{"id":4980,"date":"2026-02-11T13:18:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T13:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/?p=4980"},"modified":"2026-02-11T13:18:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T13:18:12","slug":"i-spent-a-decade-chasing-the-deadliest-livestock-killer-in-utahs-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/?p=4980","title":{"rendered":"I Spent a Decade Chasing the Deadliest Livestock Killer in Utah\u2019s History"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><em>This story, \u201cStock Killer,\u201d appeared in the January 2004 Adventure Issue of <\/em>Outdoor Life.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">On July 26, 1992, Billie Worthen watched the western sky fade to stars before unloading her rifle and leaving a herd of 876 sheep grazing in Spring Canyon, 8,000 feet above sea level in Utah\u2019s Fish Lake National Forest. The guard dogs had the night shift.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">When the sun came back around the other side, Worthen left her sheep house and rode her mare up to the herd. She was within a few hundred yards of the sheep when her horse began to spook. She soon discovered what was making her horse edgy \u2014 the smell of blood.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Hours later federal hunters with the U.S. Department of Agriculture\u2019s Wildlife Services had to place rocks on the carcasses as they counted the bodies, to be sure they didn\u2019t count the same animal twice. It was the worst single stock-killing incident in Utah state history \u2014 102 sheep dead.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Bending down to look at a track of the culprit, Kelly Joe Wright, a predator specialist, saw that the animal responsible for the carnage was a single mountain lion. He didn\u2019t know then that this was the beginning of the reign of a new king on the Old Woman Plateau.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"A state predator hunter kneels beside a lion track with his rifle\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"1349\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/7jMa_.erW41H7x_2VtoNmA--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTEzNDk7Y2Y9d2VicA--\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/outdoor_life_660\/4c44725ab0434948e8f49a1a230ba875\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-3 right-3 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed bottom-0 left-0 right-0 top-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>Seeing the 4-inch tracks around the attack site, Bodenchuk knew the big tom had drawn blood again. Illustration by Rick Farrell, for Outdoor Life<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Mike Bodenchuk, currently the director of Utah\u2019s Division of Wildlife Services, refers to <em>Felis concolor<\/em> simply as \u201clion\u201d \u2014 not puma or panther or cougar or catamount or even mountain lion \u2014 just \u201clion,\u201d as in the king of beasts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Whether it\u2019s king or not, when Bodenchuk accepted the post of regional director for Utah\u2019s Division of Wildlife Services in the winter of 1993, he had little doubt that he and Wright would make short work of the mountain lion responsible for the bloodbath. Historically, few lions have lived long enough to earn a reputation, because when hounds or wolves get close, a mountain lion\u2019s natural defense mechanism is to climb a tree.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">But exceptions are unpredictable by definition \u2014 how was Bodenchuk to know his life was about to become intertwined with a lion\u2019s?<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">A Defensible Kingdom<\/h2>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The tom\u2019s territory was basically all of the Old Woman Plateau. Roughly 40 square miles, the plateau is jammed between I-70 on its western edge and a rim on its eastern edge, a 1,000-foot plummet that zigzags north like a lightning bolt. From the interstate the plateau seems shoved together under clouds hung low over a wild Rocky Mountain panorama. Up close, canyons appear and ridges rise. Distances triple and then quadruple as two dimensions grow to three, until all around is the kind of country that caused mountain men to linger.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Bodenchuk found the lion\u2019s scratches at the borders of the plateau \u2014 leaves and dirt piled into a heap and urinated on to mark a territory. Male lions don\u2019t get along with each other, and this stock killer was the dominant male. If a dominant male catches a juvenile male in his territory, he\u2019ll kill him. If two big toms cross paths there could be a heck of a fight. After hunters, fights with other cougars are the chief cause of death of toms. Either this particular lion killed the dominant male that preceded him or a human did.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">The War Begins<\/h2>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">John Wintch, a rancher who resides in Manti, Utah, held the grazing permit for the Old Woman Plateau, as his father and grandfather had before him. He hired herders to live from April through September in little white wagons and guard his flocks from lions, coyotes and bears.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">On April 10, 1993, a herder found one of Wintch\u2019s sheep killed by a lion. There\u2019s no mistaking a lion kill.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Coyotes rip animals to pieces, like sharks in a feeding frenzy. Black bears maul their prey to death. But lions kill by biting the back of a sheep\u2019s neck and twisting its head with a powerful forepaw to snap the spine.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">After the prior year\u2019s carnage of 102 sheep, this was what Bodenchuk was waiting for. Modern Wildlife Services hunters slay only stock killers and predators that endanger humans or recovering wildlife populations; they no longer use cyanide and bounties to indiscriminately exterminate populations of meat eaters. To be sure he killed the cat responsible, Bodenchuk had to wait for the cat to kill again.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Seeing the 4-inch tracks around the attack site, Bodenchuk knew the big tom had drawn blood again. He loosed his hounds \u2014 Gomer, a bluetick, and Brutus, a redbone. The dogs\u2019 wails echoed up the canyon\u2019s walls, but the lion went up a cliff as though he knew the dogs couldn\u2019t leap like he could.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"mb-4 border-l-2 pl-5 italic text-tertiary\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The dogs\u2019 wails echoed up the canyon\u2019s walls, but the lion went up a cliff as though he knew the dogs couldn\u2019t leap like he could.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Three days later the tom killed again. \u201cHe was a hit-and-run lion,\u201d says Bodenchuk. \u201cHe was smart enough to eat from a kill just once.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">This time when the dogs started bawling, the tom beelined two miles for the precipice at Saleratus Creek. Stepping off his gray mare to see where the cat lost the hounds, Bodenchuk couldn\u2019t make out where he\u2019d jumped to; the tom had just launched into space as if he had wings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Wright and Bodenchuk took five lions off the Old Woman Plateau in 1993, but they never treed the king. Wintch lost a fifth of his sheep to predation that year. The tom was earning his reputation.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">Taking Every Advantage<\/h2>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In the winter of 1993-94, Bodenchuk decided to end the slaughter. A friend had drawn a sportsman\u2019s tag for the unit. The two hunters went in on snowmobiles. A hot sun will burn a track off bare ground by late morning, but a track in snow can reek of lion for days. On the fourth day, after passing up smaller cats, they jumped the big tom far from the rim. He was bounding 15 feet per stride and Brutus\u2019s voice had gone from a mournful bellow to a sharp bawl. Instead of heading for the rim at Saleratus Creek, which he could not possibly have made, the cat turned north across open country. <em>This was going to be easy, <\/em>thought Bodenchuk. But then he remembered Coal Mine Road. Trucks pound up and down that road every day but Sunday, and it wasn\u2019t Sunday. Filled with tons of coal and plowing down the tight, icy road, coal trucks stop as slowly as trains.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Gomer and Brutus could be crushed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Bodenchuk came over a rise on his snowmobile to see a coal truck miss the big tom by inches. The driver didn\u2019t seem to notice. Bodenchuk\u2019s dogs were in the road behind. Another truck would be along any moment. He knew the cat would likely cross the road repeatedly. It was a risk he couldn\u2019t take. He chased down his dogs.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">The Dark Years<\/h2>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Native American tribes have no shared myths pertaining to the mountain lion. Mountain lions, it seems, were too elusive to be classified collectively. Wintch came to hate this elusiveness. The following four years were dark and bloody for his sheep and cattle. He lost an average of 600 sheep a year from his herd of 3,000 on the plateau. Bodenchuk\u2019s journal entries during this period read like a Western dime novel. These were days of desperation and bravado. He chased one stock-killing female on foot up a cliff where he cornered it on a ledge under ancient Indian pictographs. He crawled into a mine shaft after another and killed that cat in total darkness by shooting at the sound of its deep snarl. He killed two lions that were living under a porch, feasting on house cats. During this time, Bodenchuk estimates that he and Wright and a few others pursued the big tom at least 200 times, but on each occasion the cat jumped off the rim into nothingness.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"A hunter in a cowboy hat with a revolver is charged by a mountain lion leaping out of a tree\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"1280\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/OV6l1xx5NaZMK5H4v3gSLQ--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTEyODA7Y2Y9d2VicA--\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/outdoor_life_660\/8aa44ddd345a31b478a8269c651b4499\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-3 right-3 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed bottom-0 left-0 right-0 top-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>Illustration by Rick Farrell, for Outdoor Life<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">After all these years of loss, Wintch had to make the toughest decision of his life. The lion wars were over. He wouldn\u2019t put sheep back up on the plateau. He says it was \u201clike trying to hold onto a handful of sand \u2014 no matter how hard you try, it just slips through your fingers.\u201d When he was a boy there were 29 herds of sheep in Saleratus Canyon; now there are none. The tom should have died the following winter. In January 1995, he was living high near the rim. An elk herd was socked in there, and the tom was living off them. It was during this time, Bodenchuk believes, that an elk broke the big cat\u2019s jaw. The tom was probably kicked with a rear hoof, says Bodenchuk. How he ate for the next six months until his bones fused is a matter of speculation. But the pain is very imaginable.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">Now It\u2019s Personal<\/h2>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In 1996, Bodenchuk was promoted from regional supervisor to State Director of Wildlife Services. He moved 200 miles north to the Salt Lake City area. \u201cEven as I pursued other lions, I kept thinking of that old tom,\u201d he says. \u201cI suppose, like a great athlete, a hunter is measured by the skills of his adversary. In that regard, that tom had soundly whipped me. I wanted a rematch.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Without livestock up on the Old Woman Plateau, Bodenchuk had to draw a personal tag to hunt the big tom. To boost his odds, he talked his wife, Debby, into applying. She drew in 2000. The dominant cat was so bold that he walked right through camp one night. Wright joked that the tom wanted to see \u201cwho had been chasing him all these years.\u201d Still, the cat made the rim that day and the wild chases and dramatics that followed broke Debby of any urge to climb in the saddle and pursue lions again. She now describes lion hunting as \u201cfoolhardy rides up Rocky Mountain inclines behind baying hounds in hopes of catching something your horse would rather not.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Bodenchuk drew a tag in 2001. The old tom was at least 9 years old by then; at that advanced age another tom would likely kill him for his kingdom soon. Bodenchuk decided to team up once again with his old hunting companion, Kelly Joe Wright. Bodenchuk says, \u201cOne time we had to restrain Kelly physically to prevent him from tying a rope to his waist and dangling himself off a cliff in a suicidal attempt to kill a ledged lion he couldn\u2019t climb down to. There\u2019s no one I\u2019d rather chase lions with.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">Race to the Rim<\/h2>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">High in Spring Canyon on the night of June 13, 2001, the big tom killed a large mule deer buck. He had either lain in wait or spotted the buck below in the canyon. In two bounds the big male jumped on the buck\u2019s back, sank his teeth into the deer\u2019s neck and used a forepaw to pull the buck\u2019s head around, breaking the mule deer\u2019s neck before they rolled together, raising dust in the darkness.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The old tom left around dawn. At this same time, down in the bottom of Spring Canyon, Bodenchuk and Wright were on horseback, following their hounds. Bodenchuk had brought Brutus and Gomer, and Wright had supplied two more: Bones, a black and tan, and Reba, a redtick. Wright\u2019s dogs would tend to get out ahead and run a track fast. \u201cReba is the smart one,\u201d says Bodenchuk. \u201cShe\u2019ll figure out a track quickly. Bones lives to hunt. If he\u2019s not watched closely, he\u2019ll disappear and hunt on his own for days.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The dogs struck the track. Seeing the fresh carcass and hearing the dog\u2019s excitement, they knew the cat was close. The old tom had a full stomach, which often makes chases short. Still, he moved out ahead and pulled one of his characteristic tricks: He jumped up ledges, climbing out of Spring Canyon toward Rock Canyon.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"mb-4 text-lg font-bold\"><a href=\"https:\/\/store.outdoorlife.com\/products\/revenant-hoodie\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:The 1911 Revenant Hoodie;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \"> The 1911 Revenant Hoodie <\/a><\/h4>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\"><a data-ylk=\"ct:story;elm:img;itc:0;\" class=\"stretched-box\" href=\"https:\/\/store.outdoorlife.com\/products\/revenant-hoodie\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"The Outdoor Life revenant hoodie.\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"1280\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/d3ZV5B0PXM2UGyerQj607A--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTEyODA7Y2Y9d2VicA--\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/outdoor_life_660\/809600b87b73b63eef4a414ad53d0efe\"\/><\/div>\n<p><\/a><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>The Outdoor Life revenant hoodie.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<section class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/store.outdoorlife.com\/products\/revenant-hoodie\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Get Yours;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Get Yours<\/a><\/section>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">As the two men pushed their mounts up ledges onto the mesa, Bodenchuk, now nearly as well-schooled in the terrain as the old cat, pulled a trick of his own. He took a ledge from Spring Canyon into the rough country above. He heard the dogs. Ducking and weaving as their horses struggled up through boulders and oak brush, he and Wright followed the sound to the top of Trough Hollow toward Rock Canyon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Down the canyon they went, sliding down rock chutes. The hounds\u2019 voices changed. Treed? No. Was the old tom scattering the dogs?<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The lion left Rock Canyon by jumping and clawing up sheer sandstone. The hounds searched for a way up. Bodenchuk and Wright lost track of the chase, now three hours old.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Bodenchuk and Wright rode wildly for two hours up and down vertigo-inducing terrain. They found nothing. As they climbed higher, hoping for a voice on the wind, thunder broke. A storm blew in, fast as they can in the Rockies, and washed away their hopes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">They went back to the truck. Wet and dejected, they moved two miles to the other side of Trough Hollow. This was the fourth day in a row spent chasing the old tom. A pair of antler collectors had got in the day the day before, confusing the dogs and throwing them off a hot track.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"mb-4 border-l-2 pl-5 italic text-tertiary\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Stumbling down the rim, across gravel and dull red dirt that seemed poised to flow like water over 200-foot plunges, they half-slid 300 yards before they could see the dogs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">As they came down Balsam Hollow\u2019s sage flats, now eight hours into the endurance match, they saw the two antler collectors. They pulled up, letting the dust wash over them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cNow ain\u2019t you a sight!\u201d said one of the two men.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The sun was a red ball on the horizon; they had no time for social proprieties. Bodenchuk desperately asked whether they\u2019d seen the dogs. The collectors pointed to the rim.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Throwing dust to the lip of the rim, Bodenchuk and Wright jumped off their mounts. The hounds could be heard far below, but the horses couldn\u2019t\u00a0get down there. Stumbling down the rim, across gravel and dull red dirt that seemed poised to flow like water over 200-foot plunges, they half-slid 300 yards before they could see the dogs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Bones and Brutus were under the cat (Reba and Gomer wouldn\u2019t limp back for two days). Bodenchuk ran bent over, hiding his profile, for 200 yards down Saleratus Creek. The tom was 15 feet up a pine, just 100 yards from the rim. There was no time to lose. If the lion jumped, he could fly to safety in five or six bounds.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"Bodenchuk holds a mountain lion skull\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"1376\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/1kLEJwzqKu6SLQQ.JaoaVQ--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTEzNzY7Y2Y9d2VicA--\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/outdoor_life_660\/ba119063b24f69e54d536212ed36bc9d\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-3 right-3 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed bottom-0 left-0 right-0 top-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>Bodenchuk holds the old tom\u2019s skull, which measured 14 14\/16 inches, just shy of the Boone and Crockett Club\u2019s minimum of 15 inches. Photo by the autho<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Bodenchuk was under the tree before the old tom saw him. The lion showed his teeth, growling low and mean. He gathered his legs under his body, preparing to pounce. The dogs, seeing the men, lay down, exhausted. Bodenchuk had forgotten his rifle. He had a moment of confused panic as the tremendous cat poised to leap.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cHe looked down at me with his green lion eyes,\u201d says Bodenchuk, \u201clike he was deciding whether to fight or to flee. Then I remembered the .357 on my hip.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The 160-pound tom jumped!<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Bodenchuk drew and fired in one motion. Landing at Bodenchuk\u2019s feet, the wounded tom took a step toward the rim that had always meant safety, but then stopped and turned. At spitting distance, the two hunters\u2019 eyes met. The lion laid back his ears and his green eyes went dark with revenge. Bodenchuk shot again, toppling the cat over.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">Back on the Plateau<\/h2>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">I stood with Bodenchuk on the rim overlooking Saleratus Canyon on a June afternoon. The sun painted deep shadows on the jagged landscape 1,000 feet below.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Bodenchuk said as he looked down into the canyon, \u201cI can\u2019t help feeling a void, now that that old tom is gone from this rim.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\"><a data-ylk=\"ct:story;elm:img;itc:0;\" class=\"stretched-box\" href=\"https:\/\/outdoorlifeprints.com\/shop\/framed+prints\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"An old outdoor life cover from jan 2004 featuring a hunter being charged by a cougar.\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"1280\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/lhlQ1bMmRKKxprKg.9KC_w--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTEyODA7Y2Y9d2VicA--\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/outdoor_life_660\/1f9d01b5f1ecea2e1448486985f6b015\"\/><\/div>\n<p><\/a><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\"\/><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">I found myself thinking that Bodenchuk is a modern breed of game referee. He feels that predator populations should be managed, not destroyed wherever they\u2019re found, as was the way until only a few decades ago. He also doesn\u2019t put predators before people, as environmentalists so often do. It\u2019s Bodenchuk\u2019s job to solve problems between people and predators so that they both can coexist in the state of Utah. Bending beneath a pine on a point, Bodenchuk looked pleased. \u201cThere\u2019s another big tom on this rim.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The scratch was large and around it were tracks too wide to be made by anything but a mature male.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cProbably one of his offspring,\u201d remarked Bodenchuk. \u201cMaybe my son would like to come and hunt him. I\u2019d like my son\u2019s life to become intertwined with a lion\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"An old outdoor life ad that shows how to become a government hunter.\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"678\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/_9uCs89WXfa1msCsThaMdw--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY3ODtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/outdoor_life_660\/6276074edd397d219931d65b7488f3ce\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-3 right-3 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed bottom-0 left-0 right-0 top-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>OL Archives<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">A Dream Job<\/h2>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">When Mike Bodenchuk saw this ad (above) in <em>Outdoor Life<\/em> in the early 1960s he knew he didn\u2019t want to be a fireman or a police officer. When I asked whether he made the right decision, he joked, \u201cI\u2019m about convinced there\u2019s such a thing as an adventure gene\u2026\u201d Before he could continue, his wife deftly destroyed his dramatic pause with a sly giggle.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">I was happy to find that she takes his wild lifestyle lightly. A few days earlier we were sitting in the cab of a pickup hauling mules and lion dogs to the Book Cliffs. Bodenchuk and Cory Vetere, a lion specialist with Wildlife Services, passed the time by counting up the divorces the division\u2019s 26 hunters have had. After a lot of counting fingers they decided the divorce rate for Wildlife Services hunters runs about 50 percent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Too many weeks spent camping in the high country tracking stock killers only to come home smelling like a mule take their toll. But it sounded like a dream job to me.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This story, \u201cStock Killer,\u201d appeared in the January 2004 Adventure Issue of Outdoor Life. On July 26, 1992, Billie Worthen watched the western sky fade to stars before unloading her rifle and leaving a herd of 876 sheep grazing in Spring Canyon, 8,000 feet above sea level in Utah\u2019s Fish Lake National Forest. The guard [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4981,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pets-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4980"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4980\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}