Former Denver Broncos player Derek Wolfe kills large mountain lion using bow

Former Denver Broncos player and current Denver sports talk radio co-host Derek Wolfe not only legally killed a large mountain lion in Colorado, he did it in an unusual way — with a bow.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife said 9% of the 360 mountain lions legally killed in the state since Nov. 28, 2022, have been taken with a bow. Rifles are the usual manner of take. Both manners are usually done with the help of hounds to tree the lion.

The wildlife agency said the male mountain lion was estimated to weigh 170 pounds and measure 7 feet, 6 inches long without the tail, which can grow to 3 feet long. The agency said male adult mountain lions on average weigh 150 pounds and can grow to more than 8 feet in length.

Wolfe, an avid hunter, wrote about the hunt on his Instagram account, saying they tracked the lion in the snow after he received a call from an outfitter late Tuesday night to see if he wanted to stalk a lion "who has been wreaking havoc in a rural neighborhood.''

Wolfe wrote on his account that the lion had killed two dogs and was living under a porch belonging to a woman who was "nervous what he might do next." The area is near Grant, which is about 35 miles southwest of Denver.

"Exhausted, dehydrated, cramping I drew back my (bow) and sent a (broadhead arrow) through him,'' Wolfe wrote. "Then I had to crawl backwards down the mountain with him to get him to the truck. I fell 10 feet off a rock face on the way down.''

The wildlife agency confirmed Wolfe was properly licensed to kill the lion and followed the mandatory reporting process.

Prospective hunters must apply for a lion license and pass a certification course that is an extra requirement for lions before purchasing a license.

The 2022-23 regular hunting season runs Nov. 28 to March 31. The agency offers another season April 1-30 in certain hunting units. ​The agency regulates the number of lions that can be killed in each hunting unit throughout the state.

During the 2021-22 season, hunters in Colorado killed 482 lions — 284 males and 198 females — according to the agency's mountain lion reporting site.

The annual fee to hunt a lion is $52.60 for Colorado residents and $358.23 for nonresidents, plus a habitat stamp of $10.59.

Mountain lions are thriving in the state. The wildlife agency estimates 3,000 to 7,000 lions live in Colorado. A Colorado Parks and Wildlife study indicated the foothills of Boulder and Jefferson counties contain some of the highest concentrations of mountain lions reported in the U.S.

Mountain lions have been spotted in Fort Collins periodically.

Two human encounters in Larimer County drew national attention in recent years. A rabid mountain lion attacked two people in west Loveland in March 2020.

A Fort Collins man man killed a young mountain lion with his hands after the lion attacked him while he was running at Horsetooth Mountain Open Space in February 2019.

Colorado's Mr. Mountain Lion:We asked for safety advice from expert who captured 300 mountain lions. Here's what he said.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Mountain lion killed by former Denver Bronco using a bow