Reflections on life and death

[Steel_Gin]

Wow!! Great shot and good ending. Being a hunter as well I'm glad I don't have to worry about that in my neck of the woods.

Did the DEC give you much of a hassle with this? I know in NY something like this would have been investigated beyond belief and I highly doubt they would have let the hunter keep it.

 

[Steel_Gin]

My own personal Cougar Story does not have the Happy Ending of this one. The last time I was stalked by a Cougar I ended up marrying her. I have been miserable ever since.

^^^^^^^

Cougars are vicious animals!!

 

[Harald]

My own personal Cougar Story does not have the Happy Ending of this one. The last time I was stalked by a Cougar I ended up marrying her. I have been miserable ever since.

LOL

, I had a cougar 5 years my senior stalk me almost 29 years ago when I was a hot, young stud. Been miserable since then too.

There's been a lot of joking in the household these days on that topic.

And let's not even get started on the topic of eating pussy.

 

[Harald]

Wow!! Great shot and good ending. Being a hunter as well I'm glad I don't have to worry about that in my neck of the woods.
Did the DEC give you much of a hassle with this? I know in NY something like this would have been investigated beyond belief and I highly doubt they would have let the hunter keep it.

Since they stopped hound hunting many years ago, they lowered the price of a cougar tag to $5 to encourage all hunters to buy one and hopefully keep the population in check. I buy that tag along with bear every year for those rare opportunities. In my case I was fully justified in killing the cougar and wouldn't have gotten any grief over killing it without a tag, but wouldn't have been able to keep the meat or hide. I'm really glad I had a tag in my pocket so I can partake in the bounty of meat and taxidermy.

 

[08FJR4ME]

I finally managed to get me a deer tag for a doe this year. In past years I procrastinated to long and they ran out. For reasons you stated I hope to put some meat on the table also. I have a couple of guys that use my property to hunt and they have been gracious enough to include me in there bounty. I don't put the time in to really stalk a buck and rely entirely on luck. Seeing does on the homestead is a lot more prevalent.
Your story sort of reminds me of when I shot a moose way up in northern NH. It was long time ago but to this day I won't forget it. I was a sub-permitty and essentially was the camera man for the event. We spotted 3 moose, two females and one big ass male with a monster rack. My partner worked his way around while I was filming. Eventually I heard the first shot ring out. I saw the male moose flinch but didn't move. Then quickly another shot rang out. now the moose started to walk away. Let me tell you these aren't the brightest animals around. Then there were two more follow up shots and now the moose was trotting off at a brisk pace. WTF over, dropped the camera and picked up my 54 Cal muzzle loader. Over a hundred yards out now while the moose in now in almost a full run I fired off a shot. After the smoke cleared I couldn't see him anymore. My buddy came around a couple minutes later and said did you get all that. I said yeh but the last part. I dropped the camera and fired off a shot because it was running off. He wasn't too happy but none the less we headed over to where I saw him last.
We found him there laying right in the logging road. Made it kind of nice to get him out of there. We started the process of cleaning the varmint out. Both lungs had a hole the size of my thumb going through them. I didn't say anything at the time. He was so hyped up over shooting the moose I kept quiet. It took both 4 wheelers to drag him out and he weighed in dressed at 897 lbs.
The next day we brought him over to the guy that was going to cut him up for us. We watched him skin it at the time. Out of the blue the guy says who had the muzzle loader. I said I did.
Well then you were the one who took this guy down. My buddy's faced dropped. Turns out it went clear through and out the other side. When we got the meat back a week later he found one 30-06 round in the shoulder that just barely penetrated and another in his neck just floating around which really didn't do anything either. It was a shot of a lifetime for me and I will not forget it.

Neither will my buddy, He has the mount in his house still today. Huge ass rack.
Dave

 

[harper]

Was this a Mercury Cougar, Harald?

Great composure, great reflexes, and a great shot. Glad you came out the winner.

 

[Redfish Hunter]

All this discussion of Cougars and Big Racks is distracting me from how this thread started out.

 

[YummYam]

BUT!

If someone enters my house uninvited. They will pay.

Guess thats what went through the Cougars mind just before the shot did.

 

[Geezer]

BUT!
If someone enters my house uninvited. They will pay.

Guess thats what went through the Cougars mind just before your shot did.

No, I'm pretty sure the cougar was thinking about a meal, not a trespasser.

 

[Harald]

I finally managed to get me a deer tag for a doe this year. In past years I procrastinated to long and they ran out. For reasons you stated I hope to put some meat on the table also. I have a couple of guys that use my property to hunt and they have been gracious enough to include me in there bounty. I don't put the time in to really stalk a buck and rely entirely on luck. Seeing does on the homestead is a lot more prevalent.Your story sort of reminds me of when I shot a moose way up in northern NH. It was long time ago but to this day I won't forget it. I was a sub-permitty and essentially was the camera man for the event. We spotted 3 moose, two females and one big ass male with a monster rack. My partner worked his way around while I was filming. Eventually I heard the first shot ring out. I saw the male moose flinch but didn't move. Then quickly another shot rang out. now the moose started to walk away. Let me tell you these aren't the brightest animals around. Then there were two more follow up shots and now the moose was trotting off at a brisk pace. WTF over, dropped the camera and picked up my 54 Cal muzzle loader. Over a hundred yards out now while the moose in now in almost a full run I fired off a shot. After the smoke cleared I couldn't see him anymore. My buddy came around a couple minutes later and said did you get all that. I said yeh but the last part. I dropped the camera and fired off a shot because it was running off. He wasn't too happy but none the less we headed over to where I saw him last.

We found him there laying right in the logging road. Made it kind of nice to get him out of there. We started the process of cleaning the varmint out. Both lungs had a hole the size of my thumb going through them. I didn't say anything at the time. He was so hyped up over shooting the moose I kept quiet. It took both 4 wheelers to drag him out and he weighed in dressed at 897 lbs.

The next day we brought him over to the guy that was going to cut him up for us. We watched him skin it at the time. Out of the blue the guy says who had the muzzle loader. I said I did.

Well then you were the one who took this guy down. My buddy's faced dropped. Turns out it went clear through and out the other side. When we got the meat back a week later he found one 30-06 round in the shoulder that just barely penetrated and another in his neck just floating around which really didn't do anything either. It was a shot of a lifetime for me and I will not forget it.

Neither will my buddy, He has the mount in his house still today. Huge ass rack.

Dave

Nice shot on the moose. We aren't allowed to have a scope on our muzzleloaders here in WA, so 100 yds is about my limit for shooting. You da man for hitting it running at 100 yds!

Did you also get to share in the bounty? I hear moose is delicious, but haven't had an opportunity to try it. I do put in for the drawing for a tag every year, but it's long odds for those once in a lifetime tags here in WA.

 

[YummYam]

BUT!If someone enters my house uninvited. They will pay.

Guess thats what went through the Cougars mind just before your shot did.

No, I'm pretty sure the cougar was thinking about a meal, not a trespasser.

Maybe, but we know how these payments can end the same way.

 

[juniorfjr]

Funny, I was just on FB and someone showed a picture of a Cougar in a backyard tree not far from me. Our place at Lake Chelan is backed by very rugged national forest land and cats are not uncommon. They are prospering here in washington. Good shooting, btw. Cat, the other white meat.

 

[08FJR4ME]

A few cuts were quite tasty and it is very lean. Since it was an older gent most of the meat was quite tough. I will tell you I had a reputation at work for making the best Jerky anyone ever tasted. I was dehydrating every weekend. If I had to do it all over again a medium sized cow would have been a lot better on the dinner plate. We did split the meat down the middle. My kids couldn't wait until it was gone. They did love the jerky though also. I did have a scope on the muzzleloader. All I could think of at the time was how the hell did he miss and it's getting away. I was running on pure adrenaline at the time.

Dave

 

[HotRodZilla]

Well, this just goes to prove the theory my buddies and I had in high school:

Big cats are known to be dangerous

But a little pussy never hurt anybody.

 

[Bustanut joker]

But a little pussy never hurt anybody.

Says the guy who cried the first three times he seen it.

 

[Pterodactyl]

But a little pussy never hurt anybody.

Says the guy who cried the first three times he seen it.

Must have been a breech baby.