Cougar

[k-hat]

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!!!

[DC]

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.

[PEARL DRUMS]

None for me, thanks. Sounds like an "easy" one to trap.

[bjrogg]

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

[JW_Halverson]

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.

[JEB]

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.

[k-hat]

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!

[JW_Halverson]

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.

[burchett.donald]

   I always carry my friend, Mr. Beretta...Ya never know...
                                                                                            Don
P.S. I believe in insurance...It comes with wisdom and bad experiences...

[GlisGlis]

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

[Parnell]

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?

[PEARL DRUMS]

You wish you had a cougar stalking you, Steve-O 

[JW_Halverson]

You wish you had a cougar stalking you, Steve-O 

Dude, at my age the cougars are saber-tooths!

[bradsmith2010]

 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,,,

[k-hat]

Wow, thanks Brad, just when I felt ok to go back in the woods  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.