Mountain lion season in Zone 1, which includes the Badlands, closed in November after the quota of 10 animals was reached.

The season in Zone 2, the remainder of the state, has no quota and closes March 31.

Marty Beard said it didn’t take much for the dogs to pick up on the fresh scent that Saturday.

Saje said she has been tagging along with her dad on coon hunts from when she was old enough to walk, but this was her first mountain lion hunt.

An experienced deer hunter, Saje shot her first whitetail buck last year on the last day of the season; it measured a decent 5x6.

“I think I was more excited to shoot the mountain lion,” she said. “I wanted to get him mounted instead of the buck.”

About a half hour after she and her father released the hounds, trailing them through the woods in McLean Bottoms, they knew the dogs had the mountain lion, Saje said.

“I told Saje they had him at bay on the ground,” Marty Beard said, “but by the time we got over the next hill, they had him treed.”

A treed or cornered animal can be dangerous, so there were a few details to go over before taking the shot, Marty Beard said.