I've also heard of them being seen by reputable persons as well, know first hand of someone finding one on the side of the road that had been hit by a car but dis-appeared as soon as he called it in. I personally think F & G just doesn't want to scare people and they know just as well as us regular hunters that they are around, may be far and few between, but it's not hard to imagine that they are around. Take Care God Bless LOL Dave
I have never seen a mountain lion; but know a very reputable person who has also. I spent the afternoon hunting locally and saw nothing, I did push something over a ridge but only heard the ruckus.
One of my buddies just came home from Colorado with a 5x5; while he gutted the elk his hunting partner left to get some frame packs at camp to move the meat, a half hour later a red fox came running up to him and the kill stopping 20 yards away (boom), then 20 min later a coyote did the same thing (boom!) The next morning he woke up and filled his bear tag. I saw this same friend drop a running buck with an open sighted muzzleloader at 150 yards with a neck shot, and a few years before that he killed two does standing side by side with the same gun on a pass through shot. Also, since technically this is a fishin site- I was watching some salmon spawn in the river yesterday when I spotted a rainbow cruisin by that was pushin 8lbs by my guestimate.
Since I'll be thinking about it in the woods- is it legal to kill a mountain in NH?