Mountain Lion
I was hunting coyotes and had bad luck
connecting on any opportunities. I just knew though with more persistence
something great was going to happen. I had a spot that I was making my way
toward to go call it. It was perfect; I had a great vantage and a wide open
basin out in front of me with a smaller canyon 350 yards out. It had just
recently snowed which had pushed the game down lower to where I was calling. I
was calling a little over 10 minutes and about to leave my stand when I noticed
a spot 300 yards out and in front of the canyon. My first thought was that it
was probably just a tree stump but was hoping it was a coyotes white chest
looking at me. I pulled up my scope and took a look and to my surprise it was a
huge mountain lion. The cat was locked on me just staring at me. I had dreamed of a moment like this. I had
always hoped for a bobcat to call in but never imagined a mountain lion.
I didn’t want to give away my position
more than I already had so I stopped calling with the hand call (dying rabbit)
and started coaxing with my mouth doing a lip squeak. Even at 300 yards the lion could still hear
my lip squeak. Shortly after I did that the lion started approaching slowly and
crouched down. It took another 5 to 10 min for the lion to come into a 150 yard
shot. I was shaking with my heart just pounding. Two thoughts were going
through my head, don’t get eaten by this lion and don’t miss the shot. I got
positioned for the shot and tried to slow down my heavy breathing and relax
because my heart was pounding. I made the shot.
Boom!!!
I knew I’d hit the lion because it jumped really high and did what seemed like a back flip with a 360 and then ran to the right for 50 yards and straight back to the canyon it came from. It was shaking and not running right. I watched it go out of my sight. In my mind I was thinking I had lunged it and needed to wait it out before going and looking for the cat.
I waited over a half hour before I looked for the cat. I was still not sure how great the hit was and went down from the hill to look with rifle in hand. It was an uneasy feeling knowing that if it was still alive I could be attacked. I could not find it. I did find the blood trail and saw where the cat had gone down the canyon. It’s a good thing I did not find the cat because it was still alive and wounded. Now let me tell you from experience that when you have a wounded predator (such as a mountain lion) that you’d better be ready to protect yourself.
Boom!!!
I knew I’d hit the lion because it jumped really high and did what seemed like a back flip with a 360 and then ran to the right for 50 yards and straight back to the canyon it came from. It was shaking and not running right. I watched it go out of my sight. In my mind I was thinking I had lunged it and needed to wait it out before going and looking for the cat.
I waited over a half hour before I looked for the cat. I was still not sure how great the hit was and went down from the hill to look with rifle in hand. It was an uneasy feeling knowing that if it was still alive I could be attacked. I could not find it. I did find the blood trail and saw where the cat had gone down the canyon. It’s a good thing I did not find the cat because it was still alive and wounded. Now let me tell you from experience that when you have a wounded predator (such as a mountain lion) that you’d better be ready to protect yourself.
I called a couple buddies for help. The
friend with dogs could not come till next morning. My other friend a great
tracker came out and helped me. He was smart enough to bring his shot gun (with
00 buck shot) and his XD 40.
We found the tracks down in the canyon and knew we were close. I felt like the FBI entering a crime scene with pistols and guns up. We could see areas where the lion tried bedding down and getting into small holes and caves.
I kid you not the battle for life and death between lion and man began. I came around the corner and saw a cave that I just knew the lion had to be in there. Not a second later I saw the eyes and it freaked me out. It was worse than the scariest movie. It all happened within seconds. I yelled to my buddy 10 ft away "there it is"! It started to come straight at me out of the cave as my buddy took a quick shot with the shot gun that probably peppered the lion back into the cave. Then it made a 15 ft jump and climbed up an opening in the cave and my friend shot it again but still it did not take the lion down. It made a huge leap down at us and started to turn toward us. The lion was only 5 yards away. With a natural instinct I fired away as I was running back away from the lion. It all happened so fast and put me in shock. I later realized I had emptied 4 rounds into the lion without even knowing it.
We found the tracks down in the canyon and knew we were close. I felt like the FBI entering a crime scene with pistols and guns up. We could see areas where the lion tried bedding down and getting into small holes and caves.
I kid you not the battle for life and death between lion and man began. I came around the corner and saw a cave that I just knew the lion had to be in there. Not a second later I saw the eyes and it freaked me out. It was worse than the scariest movie. It all happened within seconds. I yelled to my buddy 10 ft away "there it is"! It started to come straight at me out of the cave as my buddy took a quick shot with the shot gun that probably peppered the lion back into the cave. Then it made a 15 ft jump and climbed up an opening in the cave and my friend shot it again but still it did not take the lion down. It made a huge leap down at us and started to turn toward us. The lion was only 5 yards away. With a natural instinct I fired away as I was running back away from the lion. It all happened so fast and put me in shock. I later realized I had emptied 4 rounds into the lion without even knowing it.
I
was shaking for a while after and it took me a while to even have the nerve to
approach the dead lion, in fear that it could still attack us.
I will never forget this experience. I’m sure that nothing like that will happen again in my life time.
Still here to tell the story,
Brett
I will never forget this experience. I’m sure that nothing like that will happen again in my life time.
Still here to tell the story,
Brett
Javelina Calling
I'm convinced the best way to hunt, is calling! Don't get me wrong, I love
glassing, but calling is some up close and fast action.
So the story was we were driving on the ranger and saw a pig spook. We ran over the hill to see if we could get a shot and it was nowhere to be found. When we were looking for the pig our group had got split up. Reed, one of our buddies, made a call, and about 5 minutes of him calling we hear his shot, along with the wack from the hit!
We meet up back at the ranger to get set up for skinning and gutting his pig. When we got to the top of the hill where Reed shot from, I made a call with out us even getting set up and a pig snuck in on us and made us before we were able to get a shot off.
While Reed is working on his pig my dad and I are set up on a hill 50 yards away from him with our tripods and binoculars set up. While I was glassing I threw out a couple sequences of calls, not thinking anything would come in, especially after we had called two pigs in. All of a sudden a couple pigs popped out of the brush followed by 3 other pigs only 75 yards below us. I had to get up, set my tripod down, and grab my gun about 5 yards behind me. While Im grabbing my gun our buddy Reed had been trying to get our attention. While he was skinning his pig he was hearing them whoof and started looking and seen them only 40 yards from him.
I got set up for the shot and nailed mine and then my dad shot his pig. I couldn't believe we kept calling pig in. It was crazy that we got pig like that while our buddy was working on his pig.
Later that day my brother came up and shot his pig. We also called those into gun range. A successful trip 4 tags filled for 4 hunters. Now I'm ready for jalapeno sausage!
So the story was we were driving on the ranger and saw a pig spook. We ran over the hill to see if we could get a shot and it was nowhere to be found. When we were looking for the pig our group had got split up. Reed, one of our buddies, made a call, and about 5 minutes of him calling we hear his shot, along with the wack from the hit!
We meet up back at the ranger to get set up for skinning and gutting his pig. When we got to the top of the hill where Reed shot from, I made a call with out us even getting set up and a pig snuck in on us and made us before we were able to get a shot off.
While Reed is working on his pig my dad and I are set up on a hill 50 yards away from him with our tripods and binoculars set up. While I was glassing I threw out a couple sequences of calls, not thinking anything would come in, especially after we had called two pigs in. All of a sudden a couple pigs popped out of the brush followed by 3 other pigs only 75 yards below us. I had to get up, set my tripod down, and grab my gun about 5 yards behind me. While Im grabbing my gun our buddy Reed had been trying to get our attention. While he was skinning his pig he was hearing them whoof and started looking and seen them only 40 yards from him.
I got set up for the shot and nailed mine and then my dad shot his pig. I couldn't believe we kept calling pig in. It was crazy that we got pig like that while our buddy was working on his pig.
Later that day my brother came up and shot his pig. We also called those into gun range. A successful trip 4 tags filled for 4 hunters. Now I'm ready for jalapeno sausage!
AWESOME STORY !!
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