Blues Cougar Down

[gramps]

A very exciting day, to say the least.
After helping a friend deliver some plywood and 2x4s, I went to an area where I had seen cougar tracks and it was so foggy, I could not see 40 feet.  I sat in the rig until the fog lifted then I walked out a trail a ways  and set up to do some calling.
I found an open area and set the Fury caller and a decoy that looks like a rabbit next to a downed log.  I was sitting against a tree about 40 yards away.   I called with a deer distress sound..kinda high pitched…and I used a cougar whistle sound from Rainshadow’s CD.    Thank You Steve.    After 30 minutes of near constant calling, I saw a cougar walking my way about 120 yards away.   My Dr. tells me that my standing heart rate is 58…within a beat or two of seeing that cat..which looked 10 feet long…my heart rate must have gone to 150.  I only saw him for a couple seconds, but he was slowly walking upright.  He disappeared from sight and I was trying to figure out how he might approach.  I saw him again and I could see that he was gonna come thru’ some timber and brush to my left.  Sure enough there he was….still walking upright and focused on the sound and the decoy.  I didn’t know whether to turn off the sound or leave it running so I turned it down and left it running.   He could have approached directly from where I first saw him, but he would have been in the open or along the edge of the open area.  Lucky for me that he did not come in this way as he would have been walking directly toward me with the source of the sound exactly between him and me.  The caller was in the open about 12 feet from the edge of the timber and brush that he was now in.  It was about 10 minutes from when I first saw him and when he was out of sight, I turned a small amount and was in a good position to shoot, but was not calmed down a bit…maybe worse..I am not sure.  He stopped with his head behind a tree..25 to 30 yards away.. and I shot for the lung area.   I saw hair fly and he jumped up about 6 feet with his back arched and went over backwards and then ran toward the thick timber.  He never knew I was there.
I sat there for a few minutes just taking in what had happened and then went to look.  I found a few drops of blood and then nothing as he crossed an open area covered with snow.  I looked around thinking this may not be a good deal to have a wounded cougar in the thick brush that the tracks headed toward.    After a few more minutes, I started following the tracks and found him about 75 feet from where he was when I shot….dead as could be…YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS  !!!
He was a male..7’11” nose to tail. I did not have a scale big enough to weigh him but he was about 150 lbs.  He had been in a fight very recently.  He has a torn lower eye lid and 6 or 7 cuts clear thru’ the hide on his head and right side as well as two deep cuts on two of the foot pads.  All cuts looked very fresh.
I am disappointed with my photos..but they are what they are.
I have been fortunate to have hunted for 50+ years … Prairie dogs to Moose..but nothing quite as exciting as this.
Thanks to SnagPoint..an occasional poster here..for the help last night.  Maybe SnagPoint will share how he walked down a cougar last winter and had a little eyeball to eyeball in the snow.

[washelkhntr]

Nice looking cat. Congrats!

[DUGANDEER]

Congrats on a awesome cat!

[ThePascoKid]

My heart rate increased just reading your story, very nice looking cat!

[bobcat]

Good job, someday I hope I can do the same!

[Machias]

WAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Congrats, I'm SO happy for you.  Awesome story and great photos!!

[Kain]

Awesome!!!  I read it twice already.   

[hogsniper]

That is awesome man!  Great write up and glad everything came together for you!   Congrats on the great trophy!!!    Justin

[shanevg]

Awesome!  Congrats!

[rasbo]

that is really awesome,cudos to you

[markts]

That is a sweet story and cat, congrats to you. Mark

[Kain]

did you alternate the distress and whistle over that half hour or did you let the distress run then switch to whistle?

[the1rod]

blues? so im assuming you had a special permit? or is ther some season i dont know about 

[River]

blues? so im assuming you had a special permit? or is ther some season i dont know about 

I don't see any special season in effect now.  What's the deal?

[bobcat]

Looks like the permit season for the Blue Mountains is Jan 1 - Mar 31 and there are 40 permits. It's on page 51 of the 2009 regulations.