Special Rare Prize
By Keith Hergesheimer

While archery elk hunting this last fall in Oregon, I was doing some cow calls and calf chirps and was standing there listening and had heard a crack out in the timber, so I nocked an arrow, as it was thick timber. About 15 minutes later this cougar came up over the ridge in front of me about 25 yards away, sneaking in real quiet, with his head on a swivel trying to find that calf he heard earlier. It was an extremely windy day, so I was shocked that he heard it from god only knows how far away, as it took him 20 minutes to show up since I called last.

He was slowly walking toward me and about 12 yards right in front of me was a large fir tree and I thought if his head goes behind that I will draw. When his head went behind the tree, I drew and he froze and all I could see were his hind quarters and tail. He stood there for a few seconds and then came around the tree and looked at me. I put my 20 yard pin on his chest and let go. I hit him a little high naturally and he ran about 40 yards and piled up.

He was a nice huge tom and with his summer coat (shot on 9/1) he looks like an African lion. The photo shows a log that he ran over while pumping blood out of his jugular and he died about 3 yards past it. I tried to get a photo of me lifting him up under his armpits, but by the time I hit the self timer and ran over to him and tried to lift him up it would go off before I could get him lifted up, as he was so heavy. So I eventually laid him on that log and took some pictures.