close encounters 2

[cmiddleton]

my brother called me last Sunday.
he had been elk hunting in fish canyon 2 miles from his house for a cow elk.
he was walking down a fire trail on a razorback ridge. he thought he saw a bobcat cross a saddle. he turned his head to look but when he looked back he saw a mt lion trotting at him threw the forest.
he waived his arms and yelled but the cat kept coming.
when the cat came onto the trail it went to a lope at what was later determined as 24 yards.
Corey raised his rifle to shoot in front of the cat.
when he looked threw the 6x scope all he saw was the top of the cats head and the bases of its ears.
he thought "too close"
he touched off. the 308 Norma went threw the top of the cats head out its bottom jaw and into its chest unplugging the cat on the spot. the cat was later measured off at 12 feet

Corey was where the leaves are scuffed up.
he stood right there and called 911
he said he remained calm threw the 20 second incident but the 911 operator couldn't understand him because he was shaking violently. he finally got her to call the sheriff and the warden to get them out.
the warden called him back for directions.
Corey then after the adrenaline wore off got vary cold. he called a buddy to bring him a coat and gloves.
the warden told Corey "Corey that's not much real estate between you and that cat"
no charges were filed and the warden kept the cat.
the warden thought Corey waited to long before the shot.
Corey just couldn't believe it wouldn't turn. he knew he was meaner than any old cat
here are some pics of the cat

 

[muleybull]

Wow!! Not an everyday happening.

Is that ethical?

 

[Ike]

LAST EDITED ON Oct-30-09 AT 12:30PM (MST)[p]It's always ethical to defend yourself no matter what is attacking you. Life is a funny thing, in a man's youth he thinks he's bullet proof and able to defend himself in about any situation. Then as he ages he realizes life is short and it's easier to shoot an attacker off than beat himself into safety. When that day comes, he gets a permit to carry and packs a firearm with him for situations just like that.

I run a pack of hounds down lion and bear tracks, usually alone, and in places where people may well be cooking their crack or however they make it, so survival is more important than ethics. A couple years back I ran down a problem black bear after the Fish and Game telephoned asking me to help. They sent a hunter along, my hounds treed the bear just before dark and the guy shot it, not once but twice.

I approached within fifteen yards and looked away, and turned back to face the bear just short of too late as he'd already left the ground (teeth first) headed for my throat. Had I not sidestepped that bear and caught him with a high block under his chin, I'd been on my back with that wounded bear on top of me. A second later with response time and I might have died there with the bear, but instead only received fourteen staples in my left upper arm.

Now, I've been under hundreds of lion and bear trees, and that was the first time one had come for me, but come he did. Now days I never turn my back on a lion or bear anymore, and when the hunter shoots I'm behind him with my pistol in hand--period.

ike

 

[YukonDall]

HEY IKE...... "IS THAT ETHICAL" ENDING IS A STANDARD ON ALL OF HIS POSTS......ITS NOT ABOUT THE MT. LION INCIDENT....THOUGHT YOU MIGHT LIKE TO KNOW.....YD.

 

[Ike]

LAST EDITED ON Oct-30-09 AT 01:17PM (MST)[p]Sorry if his comments were not directed at the shooting in self defense, but I probably have never read any of his posts or bothered looking them up. To me, it looked like a second line on a different paragraph?

And if he shot that damn lion in self defense then I give him (the shooter) a pat on the back for it!!!!!!!!!!!

ike ;-)

 

[cmiddleton]

LAST EDITED ON Oct-30-09 AT 01:48PM (MST)[p] he sure couldn't have given it another half a second.
12 feet to a lion at a lope.
shoot now or forever hold your peace.
hit between the eyes and into its chest it dang sure wasn't runnin away.
checked by G&F who said he did everything right aside from letting it get that close. no charges filed even though he had no tag and the season had reached it quota
the warden tracked it back and what Corey thought was a bobcat was a kitten the probable cause of the attack.
Corey only saw then kitte cross the saddle he didn't know it was a lion tell the G&F officer told him.
wyoming's stance on the kitten is let nature take its course.
i don't think they will go find it but that is their call and i don't know they wont. its their call

 

[Ike]

Nothing on this side of the world has more blinding speed than a mountain lion at close range, seen too many of them on the ground to believe anything else!

ike

 

[cjg_beef]

Did he have to change his shorts after that? I'll bet he was shaking... Hope nothing like that happens to me.

 

[cmiddleton]

he did tell me he was puckered so tight if he would have had to poop he would have had to puke it.

 

[YukonDall]

COULD NOT AGREE MORE IKE, I DONT KNOW WHY A CAT IN THAT SITUATION WOULD NOT TURN......MOST DO....MUST HAVE BEEN REAL HUNGARY........YD.

 

[Garion33]

Give my regards to your brother. That was an awesome shot in a bad situation. I'm glad he's OK.

 

[cjboz]

Me like dead kitties!!! I had a similar incident about two juveniles we jumped out of some brush. The came blazing out at me and the dog. My buddy shot first and I rolled up both in about a second. I remember ears pinned back and mouth open running at me and the dog. We called the warden let him know where this took place and wrote a statement and submitted it. No charges filed and he asked how shook up we were. He was impressed that no levis were torn and no dogs chewed up. It was a rush to say the least. When you are hiking into the wind and in the rocks chukar hunting beware!! Nice job on the Cat!!

 

[2lumpy]

Closest brush I've had was with a lowly cow elk.

Archery elk hunt on unit 4, road 206, some twenty years ago a buddy and I were attempting to slip between two bulls that had squared off and were screaming obscenities at one another. The area is primarily Ponderosa forest and clump brush spread over an open forest floor. Quite easy to see a hundred yards in any direction. We were doing unusually well and closing the gap but one second they sounded right on top of us and the next they sounded two hundred yards away. We figured they must be changed the direction they were facing between bugles. We just kept thinking--- any second and we'll be right on top of them.

I kept wondering, where in the hell are those s.o.bs, they've got to be right here somewhere. We thought we could see nearly everything that was anywhere near us. Just as we took a step forward so we could see around a large Ponderosa that was about 15 feet to my right, a bull split the air with a mind bending bugle. I have been close to a lot of bugling elk over the years but never, I mean never have I ever been 45 feet from a really hot and hostile 6 x 6 that had been at war with a contemporary for the last 30 minutes. It was like this sucker had his mouth an inch from my ear. I was totally disoriented. I couldn't see let along think, it was like getting hit really hard on the side of the head. I was in total shock and my mind was going in 20 directions all at the same time, trying to figure out what was going on. (Some of you folks may know what I mean if you've ever crawled up on one of these rascals and had him go off in your face.)

Then everything went into s l o w m o t i o n. My eyes started to work a little and as this bull finished screaming some 15 yards in front of us, he drops his head an gore's a cow that is standing between him and us. I mean he gives her a jab that buckles her hind legs. The next thing I see is Ms. Elk in a turf throwing crouch, headed straight for my buddy. I mean, she is coming like a coyote that's just taken a load of buckshot up the butt. Her front shoulders are two feet off the ground, head down, legs going in every direction and moving away from that bull with every ounce of energy she can muster and she hasn't seen us yet.

I figure, he's a dead man. She is going to take him straight in the chest and there is nothing he can do. A b o u t t h a t t i m e, I can see her eyes turn up and she see us. She starts a leaning, scrambling, hoof clawing, shift to the right. In a fraction of a second things change. She manages to alters her direction about 1 degree and it's no longer my buddy who lined up for a sternum shattering introduction. It's me.

Now, back in my youth I played a little center linebacker. There where times when the nose guard would get you just right and stand you straight up then, just as you get him shoved off to the side, you find yourself standing flat footed, straight up, in the hole that a 230 fullback, who has been build up a head of steam for 5 yards is coming through. Your froze and there is nothing you can do, you take that helmet straight in your chest and chin. I remembered what that felt like as that old girl closed in on me. S o m e h o w, and I don't know how because I truly had no conscious thought, I leaned slightly back, twisted my right shoulder and raised my right arm in which I was holding my bow. She passed directly under my arm. Never touched a hair.

After dropping his arrow then getting it back on its rest my buddy took a shot at the bull, arrow went straight up, never came within in 20 feet of that bull that had slid to a stop 10 yards in front of us.

I collapsed, legs went out from under me. Couldn't get composed for 10 minutes.

Takes my breath away to this day.

DC

 

[cmiddleton]

i had my own close encounter this year too.
i had been elk hunting this same ridge threw out the season my son filled his cow tag and i told him i should buy a bear tag because I'd seen lots of sign on this ridge there will probably be a black bear on the gut pile in the morning.
i didn't go get one though.
the next morning i headed in the normal trail and sure enough the gut pile had been hit and a large pile of scat on the trail.
about 200 yards down the hill i saw a black bear run across a log.
i thought "that was cool"
next i hear it scrambling up the tree next to the trail i look up and there it is.
i call my son and tell him "i got a bear up a tree 200 yards from you gut pile"
he has a bear tag so he asked" is it alone"
"yes"
he said he would be right up.
i started taking pictures with my cell phone when i heard
huff huff huff pop pop pop
i looked behind me and here is the prettiest blond cinnamon bear standing at 20 yards when i looked at it it ran back into the under brush.
i clipped the release onto my string then called Moseley back and said "no its not alone" the bear stepped back out and still huffing and popping Moseley could hear it over the phone.
Mose said "dad you had better get out of there"
i hung up and talking to the bear i started on my way again.
"its OK ma ma I'm done taking pictures" i was telling her as i headed the way i wanted to go.
she went around me and backed me back past the cub and out the way i come in.
even at 300 yards away i could still hear both her and the cub huffing and popping their jaws.
that ma ma bear was the prettiest animal i have ever seen i was awe struck every time she stepped out prettier than any bear i have ever seen even in pictures.
the encounter was the highlight of my whole season.
i never got afraid of her it was obvious she was to timid to attack she just wanted me out of there.
bad cell phone pics