Sean C. Morgan
When Cara O’Brien of Sweet Home shot a nice four-point buck on the opening day of muzzleloader hunting season, she and her husband Alan erupted in a celebration.
But they weren’t the only ones happy to see a dying deer.
As the buck hadn’t quite expired, Alan O’Brien scrambled to reload the gun so Cara could administer a final bullet. That’s when things really got exciting.
While Alan reloaded, Cara kept her eyes on the buck, she said.
“As soon as I reached for another one, Cara yelled the words no hunter wants to hear,” Alan said. “‘There’s a cougar!’ The cougar was attacking her buck just a few feet from us.”
“She landed on my buck’s back,” Cara said. “I was thinking I need to shoot this thing before it comes after us.”
Since Alan was also on the lookout for bear, he’d brought along a regular centerfire rifle, which was standing against a tree.
Cara grabbed that rifle and opened the bolt to see if it was loaded, Alan said. “I dropped the caps and muzzle loader on the ground. I jumped to my feet and just reacted, scared the cougar would attack.
“I took the gun from Cara and told her to stay behind me. I quickly took aim and shot. I couldn’t get that bolt open fast enough to put another round in the chamber. I shot again and again, three times; and the cougar lay there, still, beside the buck.”
When Cara drew a muzzleloader tag, the O’Briens decided this year was going to be different for them.
Previously, Cara has been more than willing to take the first buck she encountered, Alan said. They both know how fortunate a hunter is to kill a buck, big or small.
“They are all something to be proud of,” he said. “The day before season opened, Cara and I talked about her trying to hold out for a little bigger buck this season.”
They headed into the woods about five miles from Sweet Home on Nov. 15, the first day of muzzleloader season in the McKenzie Unit, which includes all the land around Sweet Home south of Highway 20.
“It was a beautiful, clear and cold morning,” Alan said. “We got to the gate that we planned on hunting right at daybreak. Having my bear tag, I thought I would bring one of my hunting rifles as well as the muzzleloader just in case I was to get lucky and see a bear. We got the muzzleloader ready and set out for a buck.”
With the wind in their favor and pushing bedding areas, they sneaked their way through the reprod and timber, hunting spot to spot and deer calling in hopes of finding the big one.
In the third area they reached, Alan called in a “nice three-point,” but based on their decision the night before, Cara chose not to shoot it. About a mile around the ridge, they reached a bedding area where Alan had seen a lot of deer in past hunting seasons.
“My husband’s good at hunting,” Cara said. “I”m pretty lucky he knows this stuff.”
They hadn’t seen anything other than the three-point and three does, Cara said. They even joked about whether a cougar was hunting and was keeping them all away. Their luck soon changed.
“We found a great spot by an old windfall in the trees, about 50 yards from the bedding area,” Alan said. “So we knelt down, and I began calling. As soon as I was done calling, I heard the brush crunching and the limbs on the ground breaking.”
“He says, ‘There’s a monster buck coming,’” Cara said.
The O’Briens were about 40 yards away when they first saw it in a big brush patch.
“Cara is a seasoned hunter and didn’t need instruction,” Alan said. “She is very patient and waited for a clean and clear shot opportunity.”
“There was a fallen log between me and him,” Cara said.
As the four-point approached the windfall in front of the O’Briens, Cara got ready to shoot. By that point, the buck was only yards away, but too much brush was still between Cara and the buck for a clear shot.
“The deer walked to the end of the windfall and turned broadside,” Alan said. “Cara delivered a 275-grain .50-caliber bullet right in the buck’s shoulder at 20 to 30 feet. The deer hit the ground immediately.”
“My husband was jumping up and down,” Cara said. “I think he gets more excited about me than for him.”
“My wife had just shot her biggest buck, and I couldn’t have been more proud of her accomplishment,” Alan said.
As soon as the black powder smoke cleared, Cara realized the buck wasn’t dead, and Alan began reloading the muzzleloader. With the powder and bullet seated to the breach plug, he frantically opened his pack to grab the percussion caps. Shaking from adrenaline, he dropped the first one.
That’s when the cougar jumped on the deer.
Alan said when he fired the first shot at the cat it growled and attacked more viciously than ever.
After firing shooting the animal three times, he walked over to the cougar and made sure it was truly dead and they were safe, he said. Then he rushed over and picked up a cap off the ground so Cara could finish killing her buck.
Cara said she believes the first shot missed the cougar, instead clipping the tip of one of the buck’s points, Cara said.
“After we took a moment to reflect on what had just happened and took a minute to thank the Lord we were safe, I told Cara I didn’t have may cougar tag this year,” Alan said. “I then called an Oregon State Police game officer. He was a great help for Cara and I, and was thankful we made it out of the woods safely.”
Not wanting the cougar to go to waste, Alan asked the officer if he could take the cat home. The officer explained that it wouldn’t go to waste. He would take the female cougar to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, where a scientist would take a biopsy to determine how old the cougar was and how many litters she has had.
“He also told us she was the biggest cougar he had ever seen,” Alan said.
Cara estimated it at 130 to 140 ponds.
“We would like to give a very special thank you to OSP for being so understanding in what could have been a life-or-death situation,” Alan said.
The unexpectedly exciting hunting outing was just one more event in a big year for the O’Briens.
“My wife and I have been very fortunate to have been safe and successful in past hunting seasons,” Alan said. “Luckily, this season wasn’t any different than the past – 2014 was a very blessed year for us because we had our first amazing blessing added to our family, a beautiful baby boy, Wyatt, born on April 29.”
Cara said her thoughts were on her 8-month-old son, she said, explaining why she grabbed the rifle. “Our son could have been without parents. I just wanted to take this thing because my son needed at least one parent.”
Alan told her, “he needed his Mommy more,” she said, and that’s why he took the rifle and stepped in front.
“In the heat of the moment, we did what we had to do,” Cara said. “I hope to never run across it again. I”m just lucky I’ve got the husband I have and that God was watching after us.”
Alan said their experience should be a word to the wise.
“As all hunters know, the number of cougars is rapidly going up. With predator numbers increasing and the deer population going down, I would like to remind hunters to be extra careful when out hunting and return home safe to their families.”
Cougars are losing their fear of many since they don’t associate humans with dogs any more, he said. “
These types of encounters will become much more common. My hope is by telling this story, more people will realize the growing problem our state faces when a very large predator like a cougar has no fear of people. It is just a matter of time before a hunter, camper, hiker or child gets killed by one of these large cats.
“There is no better time than the present to address this issue.”