Cougar encounter on pack out - shots fired

[Steelpulse]

Continued from my opening days alpine 4 point thread

So got the 4 point packed up fully boned out and with a rough trim and started to head back to camp. a rough 600m walk through a rough cut to the trail to camp. I get to camp and it is now pitch black but it’s only 8 and the trail home is an old logging road so its open, pretty flat and best of all it’s mostly downhill all the way back to car a roughly 6km walk, no problem done it before with a buck in previous years.

Start walking, all good 120# pack just trucking along and then I see two big eyes staring right back at me 11-12 yards to my left and off the road a few feet. Immediately I assess the situation as dangerous animal encounter. Draw my rifle from my pack in about 1 second and then chamber a round.

I have hiking poles in one hand. .308 savage mode 11 in the other and I immediately go on the offensive kicking dirt, yehawwin and then fire a shot in front of it into the ground.

Doesnt blink

Now I’m taking it to next level and rushing through my brain is a couple options.
Shooting what I assume is a cougar and then dealing with that situation. Continuing to the car Turning around and getting the cat then back home and I work the next day and then taking To a CO and sorting that whole situation out.
Really not what I wanted to do 2 days into the deer season. But ofcourse this does not trump option 2 which is
I don’t shoot and then maybe the cougar makes the attack and then I have to shoot into darkness and make a low odd shot and have to deal with a cougar attacking me.

I want to buy some more time to assess the situation further and still try and scare the cat away
So i shoot at it again into the dirt and it turns its head

complete darkness now and complete silence.........

couple seconds go by and it is half the distance closer and you know Im staring straight back right into two big eyes again.

So now all I’m thinking is I’m going home tonight and I’m taking this f*kin deer with me. And if that’s a problem for this cougar then bring it on

i know it’s either shoot now or remove myself from the situation immediately. I point the gun right at its face and full beast mode just kicking and yehawwwin right at it walk by. Continue to check my 360 degree every 20 seconds for a good hour

The reason I didn’t shoot was because even though I know it was a cougar I couldn’t actually see it to make that ID even though without a doubt in my mind it was a cougar scoping me out as a Wounded deer. I even looked the part with antlers on top on my pack Smelled like fresh meat. It’s eyes were huge. it was completely silent and it’s mannerisms the whole situation say cougar to me

So with all that I think this is a safe assumption to make that this was ofcourse a 100% official confirmed fact evidence of Sasquatch.

Stay safe out there

[Redthies]

Nah. If it was a Squatch it’s eyes would have been glowing red!

[blu-nsr]

I made that ‘mistake’ once before as well.

You fired a warning shot. Then you were standing there with an empty rifle. Humans are not as fast as cougars and you don’t have the physical capability to rack another round, shoulder, and acquire target before that cat is on you if he wants to be.

Food for thought, but I’ll never fire a warning shot again.

[cptnoblivious]

Glad you made it out without an actual attack!

[45freezer]

That would get the heart going, good job staying level headed in the heat of the moment. No head lamp?

[swampthing]

Exciting stuff! Cougars don't generally go after grown men but it has happened! Cats seem to get a bit braver at night. I just got in a scrape with a lynx in my yard a couple nights back on my small acreage. The wife let our Lab and Airedale out of the house for a pee break about 8pm. She immediately starts screaming at the Airedale to come back, and for me to come out. I see the Airedale returning down one of our trails in the flashlight beam she is holding and also see a set of eyes just past the dog. I take the flashlight and approach thinking its a coyote. I get to 5 yards and see a crouched lynx. I yell at it to chase it off and it has the nerve to just sit there!! I throw a big stick at it and it runs 5 yards and sits down! Wow I think to myself! It only took a few minutes to return with the 45/70. Now the cat is closer to the house. I do my best to aim at its feet and shoot. It doesn't even run!! Its on!, I think to myself. I decide I need to kill this cat. About then it starts to walk circling my house with me after it. I got another shot at about 10 yards missing it. I couldn't find it after that. Just chasing that little lynx around in the dark had me on full alert so I can imagine how you felt with a cougar eyeballing you!

[Redthies]

Does the expression “overkill” apply to .45/70 and lynx?! I guess being in PG area you keep out what works for any potential uninvited guests.

OP- Way to go getting out of there in one piece and without having to kill the cat!

[Wild one]

Experiences like that helps remind you you’re alive and to stay on your toes

[Ron.C]

in 1995 i had a cougar stalk me. when I noticed it, it was approximately 7 feet from me. I fired a single "warning shot" from my 30-06 into a tree right beside it. The cat laid its ears back and crouched. I immediately fired a second shot was in his head. In hindsight, that warning shot was a bad idea with the animal being that close. I never carried spray in those days but would have used it if I had it.

And Yes, I called and reported it to the CO service

I'm not saying I'll never take a warning shot again, I'd like to think each situation is unique and needs to be treated as such, but never again will I take one that close.

I've had two other cougar encounters since, one requiring bear spray and a handful of griz encounters. Need to stay alert and on your toes!!!!

[Harvest the Land]

Wow now that's an intense story and a really f_cking sketchy situation. Glad you made it out Steelpulse. Just curious, do you not carry or use a small headlamp while walking to/from your hunting spots in the dark? Not saying that would or wouldn't have made the situation better or easier to deal with, but I wonder if you would have been able to identify the cat with a headlamp?

[horshur]

The cat needs the deer to flail and turn..nearly all cougar encounters end up head on. If they are so fast why don’t they just take you out from behind out of sight? Especially a guy with a pack on. The cat nearly always takes a deer in the “pocket” quartering too, deer flails away opening up its neck and rendering itself defenceless for a second ...if you have handled horses you will understand where it is safe to be and you have a measure of control.
the cat isn’t going to “break” because you shot...it is waiting for you to “break” don’t break! It is unnerving cause they don’t even acknowledge a warning shot...they are in the “zone” .taking a offence and moving towards them is more effective to get them to turn there eye and move off..
statistics bear out that they have almost never killed or maimed and adult male.

[Big Lew]

Hindsight is usually of high percent, so carrying a bright headlamp is a good idea in order to both
clearly identify and aim at a potential threat. After finding several horses and cows shot in the bush,
and knowing someone shot at glowing eyes in some of the cases, panic and adrenalin can distort or
make people do things they wouldn't have done if they were clearly aware of a situation. Don't know
just how certain you were in thinking that animal was a cougar (sounds like it most likely was) but I
have had horses, cattle, and even deer stay and stare at me even when I hollered at them. Don't know
if they would have done so if I had fired a shot in warning though.

[Steelpulse]

Yes I was wearing headlamp and a good one at that. Was only picking up the eyes though the entire time

[LuckyHorseshoe]

I wonder if the light blinding the animal in these stories has anything to do with why they did not move. Cats eyes being so much more night sensitive than ours. I wonder if that has anything to do with why they did not move, the "deer in the headlights" factor

[Arctic Lake]

The cat needs the deer to flail and turn..nearly all cougar encounters end up head on. If they are so fast why don’t they just take you out from behind out of sight? Especially a guy with a pack on. The cat nearly always takes a deer in the “pocket” quartering too, deer flails away opening up its neck and rendering itself defenceless for a second ...if you have handled horses you will understand where it is safe to be and you have a measure of control.
the cat isn’t going to “break” because you shot...it is waiting for you to “break” don’t break! It is unnerving cause they don’t even acknowledge a warning shot...they are in the “zone” .taking a offence and moving towards them is more effective to get them to turn there eye and move off..
statistics bear out that they have almost never killed or maimed and adult male.

Horshur This is interesting but I'm not sure if I get it totally. So you say the cougar need the deer to flail and turn. Then you say nearly all cougar attacks end up head on . Not sure I get it. To me flailing means when the deer is in a struggle legs going every which way . Could you elaborate ?
Arctic Lake

[horshur]

Flail..swing away.

[horshur]

I wonder if the light blinding the animal in these stories has anything to do with why they did not move. Cats eyes being so much more night sensitive than ours. I wonder if that has anything to do with why they did not move, the "deer in the headlights" factor
no they are same in daylight.you can throw things at them,fire a gun over there head and they are still locked. Move toward them is best way to get them to break

[Big Lew]

no they are same in daylight.you can throw things at them,fire a gun over there head and they are still locked. Move toward them is best way to get them to break

I agree...as I related in an earlier thread, I had a couple of potentially critical situations with cats
while riding my horse in our local mountains. On one occasion, a large cat was hiding amongst
huckleberry bushes on the top of an old growth stump right by a partly overgrown logging road
we were traveling on. The horse sensed danger which alerted me to look ahead and I saw it's face
and then it's crouching form almost within pouncing distance. It had the most intense star I've
seen as it was locked on to my horse. I spurred the horse ahead at full speed while hollering and
that cat was out of there faster than lightning.

[Bugle M In]

Yup, moving towards one, all though not an instinctive move on a humans part, actually works best.
Yelling at the same time as you make steps towards him helps.
But I understand the OP perfectly, and also have been stared down for minutes, only several yards away from me.
Gun was up, and I just couldn't believe he was actually considering it, or so it seemed.
Yes, cougars taking off at 1st sight seems what shouldn't happen and does, but it seems there are way more of these
type of encounters now, as OP describes.

Good on you, and uhmmm, where the pics of the deer!, congrats by the way.

[mpotzold]

A scary encounter scenario!

Our second cougar encounter was when Eve was cooking dinner inside the camper. We were just north of Gang. There was a campfire ban & the grass was fairly high. The camper door was open & as we were ready to eat the smoked pork chops we heard this bone chilling scream near the camper. I grabbed the double barrelled 12 g. & fired just above the cougar's head using buckshot from around 20 to 30 feet away. The cougar instantly turned around & quickly disappeared never to be seen again.

Exactly what it sounded like!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqk_RjlJ46g

[boxhitch]

Reading the story and it reminded me of an encounter with red 'eyes' and was waiting for the punch line but the story changed and outcome was different

thought it was leading to another trail cam encounter )


Good you got out safe but I wonder how much of a threat it really was

[Big Lew]

As has been pointed out, once they've 'locked on' to their prey not much can break that
concentration except a direct frontal attack. A lady I know was enjoying afternoon tea
with some other ladies in her house on the coast one summer day. It was hot so she had
left the doors open to take advantage of a breeze when her little dog came running through
the living room with a cougar in hot pursuit. It ran right between the sitting ladies, leaving
deep scratch marks in the hardwood floor as it tried to gain traction on the waxed floor.
She never saw her pet again.

[rocksteady]

See cougar
Shoot cougar
Eat cougar


Pretty easy plan. I always buy a cat tag "just in case"