Game Camera Near Stillwater Catches Mountain Lion Sighting

This decade has been one of new discoveries for mountain lions in Oklahoma. While I think cougars have been roaming Oklahoma a lot longer than the state and OK Wildlife Department is willing to admit, the fact that cameras cover most properties across the Sooner State make it impossible to deny.

The most recent sighting was just outside of Stillwater leading into OSU's Homecoming weekend, which was an event all its own too. Seriously, have you seen how the Poke's do Homecoming? It's amazing, but another story entirely.

Here's the video.

@laceyswopewx 10-16-25 check out this mountain lion captured on camera! This was taken outside of Stillwater near Lake Carl Blackwell. Our viewer Tara Little tells me this is near the bass masters area. Check your trail cams and home cams and let me know if it passed by your area! #oklahoma #kitty #cat #mountainlion ♬ original sound - Lacey Swope

I'm sure most people who grew up in Oklahoma also came of age hearing the tales of pumas and jaguars across the state. When we'd visit the family down in Hollis, OK, we'd hear it from all of the farmers. Our grandfather used to talk about them all the time, but his favorite story was from the day he swore he saw a black panther behind his house.

We had no reason to doubt him, it was a wooded shinery area full of deer... and black panthers have been documented across the Southern and Southwestern US. Few and far between, but officially documented.

Even I have to admit, there was a small part of me that believed it was a little bit of a tall tale growing up. Big cats in Oklahoma? Really? But I changed my mind one Thanksgiving afternoon in my 20s.

Before my cousin and I both realised neither of us like deer... the taste, the gutting, the processing of it... we spent every fall holiday weekend cooped up in a hunting blind because it was something to do.

One afternoon, after having our lunchtime fill of whatever was prepared that day, we started out to the farm to have our silent evening waiting on something to walk within range.

The farther West you go in Southwest Oklahoma, it's not flat by any means, but it's also not as hilly and mountainous as it is Eastward towards Lawton. The mountains do extend out that way, but the elevation keeps growing as you get up to the Texas Caprock.

If you had to call the terrain something, Badlands would probably be appropriate. Gentle rises give away to vicious dropoffs in places North of Hollis and Gould. So it's not uncommon to not be able to see over that next hill. While driving, that's when we spotted it.

The sun at our backs, the almost golden glow of the fall light, we crested over a hill on whatever county road that was, and there it was. A golden full-grown mountain lion walking across the road. Now, county roads there are only about 9-feet wide, and this cat was big enough to stretch side to side, nose to tail.

The drive went silent for a few moments. My cousin said "Did you see something?" I replied "Maybe, did you see something too?" We may have chatted about it a little bit, and looked into the thick brush when we drove past the spot, but it was either gone or extremely stealthy.

It was cool, and of course, the local game warden at the time didn't believe us when we shared the story later that evening at the local diner. Of course, he did leave us with some advice. Even while telling us mountain lions didn't exist in Oklahoma, he did say "Call me first if you shoot one. I need a tooth for DNA."

The contrasting messages were always confusing in those days, but with the popularity of depredation payments being made to ranches in Montana in the past, Oklahoma was probably looking to avoid that scenario here too.

If you're still reading, there's more. Even after denying Oklahoma was "home" to mountain lions for decades, conclusive evidence popped up last spring. A family of cougars - momma cat and a couple of kits - were caught on camera. In the world of nature, that short video proved conclusively that Oklahoma is part of the cougars native habitat.