kerley":2q9hroek said:You must have been on a darn good mount, five feet from a big cat.msscamp":2q9hroek said:MosesR":2q9hroek said:We have em in Washington County, Mo, upper Ozarks, Mark Twain NF. I haven't seen one for several years but do hear of sightings. My Dad always said that they pass through coming out of Arkansas heading north.
Several years ago my nephew was "putting some turkeys to roost" one spring season. He was in sitting down full camo, calling and listening for the last gobbles of the day when he heard "something" behind him. This something got closer and closer until he finally turned around to see what it was. It was a Panther (thats what we call em) sneaking up on him. The panther was coming into the hen turkey sounds. Apparently the panther and my nephew saw each other at the same time. If you remember the old Cougar (Ford) commercials when the cat would roar, that is what it did at about 30 to 40 feet. If you know anything about spring turkey hunting in MO, you probably already figured out that he was un-armed due to regulations. If you get caught with a shot gun after hunting hrs in the spring (you can hunt turkeys until 1:00) your are pretty much considered guilty of attempt.
He said that as he ran back to his truck he could feel the cat climbing up his back with every step. By the time he got to his truck he dove through the open window and "cried like a baby". His words, not mine. Turned out the cat went the other way. BTW he was only 16 yrs old at the time. To this day he won't go to the woods without a firearm.
BTW, we have bears and hogs now! Haven't seen one yet but I am pretty much always a 45 ACP when I am on the farm.
:nod:
Yeah, I can absolutely relate to the 'crying like a baby". I was about 19 the day I took a green-broke horse out to check the water. As I came around the bend from the Little Steel Tower pasture heading towards the North of the Ridge pasture, my horse stopped and was focused on a chalk rock hill with a ledge facing towards the west. I followed her line of sight and noticed a shadow that I had never seen before on that particular outcropping. I reflected on it for a minute, dismissed it, and nudged her forward again. About 20 yards later, she stopped again. The shadow was gone. I'm a little freaked out at this point, but I nudge her forward again and we continue on our way. About 1/4 of a mile later, we have made the turn up the hill and she comes to a dead stop and is looking towards the south. Again, I follow her line of sight and I see a head and cat ears rising above a fallen tree. I'm totally freaking now. I'm on a horse, roughly 10 miles from home, and I'm looking at a mountain lion approximately 5 feet away. I have no idea what to do, but I know not to spin her around and run. I finally decide to ease her around, and calmly walk back down the hill - looking over my shoulder about every other step. We took the short cut, and once we were over the hill I slapped spurs to her and we flew home! It took Dad a good 20 minutes to get me calmed down enough to get the full story, the water was checked with the pick-up on that particular day, and no one needed to be moved.
Darn good mount? Hardly. I suspect she was too stupid to realize what was going on, I had kept her ridden down all summer with regular workouts in the summer fallow and checking water, and I made it a point to keep myself under control.
