- Lowland neighborhood sighting. Made an approach and stand judgement and executed it.
- Called with my new sounds, it responded without ANY caution!
- Got the whole thing on HD video! (Although I didn't zoom in.) 7 + minute clip including the shot and the excited approach after the shot. Plus 2 clips before the call-in and 3 clips after!
Ok, here goes...
Really apoligize for being lite on the pics, I favored the video, and only ended up with a couple field pics.
I'll see what I can do about the video. I'm not going to be posting it, I've been advised that it has potential value, so I'm going to be protective of it. I'll comment on what I got though.
Story:
I got back from a DISMAL Coyote calling trip to the Dry side of Washington late Wednesday. (1 shot fired, no fur.) I hadn't planned on hunting at all for this week, possibly not even next week. I'm finishing up a few knives and starting a couple other Christmas orders.
Anyway, I guess it was about Noon:30, I get a call from a friend of my wife,
"Are you still looking for a Cougar?"
"Yeah!"
"Well, one was just sighted on our road, right next to a guy walking. Scared him pretty good!"
"Where?"
"Just before my house, over the hill, in the DNR clearcut next to such-and-so road..."
It took me about 30 minutes to suit up and head out. I was almost out of gas, so I had to stop, but I had all my gear in the 4runner from this week's trip, so I didn't have to pack anything. Just grab the gun and go!
I got to the spot, drove around 2 sides, and tried to knock on a neighbor's door, they had a llama and dogs, I wanted to see if they had noticed anything. Nobody home.
The DNR plot was about 150 acres. 1/3 of it logged.
This is in the very low foothills, first hump of 3 before you get to the main mountains. The area is still quite timbered, but roads and houses everywhere. I was 400 yards from a major road, 400 yards from a subordinate road, both paved. I was probably 300 yards from the house I tried door knocking.
I walked in to where the clearcut was tapering into the standing second growth. The timber was so thick, I decided to go against my own advice and set up out in the clearcut.
I found a big root ball and set up on the shady side.
I decided that if the cat was there, and I hadn't already been busted, it'd come from the second growth. So I faced it, set up, and put the call out about 35 yards. I had been about 10 minutes since I stopped walking, and I sneak around pretty carefully when I'm at my stand location.
I set up the video camera and panned it around, then back to me and described how this stand was a local Cougar sighting, and it was really tight with the roads on two sides and houses on a third, etc. Then panned back around across the cut towards the timber.
I called for 5 minutes with JS rodent, then 5 with MO Baby Cottontail, then 5 with my new sound, RS Cougar Up, then switched it to my new sound RS Cougar CFPC. Contentedly feeding, purring, and calling. (Check my website, you can hear sample files of these sounds.)
While CFPC was running I saw flashes of movement past the caller slightly to the right. I thought it was a Coyote or something. It was walking right in! Head up, no sneak. Walking like it was out for a stroll! I looked harder, "That's the freakin' Cougar! Just walking right up to the call!!!" I thought very loudly, but I don't think I said it out loud!
Took me a second to remember I have a video camera this season, and I got it switched on and panned a little right just in time for the lion to come to a stop and look for the caller 10 yards away. I didn't zoom in, I was too nervous, and didn't want to make that much extra motion. (In the video you can see the cat's head and neck if I point it out to you. It's super high resolution, and HD, so I hope a good editor can zoom in on it and highlight it.)
It stopped at about 50 yards, just looking at the call, and looking around...
I leaned forward and picked up the gun out of the sticks. The sticks were a full 8 inches too low for this angle, so I just lifted it up and set my forearm on the end of the right fork. I released the safety and found the cat in the scope. Then the unthinkable almost happened!
My arm slipped off the sticks and I almost tumbled forward onto my face! I just barely caught my balance before that happened and before making much motion at all... and just inches before the gun clacked onto the branch in front of me! (You can see the camera bump, because the sticks and the tripod were touching!)
I got my arm back up and placed it into the crook of the sticks. I found the cat in the scope again and it was still looking down at the caller! I started to squeeze...
Kaboom! Center chest. I saw it's tail flailing around in the saplings. NO TRACKING THIS TIME!!!
I never turned the camera off! I kept it on the whole time, for the whole emotional outburst! For the whole approach to the cat, and while looking at the cat, then doing the traditional bear hug hero shot.
It walked in on this trail, when I shot it it flailed into the little Christmas trees behind it. I pulled it out before this picture. This is where I set it down after the bear hug shot. I would have got a still bear hug shot for you, but I don't know how to use the timer on this fancy camera yet! (These are stills taken with the video camera.)
This is looking back at my stand location next to the root ball. I got a good video clip of this too. I was in the shade of the root ball. The trees standing in the distant background are along the main road. You can hear the cars in the video!
And here's the ubiquitous National Predator Hunter's Association brag contest shot!
I'm still a little jittery! I couldn't believe how TEXTBOOK this stand went, but even more than that, I couldn't believe how calmly and unwarily this cat just STROLLED right into this stand. No sneak, at ALL!! The thing just walked on up and looked at the BCB. Unbelievable.
It's a big female, really similar to the one I shot 07/08. Just over 6 foot. Just over 100 lbs. If I had been in the high country, I'd have MAYBE taken another minute to decide if I wanted to take it, a big mature female, but I'd love a big dominant Tom! But this was a neighborhood Lion. It was literally under 400 yards from two dogs, a Llama, a flock of tame geese, and who knows what all else around a house. With several other homes and plenty of other livestock within 500 yards. It had to go down!
So, now I gotta find guys to take out if I'm going to go after the longtails anymore this season!
Thanks guys!
