A landowner northwest of New Rockford shot at a mountain lion about sundown Saturday, but a horseback search on Sunday produced only a blood trail.

The landowner and neighbors rode CRP fields, nearby drainage ditches and unharvested cornfields and "never found the cat," Greg Link, assistant chief of the wildlife division for the NorthDakota Game and Fish Department, said Monday.

"He's sure the animal is stove up dead somewhere. Maybe someone will find it during deer season," Link said.

NDGFD district game warden Gene Masse checked the area for physical evidence such as tracks, scat or hair on Monday.

"(Finding it) doesn't look promising," he said by cell phone Monday as he searched a CRP field for signs of the cougar. "The shooter did see some blood, a bunch of little drops like a quarter. Maybe it was gut shot. It's hard to say. I would guess it would tip over sooner or later with a wound like that."

If Masse does find some blood, "we can send (a sample) away for DNA analysis and verify it is a cougar," Link said.

Link would not identify the landowner, saying "we aren't giving somebody's name out just because they shot a lion unless they want that. Otherwise, in some cases, people won't call us and let us know."

The landowner, who lives north of Bremen, heard his "dogs raising a ruckus, grabbed his gun, went out and found a mountain lion back in his tree grove," Link said. After he shot, the landowner didn't conduct a search because it was too dark, Link added.

Masse figures the cougar was looking for an easy meal.

There have been 85 reported mountain lion sightings in North Dakota through Monday, and nine have been verified, said Dorothy Fecske, NDGFD furbearer biologist. A 10th confirmed sighting is still pending as it awaits analysis.

Fecske thinks the mountain lion was passing through the area rather than setting up a home range.

"It's more likely the animal wouldn't remain long in the area because it is not typical cat country," she said.

As for how dangerous a wounded mountain is, she said it "would depend on the wound and whether the cat still had effective hunting skills.

"From my understanding, (the cat) more than likely was shot in the gut. If that's the case, it's probably dead."

"All we can say is an alleged mountain lion was shot," Link said, "but we have no reason to doubt what (the landowner) said. He had it in his scope."

The mountain lion will not count against North Dakota's five-cat mountain lion season "unless it is found," said Randy Kreil, NDGFD wildlife division chief. The season opened Sept. 2 and closes March 12, or earlier if five cats are harvested. None have been taken so far.

Now NDGFD biologists are looking for some luck, hoping someone finds the dead mountain lion and reports it.

"We would be able to gather biological data if the carcass is recovered," said Fecske.

(Reach reporter Richard Hinton at 250-8256 or richard.hinton@;bismarcktribune.com.)