Arizona Lions

I recently heard good things about an outfit in central Arizona with a good pack of dogs. The name of the company is Hunt's Hunting Service. It's owned by two men, both named John Hunt, but who are not related to each other. Both men have hunted lions all their life, primarily to provide predator control for private ranches, but they have taken out about a dozen paid clients over the last several years. These clients have enjoyed a 100 percent success rate on cats. These are dry-ground hunts from horseback, but hunters need to be in reasonable shape, since the cats do run in terrain that is too rough for horses. The terrain here varies from desert to pines. One advantage to hunting Arizona behind a great pack of dry-ground dogs is that your hunt is not weather dependent. Although the lion season in Arizona runs all year, the Hunts normally go for lions from November through May, with the best hunting from February through May only because the weather is pleasant. A five-day hunt costs $2,500, plus the $85.50 hunting license and $150 mountain lion tag. The hunt price includes lodging in either ranch cabins or motels, as well as airport pick-up in Phoenix.

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