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Jesse's Hunting > Hunting Articles > Tales from our Members > When the Hunter Becomes the Hunted
When the Hunter Becomes the Hunted
Marlon Giese
December 18, 2002
Elk Season was approaching fast. I had received notice about 2 months earlier that I had been drawn for elk in a prime unit in my home state of Arizona. The only problem was that I needed to scout it since I was unfamiliar with the area. During my 3rd scouting trip I had an encounter that I will never forget. This is my story:
The day had started early for me as I had a 2 hour plus drive to get to my elk hunting area. This was my third pre-season day trip to scout the area. My hunting partner, Phil and I were narrowing down the possibilities for campsites and potential spots to hunt from. Our hunting season was only a month away, so we were getting down to one of our last scouting trips. Having hunted, scouted, and hiked for over 25 years I had never really needed a gun unless I was actually hunting. Thinking it was just a bother to carry my 22 rifle, I decided to leave it in the truck. That choice, I would learn later, nearly cost me my life!
During this scouting trip Phil and I wanted to get an idea of the terrain and look for fresh signs of elk in the area. We had parked the truck at the end of a small trail and walked forward about 50 yards to the edge of a canyon. When we got to the edge of the canyon we glassed the area with binoculars for a while and then we decided to split up to explore more ground. We debated about who would go which way for a while and I finally chose to go toward the west and Phil went east. We decided to meet back at the truck in 30 minutes or so. About 15 minutes after we split up, I was walking quietly and slowly looking carefully at tracks and signs on a game trail I was following. I stopped for a second and was thinking about all that I had seen so far, and was trying to decide if I should stay high on the trail along the canyon rim or move a bit lower on another trail when I heard a noise. The noise sounded distant yet close. Almost like the drone of a high flying jet moving closer. The noise was unfamiliar to me so I began to scan along the trail ahead looking for the source. After just a few seconds, I saw a slight movement under a small tree about 40 yards ahead of me. I looked carefully and saw a long tail move in the shadow under the tree. I knew at that moment that it was an animal, and began thinking what it might be.
Matching the sound to animals I have heard in the wild, I thought it to myself it might be a Javelina, a bear, a raccoon or coatimundi, but none of these animals sounded quite right. At that instant, a large Mountain Lion moved out of the shadow. I was shocked, and I knew I was in serious trouble. I was alone and completely unarmed. Now I became the Hunted and this Mountain Lion was the Hunter. I estimated the lion to be about 4 to 4 1/2 feet long for his body and his tail seemed about the same length again, making him 8-9 feet in length overall. All I knew was he was big, moving toward me and he sounded mean!
My first thought was to turn and run. I gave that thought an immediate dismissal since I have seen cougars run in movies and videos. I knew I had no chance to outrun him. Instead, I slowly began to back away from this big angry cat. No Sudden moves, I thought, and I remembered something I had read somewhere a long time ago. As I recalled, the story said you should make as much noise as possible and raise your arms to try to make yourself look as big as possible when your are facing an attack from a bear. I hoped it would work for a mountain lion too. I immediately began to yell "GET OUTA HERE, YAH, YAH, BEAT IT". This tactic had no effect on the big cat's moving toward me. He stood his ground, and kept slowly moving closer. I then raised my arms and pulled my open shirt up over my head, to make my silhouette appear larger than life. As I did this, I yelled some more but the cougar just kept moving closer toward me. Crouched in a stalking posture he was still moving slowly toward me. The big cat was quite vocal too, growling and hissing every second after he spotted me.
Now I was very surprised and getting very worried, even bordering a panic, at the big cat's continued stalk towards me. I expected that he would turn and run when I began yelling but it still had no effect on his stalk. In my many years of hunting and being in the outdoors, I have found that most animals are curious, but they are quite eager to run away when they encounter humans. Just make some noise, and even the really curious ones usually make a hasty retreat. This cat was different. He was bold and completely focussed on me. He kept low to the ground, stalking me, and he was not going to back down.
"WAKE UP… SNAP OUT OF IT" I told myself. This must be a bad dream. From the first time I saw this big cat I was worried, but I just believed (at least early on) that this lion would run away, with a little noise and encouragement from me. Now, he was closing in on me and I was definitely feeling the pressure. Every thought I had seemed to now revolve around the most basic survival choices of "Fight or Flight". Fear is a very powerful force. I had to fight with all of my mind the most basic survival instinct to run.
The big cat kept advancing slowly and showing no sign of letting up. So I yelled and clapped my hands some more. Then I picked up a rock and threw it within a few feet of the cat, which just seemed to make it madder. He was now about 35 yards from me. My own survival instincts still said to run, but I knew that I had absolutely no chance of escaping this cougar since I was in HIS territory and I didn't even know where the truck was. Now I knew that I had to find something to fend this predator off. Looking around for a suitable "weapon" I saw an exposed root from a tree. This tree looked as if it had been struck by lightning sometime in the past season. I saw nothing else anywhere close that would help me, so I decided this was going to have to be my weapon. The root was about 3 inches in diameter and pretty solid. It was attached to the tree too solidly to pull loose on my first attempt. I noticed the lion moving quicker toward me as I bent down, so I pulled on the root a second time and thankfully my adrenaline must have kicked in to help me. The root broke free pulling a 3 foot jagged section of tree trunk with it. I must admit that I did, for a half second think about climbing that tree, but the root seemed more useful, and in the end result I am glad I chose it.
I raised my "L" shaped root as a primitive weapon up at my side. At this point, I began to specifically yell for help from Phil, telling him " HELP… GET OVER HERE… I'VE GOT A MOUNTAIN LION AFTER ME". My yelling for help still went unanswered, except for the continued growling and hissing of the big cat approaching and now only 20-25 yards from me. I continued to yell some more, and slowly backed uphill and away from the big cat on the uneven rocky ground. I was all the while planning what to do if the cat kept coming. The 4-5 ft "L" shaped branch I now had up at my side, poised and ready like Luis Gonzalez from the Arizona Diamond Backs, waiting for just the right moment. I was deciding the best angle to hold the branch so it would hurt the most when I hit him. Making sure I would have no brush or trees in my swing and trying to get good footing. I thought I was done for, so my goal was to make him feel at least feel a little pain before I did. I was determined to get in at least one good whack before the big cat got to me. I took a couple of quick sideways glances to see where I was going and at that second, the lion moved quickly, taking a few fast strides, closing the gap between us to a mere 25 feet.
I still wanted to avoid the battle with this pure predator if I could, so I decided to try one last scare tactic. I swung the branch across the front of me and yelled again something like "YEEEAAAAAHHH" as loud as I could. As the branch "whooshed" through the air I knew I was done for! I was wishing I had taken a gun, a knife, or a radio … or something, anything with me! I thought about how THIS would have to be one of the worst ways to die. Being eaten alive by a predator. I thought of my family and how I would be picked up in pieces off the side of this canyon. A thousand thoughts, or maybe more. Then I thought in my mind among all the other thoughts, a quick prayer which no doubt is uttered by many people in imminent danger. "God help me!"
At that moment, just as I was re-positioning my branch for my next and what I was sure would be my last swing, It happened. The big cat stopped in his tracks. He looked uphill, toward the right and then back at me. Still growling and hissing, he raised up a bit on its back legs and swung his paws at me, but he did not continue to move toward me. I was poised and 100% ready with my branch to give him a solid whack. I was still sure he was going to have me for lunch but instead this big cat moved away from me. Slowly he moved slightly uphill and to the right. I was relieved, but immediately realized he was heading in the same direction of my path back to the truck.
I realized now, as the cougar moved out of sight that my heart had finally began beating again. It pounded so hard that it seemed it would jump out of my chest. Realizing that this Lion had diverted from its intense pursuit of me with less than 15 feet separating us. I kept thinking "I have to get back to the truck, but that lion is trying to cut me off!" My mind raced, and I clutched my branch tight and stayed poised and totally focussed on the fact that I was still being hunted. This cougar was still out there and could be around any shrub or tree, just waiting to attack". I walked up the hill a minute or so and saw the truck in the distance. I covered the roughly 200 yards carefully and briskly looking every direction and every second I was expecting the worst.
As soon as I got to the truck I grabbed my 22 rifle and fired a single shot in the direction of the canyon I had come from. A warning shot for the big cat, and an alert for Phil since he had not answered my yells for help. Just then I saw Phil walking briskly over a rise about 50 yards away from me in the other direction. He knew something was going on, but looked unsure of what the commotion was all about. I found out later that he never heard WHAT I was saying. He had only heard someone yelling and thought it was me since we were the only ones in the area. He said he didn't know what was wrong, but knew that I was in some sort of serious trouble by the tone of my yelling.
We both took our guns and headed down to the spot of my close encounter to see what could have caused the cougar to pursue me. We found the exact spot marked by the root I broke off of the dead tree. From there, we went to the small tree where I first saw the big cat. We looked around but found no evidence such as kittens or a previous game kill to indicate why it came after me. We searched around the area for an hour or so longer looking for more elk tracks, and then moved on to another spot a mile or so away. Before we moved on, I made sure to load my lifesaving branch into the vehicle. It is now on display in my back yard serving as a reminder of my experience on that day.
The following Monday, I called the regional Game and Fish office to report the incident. I learned many things about these predators from my conversation with him. I told the officer John Goodwin that as part of the whole encounter, I could not believe the size of this lions head. It seemed huge compared to his body, almost like a caricature. He said that if I remembered that about his head, and my 4 to 4 1/2 ft. estimate of his body size was close, the Lion would have been a mature adult male, at least 3 - 4 years old and around 150 pounds. Wow, I don't weigh much more than that! I also told him this was the first mountain lion I had ever seen in my 25 plus years of hunting. He assured me that I had most likely been seen by many other mountain lions, but they chose to not be seen by me. Mountain lions are generally solitary animals. They can range 20 square miles or more for 1 lion. He said this lion's behavior was unusual, but my reactions were the correct response to any predator. He told me that if you run from them, it puts them into a total pursuit mode. They sound off with growling and hissing as an intimidation tactic (it worked). Then when you start to run away from them, they will pursue and quickly jump you from behind. Mountain lions he said, will attack the neck of their prey, so if you are ever attacked, you should do you best to stay on your feet, and keep fighting them. He said standing your ground and fighting is the best defense. He also said I was very fortunate that the lion broke off his attack when he did. My thoughts at that point were, "No Kidding!"
1. Take your own lessons from my story. I have some lessons of my own listed below.
2. Never go scouting without a Gun or some other protection.
3. Hike, Hunt, or Scout with a partner when possible. 2 way radios are a great tool. Don't leave them in the truck!
4. Keep your eyes and ears open when hunting, hiking, or scouting.
5. Always expect the unexpected.
6. Ask for help when you need it. (Yell when you really need it.)
7. Learn from the past, and prepare for the next time.
8. ALL Prayers are answered! Even the unspoken ones.
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Mountain Lion attacks on humans are probably more infrequent than many people believe. In the past century there have been only a few reported attacks and in these cases, fatalities are rare. Many of the recent attacks have been attributed in large part to urban sprawl. It is important to remember Mountain Lions are true predators by nature. They typically will hunt deer and elk for food. But when they choose to hunt humans, there is a serious safety concern. Most of the documented attacks on humans have been on smaller frame humans who are alone and in fringe urban areas. The suggestion is these areas are where the cougars are being forced out of due to urban growth. In many states hunting mountain lions is allowed, however other states such as California do not allow any hunting of mountain lions.
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