don't understand this - if cougars are supposed to be this great elusive preaditor how is that so many people are seeing them.  Are Georgia's cougars just lazy or stupid?

EF


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## 7mm mag 06

saw a black panther tonight! no lie! it was big!!!! and a huge long tail!!


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## caught

EEFowl said:


> Lets see; ....159 counties in Gerogia, at minimum - multiple sightings of cougars by several different people in each county for years and years.  Using a conservative estimate of 3 cougars per county adds up to almost 500 individual animals.  That is just the ones that are seen.  One would have to assume if cougars are here that some of them are never seen.  500 cougars is 5 times as many cougars as Florida says they have.  I know what it is, Florida is also part of the "Georgia doesn't have any cougars" conspirisy.
> 
> How come nobody in Georgia ever gets a confirmed picture of one, finds one dead on the road, or shoots one that is not someones pet that was released?  Of the 100 or so cougars in Florida some get hit be cars every year and people get confirmed pictures of them all the time.
> 
> Also, I don't understand this - if cougars are supposed to be this great elusive preaditor how is that so many people are seeing them.  Are Georgia's cougars just lazy or stupid?
> 
> EF



This guy that just killed a cougar took a heck of a chance shooting it and then reporting it but if he had not he would have been called a liar by most of the internet hunters on this site. Believe me when I say that many kills of large cats go unreported.


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## chevyguy

7mm mag 06 said:


> saw a black panther tonight! no lie! it was big!!!! and a huge long tail!!


No joke? Where at?

Was he kind enough to let you get your camera out so you could get a picture? You know those panthers are so rude, they expect us to ride around with our camera turned on all the time 

If anybody sees a black panther and you have a chance to shoot it, dont do it. They have been here before us, we're the trespassers  just feel lucky you have seen him and let the naysayers keep on naysayin'

What do we care if they dont believe it? I could care less...


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## caught

Type www.gon.com and it will be looking at you, read the sty. Its not the first I know of but sure is the first ive seen with cat in hand!



chevyguy said:


> no joke? Where at?
> 
> Was he kind enough to let you get your camera out so you could get a picture? You know those panthers are so rude, they expect us to ride around with our camera turned on all the time
> 
> If anybody sees a black panther and you have a chance to shoot it, dont do it. They have been here before us, we're the trespassers  just feel lucky you have seen him and let the naysayers keep on naysayin'
> 
> what do we care if they dont believe it? I could care less...


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## firewalker

Okay, so the story that follows about Mr. Adams shooting a Cougar of 140 lbs is on the homepage.   Mr. Adams has a Edited to Remove Profanity ----Edited to Remove Profanity ----Edited to Remove Profanity ----Edited to Remove Profanity ---- of a trophy and no fines.  The DNR claims he has shot someones house cat.  But,  if you or I shoot an actual Cougar and they decide to change their tune what kind of fines do you face?   How am I supposed to determine what takes lab testing from a tree stand fighting off the cold?  


On Nov. 16, Dave Adams of Newnan was deer hunting with a muzzleloader on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers property along West Point Lake when he shot and killed a male cougar that weighed 140 pounds. The property was south of Hwy 109 near the Abbottsford community west of LaGrange.
According to DNR, the cat was likely pen-reared illegally and either escaped or was released.

“Researchers determined the cougar had a very low parasite level and that the pads on all four feet were scuffed. These findings are consistent with a captive-reared cougar, not a wild specimen,” a DNR release stated.

WRD Region Supervisor Kevin Kramer said a pen-reared cougar is likely a western cougar, which is considered a non-protected exotic in Georgia. Eastern cougars, thought to be extinct, and Florida panthers, are federally protected subspecies, and Kevin cautioned hunters that although a native cougar in Georgia is highly unlikely, shooting an eastern or Florida could bring heavy fines. 

“They’re doing genetic testing. Those results should be back in a week to 10 days,” Kevin said.
The cat had no tattoos, tags or a collar, and it had not been declawed, which are signs of captivity, and no one in the area is permitted to have a captive cougar, which leads DNR to believe it was illegally owned.

A cougar was the last thing Dave Adams expected to see.

“I got in before daylight and got up a tree in my climber like any other morning,” Dave said. 

A little past 9 a.m., Dave heard something walking. 

“It was coming behind me, and it was close, so I couldn’t turn around. Then I leaned forward and looked down through the grate of the stand, and there’s this Edited to Remove Profanity ----Edited to Remove Profanity ----Edited to Remove Profanity ----Edited to Remove Profanity ----Edited to Remove Profanity ----Edited to Remove Profanity ----Edited to Remove Profanity ----’ mountain lion.”

Dave has lived in Oregon and knew immediately what he was looking at as the animal moved to his left.

“I immediately came up and shot it. My son called me and said, ‘What have you got?’ I said, ‘Dude, I have shot a mountain lion.’” 

A regular hunter on the corps property, Dave had never seen tracks or heard rumors of a cougar in that area. However, there was talk on a big cat to the south in Harris County. Jim Harper, a member of the GON Hunt Advisor Team, sent a trail-camera photo taken Nov. 2 of what appears to be a large cat with a long tail.

“As the crow flies, it’s approximately 20 or 25 miles from where the one was killed. Probably the same animal,” Jim said.


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## chevyguy

If they let one person go after they shoot a cougar, they can't prosecute anyone after that. They just opened themselves up for this one.

Why did the guy kill the anmial in the first place? I'm surprised PETA and everybody else hasn't jumped on this

By the way, check out the peta website !!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.peta.org/

This deserves its own thread. look at the game "mama kills animals" and look at the story of punching turkeys HAHAHA


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## chevyguy

An ancient artifact was uncovered in Bulgaria with carvings of PANTHERS. you guys that swear black panthers dont exist make me sick

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081122/ap_on_re_eu/eu_bulgaria_ancient_chariot


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## brcampbe

I've seen two in Echols Co off Hwy 129. Both were in 2004 during the summer. Apparently my cousin also saw one during the same time frame, and I also heard the story about the one being killed with a GPS tracker on it. I heard that guy lost his 2nd ammendment rights for it.


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## SarahFair

I know they got one at the Yellow River Game ranch named Samantha

So there is at least 1


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## longears

The proof is in the pudding.  I think I saw a baby black panther, while coming home from the liquor store to night. I think I will go try to get some photos of it in the morning. so stand by.


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## GA DAWG

Was this it? I been telling everyone about this baby black panther!!!


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## longears

dang, THAT looks just like the one i saw tonight. Do you think it traveled from cumming to Adairsvlle since the time your picture was taken.


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## GA DAWG

Probably a different one you saw!! You know beings we have so many in GA. You might have your own family of them like I do...


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## longears

I dont think i can go into the woods of north Ga, knowing that there is some many of these black panthers lurking in the dark.


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