Former Broncos DE Derek Wolfe found himself in hot water (with idiots on Twitter) this week after he revealed that he killed a massive mountain lion near his home in Colorado.
The former Super Bowl champ had been hunting a mountain lion since Tuesday in Colorado, after he had gotten a call that the creature had been terrorizing a rural neighborhood in the city.
This particular cat had killed two dogs in the area, and they were fearful that he could easily be looking for more easy kills. And when it comes to your pets, even big dogs, mountain lions ain’t nothing to mess with.
They are elusive predators, that are one of the best and fastest killers in North America. They strike quick, quiet, and hard, going straight for the kill zone.
A big one will generally weigh around 175-pounds, although they can be well over 200 in rare instances. They eat anywhere from 8 to 12 pounds of meat in a day… that’s a lot of neighborhood dogs.
So, Wolfe set out to put an end to the killings and terrorizing, and sure enough, he got the best of the ginormous mountain lion.
He explained in an Instagram post:
“Late Tuesday night I got a call from Hunt Nest to see if I wanted to stalk a giant Tom (male mountain lion) who has been wreaking havoc in a rural neighborhood. He had already killed two of her dogs and was living under her porch, nervous what he might do next.
We found a fresh 4×4 mule deer he had just killed. We hiked straight up 2500ft and down the other side, then back up again, back down the other side and then back up again to 9600ft.
Exhausted, dehydrated, cramping I drew back my Hoyt bow and sent an Sevr Broadhead through him.
Then I had to crawl backwards down the mountain with him to get him to the truck I fell 10ft off a rock face on the way down lol. Any guess how big this thing was?”
Needless to say, it was a hero move by Wolfe, because who knows what more damage the mountain lion could’ve done.
Much respect.
And for the haters, this kill was completely legal under Colorado state law.
According to TMZ, Wolfe, who is an avid outdoorsmen, followed all of the required procedure:
“Wolfe did all that was required of him in order to lawfully take down the big cat in Grant.
According to the CPW, Wolfe obtained his mountain lion hunting license and is ‘in good standing’ with the org. It also said Wolfe checked all the boxes necessary — such as properly reporting the kill — to make it all above board.”
He also explained how mountain lion hunting helps animal conservation during an interview The Drive podcast:
“He was hiding under this lady’s porch down the road. She told us, ‘Please get rid of him. He killed my dog last year.
I love hunting deer and elk, and mountain lions kill deer and elk, and mature male mountain lions kill the cubs of female mountain lions to get them to go back into heat.
I feel like I am doing my part by taking care of some of these Toms. It is not easy.”
Well said… that’s why they issue a certain number of licenses each year.
He also took the near 200-pound mountain lion with a bow, making the accomplishment all the more impressive.
Utah Hunter Survives Terrifying Encounter With Mountain Lion
Yep, this is a nightmare lived in out in real life.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that mountain lions are incredibly vicious creatures, and if they’re indigenous to the area you live in, you have to be aware of them at all times while in a heavily wooded area.
Although their diet relies on deer, mice, squirrels, rabbits, skunks, porcupines, and hell, any creature that’s smaller than them really, don’t get it twisted…
They’re not afraid to prey on humans if they feel threatened in any way.
That’s what makes this video that much more nerve racking.
Laurien Elsholz was hunting near Rush Valley in Tooele County, Utah, when she found herself right in the company of a mountain lion.
She posted the scary encounter on Facebook, and you can see the mountain lion following her, until it finally ran off.
Elsholz recalled the terrifying encounter on the post:
“My biggest fear came true today. I am so lucky I got away from this kitty. We were hunting and I smelt something dead then I heard crashing and felt something grab my leg.
I was shocked to see it was a mountain lion I hit her with my hiking stick and she backed up I was trapped behind thick trees I didn’t wanna turn my back to her I finally found a way out of the trees and she followed us for a little bit then ran off.
I am so lucky To have walked away alive.”
Nope…
She also told FOX 13:
“It’s one of my worst fears out in the woods. I just never thought I would ever have an encounter that close.”
Once she hit it with a stick in a final effort to get it to leave, the mountain lion finally backed off:
“I was terrified. I went into shock and the adrenaline was very high. I’m just happy that I made it out safe and that nothing worse happened.”
Needless to say, this is a situation nobody would ever want to encounter.
Idaho Elk Hunter Fires Shots At Attacking Mountain Lion
This is not for the faint of heart.
I’m not sure if there’s many more terrifying situations on this planet, than being face to face with a dangerous creature in the wild, and being unarmed.
All you can do is pray that the creature doesn’t attempt to attack, and if it does, you’re pretty much dead meat, because you ain’t gonna outrun a bear or mountain lion. Nor should you try…
I can’t imagine the thoughts going through one’s head in a situation like this, and it’s something I hope I never encounter at any point in my life.
With that being said, a heart-pounding video has surfaced of an elk hunter in Idaho, that recently came face to face with a mountain lion, stalking behind him in the high grass, ears pinned back and ready to attack.
As you can see in the footage, the mountain lion is sitting only a few feet from elk hunter John C. Erickson.
He points his .40 caliber Glock 27 at the dangerous creature and slowly walks backwards, but the mountain lion continues to slowly follow.
You can hear him say:
“Get back!”
You can hear the nervousness in his voice, and he’s breathing heavy, so you already know that he’s terrified (as he should).
Once the mountain lion begins to speed up in his direction, he fires the first shot, appearing to barely miss the creature as it darts off backwards a few feet.
However, it appears it wasn’t enough to scare it away completely, so Erickson fires another, which seems to be enough to keep the mountain lion away for good.
Erickson discussed the terrifying moment with Field & Stream:
“That video was about the last half of our encounter. The mountain lion had been stalking me for about 30 to 45 seconds before I got my phone out. That was my first confrontation with a predator.”
Terry Thompson, the regional communications manager for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, told the outlet that it appears the mountain lion was easily in attack mode:
“We haven’t had any attacks in Idaho for years. This (cat) looks like it’s kind of in stealth mode. That’s not a good sign. It’s in effect stalking him. It could have kittens back in those conifers and aspens in the background, but you’d never know.”
Needless to say, the situation could’ve been much worse.
