663 Capitol peak info on cougars and other units

[carlyoungs]

Nice!!!!

[ThurstonCokid]

Looks like perseverance paid off! Congrats. I’d love to hear the story!


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[hunter399]

Work Hard-Play Hard
Gets Reward
That's awesome 
Enjoy hearing your adventures so far.

[stew pidasso]

Sunday we went on more of a shed hunting walk in the Badlands. The terrain here is so different than I'm accustomed too. Oregon has the best timber companies. They really do an incredible job. Love hunting over here. Found this bull head tied hidden in a tree. Looks to have been there about 2 yearsish? Found some deer an Elk tracks but not as many as I thought we would. The ground in the badlands is like wet sand so if it hasn't rained you can see everything.

[stew pidasso]

Monday we went west of bend and ran in to too much snow. Had to drop elevation and just had basically another long shed hunting walk. Very little fresh sign until we got 3 miles of the main rd. We did find 2 frying pans which I thought was something. After the hike we went back to the deep snow and went sledding for a few hours. My girls are professional stump and tree navigators. OR.... Really lucky. This hill we found was steep. One of those moments where you say to yourself, this ends badly. Had a good long talk with them about not needing to go into much more detail to mom other than it was fun.

[hunterednate]

Wow, congrats!! Dying to hear the rest of this story...

[rainshadow1]

Ok, dude.... c'mon!

[stew pidasso]

So, Tuesday morning brought fresh snow. I decided to head south to another area I thought looked good while scouting on onX. The way I plan my hunts is to switch back an forth from satellite/topo and line distance my paths. It helps me to keep it fairly tame elevation wise for my girls. Up in tell we have to deviate due to cougar tracks. Then they just have to woman up. I had 2 different hikes planned at 1000' elevation difference dependent on snow level. Once I reached the first hike I decided to try for the second due to being able to still cover ground safely while driving. Also the higher elevation path I had saved was my first choice. About 400yards further up the rd, tracks. My mistake was that I deemed it a bobcat due to how close paws were. So I kept going. 1 1/2 miles up the rd we cut more. The distance between strides was triple the first set and looked just as fresh. Away we went. Up on a mountain looped around back down 500yards from where we parked and 4 miles later right to the first set on the rd. Arrgghh I couldn't believe how close we possibly were had I not thought it wasn't a cougar. Hopes dashed, girls exhausted, I'm pretty smoked from carrying my 6 year old through deep snow an mansanita brush. Bagged it for the day and went to the high dessert museum. Then back to super 8 for swimming and hot tub. Thank you hot tub. I'll finish the story tonight after we get back from the Centeral OR Sportsmans Show. Going to try an convince Randy Newberg to take my daughters on a hunt

[stew pidasso]

Okay, rainshadow1 calm down! Just kidding, so glad you guys are pumped. We are as well. Crazy:IBCOOL: Wednesday we wake up to another inch of snow here in town. I'm thinking best conditions scenario. Let's go get that cat. My 6 year old even put on her cat socks and says these will help dad. Sorry but no one commented on us finding not 1 but 2 frying pans in different locations on Monday, wierd. Anyway, we hit the road and same location almost. Fresh tracks, I knew it was the one. We made a 2 mile loop on some forest rds to try an cut some walking distance. Nothing, let's go girls. I had my girls tracking like professional bloodhounds. These girls should be illegal. A mile and a half in we hit this big ravine. It was super dangerous following the cougar for even me so we stayed in the open snow below it until we could cross and head back the same direction on the top side. We found were it had jumped it I'm assuming we jumped it because it leaped through the forest for awhile before slowing down to a fast walk. I had the girls bark, I did too for the next half mile. It started zigzagging, doubling back, loops, then belined it outta there. I knew we were close. Next thing I knew I was following it straight to a huge tree in an opening. I looked left around the tree then right, nothing. I look up and she's perched 40' above us. Holy crap! I told my girls look up and watched their faces. Priceless. That cougar never made a sound or movement, nothing but it's eyes following us. Didn't even swish the tail. I positioned myself between it and them, not like I could stop it. But it felt safer. What an experience, feels like I got a ram somewhere or something. The girls think it's easier than deer hunting cat socks and frying pans guys.

[gramps]

Congratulations!!

Now THAT is a memory maker  !

[Platensek-po]

So awesome! Really awesome to see other dads getting their kids into the woods!!! also nice cat!

[rainshadow1]

What a team to hike one down! Awesome!

It was the kitty socks and the pink pony jacket, I'm sure!

(You didn't mention if they were NICE frying pans!)

[stew pidasso]

One of the pans was really old, had a wooden handle. I'm thinking they were a non-typical set.

[hunterednate]

Wow, what a special memory with your girls. Congrats to all of you!

[coachteeter]

What an awesome experience that I'm sure neither you or your girls will ever forget. Well told too! You had us all dying for more. Congratulations!!!

PS: One of my favorite lines was when you mentioned to the girls just to say that they had fun.