On the prowl. The 2-year-old male, weighing 128 pounds, apparently was hungry and intent on prey. No deer around? How about a hunter? With huge back haunches, cougars can run 70 mph. The fastest human being record, Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, did the 100-meter sprint at 24 mph. Image: Wisconsin Natural Resources Department
Hunter says big cat ready to lunge
ALMA, Wis. – An Eau Claire bow-hunter shot and killed a cougar that he was sure was stalking him in the woods in northern Buffalo County – the first cougar shot in the state in 115 years. Although cougars are an endangered species, the county attorney, Tom Bilski, took the advice of the state Natural Resources Department and decided not to prosecute. The incident occurred November 11. The hunter, Ben Karash, said he had been in a blind up a tree most of the afternoon waiting for a deer. Then he caught movement in a narrow field where he had placed a deer decoy. He told the magazine Outdoor Life:
“At about 3:45 I looked to my right and about 40 yards away I saw movement that I assumed was a deer. Then I saw the cat-like face staring at me and thought it was a big bobca — they’re not uncommon here. Then I saw the huge body and long tail and realized it was a cougar. I could see it was sneaking up on me, staring right at me with its tail swishing back and forth. It would crouch and hide, then start creeping toward me again, always with his eyes on me. There never was a minute in the whole episode when he wasn’t coming toward me. I think he saw the deer decoy first, then saw me moving in the stand and started concentrating on me instead. I was strapped into my harness, so my movement was limited, and since he was to my right, I had to turn to face him. I waved my hands and yelled at him to get out of here, but he kept coming. The carabiner on my safety harness even banged against the tree stand when I turned, but that didn’t bother him either, he just kept sneaking closer.”
At 13 yards Karasch fired the lethal arrow and struck the cougar in a shoulder. Karash reported what happened to the state hunters hotline in Madison. The next morning Karasch met with two game wardens and a biologist near the stand. They concluded the shooting was self-defense.
Buffalo County. The state wildlife agency didn’t identify where it was in Buffalo County that he cougar was shot. The county comprises 738 square miles. The western border is the Mississippi River from Nelson to Alma, Cochrane, Fountain City and Marshland. The county stretches 40 miles inland. Interior communities include Cream, Gilmanton Mondovi and Waumandee. The county is the sixth least populous in Wisconsin with only 13,000 people, which gives rise to the wisecrack that there are more deer than people. Probably not quite true.
Cougar-tracking
The DNR took possession of the cougar carcass. Biologists plan a full necropsy to determine where the cougar came from. Although a native Wisconsin species, cougars were wiped out by farmers early 1900s. In recent years, the state wildlife agency has verified 15 to 20 sightings. State biologist Mark Rasmussen said that Karasch’s cougar likely was one picked up on a few days earlier. The animal probably came from the Dakotas or Canada, like other cougars sighted in recent years in inWisconsin , Rasmussen said. This year there have been 23 verified cougar sightings in the state, but many may be the same animal. Cougar longevity in the wild is about eight years. They wander for a lifetime, sometimes ending up 1,600 miles. from their birthplace. Males travel than females. It isn’t believed any females are in Wisconsin.
Verbatim
Karasch: “I’ve hunted deer since I was 12 years old and most of my shots have been at about 20 yards. This cougar was half that distance away. All these thoughts are running through my mind, I felt extremely scared and vulnerable at that moment with the cat still staring at me. I could be in serious trouble if the cat lunged up the tree. With how close the cougar was — and his lack of fear even though I tried to scare him away — I felt like the only option I had was to shoot.”