The mountain lion pictured below, was shot on opening morning of Texas’ deer season just outside of Junction in Kimble County. The big, male was in prime condition.

Seeing the picture reminded me of a story that also took place in Kimble County, told to me by O.H. Buck, better known as “Pa-Paw” or “Buck”. In 1971, he was on a deer lease with a group of his friends. The lease was outside of Junction and was located in extremely rough, canyon country. His blind overlooked a canyon and the trail to it wound around the edge.

This particular afternoon he saw several nice bucks, but not the one he wanted. As he told me, “About dark thirty, I rounded up my gear and slipped out of the blind. The moon was half full giving me enough light to safely walk back to the camp house. Rounding a sharp curve in the trail, I came face to face with a mountain lion!”

“Wow, a cougar”, I exclaimed and he continued, “It scared the hell out of both of us! The cat jumped straight up and beat a hasty retreat and I turned around and ran back to the blind. After composing myself, I got out my flashlight and made a lot of noise going back to the camp house.”

Buck, a tough guy, later told me the cat had scared him so bad that he quit deer hunting for the rest of that season.