Ok guys i gotta tell tell my story now. This incident took place in the Blue mountains in Oregon.
My hunting party dropped me off on a mountain road running a ridge so I could hunt my way back to our camp about a mile away. Somehow I got turned around that evening I had hiked 2 or 3 miles past our campsite before i realized what i had done, and tried to back track before the fading light winked out,leaving me in the dark to try to find my way back. after stumbling up this dried creek bed in eastern Oregon for what seemed like hours, I spotted a truck driving down a road far up the canyon, so I headed that way. After finding the road in the dark, i picked a direction and started walking. The days were almost 80 degrees & hot, but it was very cold at night. i was only wearing a thin tee shirt,no pack, nothing.... and it was getting down to 10 degrees above at night....
Here I was at mid night walking down an old gravel road & hoping I was going the right direction. I didn't know this area very well. I didn't have any matches with me & my lighter ran out of fluid using it for a light. It was pitch black that night too, I would have given anything for some moon light & a book of matches. My only hope was to keep moving so I wouldn't freeze.
While I was walking down the road with only the sound of my breathing and the steady crunch of gravel with my stride, I i kept hearing something in the brush from time to time above me on the hill side. I always considered myself a brave man, but I'll tell you right now I was pretty spooked that night. I kept telling myself, "There is nothing out here but deer, elk, coyotes & sage hens. The few bears that are around here are afraid of man.........Nothing to get spooked about...." Then I thought about mountain lions......As the thought came into my mind, I heard the faint snap of another twig above me again. I picked up my pace to almost a trot for another half mile. The bank of the hill side was very steep along the road on both sides. It was like the road was carved in the face of a cliff. After awhile my energy ran out & I slowed down to a walk again, then finally stopped to catch my breath. As I stood there listening, I heard some loose rocks rolling down the hill above me. There was almost no brush at all now above me. it was almost a shear cliff. Too dad burn steep for a deer to be up there I was thinking. This thing had been following me for at least a mile or so now. My heat was pounding in my chest as I sensed movement again on the rocks above me. It was much closer now, & I'd had enough. I reached down quickly and grabbed up a fist sized rock & pitched it as hard as i could towards the approaching sound, then backed slowly to the far side of the road & waited. My hands were shaking with fear as the cold metallic feeling of my sweat filled tee shirt began to freeze solid against my skin. There was a clump of sage brush about 20 yards up the cliff I was watching. My eyes had grown accustomed to the dark somewhat by now. When I saw that brush begin to move & the sound of gravel crunching again at the same time, I threw the next rock as hard as i could. After being in the dark for so long alone without a sound, the sound of this ungodly scream was overwhelming....my knees started to buckle uncontrollably, and i reached out to the cliff to brace myself for whatever was to come next...... Then everything was dead silent again....... I heard rocks sliding again a moment later way up the hill side. What ever that was in the sage brush was heading up the cliff at a pretty good rate. About 5 minutes later as I started walking again, the scream of the big cat split the night like a lightning bolt. My heart jumped up in my throat, & my stomach went cold. If there was any time in my life I can say I really tasted fear in it's truest form, it was that moment alone on that road. I'll never forget that sound. It was more of a scream than a roar. That big cat was pissed off!
I double timed it up that road for another 45 minute before I saw the campfire ahead of me. the sound of human voices never sounded so good as I stumbled into these peoples camp half froze to death. As I warmed myself my the fire & got something to eat, I told the story of the cat stalking me. They all laughed at me, & said a cougar wouldn't stalk a full grown man.
An hour or so later one of the guys in my hunting party drove up in his truck. I didn't see my sleeping bag till almost 3 am that morning.
The next day I told my hunting buddies about the big cat, & they didn't believe me either. They said they'd never seen a cougar in this area before. Well that pissed me off. So I told them I'd show them the tracks if they didn't believe me. About 3 pm that day we drove back down the same road I walked out on & found the spot in the road. Climbing up the steep bank to the sage brush I had thrown the rock at was tough going, but we made it. Sure enough, the tracks were there. These cat tracks were 3 1/2 inches across.
The only thing I can logically surmise from this rare occurrence is that the cat smelled my fear, & must have been real hungry to stalk me that far.
I had walked for almost 5 hours in 10 degree weather in a tee shirt till I came on that camp.
i have never hunted again without my pack....
Nuff Said..........Kirk
Topic: Strange or Unexplained (Read 12430 times)
