JavaScript is disabled
Our website requires JavaScript to function properly. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser settings before proceeding.
Messages
115
Reactions
316
Ive had a few encounters with lions that were unexpected. I hunt predators on the regular including lion ,bear,coyote,bobcat,badger,.One afternoon I got set up to call coyote mainly but bobcat is always a possibility where we go. In S.W. Colorado there is a lot of piñon,scrub oak and lots of small canyons. I set my call and decoy about 60 yards out in a small clearing of scrub oak ,kind of closer to the other side of the clearing. About 20 minutes in a good sized bobcat came to the edge of the clearing and was staring down my decoy ,trying to decide if it's real.After a couple more minutes he started across the opening b lining straight for the decoy, when he realized it was a fake he ran right at me . I moved my gun to see if I could line something up ,he froze.I have in my scope at 25-30 yards ,about to pull the trigger ,and he starts raising his head almost like he was trying to see around me.Ive never seen this behavior before so I watched.Still in my scope , he is now really looking my direction, squats down and runs the way he came in.So now I'm getting curious wondering if there is something behind me.Im thinking coyote,maybe a bigger bobcat so I slowly turn to look.im not exactly sure how close he was when the bobcat was in the field ,but when I turned it spooked him and he ran down into the small canyon behind me .He was about 25 yards behind me.
If it wasn't for the bobcat acting weird I probably would have never seen him.

Second story is a little scarier ,but I'm still convinced that they don't want anything to do with people.
I'm elk hunting in a logging area where you can see 70 yards into the trees on both sides of the closed logging road.There is timber stacked up next to the road in piles ,a perfect place for me to sit and watch.Im sitting on the pile farthest to my left ,with 2 more piles to my right. As I'm watching for a couple hours with nothing going on, I see a flash to my immediate right .I look and a lion is at the bottom of the pile to my right and walking my way.I stay still hoping he will just go by,but he walks right to the bottom of the timber I'm on and freezes. I know he just smelled me ,and he's about 10 yards from me. I turn my gun on him and he just stares at me with those big yellow eyes.
At this point I start talking to him, telling him I don't want to shoot you but I will. We stared at each other for probably a minute or so.I could here him growling ,kind of like a housecat before they go at it with another cat. Then just as fast as it showed up it ran across the road. I had been watching this cat so intently ,I didn't see she had 2 Cubs with her that were across the road from me.When they caught up to her she immediately took off in their direction and all 3 ran away. At the time I was scared sh*tless.But after it was over ,I thought it was about the most exciting and cool experience I've ever had while hunting.
 
My stories are from what was never seen and I know I was being watched.

That's why that one critter scares the hell out of me in the woods..

Sheathed knife on one hip and a pistol on the other.
 
My one encounter is kinda boring.

I left my neighborhood heading to work one morning and as I was heading North on hwy 224 and about to reach the hwy 212 intersection(from Carver), I see a large cougar dart across the street from my left to my right. It was so close that I had already braced myself for the impact but it somehow just barely cleared my vehicle and disappered into the brush. While it all happened so fast I vividly remember in slow motiom how large its paws were.
 
A buddy told me the story awhile back about bow hunting the McDonald Forest area. He walked in 2-3 miles and was looking for a place to set up and "holy crap, there's a cougar just laying there up on a bank eyeing him!" This was back when you couldn't carry a firearm while bow hunting so being pretty spooked he decided to head back to his rig. Walked out trying to see outta the back of his head and said that somehow the hike out seemed a lot longer than the hike in. He got back to the gate and was putting his stuff in his rig and "can you believe it?" there was ANOTHER ONE in the brush on the other side of the gate looking at him! :confused:

I really thought he knew better but I said you know what Carl? There very most likely wasn't "another one". He was kind of quiet for awhile after that. :D
 
Last summer I was repairing a section of fence that hides a dumpster located behind a medical building right below the OHSU campus on SW Sam Jackson Parkway.
One of the buildings is leased to a company that makes the radiation isotopes that is injected into you when you have a cat scan type procedure.
They operate around the clock and the head pharmacist was on call that weekend.
She came out the back door with a wary and concerned look on her face when she heard me drive into the parking lot.
She proceeded to tell me what had happened to her early that morning.
She said that she lives in downtown NW Portland and decided to run to work instead of driving, and when she rounded the corner of the building she slowed down to a walk to cool off.
As she started to walk towards the cyclone wire fenced area where the delivery vehicles are locked up, she heard something keeping pace with her on the concrete retaining wall right above her.
She first thought it might be a homeless transient that sometimes camp on the hillside, but when she stopped walking, the crunching sounds of the dry leaves also stopped.
She moved a couple of feet and the noises kept pace, then stopped when she did. She peered up into the brush and staring right down at her was a cougar.
Her first instinct was to run like hell back towards the street, but she decided to walk the last 10' and open the razor wire topped enclosure and lock it behind her. There's a back door to the building and she let herself in and she wouldn't come out till her husband came to pick her up.
I was up on that hillside the weekend before and heard the same type noises, but it was only a doe walking right past me with a yearling.
 
I was deer hunting in eastern Oregon walking through some scattered juniper. Heard a growl to my right and behind me. Turned around and there he was about 30' away. I had a tag in my pocket so I shot him. I took the back strap out so the wife could cook them. She changed her mind and threw them out. If he hadn't growled I don't think I would have seen him.
 
Once while mountain biking some single track between San Jose and Santa Cruz, my friend and I were stalked by a mtn lion. The lion must have kept pace with us for nearly a mile. At first I didn't think much of the noises above us as there are lots of hikers in that area. I got the feeling it was a lion because we were moving quickly and the noise was consistently above us moving as fast as we were. My friend, being the idiot that he is, didn't believe me and wouldn't stop. Eventually I got him to stop in a clearing. A few minutes later, 50 yards away i see the cat's huge tail in the air and the thing ran away. It was easily over 150 pounds.
About a year later while mtn biking, I came upon two mtn lion cubs in a bush. I was on a steep climb so I couldn't really move that fast but I got the hell out of there.
 
Growing up in Oregon I drew a youth cougar tag. A local rancher was having some trouble and invited me out to see if I could take care of the cat. He told me where he last saw the cougar and I started my hunt. I used a nautilus pattern to search the ranch but couldn't find anything. When I circled back to my own boot prints I noticed some large cougar paws stepping in my footsteps. I told the rancher I had enough for the day and left.

As I've grown older I'm a bit more observant in the outdoors. I lived in CA for a few years and would frequently spot them several hundred yards off. I haven't come across much lately in the PNW but I know they are still here.
 
A buddy told me the story awhile back about bow hunting the McDonald Forest area. He walked in 2-3 miles and was looking for a place to set up and "holy crap, there's a cougar just laying there up on a bank eyeing him!" This was back when you couldn't carry a firearm while bow hunting so being pretty spooked he decided to head back to his rig. Walked out trying to see outta the back of his head and said that somehow the hike out seemed a lot longer than the hike in. He got back to the gate and was putting his stuff in his rig and "can you believe it?" there was ANOTHER ONE in the brush on the other side of the gate looking at him! :confused:

I really thought he knew better but I said you know what Carl? There very most likely wasn't "another one". He was kind of quiet for awhile after that. :D
I'm pretty sure that realizing the meaning of that comment scared Carl even more than the encounter!
 
Are cougars good to eat? I'm not talking about just edible if you are starving, but good, so you like eating it rather than just force yourself to.
 
Anyone else?
I'm curious about why you hunt predators instead of the more usual deer, elk, etc. (I have no objections to hunting predators, and think it helps keep them trained to fear humans, so is a public service that makes it safer for all humans who go into the woods.) Do you also hunt deer, elk, etc.? How did you get started hunting predators? What do you do with them when you get one?
 
Ran into them a couple times, a funny one was driving to the ranch at 2am, come down the dirt roads and laying right in the middle of the one lane dirt roads was this huge cat, he lifted his head up and looked and then curled up and would not move, honking didnt have any effects. So we backed up and drove around then as we were about 20ft passed him the you could see from the reflection of the tail light him get up and move, only after we went around him. o_O

Another was kinda odd at a local park here in Glide we were playing diskgolf, yea its a thing my kids used to do. This one is located as a riverside park surrounded by country. We were out there playing and got to the edge of the pay area and heard a noise only to watch a Momma and cubs walk away from us towards the water. Never saw nor- heard them, but saw them long after they saw us, being there was cubs that could have went one way or the other. We decided it was a good time to cut the play short :D
 
I've hunted pretty much everything I can except moose ,goats, and sheep just never had the opportunity. Anything I can call in is by far my favorites.My brother and I got started with coyote. Our first year was horrible never called in anything.Then I got my first electronic call, old Johnny Stewart cassette player.
First trip second stand our first coyote streaked in . That was it for both of us , we continued with that old call till I finally got a foxpro.After that we were taking anywhere from 10-25 yotes a peice per year. We had taken some badgers by accident at first then slowly learned some areas and how to find em. The bigger predators got started after we started calling bobcats.must have just been in a good area ,we called in a lion by coincdence.
We bought tags every year since.were not very successful on lion ,but we have access to some great property and every now and then we connect.As far as Tate of lion it's not something I like ,but I do know people who eat it .In Colorado it's a big game animal just like bear ,so you are supposed to process or cut it up yourself.coyoe, bobcat,and badger ,we take the fur or mount them.we still hunt elk,pronghorn,deer,turkey,grouse,pheasant but majority of our winters are chasing the toothy critters.I think they are the most exciting animals out there and so many opportunities that most overlook
 
I'm curious about why you hunt predators instead of the more usual deer, elk, etc. (I have no objections to hunting predators, and think it helps keep them trained to fear humans, so is a public service that makes it safer for all humans who go into the woods.) Do you also hunt deer, elk, etc.? How did you get started hunting predators? What do you do with them when you get one?

They taste like sweet pork if cooked right.. good eating...
 
A buddy told me the story awhile back about bow hunting the McDonald Forest area. He walked in 2-3 miles and was looking for a place to set up and "holy crap, there's a cougar just laying there up on a bank eyeing him!" This was back when you couldn't carry a firearm while bow hunting so being pretty spooked he decided to head back to his rig. Walked out trying to see outta the back of his head and said that somehow the hike out seemed a lot longer than the hike in. He got back to the gate and was putting his stuff in his rig and "can you believe it?" there was ANOTHER ONE in the brush on the other side of the gate looking at him! :confused:

I really thought he knew better but I said you know what Carl? There very most likely wasn't "another one". He was kind of quiet for awhile after that. :D
It's quite possible there were two cougars. McDonald forest has lots of cougars. Our neighborhood, which is heavily wooded, is contiguous with McDonald forest, and our neighborhood cougar is likely a McDonald forest cougar who includes our neighborhood as part of his range. The McDonald forest folks have posted fliers in many areas adjacent to MDF warning people about cougar sightings in areas adjacent to MDF. Just in case the screaming at night, giant kitty prints in gardens, and evidence of deer kills left us clueless.
 
One thing about the big cats, if they don't want to be seen, they won't...

You cannot hunt with dogs and that makes getting extremely difficult, cats are very impressive critters though..
 

Upcoming Events

Tillamook Gun & Knife Show
Tillamook, OR
"The Original" Kalispell Gun Show
Kalispell, MT
Teen Rifle 1 Class
Springfield, OR
Kids Firearm Safety 2 Class
Springfield, OR

New Resource Reviews

New Classified Ads

Back Top