N
nmhs
Guest
If you have ever thought about packing a pistol on archery hunts.........well this may help you in your decision.......as I will be packing a pistol for now on. This happend in southern NM.
About a week ago around the 8th of January, when it was really windy I thought I was soon to meet my maker (and I seriously thank God for not allowing this situation to get real bad) and I came real close to being a kitten feast. My buddy and I didn't think it would be a real eventful morning due to all wind but it actually turned out to be a pretty good day. We hunted until about 10:00 and then decided to try out a couple of new canyons.
Well it turned out this one canyon had a really nice buck so I proceeded to put the stalk on but due to the wind and the eddy effects of the topography I didn't make it close enough. Well while I was up there I found a really nice mule deer shed. So at 1:30 we decided to head back to our vehicle and try another area out. On the way back my buddy walked down the ridge line we had initially walked up, (which I am thankful he decided to do that because he was going to walk down a different ridgeline). I decided to walk down this canyon checking out some new country and looking for some more sheds.
As I walked down this canyon it ended up getting really narrow, and full of 4 feet high oak brush. Rather than beating through the oak brush I decided to walk right in the bottom of the drainage which was about 5-10 feet wide with a 10 foot embankment on my left and the right side was really steep and full of oak brush. Remember it was very windy that day so any noise that was made was muffled by the wind (remember I was bow hunting so I was trying to be quiet).
***What you're going to read next happened really fast***
About half way down the canyon for some unknown reason I pick my head up and about 30 feet in front of me (30 feet in front of me is a natural cubby hole that I couldn't see around) I look up and I see three brown creatures run off??...I think oh coyotes??????umm????no??????bobcats??????.um??????..no???holy &%^&%............ mountain lion kittens. I start to back up as far as I can while I continue to scan the creek bottom and hill side for the mom and then she pops out at 15 yards. At this point I am backed up as far as I can go and I am yelling and screaming and making myself look as big and bad as I possibly could. I am waving my bow and this shed???..well realizing she could pounce on my in split second I realize the only defense I have is to grab all of my arrows and do what I have no idea???.if she decided to leap at me. During my yelling and screaming she it trying to figure out what I am and kind of walking towards me at an angle real slow??????In my mind I am thinking this is a real bad situation, how in the world do I get out of this?.......I am fixing to get mauled real bad or worse kitten food????.the mom then stops at 10-12 yards broadside with a branch in between her an I. This branch runs along the length of her body and is covering her vitals so the only shot I have is at her hindquarters. I nock an arrow throw the twenty yard pin on her and let it fly. I end up giving her a hair cut as I just nicked her back, but at least she departed and I was safe. I backtracked my way out of there as quick as I could while calling my buddy on the radio. He was already on his way over because he had heard the yelling.
This is something I have read about but figured it would never have happened to me. I have been hunting for 15 years and this is a first??.as least this type of close encounter with a lion. At any moment she could have been on top of me??..if this ever happens again at least I will be prepared. Thanks for the read and I thank God for taking care of me!
About a week ago around the 8th of January, when it was really windy I thought I was soon to meet my maker (and I seriously thank God for not allowing this situation to get real bad) and I came real close to being a kitten feast. My buddy and I didn't think it would be a real eventful morning due to all wind but it actually turned out to be a pretty good day. We hunted until about 10:00 and then decided to try out a couple of new canyons.
Well it turned out this one canyon had a really nice buck so I proceeded to put the stalk on but due to the wind and the eddy effects of the topography I didn't make it close enough. Well while I was up there I found a really nice mule deer shed. So at 1:30 we decided to head back to our vehicle and try another area out. On the way back my buddy walked down the ridge line we had initially walked up, (which I am thankful he decided to do that because he was going to walk down a different ridgeline). I decided to walk down this canyon checking out some new country and looking for some more sheds.
As I walked down this canyon it ended up getting really narrow, and full of 4 feet high oak brush. Rather than beating through the oak brush I decided to walk right in the bottom of the drainage which was about 5-10 feet wide with a 10 foot embankment on my left and the right side was really steep and full of oak brush. Remember it was very windy that day so any noise that was made was muffled by the wind (remember I was bow hunting so I was trying to be quiet).
***What you're going to read next happened really fast***
About half way down the canyon for some unknown reason I pick my head up and about 30 feet in front of me (30 feet in front of me is a natural cubby hole that I couldn't see around) I look up and I see three brown creatures run off??...I think oh coyotes??????umm????no??????bobcats??????.um??????..no???holy &%^&%............ mountain lion kittens. I start to back up as far as I can while I continue to scan the creek bottom and hill side for the mom and then she pops out at 15 yards. At this point I am backed up as far as I can go and I am yelling and screaming and making myself look as big and bad as I possibly could. I am waving my bow and this shed???..well realizing she could pounce on my in split second I realize the only defense I have is to grab all of my arrows and do what I have no idea???.if she decided to leap at me. During my yelling and screaming she it trying to figure out what I am and kind of walking towards me at an angle real slow??????In my mind I am thinking this is a real bad situation, how in the world do I get out of this?.......I am fixing to get mauled real bad or worse kitten food????.the mom then stops at 10-12 yards broadside with a branch in between her an I. This branch runs along the length of her body and is covering her vitals so the only shot I have is at her hindquarters. I nock an arrow throw the twenty yard pin on her and let it fly. I end up giving her a hair cut as I just nicked her back, but at least she departed and I was safe. I backtracked my way out of there as quick as I could while calling my buddy on the radio. He was already on his way over because he had heard the yelling.
This is something I have read about but figured it would never have happened to me. I have been hunting for 15 years and this is a first??.as least this type of close encounter with a lion. At any moment she could have been on top of me??..if this ever happens again at least I will be prepared. Thanks for the read and I thank God for taking care of me!
