Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Shooting and Hunting => Topic started by: k-hat on November 27, 2017, 07:09:59 pm
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Well, after twenty years of not hunting I'm finally able to go at it again. Last time I did was as a teenager, if that counts. Anyhow plenty of deer and and now I find out a cougar where I'm hunting. I suspected that's what it was when I caught his eyes watching me with my headlamp while going out to my spot. We watched each other a good 5 minutes, he was less than 50 yards away. I think he got preoccupied watching me and spooked some deer, then disappeared. Still not sure if he was shadowing or stalking me, or we just happened to be in same place same time. He's been caught on trailcam and killed a cow and calf in the past year. I found all that out this afternoon.
I don't carry a firearm with me (county is archery only), I'd carry a pistol if I had one (for the (-_) too).
I've been hunting alone, should I not? I hunt only from the ground, and I know I'd be easier prey than a deer!!!
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I don't have a lot of experience. I've seen five cougars in my life. I think that the fact that it watched you for 5 min instead of running is not good news. It's usually the unhealthy ones that attack. Usually all you get to see is a streak. The headlamp may change that, I dunno.
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None for me, thanks. Sounds like an "easy" one to trap.
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Gotta admit sends a shiver down my spine. It sure is nice to walk in the dark here knowing the only thing that's going to eat me is mosquitoes and they are done here now to.
Bjrogg
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I live, hunt, play, and sleep in cougar country. The Black Hills once had the highest recorded density of mountain lion per square mile ever recorded in the world. I have never seen one. I suspect I saw several, but no glimpse allowed me to fully identify it. Have I been seen? I am probably under near constant surveillance when I am in the woods, LOL!
The danger to you is highly overblown. How many cat attacks have you had on humans in your neighborhood in the last 5 years? How many in your state? When you look at the odds, quite often the perceived fear seems out of alignment. I stopped carrying a sidearm for cats long ago. Nowadays when I carry it is based on the likelihood of running into snakes...the two legged kind.
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A few years ago my dad and I was looking for bear hunting spots and a cougar stepped out in front of my truck and stopped. It was 300pm in the afternoon and we a got a good look at him. That was in the Upper Peninsula. Neighbors now have them on camera in the lower.
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Haha thanks for that info JW, good to know. I imagine he was watching me so intently because he couldn't figure out what I was. Headlamp probably is all he could see, and I was cross-wind of him, so no scent to check. I suppose if he wanted Kevin for dinner he could have several times before. It was creepy no less, esp when he started towards me a bit. I also imagine he kept watching me long after I thought his attention turned elsewhere.
It does explain why they have been so skittish, and why I've heard them spooked several times when I was nowhere near them and downwind (I'm the only one hunting this area).
That said, hunting from the ground is AMAZING and ADDICTING!!. So many awesome encounters you can't have from a stand or a blind. eg I had a buck rush up on me and stop less than 5 yards away, stare dead at me, tried to pattern me but never did. He did seem to wonder what that weird looking bush was (I was standing in the middle of a dry creek bed), as he quickly turned his rear to me and walked away. No shot there!!
I also rattled in a buck behind me unbeknownst to myself while hid behind a round bale in a field. I was watching the does to my 10 o'clock, decided to turn and see if anything was behind me, and there he stood coming right at me through the field. He was less than 15 yards out. Needless to say I couldn't shoot him twisted around backwards with antlers in my hands lol. I rattled a little more, staring straight at him, he at me, and he kept getting closer. I decided 10 yards was close enough and one of us was about to lose. I lost, but he was so beautiful bounding away. I wish I had been ready for that!
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Haha thanks for that info JW, good to know. I imagine he was watching me so intently because he couldn't figure out what I was. Headlamp probably is all he could see, and I was cross-wind of him, so no scent to check. I suppose if he wanted Kevin for dinner he could have several times before. It was creepy no less, esp when he started towards me a bit. I also imagine he kept watching me long after I thought his attention turned elsewhere.
It does explain why they have been so skittish, and why I've heard them spooked several times when I was nowhere near them and downwind (I'm the only one hunting this area).
That said, hunting from the ground is AMAZING and ADDICTING!!. So many awesome encounters you can't have from a stand or a blind. eg I had a buck rush up on me and stop less than 5 yards away, stare dead at me, tried to pattern me but never did. He did seem to wonder what that weird looking bush was (I was standing in the middle of a dry creek bed), as he quickly turned his rear to me and walked away. No shot there!!
I also rattled in a buck behind me unbeknownst to myself while hid behind a round bale in a field. I was watching the does to my 10 o'clock, decided to turn and see if anything was behind me, and there he stood coming right at me through the field. He was less than 15 yards out. Needless to say I couldn't shoot him twisted around backwards with antlers in my hands lol. I rattled a little more, staring straight at him, he at me, and he kept getting closer. I decided 10 yards was close enough and one of us was about to lose. I lost, but he was so beautiful bounding away. I wish I had been ready for that!
Oh man! You are in the thick of it, mauling and brawling where the battle is hottest! This cannot help but excite the blood and stimulate the brain! Treestands and blinds are sorta surgical and above the hurly-burly....but on the ground, down and dirty...that's where the struggle for life and death becomes most real. You are more like the mountain lion as a predator than those back at a more anti-septic distance. My hat is off to you, sir.
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I always carry my friend, Mr. Beretta...Ya never know... (-_)
Don
P.S. I believe in insurance...It comes with wisdom and bad experiences...
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I'd really love to see a cougar in the woods.
I think it would pay many times the fears and concerns that the situation arises
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I've never come up on a panther down here but have found tracks while in the field. I live in Collier County which typically reports the highest #'s in population and deaths.
Supposedly, there has never been an attack in Florida...
What state are you in?
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You wish you had a cougar stalking you, Steve-O :)
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You wish you had a cougar stalking you, Steve-O :)
Dude, at my age the cougars are saber-tooths!
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a friend of mine was turkey hunting and cougar attacked him,, he does not feel safe in the woods,,
he shot the cougar at close range with shotgun and was not hurt physically,, but I guess that is rare,,
after speaking to him, ,I do think about it now and then,, I saw one this year elk hunting but a long way off,,,
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Wow, thanks Brad, just when I felt ok to go back in the woods :o lol
Parnell I'm in north Texas. Bout 30 miles south of the Red River. Panthers/cougars/mountain lions have historically been known to haunt these woods, though they are very rarely seen. My first time in fact.
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Went out with espresso and an urge to see sunrise in a canyon I hunt. Spur of moment thing...and in I went. Thought it weird that a fox by headlamp let me get close. Turned out he was watching a "bobcat" that I got real, real close to, then I figured it out. The cat did that vibrating sound, then screamed. No way to describe that sound, believe me. Off and on the cat came in, screaming, with me yelling back. I left my gun and knife in the house; this hike was spur of the moment. I had a lighter in my hiking shorts, and struck a fire and waited till sunup.. When I went back the tracks showed the cat not below a small cliff like I though, but in brush... Asked a lion-guide about it later, he said replay that scenario 9 more times and I would be dead. I now like to bring a revolver while hunting.
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You wish you had a cougar stalking you, Steve-O :)
Jdub, your sense of humor is on point sir. When I grow up, I wanna be like you.
Dude, at my age the cougars are saber-tooths!
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Went out with espresso and an urge to see sunrise in a canyon I hunt. Spur of moment thing...and in I went. Thought it weird that a fox by headlamp let me get close. Turned out he was watching a "bobcat" that I got real, real close to, then I figured it out. The cat did that vibrating sound, then screamed. No way to describe that sound, believe me. Off and on the cat came in, screaming, with me yelling back. I left my gun and knife in the house; this hike was spur of the moment. I had a lighter in my hiking shorts, and struck a fire and waited till sunup.. When I went back the tracks showed the cat not below a small cliff like I though, but in brush... Asked a lion-guide about it later, he said replay that scenario 9 more times and I would be dead. I now like to bring a revolver while hunting.
Rule #9 dude.
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I saw one years ago on a scout outing, bounding away. like JW, I like a .41 mag with HP loads by Bill(Ruger). Real nice to have along. Got one that matches for the little lady, and she is good with it, too! Don't know of a proven cat attack here, but we have several suspected cases, based on behavior of dogs and knowledge of trackers. Snakes and other AH's are a different story.
Hawkdancer
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It's funny, I walk up back quite a bit. I will just be walking along thinking about nothing, then I think, Cougar, and the hair on my neck all stands up.
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I believe BC has the highest attack rate in the world Don? I could be off a bit, usually am.
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Wikipedia says that 2/3 of Canadian fatalities happen on the Island. There are a lot of cougars here. Like I said I've seen 5 and I really haven't spent a lot of time in the woods compared to some people. About 20 years ago I was working on a repeater housing at the bottom of a pole on the side of the highway. I heard a screech and thump and turned around to see a mostly dead cougar on the road right beside me. It had come up a ditch about five feet behind me and tried to cross the road. Didn't make it. If the truck hadn't hit it I would have never known that it was there. I don't think it was after me. It just wanted to cross the road. He had a big chunk out of his backbone. Some young fella's with a .22 put it out of it's misery. When the warden came I gave him my name and number in the hopes that they would let me have the claws. Never heard back from them. That was the last one I've seen.
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then I think, Cougar, and the hair on my neck all stands up.
let me rearrange that statement a bit, Don.
when I smell a cougar, the hair on my neck all stands up, and then I think cougar.
I am not sure that we have to be conscious of a smell for our brain to react, but I have learned to be very conscious of the hair on the back of my neck. It can be surprisingly accurate up here in bear country
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You wish you had a cougar stalking you, Steve-O :)
Ha! I had a rabid one one my case back in the day, buddy! Craziest critter I ever seen. Think she might have left me with fleas for awhile there. ??? ;D
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All the time I've lived in Florida and Colorado I've only seen a Cougar three times and all three times in Central Florida. I don't worry about them, we have a lot more down here to eat your but in the woods, now.
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Went back out on Sunday afternoon with my son, we were in the north woods and an older gentleman and his two high-school age sons were stand-hunting pigs in the south woods. He sends me a text "Did you hear that!?!?!" evidently Kitty got him some dinner and let out a scream (A). He then sent me a msg a little later saying his sons bailed on him and ran home lol I probably would have too but we didn't hear it.
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Just like JW said, the danger is highly over stated. Be more concerned with your drive out to your hunting location than a being mauled by a cougar. You should feel lucky that you got to see one, it's rare. I live in cougar country, and I feel lucky whenever I get to see them.
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Yeah, i kinda wonder how long he has been there and no one knew. While we were walking in the north woods, we did come upon some relatively recent tracks..man those are big paws!!
That said, it DOES make the experience entirely different going into the woods at 5am during his hunting hours! I went in yesterday morning entering in thru the south woods where i haven't been (scouted it in goolge), and the atv path I walked in on was clear but lined on both sides with 5-6ft tall reeds. AND it was moonlit and quite windy. I can guarantee if I heard him scream in that mess I'd have definitely peed my pants. I was a little on-edge to say the least with flashlight and buckknife in one hand, bow in the other! Kicking myself for misplacing my headlamp.
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Glad to hear im not the only one who gets very nervous out tjere in the dark alone like that. I always just thought I was a chicken. Maybe not now...
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Don't fear the night! Fear what goes bump in the night! Those moments definitely raise the hair on the back of your neck!
Hawkdancer
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Welp, looks like I fed Mr Kitty this morning! Heading into the woods I almost walked into about a 100# (-_) . I spooked him off into the woods, headed downwind. He made enough noise, I guess he and his scent got Kitty's attention. A few minutes later I heard "the squeal of death". (A)
Ok by me, if he's got bacon I don' think he'll want to mess with what looks like a walking vegetarian meal!!
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During deer gun season here this year a kid in western Iowa shot a cougar here.Some years ago a cougar was shot 4 miles from my place.A pic.Think he was around a 120# young tom.
(https://i.imgur.com/BPUdIMz.jpg)
Being a very active coon hunter some time back and hunted a lot by myself training single dogs I never really give it much thought about those cats.Now it's mostly daytime bow deer hunting.They can be a very efficient killing machine if they are hungry I'm sure.To tell the truth I never did see one.Although many people here have reported seeing them.I think it's because there is pretty high numbers of deer around here. We've got the bobcats here too.I do see them occasionally though.
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Judging by the size of the head and the ears, that is a young 75-80 lb cat. Pretty average for the cats we have here in the Black Hills. It is rare for us to get one over 100 lbs in this area. But then, when they are striplings on their own at 55 lbs, they can take an adult whitetail doe. Lotta power in them puddy-tats!
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The weight on that cat is just what they told me.I could see he was pretty young.They spotted him dragging a deer underneath a barbed wire fence along a gravel road.It was just after a 11" snow storm and I was busy digging myself out.In Iowa cougar are not a native species so there is no on or off season on them.Hence they can be shot on sight any time of year.
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Dang, I hope they didn't waste the meat. Cat is delicious!
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I have no idea if they ate him or the deer it was dragging.You would have to take that up with them.I have put the word out around though that if more are shot and they want a keep sake from it I would tan the hide for nothing.Personally I can see a very nice quiver in one of those fellas.
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As pelts go, mountain lion has a texture all it's own!