2020 Blacktail Adventure- Rain, snow, wind and hungry cats

[SeatoSummit88]

Lovin it! Great write up so far! Congrats on the BT!  I hope you got a Cat too!  Following along...

[JakeLand]

Good job ! Great buck and good to see the goats again !

[krolelov]

Amazing story. Thanks for sharing!

[fishnfur]

Incredible intestinal fortitude.  I would have been out of there on day one. I loved your story - it put me right on the mountain with you.  It may have not been the buck that you wanted, but it's a great buck nonetheless.  Congratulations!

[Alchase]

Great read, and nice buck!

I have to admire you guys that use pack goats. That is pretty cool. I have to be honest, the eyes of goats totally see creep me out.
 

[skagitsteel]

The pack outs are always an adventure and I didn’t shoot the buck until late in the day. Camp was still an hour and a half further in and over a ridge from where I took the buck. I loaded the head and trimmings in my pack, leaving quarters hanging in a tree to be retrieved with camp the next day via the packgoats. I headed straight back to the truck and part of the hike would certainly be in the dark I had to bushwhack around 3500’ down, climb through a big ravine up through the cliffs on the other side and cross another creek to get back to the truck. It’s steep and crampons are required with any kind of a load. It got dark after I dropped about 1000’. Right after crossing the big ravine I stopped near the cliffs to check my gps route and make sure I was lined up right. I caught a flash of eyes in my headlamp off to my left and just for the heck of it hit record switched to video on my phone and hit record. I quickly realized I wasn’t looking at a deer, the eyes had an orange glow, very bright and moved over a log and then disappeared. They reappeared again about 15’ closer. At that point I dropped the phone (still on record) and it rolled down the hill. I managed to get my rifle Unstrapped from the pack, put one in the pipe and then just waited to see if the cat was going to keep coming.   

[Harbor_hunter]

Great story and pictures, thanks for sharing! Nice work!

[skagitsteel]

The cat disappeared again and then appeared about 15’ away crouched on a large rock above me. I got a good look this time, young lion trying to decide if I truly was the rutting buck that I smelled like. I tried to fix the headlamp on the cat and look through the scope at the same time. It didn’t work very well, considering I was still at 15x from when I shot the buck. I decided to forgo looking through the scope and just look down the barrel, I didn’t want the cat make any sudden leaps, although he looked quite content staring at me from his perch. I took a shot and after saw the head dissapear real quick off the back of the rock. I was pretty sure I hit it, but not 100% sure. Only it’s face was exposed. I went down the hill to retrieve my phone before I checked behind the rock for a dead cat, as I shined my light back uphill, much to my dismay i saw the cat hop onto a log near the rock he had been on. Not only had I missed, he didn’t leave   I actually been pretty calm up to this point, but the adrenaline really kicked in as I realized i still had a hungry cat close and only 3 rounds left. I pulled up for another shot, the cat bailed off the log and hid. I moved down, he moved down. He kept some distance but continued to follow. I was holding my fire until he gave me a sure shot, but it didn’t happen. At some point it lost interest and went on its way. Unfortunately not the first time I’ve seen a lion at close range in the headlamp, seems to be a trend. Definately a young cat, but way too bold.

The only scenario I didn’t think of until a friend mentioned it later when I was home is there could have been 2 young cats and the 2nd one jumped up after the first one was shot. I still need to get back and check behind the rock, although it’s covered deep in snow at this point.  I suspect it was probably just one cat because I only for sure saw one set of eyes. Part of the video showed what looked like a second set briefly but it’s hard to tell.

[skagitsteel]

The next day went smooth. The pack goats had been at home and were rested and ready. Around 12-13 hours round trip to retrieve camp and the buck. I brought the rifle and sidearm this time, but didn’t see any more cats, although I made sure we had enough time to get out before dark so we didn’t go ‘trolling’ through lion country with a string of goats loaded down with venison at night. Some good adventures and it l will certainly be spending some time this winter to try and track down a cat.

[fishnfur]

Wow!  Scary situation.  Talk about a big pucker factor!  Glad to see you made it out unscratched.  Hope you pop a cap in that cat.

[SpicyTacos]

Awesome adventure. Got my heart rate up! Well done.

[Kingsnake1]

Great post!

[SpicyTacos]

Skagitsteel Your inbox is full. Maybe for a reason? Hehe. Trying to send a PM

[SeatoSummit88]

Epic!  That would have been chilling, yet exciting!  I'm sure that meat will taste better than a lot of other Deer other's have harvested... haha

[skagitsteel]

Skagitsteel Your inbox is full. Maybe for a reason? Hehe. Trying to send a PM

Made some room