On Saturday, my Dad hiked into a clearcut local to us to do some shooting before it got too hot. He left the gate well before the sun was up. He got the mile or so back to the cut, set his gear down on the landing, and proceeded out to the 200 yard stump to set his targets. This cut is about 7-8 years old and beginning to get pretty over grown. There are still trails to follow through it, and he had his machete to make the going a little easier. We frequently see deer here this time of year until DNR opens the gates in the fall.
Anyway, He got back to the road and was walking up to his stuff and noticed an animal standing near it. He was probably still 65 or 70 yards away and thought it was a coyote. He whistled and it turned broadside to him and he instantly knew it was a cat, a BIG ONE. He said it looked at him for a moment and then trotted off up the road into the brush. He thought on it for a moment but figured that was the end of that sighting so went about his business.
He fired a couple of groups at the target, and then grabbed his machete and started back into the cut to mark up his targets. He had just reached the target and he could hear something in the brush near him. Most of the brush is now head height in there, so he climbed up on the stump next to him to get a better view. He could hear the animal and see brush moving intermittently about 20 yards out and then the cat, presumably the same one, stepped out in the open and stared right at him. Dad said he started jumping and waving and yelling at it and the cat never moved or broke eye contact. It finally meandered into the brush and started vocalizing, dad described it as yowling, pretty constantly for a couple minutes before getting quiet. Dad grabbed his target and his machete and backed out of the cut, grabbed his gear and got the heck out of there.
Dad doesn't pack a sidearm, or bear spray with him ever out in the woods, neither do I for that matter. That encounter shook him up a little though and he's seriously considering one or the other now. Any thoughts on the vocalizations? Female with kittens around? Protecting a kill?
