Fishing this summer below cable hole, my buddy and I where walking up the horse trail back to our rigs parked at the top of the gravel pit. Just before we reach the end of the trail to emerge into the beginning of the pit a cougar jumps out right in front of us. Luckily for us he/she ran away. My buddy was carrying a nice 10# chromie too. I wonder if it was stalking us or we just spooked it. I assume that trail is a highway for deer and it was looking for a meal, I'm just glad it wasn't us Anyone else ran into cougar while out fishing?

I saw tracks from one up at fortson one weekend when I was with my two kids, kinda scary but cool also. They are out there, you just dont see them, but they see you!

While turkey hunting last spring in the Blue Mountains my brother and I had a cougar walk by 25 yards away. Being fully camouflaged it never saw us but it picked up our scent and was very curious. We got to watch it for a few minutes as it pawed the ground around a fallen tree and then slowly continued down a game trail.

JSTEEL

Two years ago I was hunting during a late archery season. There was a foot of fresh snow on the ground. I walked up an old cat road to an area I had seen a buck the weekend before. I hung out in the area for about 45 minutes rattleing. I walked back out the way I came in. A cougar had walked up the road behind me. His paw prints were in my boot prints. I could clearly see where it had come down off the side of the road and where it decided to get back off the road. He was within 30' of me as I rattled and blew on the grunt tube. Seeing how close that cat was to me without me knowing made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

After that day I never left the truck without my rifle slung over me back as well as my bow in my hand.

The last place I lived was quite aways out of town. The house was about a quater mile off the main raod in a stand of timber. I had lots of deer, turkeys and the occasional elk in the yard. One night my Rott was acting funny so I let him and the other mutt out. Both dogs took after something in the yard. I got a glimpse of it and it was a cougar. The must have been the smarter of the 2, he turned tail and ran back in the house. The Rott kept after it and chased it into the brush. All I hear is the dog going crazy and that doing the same. Then I here one heck of a yelp from the dog and he comes running back with a decent gash on the side of his face.

Come to find out the night before the nieghbor who lived about a 1/2 mile behind lost 6 goats to that cat. And 2 days later another nieghbor who lived aboud 1/2 mile the other direction shot a cougar that was stalking his horses in broad daylight.

It was a good thing that cat got killed. It was getting a little too brazen.

Ive seen em twice once while fishing the confluence of the sky below index, and once up near spada. theyre around allright thats why i dont go without my sig anymore.

When I was younger, my dad, my uncle, and I saw a mother and two cubs while walking into a lake near Baker Lake. We got to watch them for quite a while without being detected.
I've seen lots of tracks while fishing or hunting. The most recent was two weeks ago while grouse hunting near Marblemount. That set was within a mile of the Cascade River.
A couple of years ago my uncle saw one while working in the Reiter area.
They're pretty much everywhere.

Afew years age I was fishing ice house in the siearras from the bank for german browns. In the winter they (p g and flipping e)draw the lake down quite abit so from the tree line to the water is 20 yards of dry granite. after a half day fishing i headed back to the truck. behind the first bush at the tree line was not only the tracks of a big cat coming from my truck but also the body print and the brushed area where his tail had been moving back and forth while he had been watching me. this cat had followed me from my truck down to the lake and when he left he went back tothe truck. I never saw the cat but i did cover the 100yrd thru the wood up hill to the truck without taking more then 5 steps. screaming helps alot in this endever. It makes it hard to explain to the game warden who was checking out my truck but what the hell.

Wow, lots of them out there. More than I thought I guess. Hmmm...time to buy a gun?!

dont buy into that fear crap and buy a gun to protect you from cougars... only city geeks do that. your chances of being attacked by one, let alone seeing one is about as likely as winning the lottery. just enjoy the opportunity when you are lucky enough to see one.

My dad brings a .44 with him when he bow hunts, just in case a bear decides to make his kill his own. It's called peace of mind. I would not shoot the cat if I saw it only if it attacked. Cant fault someone for being prepared.

Last January, my brother ran into one (literally)fishing a small OP river. He was wading downstream about to cross under a fallen tree that was about head level when a cougar jumped onto the log above him and hissed at him. He fell back in to the river (over his waders) and he saw a baby cougar on the bank. His fishing partner was just across the river and started yelling at the cougar and luckily they both ran off into the woods. He said if he hadn't fallen into the water, it looked to be ready to jump on him.

I myself saw cougar tracks on 3 consecutive trips to the Hoh/Bogie/Sol Duc last winter also. All alongside the riverbanks. They are definitely out there in numbers on the OP.

I see lots of sign out this way, I've also run across a number of kills. A buddy's dog on the edge of town got into with one last year as well ...

All of this, and I've seen three over the years. One, running across 101 at Bogachiel State Park; two, in the field at Allen's Bar; and three, along the river in the lower end of the 'Duc.

They hide very well!

Bob and I tried to run over a big bobcat once. Does that count?

No cougar sightings on the Sky, but several back when I lived in Walla Walla.

Mother nature is a wild beast and even though the chances are extremely rare, I almost never go fishing or camping without a sidearm. I have a concealed permit, so I carry a lot anyway, but if I understand the law, you do not need one when hunting or fishing. So if you got em, carry em, as someone mentioned is called peace of mind.

A glock 30 is certainly peace of mind!

Be safe and have fun!!

PS....its not always animals that you need protection from

You guys make me feel that I shouldn't go out in the woods alone any more. As for seeing any cats out there the answer is no but I heard one one time up on Pilchuck Creek up by the lake. It scared me so bad that I left and I haven't been back since.

I forgot about the little one Michael ... it was open then as I later found out, wish I'd had something to bring him home with. Fishgal's always asked about a mount of one

I had a cougar check me out on the North Fork of the Sky by Index.
I saw a bobcat outside Forks.
I surprised a black bear in a creek not 20 feet from me on the Pacific Crest trail.
It's amazing I haven't been turned into a pile of scat by now. Every one of these saw what I was and took off terrified. Couldn't be my looks could it?
They are more afraid of us then we are of them and we aren't good to eat either.

I forgot to ask.....was that cougar trying to find the Rose Bowl?

never seen one in daylight but me and my buddies camped up by the hoko river one night and right before we went to bed some rocks started falling across the river by a hill we were all 14 so we left the fire a little bigger than usual and went in the tent to play cards and after maybe 5 min something began walking around our tent so we yelled at it and it kept walking so we shot holes through the tent with our 22's no blood, needless to say we stayed in our cabin that night. pretty scary. Do you think it was a cougar or bear? Plus im going back this weekend to catch stellies and it is gonna be in my mind the whole time.

I don't wanna preach to anybody,but if your packing a firearm while bowhunting,your breaking the law. I'm sure there's a pretty big fine involved.

Gee, at first I thought Rich G. started the thread ------naw, he doesn't fish the 'Sky'.

My son is a 'bio' and was attending a seminar in Missoula a few years ago.. During the lunch break he decided to check out a nearby mtn. for deer 'sheds'...(early spring) So at some point he looks up and here is Mr. Cougar checking him out at 30 feet --- so he picked up a dead pine tree limb, and as Mr. C twitched his tail and crouched my son slammed the limb on the ground and yelled, only to hav e the limb 'bust' into many pieces!!!!!! Son retreated and cat didn't follow---------My question to son was ---"Where the hell was the Glock I gave you??" (In the truck!!!!!)
Don't kids ever listen to their Dads (he was 30 yrs)??

True story.......

Don't carry a gun for cougars. Carry one for tweakers.
"Carrying a gun is not comfortable, it is comforting."

People ARE attacked and killed by cougar. In an area I fish a person has been killed at the rate of one per year (not all that remote a place either - in fact, one person was killed very near town). I do not carry a gun, but I can tell you that are many times when I wish I did and probably should when I am out fishing, especially in remote areas. How can you fault a guy for legally protecting himself from cougars? In fact, they do stalk people....

About three years ago I was hiking through the woods on a narrow trail to go steelheading. It was still dark. Something let me walk right up on it and then it tore out of there. To me it seemed almost waist high but I never saw it. My first thought was Cougar. Hiking back out that spot had the remains of a seagull ripped to shreads and blood and feathers everywhere on bushes, etc. Maybe it was a Coyote but it seemed bigger than that.

Question for those of you who "pack" while fishing.

As I undrstand you "need" the firearm for safety (a bear or cat might get you).

Do you always wear a life-jacket while wading and/or boating?

Do you always use your seat belt even if just moving just a mile down the road to the next hole?

Do you always scout rapids or blind corners on the river before floating down?

If you don't answer yes to these questions (and others like them) then I think safety may not be your primary concern for "packing". Having fished local rivers for decades and had encounters with a number of cats/bears the few times I have been in life threatening situations have been from careless wading, inattentive boating and driving to and from the river. Sharing my rivers with wildlife (whether bears or eagles) is an important part of my fishing.

Something to think about.

Tight lines
Smalma

I've never ran across a cougar and I don't want to either.

I have had a few encounters with cats!!I live in cat country, we used to elk around all the time until a couple years after the hound ban.We have had them kill a cow elk on our driveway.Also my neighbor had one eat her cat on her stacked firewood next to the house.The game dept came around and told everyone to walk with there kid to the bus stopand how to react if you encounter one.I have a 150lb tom cat on my wall that thought I was a deer!!!!

Smalma,
I carry my pistol all the time because I can. I am licensed. I generally fish with my wife or kids so it is my job to protect them. I am more concerned about 2 legged predators than 4. If you dont think bad things happen to innocent people tune into the news, read the paper, watch cops etc.... Im wondering why you would care?
Mike

I usually see 2-3 cats a year, but never had one come at me. This year during bowseason my partner had a cat at less that 30 yards but couldn't get a clear shot. He was freaked out bad.
I guess if seattle hadn't got rid of hound hunting we wouldn't be seeing so many cougars.

Saw one in the blue creek parking lot 2 years ago. Also saw some turkey in the small field right before you make the turn into the hatchery.

i know theres one that hangs out up by reiter.

TTT

I have fished the upper Hoko for many years and have been stalked numerous times. Being from seattle just a city boy i would hike through the woods by myself at the crack of dawn. I am only 5ft. 7' 150#,and dont make much noise going through the brush. I like to be on the river before it is light and would get close to the river and go into stealth mode as to not spook any fish. 2 years ago doing this same thing i was at the rivers edge bent down to get my gear in order and about 15ft away I hear a huge splash and commotion it was a cougar that had leaped off a tree limb on to a fish that was milling around in real shallow water. I have never been so scared in my life. I have seeen so many cat tracks on the Hoko, Physt,Sekiu, it is alarming to me that they are so abundant in that area. I now carry a side arm each time I go and I do not do the stealth thing anymore, and am in no hurry to get to the river in the morning.

The side arm would probably do you more good in Seattle.

http://tchester.org/sgm/lists/lion_attacks_nonca.html
http://tchester.org/sgm/lists/lion_attacks.html

Ynotfsih
I was not questioning whether you can or even should carry a gun but rather pointing out that in terms of threats to you cougars and bears are not very high on the list.
For additional information refer to WDFW's web site. Included is informationon what to do if you encounter either animal.

http://www.wa.gov/wdfw/wlm/game/cougar/cougar.htm

http://www.wa.gov/wdfw/wlm/game/blkbear/blkbear.htm

There it is reported that In Wshington since 1924 there has been 1 fatal and 4 non-fatal cougar atttacks and for bears 1 fatal and 3 non-fatal.

Bottom line as we stand on the river with a graphite rod in hand we are more likely to be struck by the "proverbial bolt of lightning".

Tight lines
Smalma

Not to freak anyone out here, but I went glo-balling down by BLue creek on the Cow the other night (Wednesday), and crossed paths with a cat. It was pretty dark, so I had a hard time distinguishing if it was a cougar or bobcat, but it was large enough to freak me out a bit...

Good to hear some common sense finally. It reminds me of an article I read a few years ago (when the North Cascades N.P. was under consideration as a grizzly bear recovery area). The author pointed out that, since 1900, there had only been 17 people killed by grizzlies in North America and, to put it in perspective, that more people than that had been killed in one recent year when soft-drink vending machines fell over on top of them. He did add the caveat "of course, a soft-drink machine doesn't rip your tent open and drag you out screaming".

Is the abundance of cougar in washington state a result of the ban on hound hunting? Seems like more and more cats are being sited and have less fear of man.

My wife and I camped at a sandbar on the edge of the Bogey last summer. All night I kept waking up because after we set up camp I walked along the river to scout around and saw fresh cat tracks all up and down the shore right where we had set up. Next morning we found that a cat had entered camp and sniffed around during the night, his tracks were all over. Did a walk around our tent too. Scary.

This site is pretty interesting. . .

http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/science/09/25/coolsc.critters.attacks/

If you are going to pack a gun while fishing, make sure to be on the lookout for Bambi and Fido!

lmao too funny

Bottom line is that people are not kitty food.Cougars do not eat people.I have run into several and have never witnessed anything but fear and curiosity from the critters.My dogs chased up one last year that was flat out huge.I could stick my hand in its paw prints and my hands are pretty big.It was running acros a river flat and the grace and speed was awsome.There was another thread at that time making the gun packers feel good[I am not anti gun I own four and respect your right to carry},and I could not help but giggle because if that kitty wanted to add you to its food chain I do not think you would have a chance to shoot it.They are awsome creatures thats for sure.Had one harrassing our horses one time that decided to talk back when we were chasing it out of the barn.The "meow"made the hair stand up on my neck.