2015 Unguided Public Land MT Mountain Lion Hunt

[Scoot]

Adventure!  Part of why I love hunting out West has to do with my trips out there being surrounded with a sense of adventure.  A quote I really love is “To experience amazing things, you have to go to amazing places”, and every time I’m in the Rocky Mountains I feel like I’ve situated myself nicely to experience an amazing adventure. 

My buddy Jake’s brother-in-law, Ryan, is a houndsman and he invited us out to Western Montana to join him in chasing mountain lion over half-a-decade ago.  Ryan has shot several cats and helped many, many people shoot mountain lions.  One thing he really loves is helping newbies like us get their first cat.  After five years of applying I was able to pull a tag for a unit near Ryan.  I tried to educate myself by reading all I could online about cat hunting and tried to prepare with my usual workouts and shooting.  Both my son and I tried to prepare (even though I was not bringing him on this trip) for the uphill shots that often accompany mountain lion hunts, and in the Red River Valley of MN we had to get a little creative on ways to practice.

 

 

 

Unlike any hunt I’ve ever been on we couldn’t plan when we were going to do this trip.  We sat on “standby” for this hunt—we checked the weather report daily and simply waited for Ryan to call to say “Snow is comin’, get out here!”  On Tuesday, Dec. 8^th at 9:30 PM Ryan told Jake “Get out here!”  I had to see my kids off to school in the morning (my wife had an early morning meeting at work) and get kid pick up and kid watching covered for the following day after school, but once those were accomplished, Jake and I were on the road.  We had a long, but pretty uneventful trip out and pulled in at about midnight.  The plan was to meet Ryan at 5:00 AM to go find a cat track. So we quickly unpacked and did our best to “sleep fast”. 

[CaptainMusky]

Annnddddd????

[nofishfisherman]

I'm tuned in.

[pumper317]

Sweet, a scoot story!  Sit back and get ready for some sweet vicarious living fun!

[Scoot]

I tried to put in another post, but the pics aren't working.  I'll fix it, but I can't get to it until tomorrow.

Edited December 17, 2015 by Scoot

[mrklean]

Cant wait to hear the rest Scoot

[Scoot]

The ground was bare when we arrived at midnight, but the snow was supposed to start during the middle of the night.  We woke up at 4:45 AM and we were disappointed to see nothing but brown around- not a single flake flew while we slept.  We talked with Ryan and his plan was to take care of some odds and ends and wait for the snow.  We did our best to be patient and help out.  After visiting Jake’s in-laws, eating a great breakfast, and doing some small tasks, we went and helped Ryan grind chicken feed.  As we pulled in to the area we were going to accomplish this, a few little flakes were coming down.  Before long we were excited to see the flakes were coming faster and getting bigger. 

We looked up to see great big flakes coming down in mass quantity!

 

We finished up our jobs and got dressed.  By noon we were on the road hoping to cut a track in time to get a cat in a tree before dark.  To say we were treated to some amazing country would be an understatement.  This is pretty country no matter where you’re from, but when you call the western edge of MN your home you really appreciate the views we were treated with.

 

 

Before we got up to these awesome looking spots we drove through the low ground.  We saw lots of game down low, as you can see below. 

 

 

 

 

It was clear we were in cat country and that we weren’t the only people looking for a kitty.  Here’s a reasonably common sight at a local gas station.

 

We drove from noon to 5:00 PM and cut a lot of tracks.  Here are a few of the tracks we saw.

Elk

Coyote

Deer

 

[DonBo]

Wow, here's a Scoot adventure I didn't see coming.  Can't wait for the rest of the story.

[lovebigbluegills]

I can't wait to hear more Scoot!!!

[ANYFISH2]

Always get a smile on my face when I see a new scoot thread!

[Scoot]

Thanks guys- this was a fun trip!  I didn't expect to draw this tag, so to say it was a pleasant surprise would be an understatement!

 

Here’s Jake double checking a track- not a cat!

 

Here are a couple pics of us goofing off that will give you an idea of the kind of terrain we were in.  Most of the time we spent looking for cat tracks was in heavily treed areas that had very steep mountainsides.  It was tough country to get around in for a couple flatlanders.

Jake doing what I call “the Jake pose”. 

Here’s a cubby for a bobcat trap we found when we stopped to check a track. 

 

With all the snow, and the icy spots under the snow, we had to chain up Ryan’s front wheels. 

 

At about 2:30 we pulled around a corner and saw a truck stuck in the middle of the small trail we were on.  Ryan recognized the vehicle as one of the local guy’s rigs.  We pulled up to him and offered to help him and his passenger dig out.  He was in a small truck, in snow much too deep for his rig, and with no chains.  He shouldn’t have been up there in the first place, but we helped get him out and pointed in the right direction.  After half-an-hour we were all moving again.  We saw him a couple times ahead of us, but mostly he was going faster than us.  However, when we started to turn the corner on a switchback I saw the tracks of his vehicle skidding towards the side of the road on the sharp corner.  I thought “Whoa, I bet that scared them!”, thinking they had lost control a little, but made the corner.  Unfortunately, as we creeped around the corner we spotted this about 20 or 30 yards down the side of the mountain.

The driver’s girlfriend was just getting out of the door as I jumped out and tried to help.  The driver was still inside, but he was alright.  We helped them out, helped gather their stuff, and gave them a ride to town. 

[ANYFISH2]

Not good!  Glad they were ok, whether they should have been there or not.

[NoWiser]

A Scoot story!  It's a Christmas Miracle!!!

[Boar]

Awsome!!! good for you Scoot, Really enjoy how you tell your stories, very entertaining an riviting actually. MORE MORE MORE!

[Scoot]

Unfortunately, none of the tracks we cut that afternoon were from a mountain lion.  At 5:00 we headed back to Jake’s in-laws for some grub.  We ate a great meal and soon headed for bed.  We got to sleep at about 8:30 PM and got up just three hours later and were out looking for tracks again at midnight.  At 2:00 AM we found what we were looking for…

 

 

This was a pretty small track, but we noted it and kept on looking for a bigger guy.  Conditions were perfect- not only was the snow slightly wet and as fresh as snow can be, but many of the roads we drove had not been driven by anyone else.  This made finding a fresh track much easier and made us very likely to spot a track if there was one to find. 

One significant delay was caused by the big winds that preceded our arrival.  We often had to get out and cut our way down the trail.  Ryan was the “chainsaw guy” and we were the grunts who moved the cut up trees.  It slowed us down considerably, but we made reasonably short work of each of them. 

 

At about 4:00 we found a second track.  This track was much bigger than the first and one Ryan believed was worth running. 

Ryan also got two calls from buddies during the night and each of them had found tracks for us to consider as well.  It turned out one of them was in the wrong unit, but after talking through the three options we decided to go back to the second track we had found.  We called Ryan’s buddies and they all met us there.  Ryan’s buddies had a mix of very to somewhat experienced dogs as well as a couple pups that were getting their first exposure to mountain lion hunting.  Obviously we would benefit from the work of these dogs, but the dogs would have an opportunity to “do what they do” and learn to do it better due to fact that a tag holder was around to provide the opportunity. 

[Scoot]

We got to the tracks and soon two other trucks showed up.  Five serious and hard-core mountain lion hunters filled those other two trucks!  We got out and met them and thanked them for their key help in trying to help me get a cat.  From 5:00 – 7:30 AM we waited, told stories, and “hung out with the guys”.  It was great listening to these guys!  When it came to lion hunting, there was a nice mix of experience levels, but all of them clearly knew a lot (and importantly a lot more than me) and were fun to hang out with. 

Here are a couple pics of the dog boxes that the pooches rode around in.

 

 

As legal light approached the houndsmen started to get their dogs ready.  They kept them all on leashes, but got them situated and ready to “run the track”. 

Once we reached our legal starting time for the day they had the dogs “lined up” and they were off.  After less than 100 yards the dogs seemed a bit confused and lost the track.  One of the houndsmen kept saying “They’ll figure it out”, and he was right.  Soon their barking and baying faded down the canyon.  Ryan said “get in” and we headed down the road.  After a few stops we heard the dogs again, about ½ mile downhill from our starting point and essentially straight up the steep mountainside from us.  After a few minutes one of the houndsmen pulled up to us in his truck.  He was looking at the gps unit that allowed him to see the location of his dogs (GPS collars on each of them).  He looked at the GPS unit, then looked at me and said “Your cat is 260 yards up there”, pointing up the steep incline.  He also said “My pup is 890 yards that way”, pointing almost the opposite direction.  I wasn’t the only one in the mix who had a lot of learning to do about mountain lion hunting!  Jake asked if the cat was treed and the houndsman simply replied “Yep”.  We grabbed our packs, my hunters orange vest, and my bow and off we went. 

Even though it was only 260 yards to the dogs, it was just about as far uphill!  That country was steep!  It didn’t take too long though and I could soon see the dogs moving around at the base of a large ponderosa pine tree.  Ryan asked if I could see the cat, and with a little help, I spotted it.  As we got closer I started to take a few pictures. 

 

 

Within a minute I was above the base of the tree and nearly eye level with the cat.  I ranged him and I was a mere 15 yards away.  He was sprawled out in plain view.   

I took pictures and started to ready my bow a little bit.  I took off my jacket since I had time and I was overheated from the hike up.  As I was doing this the houndsmen were getting the dogs tied off so I could take a shot. 

Suddenly the cat went from comfortable and planning on going nowhere to up and moving.  He walked down the branch he had laid on, turned around, then nearly fell when he got back near the base of the tree.  He soon leapt out to a different branch and found a new perch.

 

He looks very calm and still in this picture, however, his lack of movement was short-lived. 

He quickly relocated to a different spot.

 

I nearly had a shot while he was getting resituated, but I didn’t think the dogs were all tied off and certainly didn’t want to do anything that resulted in a dog or a person getting hurt.  Not shooting when I could have would be a far smaller mistake than shooting when everyone and everything wasn’t ready. 

 

One common theme that I hear talked about often in mountain lion stories is the chaos that inevitably accompanies a treed lion.  I have to admit, I always wondered “Just how chaotic can this really be?”  In my opinion if you’ve never done it before this question seems understandable.  After being involved in one treed cat, however, I no longer wonder this.  It was really unbelievable!  Between the barking and baying  and jumping and running around the dogs do, the tying up of the dogs, the houndsmen trying to be heard over all the racket the dogs are making, the cat doing everything it’s doing, and the adrenaline of the whole situation, it’s truly chaotic!  It’s a really unique and incredible experience, but most notably loud and chaotic.   

 

Ryan called me over near him for a shot, but it was quartering to me much more than I liked.  A houndsman at the base of the tree called me down to him.  I had a nice clear shot at the cat from there, but it was almost completely straight up.  I said “I don’t like this shot.”  Ryan soon encouraged me to take the shot, since it was clear and the cat had already gotten antsy once.  Another houndsman hollered at me to take the shot as soon as I was ready.  It was clear they wanted me to shoot.  I said “Are you sure you want me to take this shot?  I’m not in love with this angle at all.”  They both looked at me and said “Shoot!”  I drew my bow and aimed up, up, up!  It was instantly clear that my very vertical shooting at home wasn’t nearly vertical enough for a shot like this.  The cat was about 45 or 50 feet up in the tree and I was well under ten feet from the base of the tree. 

 

Here’s a pic of the shot I had- the mountain lion was dang near straight up the pine tree and in one of the branches just a little to the right.  The picture makes it seem like the shot was even less vertical than it actually was.

If you’ve never tried a shot like this, which I hadn’t, give it a try sometime!  To get my pin on the cat I had to drop my back leg down and bend my knee a long ways, then I had to arch my back and bend back at the waist as far as I could.  As uncomfortable as I was, I checked all my shot checkpoints and everything felt good.  I found my anchor point, I had clearance with my arm, my grip felt good, so I leveled my bubble, found my 20 yard pin and centered it on my aiming point.  I was confident I could make the shot, in spite of the extreme angle.  I let the arrow go and hit exactly where I aimed. 

The cat sprung straight up in the air from the branch and began to spin in my direction.  I was fully aware of the fact that I was standing on the only flat spot anywhere near the tree and I had wondered if this might be an inviting location for the cat to land.  As the cat rocketed up and spun it looked down directly at me and made eye contact with me for a split second.  I immediately thought the cat was going to land right on top of me.  I, of course, did what any real man would do- I ran like a little school girl behind a tree I had previously identified just behind me.  The cat kept spinning, however, and went another 180 degrees before he passed below the branch he had been sitting on.  He hit the ground and the houndsmen were immediately after him.  I followed right away, going down the steep hill as fast as I could.  Even I could follow the blood trail, in spite of being color blind- it was impressive!   

Due to a miscommunication a couple of the guys let some of the dogs go from up by the tree.  Ryan and I managed to intercept two of them and Ryan grabbed their collars.  A third dog ran around us and headed downhill.  I followed and 20 yards later I saw one of the more experienced houndsmen standing his ground, pointing a 44 Mag pistol into the brush right in front of him.  He yelled at me to get over there and get another arrow in the cat.  I ran over and to my amazement, I saw that the mountain loin was bedded and staring right at us, not more than 10 feet away from him.  I had to move past the houndsman to have a clear shot, so he lowered his pistol for a brief second to let me slide by him. As I passed by the cat let out a hiss, clearly indicating he didn’t like me or the current situation.  I wanted to put more space between the cat and me, but from the cat’s bed the hillside dropped sharply for about eight feet, but then plummeted almost straight down after that.  I walked into the opening about eight feet from the cat.  While I stood in the last available inches, before the mountainside dropped almost straight down, I tried to knock an arrow quickly.  The small ridge suddenly gave way and I fell backwards down the steep drop-off.  I somehow managed to catch myself after one terribly ungraceful “flop” and without looking up, knocked an arrow.  I had only fallen about six or eight feet, but I could no longer see the cat.  I scurried up the hillside and found a solid foothold so I could take a final shot.  Just as I was about to draw my bow the cougar let out a low, throaty growl that made the moment seem even more like a scene from a movie.  It was absolutely surreal. 

I came to full draw, centered my pin, and let it go.  The arrow blew through the cats vitals from the mere eight feet I was away from it.  After exiting the cat it hit a rock and sent sparks flying up several feet high!  However, I didn’t have a chance to admire these sparks because upon impact the cat pounced out of its bed straight at me.  His front paws hit the ground and his back legs loaded under his hind quarters- he was like a loaded spring about to unload on me.  He was about to make a final surge that I could have done nothing to prevent or even defend myself against.  The houndsman stepped in and leaned forward as the cat shot out at me.  However, he didn’t need to fire a shot- the cat didn’t have the strength to finish his attack and tipped over dead.  He was less then five feet from me when he died. 

[lovebigbluegills]

WOW!!!! What an exciting adventure! Thanks for another amazing story Scoot!

Pretty sure I would have had to change my pants after the second shot.

[DonBo]

OMG Scoot. So much excitement. What a great experience.

[sportfish]

What a great story ! Sounded intense 

[mrklean]

Awesome story cant wait for the ending

[IceHawk]

Great story well documented cant wait for more!

[ANYFISH2]

Intense for sure!!

Great read.

[Boar]

WAY COOL SCOOT, Like I said riviting to say the least,just like the mags, but cooler pictures. Awsome!

[rkhinrichs]

great story!

[rundrave]

great story and thanks for sharing. Love the time and effort you put into these posts and your pictures always go hand in hand. great job as always!