Cougars

i remember deer hunting one time i was walking down an old road making first tracks on fresh soft snow. perfect if you’re planning on walking. total silence.
i was scanning a side hill focussing most of my attention on a high tree line. started making my way back to the truck, this time focussing on a lower bowl on the lower side of the road.

i glanced at the road itself, and my tracks i made in the fresh snow now had large cat tracks with them.
i had only been on this road for an hour. very spooky to know i was being stalked. i was so oblivious and focussed on my hunt i never did see where the tracks ended or where it jumped off the road.
 
There’s a Jim Shockley video, on the interwebs, where he’s stalking a cougar on a logging road. He’s got his rifle at the ready and the cougar charges him. It happened so fast. But he had his safety off and got a shot off. It turned out that the cougar was unhealthy and desperate. I wish I knew how to post YouTube links on here.
 
Deer hunting with a buddy of my father when I was 16. We were at the edge of an old burn hunkered down and having a look.
Buddy's spidey senses start going berserk.
Big windfall laying parallel to us under 10 feet away, and two huge cougar paws sticking out from the end.
There was no way of getting out of our recce without going past the end of the windfall.
Yelling did nothing. Throwing sticks and stones did nothing.
Both of us had 30-06 rifles but Buddy was hesitant shooting the windfall log that close.
Scurried about a bit to try and get a bit of cover and shot the end of the log.
Chaos exploded with sound, wood and cougar! Didn't get a very good look at kitty, trying to shield the eyes from splinters.
That was the end of hunting for that day, hiked back to camp in total silence.
 
I've never seen a cougar while hunting but I'm sure they have seen me. I don't look in trees for deer. Probably walked right under a couple.
 
Spent over 20 years working in the bush up and down this coast, hunting and fishing all over the province. I've seen seen many bears, a wolf, 2 bobcat and a Lynx (that was in Fort Nelson though) but not yet a cougar. They do say that for every cougar you see that 30 have seen you.
 
grinrod/enderby area while gopher clearing my dog and i rested at the bottom of a tree. Some bark and dust was falling on me and i looked up to see a nice one about 30' up. not sure to this day if we scared it up there or it was getting ready to pounce. i ran and so did the old dog. quadra island and close to Taku i was driving back from where the general store was in heriot bay. came around the corner and scared one up a telephone pole. i will see if i can figure out how to upload vids.. tonnes of security cam vids.they are pretty boring but cool to see the different sizes. Also i have one of a kitty cat swimming across grappler.
 
That's pretty cool to get to see! Have heard of them swimming to some of the gulf islands.
I never saw it myself, but there were sightings and kill sites found on gabriola this spring. I did see small black bear over here 2 years ago.
 
Worst encounter...

Fishing Steel on the Sproat.
Old dog with me (13+ years).
Wandered off from the crew I came with - well downstream.

Not a shabby fishing run, landing a few and packing a limit headed back.

Big Tom braced me and the dog on the trail.
Munuqsii knew the cat wanted him, and sheltered behind me.

Made myself large and menaced said cat.
Took a few minutes, but he did back off.

100 yards up the trail he was back.
I had picked up a large stick along the way, and menaced him with that.
He was VERY reluctant to depart.
Dog knew what was up, and stayed behind me again.
After a rather tense standoff, the cat left again.

150 yards up the trail he gets in front of us, and growls.
I wave the stick, but he is absolutely unimpressed.
Closed to 15 feet.
Started yelling at the top of my lungs.
A couple of the Ladz I had come in with heard that, and came running.
That coming from behind freaked the Tom out and he bolted.

I spent the next three days in there with a rifle.
Never did see that asshole again.
Unfortunately that is...

Nog
 
I've seen multiple cats on Van Isle. The most noteworthy was on one of my trips where I decided to tow my boat from Ucluelet to Port Alberni at midnight just to avoid the daytime yahoos on the road.

I was in a hairpin going nice and slow when I saw a big cat in the middle of the road. I immediately stopped. When you're in a truck, you've got a valuable opportunity to see them up close and personal without worrying about maybe getting a red canoe from ear to ear. And the dog was sleeping in the back so I had a white card to commune with the wildlife

The cat wouldn't move. Right in the middle of the road, motionless, and he wouldn't lift a paw. And why was he was looking over his back shoulder? I finally saw what had gotten his attention. My headlights were dead ahead on his head and what had his undivided attention were the HUGE Mickey Mouse twin ear silhouettes that were pasted on the bush behind him. He couldn't figure out what that freaking monster was doing behind him and whether he should worry about me or the monster. It went on so long that I finally beeped my horn and he loped off into the trees

Another noteworthy cat story: I had a great day on the river and was carrying two dead steelhead, one in each hand. I was moving slow---there was three feet of fresh powder on the river bank....one of those stunningly gorgeous winter days on the river. I got to where I knew I had to cross. It would be dicey getting the dog and the two dead fish across the river. Then I caught sight of a tawny colored stump on the other side of the river, exactly where I had to cross. Something just didn't look right. Then I saw an ear flick. It was a big cat and he was licking his chops as he calmly surveyed the Sheltie standing at my side. He was making the mental calculation on an easy lunch.

I made a loud woofing noise like I'd do with a bear. The stump levitated into thin air---boom......gone. Like it was never there. When I got to the other side of the river there were big cat prints in the snow.. Behind where he'd stood eyeing my dog was a seven foot steep embankment. That creature had defied gravity ---just lifted off the river bank, cleared seven feet of snow, and was gone. No prints in the snow to show how or where...nothing. Just gone.

They are amazing creatures.

I was at that place New Year's day this week. I got skunked but I got to relive that cat meeting all over again. And now I am way more aware of my dog and the dangers that lurk in the bushes when I'm on that riverIMG_1717.jpeg
 
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Big momma and two large kits passed through our area in November.... result ? Three neighborhood kitty cats disappeared, including mine. No sign of bears or cougars now--- too many happy fat deer wandering our area now.
 
Chek6 news(van Isle) tonight had some video of a home in Alberni, that had a visit from a cougar, seems it had a racoon cornered in the storage shed and had it for a snack ...no info on what happened from that point. seems like port alberni is a *hot bed *for the the large efficient predators
 
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