By Bob McBride / special to The Star
The big cat was stretched out and lying on a limb 20 feet above the dogs seemingly oblivious to the commotion below. The full weight of its body rested on the limb, and its legs just dangled down. Its long, tawny colored tail lazily twirled back and forth enticing the excited hounds. I thought to myself that the shear beauty of these animals is amazing.
Our dogs were constantly barking “treed” as they could easily see their opponent. Occasionally the cougar would change positions. It would gracefully pull its legs up to the limb and raise up to a standing position. This movement would excite the dogs even more.
From the standing position the big cat would calmly survey the situation below, looking for an avenue of escape.
Just an hour before I was driving in the City of Lacey, Washington. My friend Corey Erskine called on the radio to advise that he had found a cougar track in the snow on Capitol Peak. We had made previous plans to rendezvous on the mountain if and when Corey located a fresh mountain lion track.
One permit
Our friend and hunting partner Bill Winters had drawn a cougar permit for the South Olympics. Unfortunately his work schedule conflicted with his hunting plans. With the help of my hounds and his, Corey hoped to locate a cougar for our friend. The chance of Bill connecting on a lifetime goal was diminishing quickly. The Bear and Cat Hunters of Washington State, a hunters’ group, had become the victim of changes in public opinion and the lies and half truths of the animal rights enthusiasts. Corey’s call came just four days before the mountain lion season would end forever.
Considering that a big cat needs to make a deer kill about every eight days, they need to have a substantial home range and a good supply of venison on the hoof. So they may move around for long distances. Finding a track was good news.
Corey advised that he had already turned the hounds loose on the track. Within minutes the hounds were out of hearing.
I agreed to stop by and pick up Pat Tinney, another hunting partner, and Corey’s grandfather and his video camera and head for the mountain. Corey was also going to give Bill a telephone call and get him on the way to help find the hounds and hopefully Bill’s cougar.
Before we had left the highway to start up the logging roads, Corey called on the radio to advise that he had found the dogs and that they had treed a cougar. We anxiously drove toward the other hunters. A short time later we rolled to a stop behind our friend’s pickup trucks that were abandoned on the road. We got out of our truck and listened to the unmistakable sound of the hounds barking “treed.”
Joining in
Pat and I released his two young dogs Mac and Sam from the dog box to join the other hounds. We grabbed our flashlights and joined the crowd at the base of the tree. We enjoyed the camaraderie of our friends while we waited for Bill.
A short time later Bill arrived on the scene. We still had a long wait. The law only allows cougar hunting during the daylight hours so we had quite a wait for daybreak. After several hours of drinking coffee, reflections on previous hunts and the complaints and laments about the end of our hunting careers, the twinkle of sunshine started to break over the snow covered mountain tops.
Bill harvested his trophy with one shot from his 30-30 Contender pistol. While deer hunting on the “Peak” the next weekend we found two additional sets of cougar tracks in the snow. Bill’s cougar was probably one of the last cougars to be legally hunted with hounds by sportsmen in the State of Washington.
