Big Kitty Following me

[LiquidGuides01]

This morning I decided to go for a hike with the compound up an old over grown logging road to look for a coyote.
(Saw 2 coyoties on the same trail last weekend) Theres about 4 inches of snow on the ground as its still snowing pretty hard, I walk about 2K along this old road, stopped for half hr to sit and watch while i had a drink and some lunch. Decided to walk back down to the main logging road, I got about 100 yards down the trail and just around the first corner I noticed good size cougar tracks going in the same direction I was walking,it followed me almost almost the whole way along the road over a kilometer.
Wonder if it saw me when I was mowin down on a left overs steak sandwich and it veared off the road on the upper side, Wouldve been cool to see it and get some footage and pics, Had the camera ready the whole time.

heres a link to a photo i took of my size 11.5 boot beside the track
http://s1287.beta.photobucket.com/user/dmcdonald101/media/kitty_zps05baf55d.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0#/user/dmcdonald101/media/kitty_zps05baf55d.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0&_suid=1355875020061009301108415953463
(http://s1287.beta.photobucket.com/user/dmcdonald101/media/kitty_zps05baf55d.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0#/user/dmcdonald101/media/kitty_zps05baf55d.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0&_suid=1355875020061009301108415953463)Tried to upload the pic on here but altough it was the right size it still had error everytime i tried

[d6dan]

Here's your pic..

http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a627/dmcdonald101/kitty_zps05baf55d.jpg

[LiquidGuides01]

Thanks Dan!

[MOG]

Wow! That is pretty awesome totally different world to where I am! Thanks for posting
Mog

[BlacktailStalker]

Looks like a toad. What region?

[LiquidGuides01]

Reg 2 Sushine Coast

[Firstblood]

If one of those big ol pussy cats tries to follow me this winter I've got a brand new .44 mares leg that will have something to say about it. most people seem to encounter cougars on their terms, as in its the one following them, so what do you guys think would be a better hunting method, trying to get in range of the cat without it knowing you're there, or looking really helpless and wandering around logging roads and hoping it comes in thinking your food, i really do want to call one in but ill do my best clueless lost tourist impression on the way in and out just for fun. and i think i have a better chance of a cougar finding me than me calling in a cougar haha.

[hunter1947]

When I read a story about this it gives me a chill up my back bone ,,this is one reason if I can I will be caring my defender with bear spray and a air horn good to hear that nothing became of the cougar following you..

[HIGHRPM]

Dam, that makes a person think to check his backend a little more often. Hunting in BC is sure different than hunting on the prairies. There, I never had any thoughs about being tracked or being attacked, here, it's totally different. So, everyone, watch your butts because as we see, you never know!

[LiquidGuides01]

Ya it definately got the hair standing on the back o my neck the whole time,wouldve been a differant story If it had come runnin outa the thick bush towards me, I would have no time with the bow to do anything. Prob start packing my defender with the bow.
If your wanting to start cougar hunting your best bet is to use trained dogs.. Its pretty hard to find a cougar in the bush without dogs, the usually want nothing to do with you so they stay just out of sight the whole time. even if your following the tracks. I have hunted for them with rotty/shepard mix not trained for hunting and she did find a cat last winter.
Its happend a few times around here before, but usually farther up coast in the inlets.

[digger dogger]

Hey liguid G, your area is safe again, I talked to the cat, he won't follow you any more! :-)
http://i46.tinypic.com/2zdnkfb.png

[LiquidGuides01]

cool pic D dogger, Big mitts of the sucker! Was that in reg 2?

[digger dogger]

Yes Sir, I chased this cat for a couple years, and always, confused the shit outta the dogs.

[LiquidGuides01]

Right on cool to know other guys on the coast are chasin cats around aswell, Ya some dogs have a real tough time finding them, sometimes better to keep them on the leash when they start goin in circles, not getting anywere, follow the tracks until they get a good Wiff of sent then let em loose!

[Blair]

Many years ago in the area where Tumbler Ridge is now, I had a summer job doing exploration work. I was walking along on top of Mt. Speiker and the same thing happened to me. I turned around and retraced my tracks and found cougar tracks in the sand right on top of where I had walked 15 miniutes earlier. It was above timberline, so there was nowhere for the cat to hide really, but I never saw him. Kind of creepy, especially since I was unarmed.

[LiquidGuides01]

Ya it sends chills down your spine for sure knowing your being stalked.
Its unreal how well cougars can hide even without ground cover or trees. buddy of mine was hunting up Jervis Inlet and had a cougar stalk him while following a couple BT's highcountry.. only thing he saw was the cougars tail swaying back and forth on the ground while it was crouched only 10 yards from him, ended up shooting it when it got to close.

[finngun]

hi digger dogger...nice paw.. gongr. what cal is the bullet? 243?:confused:

[LiquidGuides01]

i thought 243 aswell

[Rodd]

.308 Winchester is my guess... Nice Kitty... Cats are curious animals, and many times sneak up to your noise, just to scope it out and see IF its going to be easy prey.. I beleive this has happened to most who've spent enough time in the bush, and we don't even know.. I seen a few cats tracks that followed me, and I never seen, and it surely didn't attack me... I know guys that were beetle probing and had a cat follow them nearly 1.5km as they ran to the truck.. No incident, and if it wanted them, it could have had them. My point is that not every cougar that shows up to check you out, is going to attack you.. I've been in the bush in the kootenays for 35years (work and play) I've never been charged or attacked by any cougar I've seen... Least of my worries in the bush, although I'm ready if they did decide to.. Way more scared of a moose or grizzly than a kitty cat... Most guys that have been "attacked" sensed something, turned around and seen it laying behind following them, and boom its dead... But was it going to attack you? In some cases I doubt it ever would have... But I'd shoot it too if I saw it behaving in any stalking manner towards me. Never seen any victims of attack with any scratches on them. And as a timber cruiser have never had anything try and eat me, or my colleagues, in the bush in 20+ years walking without a gun... Not saying it doesn't happen, and I'm been lucky maybe(knock on wood) but I believe human fear is a factor in depicting attacks. IMHO

[Getbent]

About 5 years ago a friend and I were up Big Silver on the East side of Harison lake. We drove in before dawn and it was snowing lightly with about an inch on the ground, as we came around a corner I noticed some tracks on the road. I said, "look at the size of those prints, looks like a cat" he says, "nah, it's a dog".
So as we were heading up we followed the tracks until they beat it off the road into the bush. We kept on going to the end where the road turned into a landing with a huge slash, we turned around and went back down the road about 200 yards, parked and had a coffee and kinda waited for it to lighten up a bit. My friend went back up towards the landing and into the top off the slash while I was gonna drop down into the bottom of the slash. after a couple of hundred yards, I cam across a little skidder road that went in to the bush to the opposite side from the slash, so I went in for a peak. I walked in for maybe 100 or 200 yards at the most when the trail started to get quite narrow as it pushed up against some moss covered boulders that were forming a bit of a cliff. i stood there and kinda looked around for a minute and then from behind me was a huge "snap" of a bush. I spun around in the complete silence that you hear in the heavy westcoast bush when the snow is falling and saw...nothing.

I scanned around and could see nothing to either side, and this was a loud snap, there must be something??? so I decide to cut my losses and head back out to stick to the original plan, as I neared the end of the skidder road where it joined on to the main road, I see some extra boot marks in the snow that came in about 50 feet or so. So as I come out on the road I see that my buddy has come down the road and started to follow me into the skidder trail, then he beat it down the road, I'm thinking, he cant be too far ahead of me, why did he come down this way, so I boot it down the road a 100 yards or so to where it swings to the left and I can see down the road for 200 yards and he is no where in sight.

I'm thinking, screw this I'm not going down, I will head back up to the landing and into the slash, I turn around, look up the road and WTF is that in the middle of the road??? Rigt where the skidder trail is???

Holy Shit it's a cat!! I sorta yell EFF OFF cat and crap like this and it starts trotting towards me, jesus, off goes the safety, down on one knee, and the cat stops, and kinda lays down so I stand back up to take a shot and it starts freakin running at me...holy god, all i'm thinking is what a small target that is coming at me, BOOM!! Miss!!! Jack another shell, BOOM, and MISS again, the son-of a bi#$h aint stopping, I think "calm down man" (Talk about Cougar Fever, something I haven't had since I was like 25 at Gabby's in Langley) and at about 60 or 70 yards, BOOM, spins "em sideways, and then crank another into him. The cougar then jumps like 10 feet up this little cliff and beats it into the bush.

I'm standing there going, really??? Did this just happen?? So I relaod my gun and kinda hang out for a couple of minutes and get my bearings. About 10 minutes later my buddy comes around the corner going "whata yah doing??? Sounded like a war!", so I tell him the story and I set off after the cougar hoping it isn't far into the bush. I'm following the bloodtrail and his tracks and then it starts to like switch back and forth and I notice it starts to sit there every once in awhile and after about the third spot where it stops I realize that it has been watching me. I was pretty jacked and was on high alert and never saw him until about 3 minutes later and he was above me in some steep stuff and heading higher, I thought, "see yah, not worth the whole situation and man you started it, I'm out"


Headed back down , where my buddy was waiting and he says come have a look at this.

So what we found was, the cougar followed me down the skidder trail mostly in my prints, (I guess that's why I missed them when I walked out the first time), and when my buddy walked in behind me to have a peek where I went, he scared the cat and it jumped from the trail and into the bush and broke a stick off of a dead tree....jesus it was like 10 feet behind me when it jumped into the bush!!! My buddy never saw the prints either or heard a thing and headed down the road.

In the end it turned out that the tracks that we seen were for sure from the cat and the thing doubled back and around and sat on a little hump and even came down right up to the truck after we got out at first light!!!

I am 6'2" and at the time was about 230lbs, my buddy is about 5'8" and like a buck forty, go figure why it went after me instead of him, but in the end it worked out alright other than I never retrieved the cat...

Creepy stuff really, I was not far from bing a big pile of cat chow I'm thinking. Now when ever my buddy and I are tipping it back, he always says, "hey remember when I saved your life"?

Cool animals and it is their turf, but it's me before them so I don't regret what happened and respect them even more now...

didn't mean to hijack the thread and get all long winded but thought it kinda related and I have been meaning to tell it, so....

Cheers,

Getbent

[Soup]

.308 Winchester is my guess... Nice Kitty... Cats are curious animals, and many times sneak up to your noise, just to scope it out and see IF its going to be easy prey.. I beleive this has happened to most who've spent enough time in the bush, and we don't even know.. I seen a few cats tracks that followed me, and I never seen, and it surely didn't attack me... I know guys that were beetle probing and had a cat follow them nearly 1.5km as they ran to the truck.. No incident, and if it wanted them, it could have had them. My point is that not every cougar that shows up to check you out, is going to attack you.. I've been in the bush in the kootenays for 35years (work and play) I've never been charged or attacked by any cougar I've seen... Least of my worries in the bush, although I'm ready if they did decide to.. Way more scared of a moose or grizzly than a kitty cat... Most guys that have been "attacked" sensed something, turned around and seen it laying behind following them, and boom its dead... But was it going to attack you? In some cases I doubt it ever would have... But I'd shoot it too if I saw it behaving in any stalking manner towards me. Never seen any victims of attack with any scratches on them. And as a timber cruiser have never had anything try and eat me, or my colleagues, in the bush in 20+ years walking without a gun... Not saying it doesn't happen, and I'm been lucky maybe(knock on wood) but I believe human fear is a factor in depicting attacks. IMHO

I have a buddy that has had 2 cats come at him, one straight on, the other from behind. He was hunting Blacktails in timber and were seperate occations. Both cats got within 10 feet or less and crouched, ears back and tail swinging back and forth. Too close and aggresive behavior... Bang! Bang!

I was hunting for a big buck I had seen a week prior in a small stand of old growth timber. 15 minutes into the hunt I spotted a cat staring at me. He was lying on a open mossy bluff and he charged me. I waved my arms and yelled "HEY!" He stopped 6-8 feet away. I took a couple pictures and put the camera away. I motioned for him to bugger off, but he came at me and I had to shoot from the hip. I'm not trying to hijack this thread, but there is the whole story and pictures in the Vancouver Island forum. The thread is called "unreal ending to 2012 season".

This has definately changed the way I feel about cats. I've never worried about them. I spend a lot of time in the woods without a gun, being it trout fish'n (hiking in to remote lakes and ponds) or mushroom picking. I think I'll be packing from now on.

[Rodd]

I have a buddy that has had 2 cats come at him, one straight on, the other from behind. He was hunting Blacktails in timber and were seperate occations. Both cats got within 10 feet or less and crouched, ears back and tail swinging back and forth. Too close and aggresive behavior... Bang! Bang!

I was hunting for a big buck I had seen a week prior in a small stand of old growth timber. 15 minutes into the hunt I spotted a cat staring at me. He was lying on a open mossy bluff and he charged me. I waved my arms and yelled "HEY!" He stopped 6-8 feet away. I took a couple pictures and put the camera away. I motioned for him to bugger off, but he came at me and I had to shoot from the hip. I'm not trying to hijack this thread, but there is the whole story and pictures in the Vancouver Island forum. The thread is called "unreal ending to 2012 season".

This has definately changed the way I feel about cats. I've never worried about them. I spend a lot of time in the woods without a gun, being it trout fish'n (hiking in to remote lakes and ponds) or mushroom picking. I think I'll be packing from now on.

Agreed Soup! I know their are some legit attacks, I've read the thread, and I'd have done the same for sure. I just think (many, not all) of the hunters just shoot on sight and say it was stalking them.. I hope it never happens that I have to shoot... I've been lucky with the grizz as well, and know many factual attacks have occurred. Just not to me yet, and I've had some close calls too.. But in general I'm thinking Cats are intimidated easily if your aggressive with them... I always thought Barking like a hound might scare them off as well... Cuz I know they hate that sound... Better to be safe than sorry I suppose... Cheers!

[LiquidGuides01]

[QUOTE=Rodd;1257499 I believe human fear is a factor in depicting attacks. IMHO[/QUOTE]
Well said Rodd
Ive seen cougars a few times while Blacktail hunting and never worried about them, they tend to stay away.. just far enough to keep an eye on you once and a while or watch you from a tree.

[digger dogger]

.308 Winchester is my guess... good guess Rodd, it's a necked down .308 (7-o8 )

[Getbent]

When I think back about it, after I was yelling at it and before it started running and closing the distance, I was going to just put one by 'em to scare it, but when it didn't stop after I shot (yes, at that point I meant to hit it), it was getting way too close for comfort...

[Ron.C]

I for one had to shot a cat that was stalking me. Cat was about 12 feet behind me, down low on all fours similar to how any house cat sneaks up on a bird. I fired a warning shot "30-06" it laid its ears back and dropped its front end. Second shot was to the head.
And three years back I had to pepper spray a cat that seemed to appear from nowhere and was coming at me. When I say coming at me, I mean on a run. It all happpened in about three seconds. Cat was under 10 feet and coming when I sprayed. Scared the S$%^ out of me. I actually broke the plastic safety device on my bear spray as i tried to remove it and activate the spray at the same time. Never got the spray off my hip.
Both cats were what I would consider small, probably around 100 to 130 pounds. Both on Van Isle and both cases were reported to the appropriate authorities

I did call in one large cat while elk hunting in 4-25 a few years back. I watched him stalk in on my decoy. He caugth my movement and slipped up into the timber. One of the most memorable and enjoyable hunting experiences I've ever had.

It took me a long while to get over the first incident. For a couple years after that, every snap, noise in the bush was a cat in my mind. Now, it doesn't bother me so much, but I think the experiences have made me a better hunter.

[anglo-saxon]

Precisely the reason why I never, EVER go into the bush unarmed (that and two-legged critters as well!). As a guy who hunts alone, it sure gives you pause for thought! Maybe I should take the dog more.

I love carrying my little Chiappa 1892 .44 mag "Mare's Leg". (http://www.chiappafirearms.com/product/824)

[BearSniper]

I only ever saw 1-3 day old Cougar prints the mud. But I always, to echo what's been said previously, carry a firearm in the bush. If it's not my 30-06, than at least its my 12 gauge loaded with double odd buck and or slugs.

[Buckmeister]

I met a native fellow a few years ago who had a cougar rug in his living room. He told me the story. He cut the track and was following it for a while. When he came to a small creek the tracks disappered and never reappeared. As he was bending over to have a closer look to see what was going on, he remembered something an older relative had told him about a stalked cougar circling around and then stalking the hunter. He turned around and not 15 feet behind him was the cat crouched down in the snow. A shot to the cats head ended the ordeal. Had the fellow stayed crouched down for any length of time, he probably would have been pounced on!