Hunting Forum

Something interesting occured while I was still hunting the first week of the Muzzleloader season. I was in an area I hunted with my dad when I was a kid (36years ago). It's north of Palisade in Aitkin County. I was drawn for a doe tag in that it was a lottery area. I had already got two deer during the rifle seaon up near Bagley and gave the meat to family, so I was looking to fill my freezer now. This area is thousands of acres of state land and it is tough to get into. There's always deer in there, so I thought I was into a sure thing. I even saw three deer just driving in. I parked got the Flintlock out, and thought I'd stalk a bit, look for sign and plan my afternoon hunt based on what I found. About 3 hours later and just inside a spruce swamp, I took a break having not seen any tracks fresher than 2-3- days. I decided to try a different area. I backtracked and went on a different course not far from where I had parked my truck. About a mile later, I saw fresh tracks just a few hours old. But they were not deer tracks. At first glance I thought it was a bear, and I wondered what had gotten it up out of bed. As I continued I studied them a little more, and saw that the hind foot was the same as the front foot. about 4-4 1/2" in diameter. I ruled out wolf, because there were no claw marks. I continued my stalk, for about another mile, (the tracks were headed the same way I was) when I realized what was going on here!!! It was a cougar, and a pretty big one. I could even see where it's tail hit the snow even so often. That explained the lack of fresh deer tracks. I figured it would be a waste of time to hunt there any more. So I headed back to the truck, and decided to hunt somewhere else. I stopped a the gas station in Palisade and talked to the lady there and she confirmed the was a big male cougar in that area and several people had trail cam pictures of it. I was kind of bummed out, but glad I was safe, and hadn't ran into the rascal that barfed up my hunt. Not something I'd be particularly eager to deal with.Armed only with a Flintlock rifle, Kentucky pistol and a skinning knife. At the same time I am glad I got to see those tracks. It's something I have never seen before. And it's a hunt I'll never forget. I guess it's true, you don't always have to have a successful harvest to have a successfule hunt.
Maybe I can con some backstrap from my family?

Jimmy, I'm guessing that you didn't have a tape measure to actually measure the tracks. 4 1/2 inches isn't that big for a Cougar, but would be huge for a Lynx. The final tell for you was the tail tracks in the snow.

We had a big cat cross our property a few years back. I contacted the DNR wildlife specialist in Cloquet, and sent him some pics of the tracks. According to his books a Lynx track should be around 4 inches, and a Cougars should be 5 inches and up.

Without an actual sighting all we could conclude is that it was a monster Lynx, or a young Cougar.

According to the DNR there is no established (breeding) population of Cougars in Minnesota, and the sightings are transient animals. With Cogar sightings on the rise in recent years, many are starting to doubt what the DNR is saying.

Here's a pic of the tracks I found

Well I didn't have a camera or tape measure with me. The tracks were actually between 5 and 5 1/2". I was being conservative because the tracks were in snow. I took an inch off because of that. Anyway I'm pretty sure it was a cougar.I looked up the tracking information in Peterson's Field Guide and they put the average adult Cougartrack at 3" x 3". So that puts the tracks I saw pretty close to correct. The only time I've seen Lynx tracks is when they follow the Snowshoe Hares into a fresh timber cut. I'm pretty sure that's the main food source for Lynx. And as you pointed out, the tail drag wouldn't appear in a Lynx track either.

I don't know if you heard but a family had a horse attacked last summer south of Aitkin. It was confirmed by the Vets AND DNR as a cougar attack.

Also a few years ago, a young male w{1}**** and killed by a car up by Bemidji, The DNR conducted a DNA test on that one and concluded that it was from the North Dakota Badlands area.

Anyway, we all have our place in nature, it's just kinda creepy to think you may be hunted as much as you are hunting.

Yup, that is a bit of a scary thought with Cougars, there are many recorded Cougar attacks on humans. And they're stealthy enough that no matter how well you're armed, it may be too late to react if they're stalking you

At least the DNR admits there are cats in MN now. When we first started seeing tracks and cats back -- years ago they wouldn't admit they were here.