I took my 7 and 10 year old daughters on their first hunting trip this past fall. They have both been scouting and shed hunting numerous times but this was their first actual hunting trip. As we hiked in the dark up a small knob to glass, they were both scared and clinging to my legs. I got down on my knees and asked them what they were scared of. "Cougars and Rattlesnakes" my 7 year old said as she started to wimper. I gave them big hugs and promised, "We WILL NOT SEE A COUGAR!"
Shortly after sunrise we found the group of 3 bucks that we were after and bedded them in a pocket of sage. I was going to be the spotter with the girls while one of my partners would make the stalk. As we planned the stalk, we spotted a cougar walking in the open in the general vicinity of the bucks. The cat disappeared into it's own patch of sage and didn't come out. You can imagine the looks I received from my girls! Of course we all had cat tags but with nothing but our archery equipment, we weren't going to go after the cat. We decided that the bucks were far enough from the cat that we could go ahead with the stalk and probably never see the cat again?
My partner makes a great stalk and gets a quartering away shot at 35 yards and buries the arrow. The bucks scatter but all retreat to the same patch of sage 200 yards south. We continue to watch through our scopes while Doug determines that his shot was a little far back and we should give the buck some time. At that point, we spot the cat walking across a wide open flat and realize that we are about to witness a once in a lifetime event. Sure enough, the bucks explode out of the brush, 2 go to the south and the 3rd comes out to the north with the cat on his back! We witness the entire battle until the buck and cat go down in a patch of sage.
Over an hour later, my partners go to retrieve the buck while my daughters and I hang back. They jump the cat off the buck and we end up joining them. After discussing the whole thing, looking at the buck and shaking our heads, we realize something interesting. The cat had gone into a group of three deer, one of which had an arrow buried in it, and had taken down the healthy one! During the entire event, we all assumed the cat took down the wounded buck.
A very odd experience that none of us were prepared for. We never watched the other bucks through the chaos. That experience with my daughters is one that we will all remember forever. Surprisingly, they are excited to go again and are less scared than before because they witnessed the cat being "More afraid of us than we are of them" In my 10 year old's words, "THAT MUST BE ONE SCARED COUGAR !!!"
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