I booked this hunt with Logan Anderson of Seven Anchor Outfitters in March of 2024. A few text messages, emails and a phone call was all it took. I mailed a deposit check for $875. The hunt cost was $3500 for a 5 day hunt and if successful, a $1500 trophy fee for the mountain lion.
I purchased the non resident hunting license and the new online electronic e-tag. The license was $160 and the tag $75, so not too bad.
Bought a plane ticket to Phoenix and lined up a rent car. I sent a DM to
@PHOENIX PHIL to get a little local info since I had not been to or through Phoenix in about 40 years. It's grown quite a bit in that time.
Sunday, January 12, I arrived at PHX around 2pm and it took a good hour to get my bags, gun (separate pick up at American Airlines baggage office) and rent car (train ride to another building).
On the road around 3pm and arrived at Logan's ranch, just outside of Kirkland, AZ.
Logan met me near his house and directed me to park near a 5th wheel trailer, which served as the hunter's lodging. Very nice, clean and comfortable. A K-cup coffee maker and plenty of k-cups and snacks were provided. Central heating, hot shower and a comfortable queen size bed. A very nice set up.
At 5:30pm, the sun was going down and it was already very cold. I had grabbed something to eat along the way, so I was ready to get settled into my place and handle a few emails and call it a night.
Logan said we'd leave a 6am and to dress warm.
My rifle of choice for this hunt is a Winchester Model 94 in 30-30. The rifle was purchased new by my grandfather in the mid 1930s. He gave it to me when I was a teenager and I thought it would be the perfect rifle for this hunt. Actually, Logan told me he used a 30-30 and if I didn't want to haul a rifle on the airlines, I could use his. The typical shot is about 20 yards or shorter.
Monday morning, a little before 6am, Logan brought breakfast over to the trailer. Room service! I walked over to the truck and trailer and met another guide who was coming along to help. His name was also Logan. So Logan A and Logan W, me, three horses and about a dozen hounds headed out for day 1. We drove about 30-40 minutes and when we got to the trailhead, it was 12F out. Luckily, there was no wind and it's a dry cold in Arizona. We spent 13 hours up in the mountains, chasing dogs that were chasing lions. The horses and dogs were amazing and never seem to tire. I was beat at the end of the day and seriously doubted that I could do this for 5 solid days.
Day two was similar, but not as long. Another guide, Troy, came with Logan A and me. We used different horses and dogs, so the bunch from yesterday could have a day of rest. They certainly earned it. We hunted a different area, lower elevation and rolling hills instead of high, jagged mountains. Temperature wasn't as cold, but much windier. It was another tough day, but the dog action tapered off around 4pm, so we called it a day.
Day 3 was extremely windy. Instead of taking horses, we loaded up two trucks with dogs and both Logan W and Troy were with Logan A and me. We went to a new area, about 30 minutes down the road and then split up. The plan was to drive the back country roads, looking for tracks. Since it was so windy, any tracks we could find would be fairly fresh. Once a good set a tracks were found, it was "RELEASE THE HOUNDS!" The dogs worked the area for a few minutes and then off they went. The two Logan's followed the dogs and Troy and I went down the road a few hundred yards and found a dry river bed that made for an excellent and open pathway to move in the same general direction of the others moving through the bush. The dogs were barking like crazy and after a while, we got the radio call that the cat was treed.
I don't have the actual kill shot video, but hope to get it from Logan soon. I shot once and it fell to the ground, landing on top of a couple dogs. I was ready for a follow up shot, but the other dogs were on top of the cat. The cat got up, ran around the tree and went about 30-40 yards and died. The dogs were on it immediately, but the battle was over.
Logan W on the left and Troy on the right. Great guys to hunt with and to learn how to hunt mountain lions. A lot of work, but a lot of fun too!
