Cougars?

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vtbuck
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Cougars?

Unread postby vtbuck » Sun Jul 31, 2016 2:50 pm

Anyone ever have an experience with s cougar or seen one in the wild? I've got one on camera right under my stand so I'm curious about others experience.

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Re: Cougars?

Unread postby Uncle Lou » Mon Aug 01, 2016 12:21 am

I bear hunted with a guy in Houghton Lake Michigan in 07. He swears he saw a cougar on the swamp island that we hunted on, but several years earlier.

My cousin arrowbender, found a track in the sand up in AuSable forest while we were turkey hunting about 15 years ago, and showed it to me, looked like a large cat (now way a bobcat unless we now have 100 lb bobcats).

A couple weeks back I was in middle of Indiana near the ILL/IN border between Tera Haute and Newport and saw a road kill figured it was a deer by the color until I drove by and saw a long cat tail on it. I couldnt turn around as I had a long trailer and nowhere to turn. I sure wanted a closer look at that.

That's all I got. I have never seen a bobcat or cougar in the wild, despite going all the way to Idaho and even chasing one into the wee hours of the night
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Re: Cougars?

Unread postby IkemanTx » Mon Aug 01, 2016 12:36 am

I dozed off one morning when I got in early for a setup back in high school. Had this eerie feeling and jerked awake to see one close enough to touch. I was in full leaf suit gear and I'm pretty sure my movement scared the crap out of him as much as he did me, because he fell over backwards to get away from me. I did the same to get away from him. My great uncle had said several times over the past few years that he had seen a long tail down in that portion of his property, and no one had believed him. I wasn't believed either until my father found his tracks later that day.

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Re: Cougars?

Unread postby dan » Mon Aug 01, 2016 12:41 am

I would love to see the pic!
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Re: Cougars?

Unread postby BassBoysLLP » Mon Aug 01, 2016 12:45 am

Not yet. We have a couple close to my house in northern WI. I eventually want to track one down and observe it in the wild.

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Re: Cougars?

Unread postby cedarsavage » Mon Aug 01, 2016 12:57 am

I've seen a couple bobcats when we lived in Washington state but never any Cougars. I think they're pretty reclusive even there were there was a decent density of them hardly anyone ever saw them and it was usually noteworthy if someone saw tracks. my buddy took a picture of a track last year while bear hunting here in the UP. I don't know anyone personally that has actually put eyes on one though. There are enough verified trail cam pictures to get me to look up in the trees once in awhile.

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Re: Cougars?

Unread postby Whitetailaddict » Mon Aug 01, 2016 1:04 am

My friends have had a couple run-ins at bars in northern WI but I don't think you need to worry about those. Being serious I have never saw one but I've heard many rumors over the years. I agree with Dan and would love to see a pic.
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Re: Cougars?

Unread postby BassBoysLLP » Mon Aug 01, 2016 1:10 am

This is one of at least two roaming my area.

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Re: Cougars?

Unread postby stash59 » Mon Aug 01, 2016 1:27 am

Had a friend, he died of cancer, that let me tag along. While chasing with hounds. Got to lay eyes on a handful. Including one his father killed. This was in Montana. That cat weighed 135 pounds. I ended up carrying it out on my shoulders for about 2 miles.

Bass that's one good sized cat. I know proportions are hard to tell from a pic. But it's got a big head for a cougar!!!
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Re: Cougars?

Unread postby BassBoysLLP » Mon Aug 01, 2016 1:36 am

This one was floating around northern Langlade county last year. I havent heard much this year.
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Re: Cougars?

Unread postby vtbuck » Mon Aug 01, 2016 2:33 am

I'd post it if I knew how.

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Re: Cougars?

Unread postby muddy » Mon Aug 01, 2016 3:42 am

I see 2 or 3 cougars every time I go to the gym. Much too afraid to put a stalk on one.

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Re: Cougars?

Unread postby Bigb » Mon Aug 01, 2016 4:28 am

I got one on trail camera right outside Chicago a few years back. We thought it was pretty cool and funny how two days after we got the picture the news started talking about cougar sightings a few miles a way. I won't lie, I was a little freaked out for about a week to check the trail camera there because its pretty thick. I think they pass through more than we think, they just aren't seen on camera or naked eye. We had someone a few towns over that swear they were seeing wolves that were 120 plus pounds. This is just north of Chicago. They said one picked up there 8 pound dog and took off with it and then dropped it. I laughed because if a 120 pound wolf got an 8 pound dog, he wouldnt drop it.
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Re: Cougars?

Unread postby Dewey » Mon Aug 01, 2016 5:35 am

I had three experiences with cougar. First one was an actual sighting around the summer of 2000 in Gogebic County in the UP. Ran across the road right in front of my truck in broad daylight. No mistaking it was a cougar.

Second experience was on my bear hunt in September 2006 in Sawyer County WI. My bear guide warned me there was one hanging around his property and even showed me the tracks in the sand near my bait where I killed my bear. Never did actually see that cougar but it was in the area.

Third encounter was during the gun season of 2008 up in Vilas County WI. Just before closing on opening day I shot a buck but made a bad shot. We followed the blood trail till almost midnight that night deep in a nasty swamp. The sparse blood was fairly easy to follow in the few inches of wet snow. We came back the next morning and in our tracks from the night before was a fresh set of cougar tracks. Very easy to identify with the retractable claws not visible. Scary to think that cat was out there with us following the same blood trail we were in the dark that previous night. Later a local reported one run in front of his car and the following fall two people got a cougar on trail cam within a few miles of my encounter. Haven't heard anything since in that area so the cat must have moved on.

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Re: Cougars?

Unread postby Zona » Mon Aug 01, 2016 11:08 am

I haven't run across any sign of cougar here in central PA, but I know at least 6 people who swear they had an encounter. I know, not really a convincing argument but 2 of the witnesses are very credible in my opinion. 20 years ago nobody thought coyote were here and now we are overrun with them. Just a matter of time.

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