Wisconsin Cougar Country?

by: Dan Bomkamp - author & host of "How's Fishing?"

I’ll never forget the day my UPS man came into my sport shop and told me he’d seen a full grown cougar cross the road near Castle Rock while delivering packages. I knew him well and knew him not to be someone who exaggerated. Then a few months later a Grant County Deputy also saw a cougar in the same area. As luck would have it that deputy came into my store to look at a pistol and he told me he’d been within a few yards of the critter as it walked through his barnyard while he was in the barn.

Since then I’ve heard cougar stories from two more people who I know as sane, steady folks who I believe really did see a cougar. The DNR has looked at tracks and said they look like cougar tracks but “there are no cougars in Wisconsin.” Oh?

Now the DNR has released a report that there have been 4 confirmed cases of cougars in Wisconsin based on DNA samples gathered from people who saw the cats. These confirmed sightings have all been more in the north of the state but the closest one was in Juneau County which isn’t that far from here “as the cougar travels.”

Cougars are very secretive and even in real cougar country like the western parts of the USA, the chances of seeing on in the wild are one in a million. The chances of being attacked are even less but it’s still kind of exciting to think one of these big cats could be crouched behind a bush watching you as you sit waiting for a wild turkey or deer. There are some places in our part of the world that are very remote and seldom seen by humans….perfect places for cougars to live and thrive. So next time you hear a branch snap in the woods, look closely, there could be something other than you who is also hunting.