Washington Fly Fishing Forum banner

Ran into a mountain lion today

6K views 89 replies 45 participants last post by  Richard Olmstead 
#1 ·
Out steelheading on the nf stilly and ran into a small (I think) mountain lion this morning. Was about the size of a large golden retriever but much meatier and had a huge tail. Scared the fuck out of me.

The river was pretty high due to the rain so I had to hike up in the woods to go upstream. When I dropped down to the river and broke thru the brush, just 8-10 yards upstream of me this dude was chilling on the gravel bar. I had seen about a dozen pink salmon carcasses/bones in the woods but I thought it was just a bear bringing them up as I have seen bear tracks on this run before. It was pretty clear I startled him too as he darted upriver and into the woods after making eye contact with me for a few seconds. I had never seen one before so I really don't know if it was a baby or was just a young adult (was afraid that the little shit might go run to momma).

Freaked me out regardless, and it seemed I scared him off too. After he turned around, I followed suit and ran away like a middle school girl back downstream. Pretty sure I peed a bit too. Don't think my little fillet knife would have done me much good. Got back to my car and drove a few miles downstream to fish someplace else. I was freezing cold before this and within a few minutes I was sweating. Pretty cool experience overall

Be careful out there....
 
See less See more
#5 ·
You need to edit this account into something exciting...how you faced down a snarling 300 pound mountain lion with your trusty fillet knife. You're a fisherman, and a little bit (or even a lot) of prevaricating should come naturally! Fish you caught in days of yore grow in memory, so why shouldn't this skittish wild feline morph into a most foul and dangerous beast.

Gotta change the story, or somebody, twenty years from now, will drag out this post and all the years of courageous story creep will be for naught.
 
#6 ·
It takes a big man to admit that a little kitty encounter caused him to whiz his pants...I'd likely have crapped mine :D. Not too many folks ever see them up close or at all. We ran into one on the upper Ruby many years ago. It was on a elk carcass on the opposite side of the river as we rounded a corner...bolted into the brush, then turned and looked at us. It was a big animal and I'll never forget looking into its eyes as we retreated.
 
#10 ·
That's an awesome story - we've had one in our neighborhood that was just snoozing in a tree a few years ago. The Fish and Game department quarantined the area and said it would probably head back into the hills after a day or two. I never did get to see it, but quite a few folks had to go down and see it for themselves.
 
#12 ·
I have seen three. One crossed the road in front of me a couple miles from my house earlier this year. Another was just across the fence in my back yard when I took the dogs out several years ago. And the first was when I was deer hunting... I had a rifle and even had a cougar tag. Just didn't react to the fact that it was a cat quickly enough, and was never able to get off a shot.
Its always super cool when you see such an amazing creature in the wild.
 
#15 ·
I am sure would have made me more than a little jumpy but it would be so worth it to see one.
 
#16 ·
For starters, what you described "Was about the size of a large Golden Retriever but much meatier..." - um, that's not a small Moutain lion. That's a BIG Mountain lion.

Second, for what it's worth (and I realize it's hard), don't ever run from lions....that's what their prey does. The best thing is to raise your hands and make noise. Like I said, easier said than done.

Glad it turned out okay though!
 
#17 ·
Yea and apparently you aren't supposed to show your neck ever. Thats how some zoo keepers get killed. Even those domesticated cats can just turn in a second when they see a neck...its a kill instinct.

The guy was well out of sight before I turned around. Think the shock of seeing it kinda froze me in place. I probably dropped some F bombs too. Don't really remember
 
#19 ·
By now you've probably heard that a cougar killed a woman at a WA animal rescue center today. Whether she showed her neck first, or not, wasn't mentioned.
 
#22 ·
By now you've probably heard that a cougar killed a woman at a WA animal rescue center today. Whether she showed her neck first, or not, wasn't mentioned.
First, Associated Press claimed it was a "wildcat", and then had a photo of a cougar attached to the article. Last time I saw one, it was lounging under a tree on New Year's Day at the entrance to the arboretum on the Sacramento State grounds-and before you all call bull, my wife was with me and saw it too. We were headed for the New Year's day Ride with the Sac. Bike Hikers.
 
#21 ·
Actually seeing a mountain lion in the wild is a very cool thing. IMHO it is those encounters with the region's wildlife that makes many of our rivers such special places (of course the variety of wild fishy critters don' hurt for us fishers).

In my decades of fishing and hiking the north Sound rivers I have encountered quite of few of the region's large animals and while I have always treated those encounters with caution and respected those encounters always rate right up there with the best fish encounters. In all that time I have feared for my life 5 or 6 times and in every case those encounters involved critters of the two legged variety. Look forward to see things like bears and cougars but can't say the same for some of my own species.

Curt
 
#27 ·
I had an encounter 15 years ago while camo'd up bow-hunting in the Okanogan . Thirty feet away, tail twitching, ears back, low crouch. After the encounter, I back-tracked myself and found that he had been tracking me for a half mile. The only reason I even saw him was because the trail I was on dead ended at a cliff and I had to reverse course. When I turned around, there he was.

Cover scent, deep fresh snow. Could have ended very badly, but I was lucky and was able to change his mind regarding lunch.

Surprisingly, no fear from either of us. You will never forget those eyes once you have seen that look...

And there would not have been time to consider various strategies had he made the move. I did pull out a broadhead from the quiver but doubt it would have done a lot of good other than as a possible stabbing weapon. You are ridiculously outmatched in nearly every circumstance imaginable.
 
#28 ·
When I dropped down to the river and broke thru the brush, just 8-10 yards upstream of me this dude was chilling on the gravel bar.quote]
Damn! You actually managed to sneak up on a cougar. You must come and go like the wind.
 
#29 ·
I've seen to while out in the woods. Definitely gets your blood flowing. A 3rd we didn't see, got us thinking.... Walking the rivers edge we spotted a cougar print in the damp sand. We had walked upstream and turned around to backtrack when Jack spotted it. It was slowly filling with water as we watched the print. It had been following us and couldn't have been 30 seconds since that print was left because it was semi dry and we watched it fill with ground water.

My buddy doesn't miss anything when we're out and about.
 
#33 ·
Sounds like a cool experience. I've only seen one cougar in decades of outdoor life, and that one was in B.C.

You should have stayed and fished that spot. You'd have nothing to worry about unless you loaded your backpack with pink salmon for the hike back out.

Sg
 
#34 ·
Sounds like a cool experience. I've only seen one cougar in decades of outdoor life, and that one was in B.C.

You should have stayed and fished that spot. You'd have nothing to worry about unless you loaded your backpack with pink salmon for the hike back out.

Sg
I shoulda just low holed the bitch with a spoon while taking pulls from my flask. Teach that kitty a lesson.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top