Twin Cats for Wyoming Sisters

After finding mountain lion tracks around a deer carcass Alexandra, dad, Joe, and Amos take off after the cats with Joe and Amos quickly pulling ahead with their four-legged stride. Alexandra and Dad hear the dogs baying treed after Joe ran into the cave and met the lion, face to face. It didn't take long for Joe to come back out in the sunlight and tell Alexandra, dad and the rest of the world where the cat was hiding.

By Greg Merriam

Crawling into a cave with an angry mountain lion or sliding down ice-covered cliffs while chasing lion hounds sounds like the adventures of grizzled old mountain men, not young ladies still attending high school. Welcome to Wyoming, where Alexandra and Amanda Keeler, two sisters that grew up listening to stories about their mom's hunting adventures, hoped to have similar tales to tell. When they were finally old enough to legally hunt in Wyoming, their dad (who happens to be a lion guide) became their go-to guy.

Alexandra was the first to start hunting lions, but her attempts to catch an elusive cat ended with blowing snow covering the tracks. If you haven't lived or hunted in high mountain winter conditions, you've missed a lot and will have trouble understanding the difficulties of hunting lions when life-threatening conditions and 30-below wind chills are normal. For a young lady, such obstacles add to the excitement when her hunting time can be sandwiched in between cheerleading and school.

As Alexandra gets deeper into the cave her eyes adjust and she can see the cat watching her while showing bright white teeth. Alexandra knows she'll get just one shot to make this work and if it not on the mark the cat may head for the opening in a fury of claws and teeth.

When Alexandra asked about the next day's hunt, "We'll be back early, I have plans tonight...?" Dad answered, "Sure thing. We will check a couple of spots where lions cross." She knew the risks as they headed out with a coating of fresh snow, which made for great tracking conditions. The miles went by and the sun climbed higher, but they found nothing until dad noticed a concentration of birds. When they hiked across the canyon, fresh lion tracks were everywhere.

It didn't take long for Alexandra to find the object of the bird's attention: a freshly killed mule deer doe. Dad looked in the rocks above and got an eerie feeling of being watched. He told Alexandra, "Up above us there are at least two mountain lions, maybe more. If we hurry we can get the lion dogs and be back before the snow melts completely."

When the hounds reached the lion tracks Alexandra strapped on her .44 magnum Smith and Wesson revolver. The dogs barked to each other as they made a swing around the deer kill then headed straight up the canyon wall. One dog, Joe, barked treed not 75 yards above. Dad and Alexandra approached from below the rock where Joe and Amos had cut loose with a baying well know to houndsmen.

Alexandra is all smiles in the mouth of the cave after the .44 magnum revolver had put down the cat 10 feet from the cave opening. She shouts to her dad, "The lion is dead dad, the lion is dead, and I got him with one shot!" Dad could hear it in Alexandra's voice; she sounded very relieved the cat was dead! Dad releases Joe and he immediately rushes in to make certain that his best friend, Alexandria is ok.

Just as Alexandra said, "Dad, something is up there!" a lion jumped off the rock into a small tree. Alexandra reached for her pistol, but before she could shoot, the lion jumped over the dogs and took off. A dog cannot run as fast as a lion for the first 200 to 300 yards, but dogs have a larger lung capacity over long distances. After the first sprint, the dogs can catch up to a cat.

"Dad, I don't hear the dogs," Alexandra worried. Eventually they heard the barking change tone to dog talk for, "I think we got him. Can't see him yet, but we know where he could have gone, he has to be here." When they reached the dogs, both were running back and forth looking above their heads at what appeared to be a solid rock wall.

"Dad, did the cat jump up the cliff?" They soon discovered a cave hidden from view with another entrance immediately beside the first, about four feet above the dogs' heads. Joe jumped up into the entrance, then jumped right back out, bellowing. Alexandra and her dad cautiously peered into the cave and saw the lion crouched back in the darkness. It then moved further back and took a defensive posture, looking much like a sabertooth tiger from a million years ago.

Alexandra and Joe at the Track Drive Argo with the mountain lion waiting for Dad and Amos to load up. The deep snow and drifts make it mandatory to travel on top of the snow since the drifts may be six feet deep at times. The wide tracks of the Argo allow it to climb steep drifts and still stay on top of the snow. A four-wheel drive truck would be too heavy and soon stuck in the cold, windy January environment of Wyoming.

Alexandra knew what was required: She had to crawl into the cave for a clear shot. She pulled the .44 from her shoulder holster as dad gave her earplugs. She slowly climbed into the cave inching her way along to get closer while keeping her pistol aimed at the hissing, snarling cat in case it lunged at her. She took careful aim when close enough then shot. The .44 Magnum went off…and the cat quit snarling. When the dust cleared she backed out of the cave and told dad, "It's dead!"

Mom and 13-year old Amanda were excited when Alexandra arrived home and told the story, but Mom wasn't too thrilled about her crawling into a cave.

When Alexandra left for her dance that evening, Dad told Amanda, "You know, there are a couple more lions on that deer kill. They had eaten a lot and will probably be back tonight."

Amanda asked, "Dad, can I get a lion tomorrow?"

Dad answered, "It is a school day and I'll have to reschedule but let's try it!" They went over shooting the .44 Magnum pistol again and again before setting the alarm for 4:00 a.m.

Deep snow and cold temperatures quickly drained energy from the dogs and the hunters. Steep slopes and deep valleys provided slow, treacherous climbing as they followed the dogs. Just when Amanda felt she had used up all her energy the baying changed everything. Joe howled and Amos bayed as the woods filled with the sound of excited dogs on a hot trail.

Up in the mountains it was 10 below when they climbed up to the deer kill, and the first rays of sun were peeking into the canyon when they turned the dogs loose. The hounds made a big circle then filled the canyon with baying music but instead of going into the rocks like the day before, they ran down the canyon wall, then straight up the opposite side headed onto the north side of the mountain.

Up the mountain Amanda climbed, sometimes hearing the dogs, but mostly just hearing her heart thumping and the deep breaths the thin air required. At an altitude of 8,000 feet, climbing in deep snow was about all the fun she needed that morning. Eventually she and dad reached a hidden canyon that ran back down into the same drainage they had worked so hard to climb out of. The tracks of both lion and dogs could be seen where they went over the edge of the slippery rocks heading back down the mountain and Amanda asked, "Dad, we don't have to go there, do we?"

Just then they heard the dogs again and Dad yelled, "Let's go Amanda. It sounds like they're fighting the cat." They found a suitable place to climb down and Dad held Amanda's arm as tight as a father could while lowering her one ledge at a time. After they made it to the bottom the dogs ran past them but above their heads on the cliff they had just descended. The cat had led the dogs over the top, so away they went again, and after a 5 ½-hour struggle, they came to where Joe and Amos were barking treed. The cat had traveled over the mountain top and eventually treed on the south-facing slope.

The cat watched as Amanda approached and she knew not to mess around. She pulled the .44 Magnum from her shoulder holster and took aim. She fired, and the cat instantly fell from the tree dead. "Amanda, you got it with one shot," Dad said.

"I know," she calmly replied. "It's just as big as Alexandra's!" The youngest daughter had gotten her lion and now had her own hunting story to tell.