As the truck warmed up we readied ourselves for the trip. Expecting to be back early, I had agreed to meet another fellow after lunch.  We packed light also, taking only a couple of sandwiches and not much else. Had forgot to take the other snow shoes or even an extra pair of socks. There had been a fresh snow the night before and if we could find a track on top of that white stuff it would be less then 14 hours old and we would have a great chance of catching up to it. The dogs were loaded up in the dark, Anne first. She is a pup that I got from Iowa last summer and is pretty high headed, which means she is more of a lap dog then a hound, but she tries awfully hard so we were giving her a chance. It takes a lot of dedication to follow an old track for hours and then stay at the tree until someone comes. There have been dogs that were at a tree for 3 days before I showed up and man were those dogs glad to see me. They were a friends and he could not make it to them so I went for him. Those pups were committed to what they did best. Miss Sheba was next to be put in the box. Sheba is about 2 years old and is from the old school hounds. When they were created they had long ears, a roman nose, and that hard headed dedicated air about them. She is all hunt, when the hunt is on and this would be more evident as the day went on. I also have Sheba's brother, Creosote, or Cree-o for short, and he is living proof that all pups are not created equal. Somehow he missed the boat. He is scarred to death of his own shadow. The type of pooch that you can't even teach how to come to you because he is so timid. We are hopeful at this point and hope is all we have.

    The old time piece was striking 4:30 when we hit the road and the adventure had begun. Getting out of town went pretty easy as other than a few loggers and a couple of delivery trucks the streets were empty at that time of the morning. The highway going west was the same with a couple truckers already coming in, their first loads already retrieved. Deciding where to go is always a good question. It's hard enough to answer, usually, but at that time of morning one's mind is still not as clear as it should be. I know places where there are at least 5 different lions but which one would we be more likely to cross and where? If we do it just right we can make a circle in the road system and possibly cross 4 of the 5 cats and that would up our chances a great deal of finding one. The first road we took goes though this rock cut in the mountain and comes out the other side at the head end of a small drainage that continues on west. As has happened before there was a track of a small lion of about 80 pounds or so and it must have been one of the kittens we treed in this area last year with their mother. It doesn't have to be, for at that age they travel around a bunch to see if they can find an area of their own. A feline is the type of animal that has a territory, or a home front if you will. So when they are 2 years of age or there abouts the old pussy cat sends them out on their own and away they go. This pad print in the snow is older then the fresh stuff yesterday and even seemed like it had more white stuff in it than that. It came across to me odd because the little booger crossed further up the draw then the regular place the cats usually cross. Didn't think too much about the reason until we crossed the wolf tracks further down the draw and then it dawned on me why the young cat was so high up.

    The temperature lay down in the single digits as we rounded the end of the ridge and out of that drainage and started up the other side and to a spot where we had seen a couple puma tracks  a week or so ago. The luck was not there and as the sun came over the low ridge and flooded the small valley we were on our way again. Several miles now though country which does not have enough cover to hide this tawny creature but further along we arrived at this long drainage which is of more suitable lion environment. All of this country is wild and scenic and beautiful beyond compare, however the putty cats only like part of it. Now I had been to this area twice this year already and where the end of the lake is, there had crossed this young tom a couple of times. Always to old to run but he is in the area for sure and it would be nice to see him today.

 

     Wait a minute hold your horses and stop this truck. Low and behold there is his track coming on to the road right there at the end of this small ridge traveling down toward the lake. Oops, went to far and had to back up a little bit. Ha! can remember backing into this poor guy one day. You Know how it is you get going down the road with your head hanging out the window looking for tracks and all of a sudden you think you see something and your past it, then you slam it into reverse to check it out and this fellow had been following me and I had no idea he was there and wham   backed right into him. Anyways there was no one today but the track was under the snow and so would have been about 36 hours old. OK so we have the prints coming onto the tire tracks but where do they go from hear. There had been a bit of traffic on this road, the lions marks were hidden beneath. As we continued on the search is intensified, us knowing full well that the cat had to go some where. Guess it is just one of those mystery's of life that everything must be some where. Hard to prove though if one is in search of that lost item and just like this story this creature had up and disappeared.

 

     Just have to though in this little tidbit. Had finished this story before but lost it all to one of those great computer glitches and hear I am writing it again. Must not have been good enough I suppose or some thing of that sort so here we are.

 

      Thinking that we hadn't missed the track before, we continued down the road a couple of miles to see where it went. There was another track on further but it must of been where the lion had crossed going up on this side the day before. He came down where we had found him at first but where had he went too. Back down the road we went towards the first track and my mind was reeling. Must have missed the track before we found it. After over 30 years of searching for these allusive animals one runs across some strange things. By the time we got close to the prints, I had derived this plan to take the dog out in the woods and up that small ridge aways and put her on the track to let her run it onto the road and maybe she could help us figure out which way it went. Didn't work, dagnabit, but the dog was loose anyways so we let her run down the road in front of us. Had traveled just a little ways when Sheba started acting like she was smelling some thing. The further we went the more she waged her tale, kept her nose to the ground and was really trying to work it out. When she came to a spot where she stopped and was diligently looking around. Low and behold there was the track going off the road and headed in a different direction then he had been. Wouldn't you know it the day we chase him is the day he up and heads out of the country.

 

     Knowing that the track was old and it already being 10 am I was hesitant to incur rage Sheba to run it. Bobby however was all full of encouragement. Him not knowing of course all the ends and outs of lion hunting and the lengths they some times go. Anyways against my better judgment, off she went, bawling ever so slowly in those long drawn out stories of the sent she was smelling. Saying that this track was old. As the music filled my ears and my eyes could see both her and the track headed across the end of the lake my heart started to ache for the realization, I had forgotten to take the magnet out of the tracking collar. Pour old Sheba might be hard to find. Calling her for a few moments was a frutel act. She was out of sight by now but going in a direction that was accessible by another road so off we went trying to cut her off at the pass. Well it wouldn't be a pass but cut her off none the less. As luck would have it, this time, she was on that road. searching for where the track had left. Just as we arrived she found the track and the race was on. Her after the cat and me after her. Finally caught her a couple hundred yards into the trees as she headed toward the next ridge. As blessings would have it, the capture was made possible by the old track and Sheba going slower then other times. Why I didn't just keep her when I had her, I may never know. But for what ever reason I took the magnet and made my way back to the truck alone. Sheba getting further and further away. What the heck the day was still young . It being only about 11am by this time and a hound was baying in the distance telling a tale of all the secret places the puma had traveled. It was a gorgeous day and at the moment it all looked pretty good.

 

     As she went further up the side of the ridge it was necessary to get ourselves back aways to hear her better. The track led her into a small basin and out of hearing. Driving back down the road the tracker said she was still on this side so we turned  around and drove back up and past where I had caught her to get a better angle. It was fruitless for we lost her completely. Here we go again. Racing back to where we got the last signal, are arrival got her just going over the top of the big long steep rocky ridge and totally out of range. Taking the 9 mile gravel road around the point and up the other side we got her on the tracker again with much relief and the old girl was not that far away, or so it seemed. She was still working where the lion had gone, we were about out of gas and getting fairly hungry also. Thinking we could get a signal on her later we thought we had better get filled up. Off to a little country store about 20 miles away we went. About an hour later, on our return, she was basically still in the same spot. By golly Bobby she must be treed. "Lets go" I said and yes youall probably guess it, off we went. Might not need the snow shoes but took them anyways and thank God we did. Almost an hour later we stood where we thought she had been but no dog and no cat and not even their tracks. Trying the tracker didn't help. She was nowhere around. Knowing she had crossed the ridge some where the tracks would be some where and up the timber ridge we walked. Across a little pass and on top of the next knob we got a signal on her and kept going. This ridge appeared to have lots of knobs and passes all the way up and boy did it look long but with another signal we kept going. The next saddle was where the cat had crossed with the dog still with her. So with new energy we were hot on the trail. The snow was deeper now, so Bobby was trying to wear out the snow shoes and I was trying to keep up.

 

      Wow each knob had us thinking it would just be over the next one and the next one would always produce another. It had been close to 5 hours of walking. I was doing every thing I could think of to keep Bobby going but it was not going real well. Because of the terrain, at times, the signal on Sheba was strong and at the next turn it seemed like she was forever away. another hour found me explaining to Bobby how to get back to the truck. Do you see that light way down there, well the vehicle is about a half a mile to the right of that. If you go to the bottom of the draw you'll find the road and down that road is the truck. You should be there by dark and even if your not you can't miss the truck so just keep walking. I  kept the snow shoes and found the walking much easier. At dark 7 hours of walking later I gave it up my self. There was no signal on my poor dog and it looked like all was lost and it was. Was thankful for the shoes when I turned and headed down. No moon, no flash light, no energy, the trudging was relentless but not endless for the road appeared in the nick of desperation and there was Bobby with a warm truck. Sheba's signal showed she was way way up to the top, when we headed back to the store for more food.

 

     As the warm cab, with the tired hunters rolled back up the road, the signal was much stronger and I knew Sheba was on her way out. Thankful that she had given it up also and not knowing or caring if she ever treed it or not,we snuggled in our coats. Falling quickly asleep in our wait for the hound. It was 1 am when I was awakened by a whining at the door and the realization that it was not just another day.