There's just something about an after-dark hike back to the truck down a cold, lonely canyon that makes your neck hairs stand straight up. The anxiety-induced adrenaline bursts from every predator-shaped shadow are addictive. I've only ran into bears a couple of times in the woods and have yet to encounter a cougar while not in my truck, but it's not uncommon to hike a dusty afternoon trail back to camp and see bear or cat tracks on top of your morning footprints. That was exactly the case here, (click the pic to enlarge if you need).
On my last Utah elk hunt before moving to Nebraska my buddy and I spotted these old claw marks in the bark of an aspen tree.
He's from Mississippi so he thought it was the coolest thing. I didn't understand what he was feeling until I hunted this year out here in Cornland where the most vicious animal you'll encounter on the three minute walk down the dirt road back to the car is the farmer's drunken daughter making out with her boyfriend in the grass. Well... you might see a bobcat if you're lucky, but it's just not the same adrenaline rush.
The truth is human encounters with mountain lions and black bears are very uncommon, and usually end with the animal scared and fleeing the scene. Still, it makes me feel like more of a man carrying a gun "just in case".
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