I wasn't the only hunter in the woods

[Harald]

Sneaking downhill through the timber in North central WA looking for deer, I heard a stick snap behind me. Turning around, I see a mountain lion about 10 yards uphill behind me ready to pounce. I guess I wasn't the only hunter in the woods that day because this cat was stalking me. :shock: A quick shot from my Knight Disc Extreme 50 cal muzzleloader coincided with it launching itself toward me. I dodged to the side and prepared to do battle with my muzzleloader that was now as useful as a club or a dull spear. It landed where I had been standing and I expected it to pivot and come for me. Thank God my shot was true and it only took one step after landing before tipping over dead.

In the mountains, something has to die so another animal can live. I just never expected that I would be the potential meal. As it turned out, I now have some yummy steaks in the freezer and a future large taxidermy bill when my full mount is competed in a year or so.

A hunt to remember for a lifetime.

 

[03mossy]

WOW! Amazing those things can get so close before you heard him. Can't imagine that.

 

[JStanley]

WOW, that's an amazing story!!! :shock: :shock: Praise God it ended like it did instead of him posing for pictures with you on ModernMountaiLion.com :lol: Congrats on a successful and ultimately safe hunt!

 

[BuckDoeHunter]

Congrats! Great shot! Looking forward to your mount pics.

 

[Idaholewis]

Congrats on the Cougar!! That is a very STEALTHY Creature right there! I lived on the Wa coast for about 38 years, My Dad was an AVID Hound hunter for 40 years, I’ve seen LOTS of those critters!! As many as 4 in the Same tree

Here is a picture of a friend that hunted with my dad often, This is Zoomed in, he is actually WAY up this tree Trying to “Poke” this Big Tom Cat out of the other tree so the Hound Dogs could Run him again, It worked :yeah:

 

[Muley Hunter]

I'm surprised it snapped a twig. You were lucky.

 

[edmehlig]

WOW, that's an amazing story!!! :shock: :shock: Praise God it ended like it did instead of him posing for pictures with you on ModernMountaiLion.com :lol: Congrats on a successful and ultimately safe hunt!

Ditto to what Jackie said. You were lucky that it snapped a twig and you were able to hear it.

 

[WV Hunter]

Wow is right! :shock:
I've heard that before a buddy of mine from Montana about them stalking people, but he never had an encounter that close. Thankfully your shot was true! Crazy!

WOW, that's an amazing story!!! :shock: :shock: Praise God it ended like it did instead of him posing for pictures with you on ModernMountaiLion.com :lol: Congrats on a successful and ultimately safe hunt!

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Idaholewis]

I have had them Track me in the Snow several times, No doubt they knew EXACTLY where i was. The last 1 i remember well was on the Wa coast, me and a friend was deer hunting an area i had seen 2 really nice Blacktail bucks the Evening before, it had snowed a Good 12” that night, I got parked and headed up the Mountain Through the Timber where i had last seen the 2 Big Bucks, It was fairly steep and Quite a Long ways to the Top of the Ridge, when I reached the Top It was a Hog Back Ridge, i turned left and started working my way looking for Deer tracks, Less than a mile it started getting Rough (Rock Cliff Rough) i turned and started Backtracking myself out, it was a Fresh blanket of Deep snow and Nothing was moving, or had moved in it where i had been, When i got to where i could see my Tracks where i had came up the Mountain onto the Ridge I noticed a Set of Tracks had also went the other way on the Ridge? When i got close enough to see the tracks good it was a Big Cougar track, it had been Walking that Same Ridge line except coming from the other direction, when it hit my Tracks where i had came up it turned and headed down the mountain on my Tracks (Backtracking me) i had HIGH hopes of spotting him!! I stayed as Quiet as I possibly could going down the Mountain on my Backtrack and The Cougar’s RED HOT Track, He finally veered off to the Right headed toward that really rough Country i had just come from, I decided to let him have it to himself That is the only one I remember thinking i had a Good chance of Seeing, We couldn’t have been more than 30 minutes apart.

I have seen this several times, But usually it is Old, A place i have hunted the Day before in the Snow and found where a Cougar had tracked me. My Dad has had it happen way more than myself through his years with Hound Dogs. They are a VERY stealthy Creature! Just Watch a 6-8 pound House Cat get a Mouse, How stealthy and extremely fast they are, Catching birds, even Humming birds! Now imagine a Wild Cat that can weigh nearly 200 pounds for an Extremely large Male. Kinda Spooky!! And not many things bother me.

 

[JStanley]

Here in KY we are blessed to not really have anything in the deer woods that could eat us but I have run into my fair share of unsavory trespassers over the years and so I always have my concealed carry with me in the woods (legal in KY). Howzit in WA? Can you carry a sidearm while hunting if licensed to do so?

 

[Confederate rifleman]

Hello Kitty! Thank God you got the drop on him!
Nothing quite like having a good rifle!

 

[Okie Hog]

Congrats on the cougar.

 

[Harald]

Here in KY we are blessed to not really have anything in the deer woods that could eat us but I have run into my fair share of unsavory trespassers over the years and so I always have my concealed carry with me in the woods (legal in KY). Howzit in WA? Can you carry a sidearm while hunting if licensed to do so?

We can carry a sidearm for self defense only while hunting with a muzzleloader. A finishing shot on any game has to be done with whatever weapon you have a license for.

In the future I will be carrying my 40cal Glock in the woods!

 

[FredB]

A cougar is a bucket list item for me. Without dogs. I mostly grew up in Idaho, and hunted there for decades, and never even seen a cougar. But I could do without that particular kind of hunt. Makes me wonder how many cougar have seen me.

 

[LarryBud]

Cool and scary. Good thing your shot was true.

Where we elk hunt they are abundant. I've always assumed they wanted nothing to do with me. I don't carry a side arm ( weight ) but may need to reconsider.

Did you ever weigh the beast?

 

[Idaholewis]

Makes me wonder how many cougar have seen me.

If you spent much time in the Woods here i would Wager a LARGE bet you have been watched, and Tracked by Cougars, the chances of you seeing them is EXTREMELY rare. The OP is a Rare occasion. This behavior of Cougars is actually a very common thing, MUCH MUCH more than some might think

 

[masakimm]

I recorded a couple years ago a family of bobcats that wondered by my treestand on my old property 5 mins after I had left. I would not have wanted to meet momma and here kids at dusk in the woods by my self with just my unloaded muzzleloader.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

 

[talon_dfa]

Yes, good shot or you would have a different story to tell. Luckily you are able to tell it.
You guys in Washington and BC seem to have lots of lion encounters... I've seen plenty of sign and have seen tracks on top of mine in the snow, but have only seen lions 3 times in 25+ years, and they were not close... Did have a friend get treed one time. He even wrote his family a good by note while in the tree... Who has pen and paper, but no pistol in the woods? The lioness finally left him. Later during the elk hunt, in the same area, she tried the same thing with an armed hunter, so no more bold lion.

 

[mnoland30]

2 years ago, I shot a deer and field butchered it. It got dark and as I was finishing up, I slipped on some slime on the rock where water was running. For the first time in 40 years of hunting, I sat full cheek on a prickly pear cactus. This is when a Swiss army knife is worth its weight in gold. As I was standing there with my pants around my ankles, I happened to glance downstream and saw two large eyes. I hit the high beam on my light, and about 30 yards away was a mountain lion lying in the grass. Once I retrieved my rifle (from 15 feet away) I shot just above the cougars head (no cougar license). The cougar jumped about 6 feet straight up in the air and disappeared. He was probably just having a good laugh, until I shot. I jacked a new round into my Browning titanium 7WSM so fast that I lost that empty shell. I was turning around quite a bit on the pack trip out. In the morning I checked for blood and tracks, and couldn't find either. When I go in for the rest of the meat, I always carry my S&W .357 Titanium revolver. It weighs 11 oz. empty. I swear the bu!lets weigh more!