Cougar Too Close For Comfort

[jds holler]

Thought I'd stick a pic here of a cat that got caught by phone. A fella I work with has a daughter who is a flagger on a rural road project, and she caught this cat eyeballing her from way too close for comfort. They had been working in this area for several days on a chip-seal project, and this cat apparently became pretty comfortable with the action.

 

[nakneker]

What a great pic.

 

[watercam]

Hope ODOT let's her carry...
I'm in Coastal OR. There is a young lady from Toledo, OR who heard a growl behind her while hunting, turned to see a lion leap at her. She had a bow and launched one out of pure instinct and nailed it through the neck. It took off and she and her group found it 20 yds. away from where she had been. The picture that's hanging on the wall at her work showed one big kitty!

 

[dedogs]

Looks to me like that cat has dinner on it's mind. dedogs

 

[TheOtherZilla]

I'll do ya one better. Several years ago a hunter downed an elk. He was getting ready to dress the animal and turned around to see a mountain lion not 8 feet away crouched getting ready to pounce. Lucky for him his rifle was laying on the carcass still. He shot the lion as it started to leap. Killed it. It freaked him out. Game and Fish was called.. the lion was old and had teeth issues according to the warden.

 

[jds holler]

What a great pic.

It was pretty good for a phone pic. They transferred it to my phone, and I gave it to my wife, who brightened/sharpened it without doing anything major.
Terry, the gal who took it, is an experienced hunter, and didn't freak out like a lot of folks might have. She did however back up and get in her car. jd

 

[nakneker]

Its a phone pic for sure but I love the look on the cat's face, your wife did a good job enhancing it. I've been lucky enough to take two calling, one really big Tom. The expressions on their face as they sneak in is something to appreciate.

 

[jds holler]

Its a phone pic for sure but I love the look on the cat's face, your wife did a good job enhancing it. I've been lucky enough to take two calling, one really big Tom. The expressions on their face as they sneak in is something to appreciate.

I also called one in, back in the day before we had as many of them as we now do. We didn't kill it, but it still goes down as one of the best and most memorable outdoor experiences I've ever had. I defy anyone to look in the face of one of these animals at close range, and not get the willies. jd

 

[gambleone]

I also called one in, back in the day before we had as many of them as we now do. We didn't kill it, but it still goes down as one of the best and most memorable outdoor experiences I've ever had. I defy anyone to look in the face of one of these animals at close range, and not get the willies. jd

jds, I definitely agree.

 

[jds holler]

I read one time that only 7 percent of avid outdoorsmen would ever see a wild cougar in their lifetime. I think that percentage may be much higher these days, at least in many areas. Heck, they just killed one in one of our local park/residential areas a couple weeks ago. And of course it was trapped and killed at public expense rather than by a recreational hunter with hounds.

Our area is also experiencing the start of wolf depredation on game and livestock. They just found a collared wolf "murdered" by firearm. If the perp is ever caught, he'll spend more time in the joint than if he killed a family of humans. jd

 

[johnfred1965]

I defy anyone to look in the face of one of these animals at close range, and not get the willies. jd

Hell, I got the willies just looking at the picture! The most dangerous thing I might come across when hunting might be a copperhead, not something that wants to eat me. Glad it didn't come out of that tree on her.

 

[jds holler]

It has been probably thirty years since I called up that cougar, and my minds eye memory sees it as vividly as ever.

That cat casually walked up to within thirty five yards of us and sat down in the road staring at us. -- and continued to sit there well after we showed ourselves to be humans. He finally wheeled around and bounded up the road aways before disappearing in the brush. He was huge, and gave me the impression of being about twenty foot long with his huge tail. I have been both glad and sad that I didn't shoot him. jd

 

[edw]

A bow hunter friend of mine shot a Cougar once and I got to eat some back straps from it. Im here to tell you thats very good meat.

 

[ERIC LARSON]

Wow! Nice pic

 

[Brians356]

My mom's sister owns a cabin at Lake Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Someone snapped a photo of my mom waving goodbye next to her car parked out back near a tree-lined berm. Only later when they developed the pic was revealed a large mountain lion standing broadside on the berm in the shadows about ten yards behind and a little above her.

A cousin of mine in the same family is an avid bowhunter and taxidermist. He was once sitting camouflaged in the woods near Clarkia, Idaho, calling in elk, when the hair stood up on the back of his neck. Looking behind him, a cougar was poised for the pounce. He managed to re-position himself and loosed an arrow when the cat pounced, skewering it in midair.
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[Brians356]

Thought I'd stick a pic here of a cat that got caught by phone. A fella I work with has a daughter who is a flagger on a rural road project, and she caught this cat eyeballing her from way too close for comfort. They had been working in this area for several days on a chip-seal project, and this cat apparently became pretty comfortable with the action.View attachment 1024077

That looks like a gnarly old Pinus ponderosa. Somewhere near John Day perhaps?
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[Sniper338]

Very good eating...

You will never look at a house cat the same.

Better than white tail deer backstrap..

 

[jds holler]

That looks like a gnarly old Pinus ponderosa. Somewhere near John Day perhaps?
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We're quite a ways south from John Day. Not far north of the Kalifornia border -- and north of the little town of Keno. Ponderosas have always been a way of life around here, and we used to have the "biggest pine log mill in the freakin world". We didn't quite cut em all down, but sometimes it seemed like we might. EARTH FIRST!! We'll log the others later. jd

 

[rebel]

As a southern boy, who has seen "extinct" cougar sign in the Appalachians, my first reaction to that picture was "Choot 'em"!

 

[CaptainMal]

Nasty pose. Looks like it means "business".

As for eating cat - first I ever heard of anyone doing that. I mean any kind of cat from house to lion.