# Hunter becomes hunted...



## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

On Feb 7 I was in Southern Utah, and the following transpired. Tell me if this is normal.

Mind you I dont know much when it comes to mountain lions, so let me know what you think.

While hunting rabbits in a wash area, I saw several cottontails bust up and run off long out of shotgun range. While walking along hoping to spook up others, I watch the ground as I do in any area I hunt to see what animals were passing through. Didnt notice anything out of the ordinary, a few coyote poops and some rabbit poop, nothing strange. 

After having several cottontails run off before I was in range, I decided to make a big loop and try hitting the same area again but this time with my trusty Golden Boy .22 mag (to take longer shots than the shotgun would allow). As I looped back around I followed my same footseps and noticed HUGE tracks alongside mine, they looked to be a large cat, and definitely not a dog. I just thought I didnt notice them the first time, but as I reached the spot where I veered off to make a loop, I noticed these tracks followed me exactly! When I would stray to the left or the right, these cat tracks were right on me. I noticed this for about 100 yards or so and finally felt extremely uneasy so I shot a few times behind me to make some noise and hightailed it back to my truck to get out of there. Gotta say, I felt pretty uneasy about the whole thing.

Is this normal for a cougar to follow someone around like that?


PS: by cougar, I mean mountain lion (not an attrative older woman 8) )


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## Loke (Sep 7, 2007)

Bax* said:


> Is this normal for a cougar to follow someone around like that?
> PS: by cougar, I mean mountain lion (not an attrative older woman 8) )


Yes.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Ah...be careful; cover your neck, wear a hooded sweatshirt.


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## .45 (Sep 21, 2007)

Yeah Bax*....I had two tracking me two years ago, somewhere's out east of here. My son had left me on the river an hour or so before dark, he had gone into town to buy a permit, when he got back it was almost dark and he called me on the cel phone to tell me where he was. The next morning we found the cougar tracks, they had covered my footprints and we figured they broke off my trail when my cel phone rang. Fishing was good too !


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## proutdoors (Sep 24, 2007)

It couldn't have been a mountain lion, because all the houndsmen in the state keep saying there are no lions!  :wink:


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## sawsman (Sep 13, 2007)

I've heard said that if most hunters knew how often and how close cats are around us while in their country, that most would probably quit hunting.

It hasn't stopped me yet and I've actually ran into two of them on seperate occassions, up close and personal. Makes you respect them for what they are though, usually minding their own business. Dang deer killers! :evil: 

sawsman


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## Lycan (Sep 22, 2008)

Bax* said:


> Is this normal for a cougar to follow someone around like that?
> 
> PS: by cougar, I mean mountain lion (not an attrative older woman 8) )


Yes, and yes! 8)

You hear about this all the time in California, but the naive sheeple won't admit it.


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## birdman (Nov 21, 2007)

I've been stalked on two occasions that I know of and probably several others I don't. 
Both times while turkey hunting. It's definitely creepy when you realize what's going on. Never laid eyes on either cat.


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## Finnegan (Sep 7, 2007)

Good info here. I especially like the idea of shooting behind you just to make noise.

I figure that with all the dangers out there, if you take enough random shots then sooner or later you're bound to hit something scary...lion, bear, rabid badger, escaped convict, man-eating jack rabbit (I've been stalked by those), lonely mountain man looking for a bride... Did you guys ever see the documentary _The Hills Have Eyes_? I'll bet if we knew how many times a radioactive sub-human mutant was watching us...


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## Lycan (Sep 22, 2008)

Finnegan said:


> lonely mountain man looking for a bride... :rotfl: Did you guys ever see the documentary _The Hills Have Eyes_? -_O- I'll bet if we knew how many times a radioactive sub-human mutant was watching us...


Hehe, documentary. I have been to places in this country where that would explain a lot though.


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## Artoxx (Nov 12, 2008)

Lycan said:


> Finnegan said:
> 
> 
> > lonely mountain man looking for a bride... :rotfl: Did you guys ever see the documentary _The Hills Have Eyes_? -_O- I'll bet if we knew how many times a radioactive sub-human mutant was watching us...
> ...


What, you didn't know this was based on a true story? :shock:

I have found my own personal footprints covered with predator tracks so many times that I don't even count it any more. Usually coyote, but cat tracks are NOT unusual either. One of the reasons that I always carry some version of a large gun when hunting alone. .22 in the hand, .44 on the hip, or shotgun in the hand with 3rd or 5th round 00buck.

I cannot imagine how many times I have been within spitting distance of something big enough to eat me without even knowing it. If you give it too much thought, you will stay home. :wink:

The ones that annoy me are the coyote tracks that follow my trail around WHEN I AM COYOTE HUNTING! Hate it when that happens. :evil:


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## Lycan (Sep 22, 2008)

Artoxx said:


> Lycan said:
> 
> 
> > Finnegan said:
> ...


Did it happen in Magna?


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## shotgunwill (May 16, 2008)

I have come close one time, and it wasn't funny either. I was grouse hunting near the family property in Fairview, and made a big loop to head back to the cabin. We came to where we had previously shot three, and in the area of the kills, there were fresh tracks. It made my skin crawl to know that I was even remotely close. But, I was happy to have been armed though.

Honestly, I think that is the reason why predator hunting appeals to me. The whole hunting something that could kill me back, seems pretty exciting.


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## sprig (Feb 29, 2008)

A friend in our bow hunting party years ago said he was being stalked by a cougar while hunting. He saw the cougar which then ran away, he went back and saw by the tracks that the big cat had been following him for quite a while. He was pretty shook up. I have read a little bit about cougar attacks and most humans attacks are children or women. It seems the average size male is just large enough to make most cougar's wary of attacking. He was probably just sizing you up and deciding how much fight you had in you. The scary part is in most cougar attacks you never see it coming and they usually attack you around the head. OUCH!


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## fixed blade XC-3 (Sep 11, 2007)

sprig said:


> A friend in our bow hunting party years ago said he was being stalked by a cougar while hunting. He saw the cougar which then ran away, he went back and saw by the tracks that the big cat had been following him for quite a while. He was pretty shook up. *I have read a little bit about cougar attacks and most humans attacks are children or women. It seems the average size male is just large enough to make most cougar's wary of attacking.* He was probably just sizing you up and deciding how much fight you had in you. The scary part is in most cougar attacks you never see it coming and they usually attack you around the head. OUCH!


Oh man jahan, you are so screwed! :lol:


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## proutdoors (Sep 24, 2007)

:shock:


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## BERG (Dec 4, 2007)

-_O- "Cat Scratch Fever" on hajan's arse eh? We'll probably see hajan on channel 5 news. :shock: What type of blood does he have? We need to start making donations.


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## BPturkeys (Sep 13, 2007)

Finnegan said:


> ...I'll bet if we knew how many times a radioactive sub-human mutant was watching us...


Come on Finn...ain't no such thing as sub-human radioactive mutants


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

BPturkeys said:


> Finnegan said:
> 
> 
> > ...I'll bet if we knew how many times a radioactive sub-human mutant was watching us...
> ...


I thought you could see them out by Dugway


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## KAFO (Oct 17, 2007)

BPturkeys said:


> Finnegan said:
> 
> 
> > ...I'll bet if we knew how many times a radioactive sub-human mutant was watching us...
> ...


NO? Just sit at any wally world entrance for a few minutes and a whole bunch will pass by! :lol:


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## Riverrat77 (Sep 7, 2007)

Lycan said:


> You hear about this all the time in California, but the naive sheeple won't admit it.


Yes.... They were starting to get bad when I left in 97. Couple of joggers hit up around Burney and folks having issues with them in the woods up there. There were lots of issues with Fido and Fluffy disappearing out of yards and back porches too. I left before they had a hunting season for them I think, not sure if there is one now. I've had a couple buddies that have seen them in the Stansbury mtns and also some of the local "out of the way" spots. I remember growing up we had them come down and kill the neighbors sheep a couple hundred yards from our house and I remember the day one of my friends was late to school because when they got up to catch the bus, there was one sitting on top of their house... they could hear it walking around up there and the neighbors looked out their window and told em what it was. :lol: Good thing they didn't walk out right underneath it.


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## alexh (Jul 3, 2009)

Ya try it at night alone, Bolder-Griffen Top mountain. I would leave home about 2:00 am and would be on my elk spots an hour before sunrise.
So thinking you have a 300 mag makes you safe, think again. When your in Mountain Lion country, at night, no moon. Then you have this feeling you are being stalked, and you don't have your 44mag on your side. 
What are you going to do hold the light and shoot with one hand. Not going to work! The only thing I had decided, I could do is, listen, keep checking with the light, and when it attacks, touch the fur and pull the trigger. 
That is if the Cat has not already cut your juggler vein. I was correct , there was a Cat on my trail, by the tracks the next day. 
So if your alone, A head lamp, 44mag with laser site would fit the bill. Will I go alone again, you bet. I have stories that I won't even share, people think I'm full of camp talk. Those that know me, know when I tell a story, they know it's true.
And hey if a Lion jumps me, and I am lucky enough to kill it with a Big knife, it will just be another one to tell my friends. Am I crazy, some would think so, other would just say he just has balls. Do I want to fight a lion with a knife, NO. Will I not hike at night cuz lions and bears, heck ya.
Good luck, and if someone has one of those stories they would like to share, I'd love to hear it. Take care, and walk softly and carry a big stick.


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## redleg (Dec 5, 2007)

4 years ago at Eagle Mountain , there were 2 lions following school kids at bus stops .


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## shootemup (Nov 30, 2008)

i archery hunt in lion country and i bought a big knife that i can pull out easy is was cheap but it is long and i keep it very sharp just for that reason. i dont use it for anything else so it will nice and sharp if i ever need it.

https://www.sworddemon.com/p-1114-the-pig-sticker-bowie-knife.aspx


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## Bears Butt (Sep 12, 2007)

Last year on the muzz deer hunt up near Kamas, a friend and her son were slowly walking down a draw. The lady in the bottom and her son up on the side hill. He spotted a cat hunkered and stalking his mother. He fired a shot in the cats direction when his mother was clearly out of the way. The cat ran off and the mother and son were "as one" during the rest of the hunt. He said the cat was a close as 10 feet from her at one point.


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

Bears Butt said:


> Last year on the muzz deer hunt up near Kamas, a friend and her son were slowly walking down a draw. The lady in the bottom and her son up on the side hill. He spotted a cat hunkered and stalking his mother. He fired a shot in the cats direction when his mother was clearly out of the way. The cat ran off and the mother and son were "as one" during the rest of the hunt. He said the cat was a close as 10 feet from her at one point.


Thats pretty creepy!


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## Bscuderi (Jan 2, 2012)

Ahhhhhhhhh I have had this feeling before. I never verified it the next day by backtracking my steps but now I really wonder if it wasn't paranoia. If I saw this verified I probably could never ever hunt alone! Im doing a week long backpacking trip this summer and I'm trying to make my list of things to bring and I was debating on wether or not to leave the .40 s&w behind do to the large added weight. After reading this post I think my priorities have been straightened out!


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## shaun larsen (Aug 5, 2011)

ive had this happpen several times. once in a snow storm walking a ridge. when i looped back around an hour later, i noticed there were cat tracks in mine....

another time during the archery hunt, i was making my way off a hill just at dark above my camp. every once in awhile i thought i could hear something behind me, so i'd stop and look around, but never could see anything. when i got back to camp, my dad informed me that he could see me walking off the hill and for about half of the way down the mountain, i had a cougar following me. he got as close as 20 yards, walking real slow, and stopping every time i would stop. eventually he lost sight of the cat in the tall brush.

and the most recent incident ive had, i had a cat get WAY too close for comfort while packing out a deer one night. i dont know how many of you have looked on your back trail with a head lamp to see 2 yellow eyes just feet away from you, but let me tell you, its not something i ever want to experience again..... -)O(-


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## Last Man Standing (Dec 7, 2011)

I was out with a couple buddies doing a night hike in the lone peak wilderness area a while back and had a pretty sketchy experience. We were walking up a very steep trail and we were getting pretty close to our destination. Both my buddies were getting pretty tired and one had to take a leak, so the one said for me to go ahead and he'd wait for the other to do his business. I set out to do the last little stretch alone (it's about 12:30am by now) and I'm looking pretty much straight down at my feet so that I can see where I'm going. When we were all together we were talking and laughing and making noise, but now that I'm alone it's silent. Well about 20 minutes go by, I'm just hiking away, and all of a sudden I get a horrible feeling in my stomach. I immediately look up for the first time in long while and see a cougar in a full-on sprint coming right towards me. I never knew how EFFING fast the things were until I saw that. Without hesitating I chucked my waterbottle at it and yelled as loud as I possibly could. It veered to the right, without slowing down, and bolted straight into the trees. All of this happened in less than ten seconds and left me thinking, Did that seriously just happen? I turned around and ran down the trail and found my buddies running up towards me. They had heard me scream at it and had no idea what was going on. I don't know if it had been stalking me beforehand, but I definitely recommend carrying a gun Bscuderi.


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## Bscuderi (Jan 2, 2012)

Consider it done! That will be worth every ounce of weight! This is all so creepy I have night hiked in the lone peak wilderness! I've had this feeling and I hunt alone often and above kamas like in the previous story!


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## Kevin D (Sep 15, 2007)

Cougar are wimps, if you face up to them, they run. That's why 50 lbs hounds routinely scare lions many times their body weight scurrying up trees to escape. I can put all my cougar encounters without dogs in one of two catagories; those that were running away when I seen them, and those that were running away when they seen me.

Lion tracks following in your tracks?? That's common cougar behavoir, but that doesn't mean they were stalking you. Many times they are just heading in the same direction, sometimes they are just curious to see what you are about. If you were to visit a tree where a lion was caught and released the day previous, you would see that the lion will quite often follow the trail the hounds and houndsman left on to make sure they are really gone. I suspect that is the case in many of the "lion tracks on top of my tracks" scenarios.

As a houndsman with several hundred close encounters with cougar, I think most of you guys overestimate the danger. Sorry, but I can't help but be reminded of ghost stories at boy scout camp when I hear some of these cougar encounters. Do whatever makes you feel safe, but know that statistically you are more at risk of shooting yourself in the foot than you are of being attacked by a mountain lion.

Here is a picture of me gathering up my dogs under a lion tree that a buddy took....and no that is not a telephoto lens, I could have reached out and grabbed it by the tail if I wanted.


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## JERRY (Sep 30, 2007)

8)


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## Last Man Standing (Dec 7, 2011)

Kevin D said:


> Cougar are wimps, if you face up to them, they run. That's why 50 lbs hounds routinely scare lions many times their body weight scurrying up trees to escape. I can put all my cougar encounters without dogs in one of two catagories; those that were running away when I seen them, and those that were running away when they seen me.


And because that's your experience it means our stories are exaggerations.



Kevin D said:


> tracks following in your tracks?? That's common cougar behavoir, but that doesn't mean they were stalking you. Many times they are just heading in the same direction, sometimes they are just curious to see what you are about. If you were to visit a tree where a lion was caught and released the day previous, you would see that the lion will quite often follow the trail the hounds and houndsman left on to make sure they are really gone. I suspect that is the case in many of the "lion tracks on top of my tracks" scenarios.


Why is stalking a human farfetched? Lions are programmed to stalk. They may not be completely intent on taking you down, but they would certainly stalk something that was out of the ordinary. It's called stalking because the stalked animal is unaware it's being followed. In your experiences of seeing Lions run away it's possible that they were stalking you and when they saw your size and realized it wasn't worth the fight they gave up.



Kevin D said:


> As a houndsman with several hundred close encounters with cougar, I think most of you guys overestimate the danger. Sorry, but I can't help but be reminded of ghost stories at boy scout camp when I hear some of these cougar encounters. Do whatever makes you feel safe, but know that statistically you are more at risk of shooting yourself in the foot than you are of being attacked by a mountain lion.


 I'm sorry, but myself being a hunter that doesn't use hounds, you sound like someone who has become complacent with the danger of these animals. If they wanted to, they could kill you fairly easily. Attacks are VERY rare in Utah, but not impossible. Given time, when our population has grown a bit, we may be in the same boat as California, whose cats are familiar enough with people to not be as afraid. I might be more likely to shoot myself in the foot, but as long as I'm careful, that is something that is more or less in my own control. Getting stalked by a starved lion is not really in my control.



Kevin D said:


> is a picture of me gathering up my dogs under a lion tree that a buddy took....and no that is not a telephoto lens, I could have reached out and grabbed it by the tail if I wanted.


 I've been within five feet of one in the wild myself and it did not make me assume that accidents can't happen. The majority of times you see cats making a beeline or stuck up a tree it involves hounds. Now a hound might only weigh 50 lbs, and the treed cat might be upwards of 100, but IMO that doesn't make it a wimp. 3 on one isn't exactly a fair fight even if the hounds are smaller. Not to mention the fact that it also knows a human is after it. In the US and Canada combined there have been 10 deaths by cat and 73 attacks since 1991. That might be less than the number of hunting accidents but the danger still exists and I prefer to be prepared.


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## Bscuderi (Jan 2, 2012)

Agree with last man standing never can be too careful complacency kills. I would argue the same for bears they more than often don't want to be around you 
Not saying I see a cougar I'll shoot I know it prob will run off as would most bears. But I'd prefer not be prey say one does get the idea to attack after scoping me out!


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## JuddCT (Sep 7, 2007)

Last year on the LE Turkey hunt. I headed up to my sweet spot in a small snow storm. As I headed back down the trail I noticed that the snow didn't completely cover my tracks from the morning. Sure enough right next to my tracks I found what appeared to me to be cougar tracks that followed me almost exactly to my spot. Kind of spooked me out a bit knowing he sat and probably watched me for a minute or two.


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## walkalot (Oct 11, 2011)

i always hunt alone, and hike in the morning darkness and out in the evening when it's dark.....I've come across more mountain lion tracks than I care to think about, have yet to lay my eyes on one....and that's the problem. If i could see them first I am absolutely not afraid of a mountain lion.....the only thing that gets me is I assume if a mountain lion really wants to attack me, I wont see him first, and he will go for the neck :/

also i carry no sidearm for protection.....guess i'll just keep rolling the dice and not read posts like this that make me think twice about it lol. the only thing i do when hiking in the dark is shine the flashlight behind me once every 5 minutes or so, trying not to be overly paranoid about it.


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## swbuckmaster (Sep 14, 2007)

I routinely hike in the dark without my light on. My eyes adjust just fine and I can see pretty well. I've accidentally ran into a bear when I was after an elk one night. The bear didn't run off like the other bears I've seen. No it just poped its teeth and made a woffing sound. I just backed away slowly. I've also had a lion come within a few feet of me until I turned on my flash light. He just looked at me for a sec and ran off. By far the scariest thing for me to run into at night is a moose. I run into them all the time and there down right ornery. I believe if any animal is going to get me it will be a moose. 

If your scared of the dark or of hunting alone you wont add up to much of a hunter imho.


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## svmoose (Feb 28, 2008)

While cougars and bears are wild, I agree that many times these animals aren't out to kill you. I've had encounters with bears, but I've only seen lions a few times in my life. For the most part bears and mt lions are more scared of you than you are of them. Mostly because we hunt them. California didn't do their residents or their pets any favors by banning the hunting of cougars. As long as we have liberal hunting seasons on predators, we will RARELY see attacks on humans outside of diseased or wounded animals. 

I'll agree with SW on the moose though. I'd rather run into a cougar or a bear in the mountains than a big old rut crazed moose.


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## walkalot (Oct 11, 2011)

sw i agree, i am more concerned about moose...and ornery is definately the right word. not to mention they are so stubborn you have to disturb the entire area to get them to possibly move rather than go around them....it's worse in areas like the extended where they are exposed to hikers regularily. I was on my way out after dark in big cottonwood this october, it was completely dark and i was in the pines, didnt realize a bull moose was standing there until i was 15 yards away or so, maybe i wasnt paying attention.....but he scared the crap out of me and then gave me the stare down until i backed away and went around. not much of a moose story but those darn things are everywhere, im waiting to be chased around a tree one of these days, i know quite a few people that have had to do circles around some trees because of moose.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

I don't know about a bull moose, mountain lion, bear, or snakes and I have ran into all of them with out any problems. But I will stay as far away from a cow moose with a calf that I can get anymore. I ran into one years ago up Tie Fork and even when I was a hundred yards away from her calf she kept coming towards me.


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## Kevin D (Sep 15, 2007)

You guys are on to something, I am more concerned about being injured by a moose than any other animal in the forest. It isn't just cows with calfs either, it is also bulls that I worry about.

The worst incident was when I was heading up a trail on my snowmobile and ran into a young bull standing in the middle of the road where I couldn't get around him. I shut off my sled and waited 5 minutes for him to wander off, but he never did, he just stood there. I finally started my sled back up and inched toward him trying to pressure him out of the way. I seen his hackles on the back of his neck raise up and the whites of his eyes started showing and he came after me. I shut off my sled and jumped to the opposite side of my snowmobile keeping that between us. 

We circled each other a couple of times, him looking for a way over top of my snowmobile, and me yelling and trying to wave him off. After a couple of minutes he finally did wander about 30 yards up the hillside, just enough space to pick up the back of the snowmobile and spin it around, intent on conceding the trail to him. As soon as I started up the sled to leave though, the **** thing came after me again. My last view of that moose as I looked over my shoulder was the SOB chasing down the trail after me.

Yep, I'd rather take my chances with a lion or a bear.


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## Finnegan (Sep 7, 2007)

I definitely agree about moose - the only animal that's ever really scared me. One particular encounter on a bowhunt was enough for me to get a CFP.

Fear is a funny thing, though. The most serious injury I've received from an animal was a bee sting. But nobody posts a scarey photo of a bee sneaking up on an unwary hunter. No signs at any of the campgrounds: "Warning! This is Bee Country!" :lol: 

I've been stalked by lions many times. I was killed by one, but I got better.


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## 90redryder (Oct 10, 2011)

While bowhunting this past fall my buddies dad had a close call. It was getting dark so he climbed out of his tree stand. About the time he gets to the ground he sees a quick movement to his left, he thought it was an elk so he draws back and turns to see what it was. It just so happened that a cougar had been watching him and at this point decided it was time to attack. The cat stopped within about ten feet and circled him while sizing him up, this gave him time to drop the bow and grab his side arm. He was forced to shoot it, one shot with his little 9mm and the cat dropped dead. He let the DWR know what happend so they came out to investigate. They told him it was a really old cat that was starving because it couldnt hunt and thats why it went after him. I now carry my .357 mag whenever im out in the boonies, I figure that will do the job on any predators that roam our state.


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## Last Man Standing (Dec 7, 2011)

90redryder said:


> While bowhunting this past fall my buddies dad had a close call. It was getting dark so he climbed out of his tree stand. About the time he gets to the ground he sees a quick movement to his left, he thought it was an elk so he draws back and turns to see what it was. It just so happened that a cougar had been watching him and at this point decided it was time to attack. The cat stopped within about ten feet and circled him while sizing him up, this gave him time to drop the bow and grab his side arm. He was forced to shoot it, one shot with his little 9mm and the cat dropped dead. He let the DWR know what happend so they came out to investigate. They told him it was a really old cat that was starving because it couldnt hunt and thats why it went after him. I now carry my .357 mag whenever im out in the boonies, I figure that will do the job on any predators that roam our state.


Thanks for sharing this story 90. This is exactly what makes me want to carry a sidearm in cougar country. I know the odds are slim, But why take a chance when you can just be prepared.


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