South Dakota Record Mountain Lion Shot
Brenden Hendrickson of Custer poses with the lion that was seemingly tracking him as he was tracking it. The rifle is a .243 Winchester he borrowed from his Dad.
Story by By Jason Ferguson
Reprinted from the Custer County Chronicle
Brenden Hendrickson of Custer poses with the lion that was seemingly tracking him as he was tracking it. The rifle is a .243 Winchester he borrowed from his dad, Roy.
Brenden Hendrickson of Custer poses with the lion that was seemingly tracking him as he was tracking it. The rifle is a .243 Winchester he borrowed from his dad, Roy.
When Brenden Hendrickson saw the tracks, he couldn’t breathe. Adrenaline rushed through him. He could tell it was a big cat. The tracks were bigger than his hand.
Hendrickson, who lives in Custer when he isn’t traveling with his job, had set out to the Limestone Country eight miles west of town before sunlight with his .243 rifle and mountain lion license in hand. The Black Hills mountain lion season began Jan. 1.
Seven days into the season, Hendrickson was about to make history.
Hendrickson had been tracking the lion for several days. Thursday morning, Jan. 8, fresh snow aided his cause, leaving tracks to follow as the lion made its way up the mountain. Hendrickson headed up the mountain, sat in a valley and called the lion with a distressed deer call. He could tell the lion was close, but could not see him. He moved to where he heard noise, but did not see the lion. He tracked the lion for four hours—a cat and mouse game that Hendrickson is convinced was being played on the terms of the cat.… Continue reading