Mountain Lion Adventure

by Bryan Campos

Central Nevada offers an array of wildlife ranging from deer, elk, antelope, bighorn sheep, bear, coyote, bobcats, and mountain lion. It’s rare to come across felines such as bobcats and mountain lions out in the wild. Most people will go their whole lifetime without seeing a cat in broad day light, unless they’ve hunted them or have been fortunate. My brother, Mike Campos, is a hunter and trapper out of central Nevada who has been trapping for over ten years now. He enjoys the challenge and success of trapping, and the big role it plays in predator management. Like most trappers who stick with it, Mike is continuously trying to improve himself from season to season. He is passionate about the outdoors and wildlife management. Any old trapper will tell you that when trapping it is only a matter of time before you catch a mountain lion. Mike has had several close calls when it comes to catching a lion, but for over ten years has been lion free, until recently. He and his hunting buddy, RJ Clifford, had decided to partner up this year on Mike’s usual trap line. One day, RJ was checking the line and came across a much larger than normal cat occupying the trap. He had to drive out a couple miles to get service to call for reinforcements. Mike and our Dad, Paul Campos, hopped in the truck and headed out as soon as they got the call. RJ also called Doug Pope and Charlie Checchini, some local long-time trappers and mountain lion hunters–who are much more experienced with trapped lions–to come out and assist with the release. We were lucky enough that they were equipped to video record the release of this beautiful animal.

This should catch us up to where this intro ends and the video takes over. Please enjoy the show.