This is probably one of the scariest things that has ever happened to me. The hair on the back of my neck stands up and I get goosebumps when I think about it..........
This last weekend was the final 3 days of archery (deer) season in Washington. My buddy has 20 acres in southeastern washington that backs up to thousands of acres that belongs to Boise Cascade timber company so its a great place to hunt. We got there just before midnight on thursday, and we thought we would go ahead and set up my tree stand to save time in the morning. I grab the tree stand & safety harness while he gets the flashlight and his .357 mag (just in case) and we head off into the darkest dark I have ever been in to set this stand up. After walking about 400-500 yards from the trailer we come to where we think "the tree" was, it was much harder to find at night and after walking around in the pitch black for another 20-30 min we find "the tree" . This is a perfect spot too, Its in a tree next to where 3 different deer trails meet and there were fresh droppings everywhere. While I was getting my stand put togeather he swings the flashlight up one of the trails and I hear..... wft is that?? I put down the stand and walk next to him and in the light were 2 BIG cat eyes. Then it was like the thing turned his head and it was gone..... Then there it was again looking at us. This went on for several min. It would turn its head then a few feet over you could see its eyes in the light. We guessed the distance to be about 60-80 yards away on an uphill slope. I then hurried like hell to get my stand on the tree so we could get the hell out of dodge. My buddy drew his gun and We slowly walked back to camp, taking a few steps and then stopping to look around. We seen the eyes twice more, one behind us and once on our left. We were being stalked by what we think was a Mountain Lion!!! Now I know what you are thinking .. It could have been anything right.. A deer ,racoon, coyote?? No way, and here is why.... The eyes were set to close togeather to be a deer and they were also too close to the ground. Coyotes are way too spooky to hang around like that. I have seen them before from my tree stand and the slightest movement and they tuck tail and run. We never seen tracks or scat from what ever it was but my buddys neighbor that lives down the road has seen cougar tracks up there before. Damn that scared the shit out of me!!!!
This last weekend was the final 3 days of archery (deer) season in Washington. My buddy has 20 acres in southeastern washington that backs up to thousands of acres that belongs to Boise Cascade timber company so its a great place to hunt. We got there just before midnight on thursday, and we thought we would go ahead and set up my tree stand to save time in the morning. I grab the tree stand & safety harness while he gets the flashlight and his .357 mag (just in case) and we head off into the darkest dark I have ever been in to set this stand up. After walking about 400-500 yards from the trailer we come to where we think "the tree" was, it was much harder to find at night and after walking around in the pitch black for another 20-30 min we find "the tree" . This is a perfect spot too, Its in a tree next to where 3 different deer trails meet and there were fresh droppings everywhere. While I was getting my stand put togeather he swings the flashlight up one of the trails and I hear..... wft is that?? I put down the stand and walk next to him and in the light were 2 BIG cat eyes. Then it was like the thing turned his head and it was gone..... Then there it was again looking at us. This went on for several min. It would turn its head then a few feet over you could see its eyes in the light. We guessed the distance to be about 60-80 yards away on an uphill slope. I then hurried like hell to get my stand on the tree so we could get the hell out of dodge. My buddy drew his gun and We slowly walked back to camp, taking a few steps and then stopping to look around. We seen the eyes twice more, one behind us and once on our left. We were being stalked by what we think was a Mountain Lion!!! Now I know what you are thinking .. It could have been anything right.. A deer ,racoon, coyote?? No way, and here is why.... The eyes were set to close togeather to be a deer and they were also too close to the ground. Coyotes are way too spooky to hang around like that. I have seen them before from my tree stand and the slightest movement and they tuck tail and run. We never seen tracks or scat from what ever it was but my buddys neighbor that lives down the road has seen cougar tracks up there before. Damn that scared the shit out of me!!!!