Cougar hunt :) (20140207) A walk with Bruno out at the Cross

Well this is the easiest time of year to find out where the big cats are hanging out. With lots of fresh snow, it is easy to find where the Cougars are traveling. It was cold and breezy (-34 C), so we walked with the wind starting @ 7:30 a.m.
We were not seeing any wildlife, but we did spot sign. There were deer and elk tracks around and we found this wing sweep in the snow.

As we walked the creek bottom we found many cougar tracks. Then we found this drag mark where a cougar had killed a deer and hauled it off the hillside to the other side of the creek.

This portion of the trail was easily 100 yards or more. Here is a shot where the big cat changed direction by 90 degrees.

That trail is 10-12 inches deep with spots that are 14-16 inches deep.  It would appear that this is mom doing the work as there are tracks on top of the drag marks that would represent a kitten following the meal on its way to the table.

We followed the "trail" for a little while, but decided to stop at the creek. The trail was about 2-3 days old, but a great find for us.  As we descended the Pine Creek hill down to the Aspen tail, we found more evidence in the form of tracks. It took us almost 5 hours to do the loop which is much longer than normal. I was exhausted and strain my knee pretty severely. It was good to get home and into a nice hot shower. I am hoping my knee holds up for our next scheduled walk next Friday.
Turbo