mozey
Long Time Member
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LAST EDITED ON Oct-05-08 AT 08:14PM (MST)[p]Bear tag in pocket, 70-pound pack on my back, and trusty 7mm in hand, I headed to the 'ol water hole last Friday. Checked the trail-cameras when I got there and saw that I'd missed this bear by only a couple hours:
Also saw that this bear had been by the day before:
Picked out an aspen that was just off one of the trails that approaches the water and hung my tree saddle (http://www.trophylineusa.com/) so that my feet were about 15 feet off the ground. Stayed up there 'til dark, but nothing came in the rest of the day.
Was back in there at first light on Saturday, checked the trail-cameras, and saw that a small bull had visited about an hour after I'd left the night before. Climbed back up the aspen, left my fanny-pack at its base, covered with few pine boughs that I'd pruned back to afford myself a better view up the approaching trail. Stayed up there until noon, when I came down to relieve myself and eat the lunch that I'd left in the fanny pack below. Finally, at about 3:00, through the pine boughs that were at my eye-level, I spotted a large animal standing broadside about 50 yards up the trail. My first thought was that was a really neat color for a black bear, and I got my gun ready. It started coming up the trail towards the water. My heart almost stopped when it stepped into an opening: mountain lion.
At ten yards it veered off the trail and made a beeline to my tree. With all the dead leaves and broken twigs below, I couldn't believe how quickly yet silently such a large animal could move.
It stopped directly below me and started sniffing where my fanny-pack was buried underneath the pine boughs. My gun barrel was pointed directly down, the tip below my feet, just waiting for him to look up and then start climbing the tree. Never thought to haul my camera up in the tree with me, it was still inside the fanny-pack. Looking directly down on him, I thought its tail seemed almost half as thick as its body width. It held its tail perfectly still the entire time that it was directly below me. One of my sillier thoughts in the moment was that if I unhooked the tree saddle, I could pounce on it just like it might do to me if the circumstances were reversed. After a minute or so, it moved off into the thickest brush, I was only able to watch it for about 20 yards.
Unfortunately, the direction it went was opposite of the water and trail cameras, so I never did get a picture of it. I stayed up in the tree for two more hours. Normally, the safer thing to do is to unload my gun while going up and down a tree. This time I kept it loaded, and came down much more slowly than I normally do, watching the brush where it disappeared.
Think I'm going to buy myself a cougar tag before my next trip in there... ;-)
Also saw that this bear had been by the day before:
Picked out an aspen that was just off one of the trails that approaches the water and hung my tree saddle (http://www.trophylineusa.com/) so that my feet were about 15 feet off the ground. Stayed up there 'til dark, but nothing came in the rest of the day.
Was back in there at first light on Saturday, checked the trail-cameras, and saw that a small bull had visited about an hour after I'd left the night before. Climbed back up the aspen, left my fanny-pack at its base, covered with few pine boughs that I'd pruned back to afford myself a better view up the approaching trail. Stayed up there until noon, when I came down to relieve myself and eat the lunch that I'd left in the fanny pack below. Finally, at about 3:00, through the pine boughs that were at my eye-level, I spotted a large animal standing broadside about 50 yards up the trail. My first thought was that was a really neat color for a black bear, and I got my gun ready. It started coming up the trail towards the water. My heart almost stopped when it stepped into an opening: mountain lion.
At ten yards it veered off the trail and made a beeline to my tree. With all the dead leaves and broken twigs below, I couldn't believe how quickly yet silently such a large animal could move.
It stopped directly below me and started sniffing where my fanny-pack was buried underneath the pine boughs. My gun barrel was pointed directly down, the tip below my feet, just waiting for him to look up and then start climbing the tree. Never thought to haul my camera up in the tree with me, it was still inside the fanny-pack. Looking directly down on him, I thought its tail seemed almost half as thick as its body width. It held its tail perfectly still the entire time that it was directly below me. One of my sillier thoughts in the moment was that if I unhooked the tree saddle, I could pounce on it just like it might do to me if the circumstances were reversed. After a minute or so, it moved off into the thickest brush, I was only able to watch it for about 20 yards.
Unfortunately, the direction it went was opposite of the water and trail cameras, so I never did get a picture of it. I stayed up in the tree for two more hours. Normally, the safer thing to do is to unload my gun while going up and down a tree. This time I kept it loaded, and came down much more slowly than I normally do, watching the brush where it disappeared.
Think I'm going to buy myself a cougar tag before my next trip in there... ;-)
