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Author Topic: Rainier10's hunt for a cougar  (Read 31548 times)

Offline Rainier10

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Re: Rainier10's hunt for a cougar
« Reply #45 on: January 06, 2018, 08:17:50 PM »
2018, things have to go my way after a brutal 2017 season.  Hang on because I think you will see that even in 2018 I am still fighting an uphill battle.

Dale was generous enough to call me up and let me know that the weather was looking favorable and I should I come back over and give it another try.  Unfortunately I hd my daughters 13th birthday and couldn't get over there last weekend.  He did have another hunter on standby and if you are following the Bearpaw fall 2017 thread you saw that the hunter connected on a great cougar.

Dale said it would still be good if I could get over there on New Year's day and Kenny and I headed over.

We stopped in Post Falls and got new licenses for 2018.  We arrived at the house at 6pm and we excited for the morning hunt.  There was a ton of snow since we had been there before so I towed my snowmobiles and trailer over for the hunt.

Tuesday morning we were up at 2am and Dale arrived at 3am to head out with us and the other guide in search of cat tracks.

It was a little chilly, 4 degrees.
Pain is temporary, achieving the goal is worth it.

I didn't say it would be easy, I said it would be worth it.

Every father should remember that one day his children will follow his example instead of his advice.


The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of HuntWa or the site owner.

Offline Rainier10

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Re: Rainier10's hunt for a cougar
« Reply #46 on: January 06, 2018, 08:20:47 PM »
This was the display on the dash of my truck.  Brian said we could follow him around on snowmobiles or just wait in the truck.  Given the temp we decided we didn't need to go for a 4 degree snowmobile ride.
Pain is temporary, achieving the goal is worth it.

I didn't say it would be easy, I said it would be worth it.

Every father should remember that one day his children will follow his example instead of his advice.


The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of HuntWa or the site owner.

Offline Rainier10

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Re: Rainier10's hunt for a cougar
« Reply #47 on: January 06, 2018, 08:25:24 PM »
An hour later Brian was back at the truck with no sign of cougar tracks.  He did notice the tire on my trailer was a little flat.  Apparently the 4 degree temperatures were more than the tires could handle.  He said that if we could handle the tire he would head to the next spot and run another road and we could meet up with him there.  We said we had it under control and off he went while we worked on airing up the tire.

After filling up the tire and disconnecting the compressor I could hear the air leaking out still.  The sun was just coming up and a closer look revealed the tire was junk.
Pain is temporary, achieving the goal is worth it.

I didn't say it would be easy, I said it would be worth it.

Every father should remember that one day his children will follow his example instead of his advice.


The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of HuntWa or the site owner.

Offline Rainier10

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Re: Rainier10's hunt for a cougar
« Reply #48 on: January 06, 2018, 08:27:01 PM »
We pulled the tire off, left the trailer there and headed to the next location to meet up with Dale and Brian.
Pain is temporary, achieving the goal is worth it.

I didn't say it would be easy, I said it would be worth it.

Every father should remember that one day his children will follow his example instead of his advice.


The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of HuntWa or the site owner.

Offline Rainier10

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Re: Rainier10's hunt for a cougar
« Reply #49 on: January 06, 2018, 08:32:14 PM »
It was looking like the universe was still against us, the sun was up, no sign of tracks and a flat tire to boot.  What the heck?

At the meeting point Dale showed up from the roads that he was checking and said that he had found a track that was maybe a day or two old and we should talk to Brian who had been in the area recently to see what he thought.

Brian came back and said that he thought it was worth giving a try.  Dale had a spare tire that we could use on the trailer so we headed back to change the tire and bring our snowmobiles around to where Dale had found the track.

We quickly changed the tire and headed to the trailhead.  Brian was just returning from checking the track and said that it was a little old but worth turning the dogs loose.  We gathered our stuff and he loaded the dogs in the trailer.

Off we went with high hopes.
Pain is temporary, achieving the goal is worth it.

I didn't say it would be easy, I said it would be worth it.

Every father should remember that one day his children will follow his example instead of his advice.


The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of HuntWa or the site owner.

Offline Rainier10

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Re: Rainier10's hunt for a cougar
« Reply #50 on: January 06, 2018, 08:37:08 PM »
They "released the hounds" and they quickly took off on the trail.  Within a few minutes dogs were right back up on the road.  Not the freshest track for them to follow.  Not looking good.  Brian sent them back down the trail and they started to pick it up.  Things were looking up and then the dogs separated and went in two different directions.  No biggie, there were actually two sets of tracks on the road, a tom and a female.  Over the course of the next three hours the dogs moved swiftly and then would hang up.  They kept crossing paths.  One group of dogs went really low and the second group seemed to hang up a little.  They almost sounded like they had a cat in a tree but not really.
Pain is temporary, achieving the goal is worth it.

I didn't say it would be easy, I said it would be worth it.

Every father should remember that one day his children will follow his example instead of his advice.


The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of HuntWa or the site owner.

Offline Jpmiller

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Re: Rainier10's hunt for a cougar
« Reply #51 on: January 06, 2018, 08:58:24 PM »
 :peep:

Offline Rainier10

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Re: Rainier10's hunt for a cougar
« Reply #52 on: January 06, 2018, 09:15:43 PM »
I was getting cold and frustrated that the dogs were just wandering around.  Brian told me to just start walking around to warm up, so up and down the road I walked.  I even put on snow shoes to get the hang of them just in case the dogs did get on a good cat track.

After over three hours of waiting and watching the dogs on the GPS I was getting colder and just wanted to call it a day.  It was after 2pm, we had been up since 2am and the dogs just weren't making any progress.

Brian decided to go down and see what the dogs were doing.  I asked if I should go with him just in case the dogs actually did have a cat treed.  He said no and that he would yell if we needed to come down but to be ready just in case because we were running out of time.

Brian got to the dogs and could see the problem, there were cat tracks all over in the draw.  The two cats had been hunting the canyon and it was tough to stay on the trail.  He rounded up the dogs in the area and started to hike them up the ridge hoping to cross a fresh track.

It looked like we had run out of options and he asked for me to call for Lady and Thirteen, yet that was the dogs name, Thirteen.  At this point I really just wanted to head to the truck and warm up but I stayed an called for Lady and Thirteen.

Brian said looking at the GPS they were directly below me.  I could hear their bell ringing but couldn't see them.  I kept calling and they came up and crossed the road between Dale and I.  Dale got to where they crossed and said they were up hill but were on a fresh cat track.  :yike:

We jumped on our snowmobiles and tried to maneuver around and closer to the dogs.  We actually passed them and had to back track.  Brian didn't go past them and released all of the dogs to follow the trail.  He hurried up behind them and said that he thought there was cat treed and we needed to get up the hill.

It was total chaos trying to grab my bow and get snow shoes on. Kenny was grabbing his gun and snowshoes.  Brian radioed down to Dale that we should stay in the big timber coming up the hill as the snow would be better to walk on.  The dogs were locked up 300 yards as the crow flies from where we were.  Of course the hill was a 60 degree slope so it was a brutal 300 yards.

I was giving it everything I could to get up the hill and the dogs barks were echoing all over, trying to get a good location of where I needed to be was tough.

I finally got to the dogs, my heart was jumping out of my chest, I thought I was going to die but actually saw a cat up in the tree below the dogs.

They were all tied up and I saw Brian on the other side of the tree.  I wanted to take a break but Brian said the cat was getting nervous and I better get my bow ready.  I did as he said and moved over to his location.  He had the best view of the cat. He told me to take off my snowshoes for a better shot.  He told me where to aim.  There was a limb right in front of me that I had to shoot under, there was a limb that the cat was on that I had to shoot over and another just above him that I had to shoot under.  He was quartering away and the shot angle had gotten worse as I was trying to catch my breath.

The cat had moved and was looking like he was about to jump out of the tree.  I didn't know that I had what it would take or the time in the day to get to the cat again.  It was 3pm.  It was now or never.  I drew back and realized just how tough a steep angle shot was.

My first pin is a 30 yard pin and I think with the steep angle the cat was maybe at 14 yards as the crow flies.  Trying to get the sight aligned and aim low with the 30 yard pin I just kept thinking make this shot count.  Circle of the peep centered around the circle of the sight, put the pin 6" low, make sure the bubble is level....don't screw this up.....squeeze the release.

The easton full metal jacket tipped with an old school thunderhead broad head weighing in at 485 grains flew straight and went right into the pump house.  It flat out knocked the cat off of the limb.  As it fell it grabbed the limb with its right paw but couldn't hold on and fell to the ground.  It was dead on arrival when it hit the ground.

The emotions were insane.  Brian had filmed the whole thing.  I can not express how happy I was to have this all come together and actually end with a cat dead on the ground.

Dale and the entire staff at Bearpaw outfitters worked so hard to help me get this cat.  I can't thank them enough.

2018 is off to a great start for me.
Pain is temporary, achieving the goal is worth it.

I didn't say it would be easy, I said it would be worth it.

Every father should remember that one day his children will follow his example instead of his advice.


The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of HuntWa or the site owner.

Offline Rainier10

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Re: Rainier10's hunt for a cougar
« Reply #53 on: January 06, 2018, 09:17:42 PM »
Kenny was just below us when I took the shot and this photo shows just how happy we were to have taken a cat after so many days of trying.

Pain is temporary, achieving the goal is worth it.

I didn't say it would be easy, I said it would be worth it.

Every father should remember that one day his children will follow his example instead of his advice.


The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of HuntWa or the site owner.

Offline Eric M

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Re: Rainier10's hunt for a cougar
« Reply #54 on: January 06, 2018, 09:21:44 PM »
Nice cat. Congratulations!

Offline Timberstalker

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Re: Rainier10's hunt for a cougar
« Reply #55 on: January 06, 2018, 09:31:03 PM »
Freaking awesome!  What a great time!
Thanks for sharing.  :tup:
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Offline Jpmiller

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Re: Rainier10's hunt for a cougar
« Reply #56 on: January 06, 2018, 09:34:28 PM »
Very very cool. What a roller coaster of a day! Congrats.

Offline redi

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Re: Rainier10's hunt for a cougar
« Reply #57 on: January 06, 2018, 09:58:02 PM »
Great cat Congrats

Offline Birdguy

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Re: Rainier10's hunt for a cougar
« Reply #58 on: January 06, 2018, 10:05:37 PM »
That is an awesome story and what an ending  :tup: :tup:. Way to stick with it and get it done!!

Offline jackelope

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Re: Rainier10's hunt for a cougar
« Reply #59 on: January 06, 2018, 10:15:49 PM »


You gave him the old Encore shuffle!! So so so happy for you. I only wish you guys could have killed 3 cats but 1 is better than none. Congrats man.
:fire.:

" In today's instant gratification society, more and more pressure revolves around success and the measurement of one's prowess as a hunter by inches on a score chart or field photos produced on social media. Don't fall into the trap. Hunting is-and always will be- about the hunt, the adventure, the views, and time spent with close friends and family. " Ryan Hatfield

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