I confess...

[coaster500]

[89redtruck]

One of the most memorable trips I've had hunting I experienced in my home state of Arkansas.  I had killed my buck the first 45 minutes of muzzle loader season and you could only shoot one deer with a smoke gun in those days.  But I could still take a deer with a bow, and since it was a scheduled 10 day hunt, I had 9 days of bow hunting to enjoy.  
I was walking back to camp late the 2nd morning of season when I saw what looked like deer in front of our camp, probably 600 - 800 yards away.  We were camped just off a gas line right of way and I could see down the right of way for quiet some distance.  Even though I could see for long ways I really couldn't see most of the right of way because it was overgrown with brush & briers and had a rolling type terrain.  It had one lane barely open where a gas truck had gone down it once every couple of weeks.  It was thick enough that you wouldn't want to have driven a nice truck down it.  I knew that I was looking at wild animals by their movement and it was too far from any residence to be domestic animals like farm dogs.  The area I was hunting was some of the roughest in the 250,000 acre WMA.  I stood still and decided just to watch and see what they would do.  As luck smiles on us sometimes, they decided to come my way.  I stepped back into the edge of the trees and watched and waited.  I would catch a glimpse of them every time they came to a high point on the right of way.  So, about every 5 minutes I would see them for maybe a minute.  As they got closer I realized they weren't deer.  Thinking they were big coyotes I still remained hidden hoping to get a shot.  Then they came into view about a 100 yards away I realized they were not coyotes or deer but they were someone's coon hounds that were lost.  I got out from behind the cover but other than that I stood still.  The next time they came into view they were only about 20 yards away and I couldn't believe what I was looking at.  There in front of me were 2 grown mountain lions walking down the middle of that right of way.  There was no cover between us and I knew they had seen me, but they didn't change their course or speed.  There was a shallow swale about 10 yards in front of me and when they dipped down into it I never saw them again.  What a rush to get to see animals that I didn't think even existed in the state.  
AS a side note, the Arkansas fish and game called me the next summer to verify a rumor that I had seen lions.  They said there were a few in the state and took what little info I had.