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Amazing! a California,San Francisco Bay Area newspaper running a story like this!
http://www.napanews.com/templates/i..._full&id=A5B5978D-7469-47A3-86C9-3FE8440DAC22
Turkey-hunting teen kills mountain lion
Wednesday, April 7, 2004
By Marsha Dorgan
NVP SERVICES
Andy White, 14, said that for a moment on Tuesday morning, he thought he was going to be the main course in a mountain lion's breakfast. Instead, the 14-year-old St. Helena High School student was able to shoot the cat three times, killing the 63-pound beast on a remote hillside near his grandparents' home on Chiles Pope Valley Road in remote northwest Napa County.
"I was scared to death. It was only about three feet from me. It took a swipe at me with its paw," said the excited youngster, standing next to the bloodied body of the cat. "I thought it was going to kill me. I saw it and just froze."
Jesse Keiser, a Department of Fish and Game warden, said the story offered by White and his friend Hendrick Smeding appears to check out.
"Based on my findings so far, the boys' account of what happened appears to be legitimate and that they were acting in self defense. At this point, there is nothing to lead me to think otherwise," Keiser said.
The ordeal started around 5:30 a.m., Tuesday, when White and Smeding, 17, of St. Helena, got up at dawn to hunt wild turkeys in the rural rolling hills behind the family's homestead.
Dressed in camouflage fatigues, White, armed with a .20-gauge shotgun, and Smeding, with a bow and arrow and a turkey caller, headed out to stalk their prey.
"We started hearing turkeys about a half mile over that ridge," White said, pointing to the hillside opposite from where the lion went down.
"We went over to other ridge. We were sitting down in the low bushes, making turkey calls. There were turkeys in the trees, but about 15 minutes later, they flew away," he said.
That's when the almost fatal encounter happened.
"I turned around, and there it was -- just about three feet from my face -- a real mountain lion," White said, his eyes widening. "It was just looking at me. Then, it took a swipe at me with its paw. I froze. I was so scared, I didn't know what to do."
Smeding also got his first face-to-face brush with the furry creature with long pointed teeth and very sharp claws.
"I was lying down, and the lion was standing a few feet from my head. When I turned around, I expected to see turkey feathers, not a lot of fur. Then I heard Andy say, 'Shall I shoot it?' I said, 'Yeah, shoot it.'"
White said he aimed and pulled the trigger of his shotgun.
Boom -- the cat took a shot to the shoulder.
"I knew I got him, but it didn't even faze him. He just sat there and kept looking at me. He never growled or made any noise," he said. "So, I shot him again in the other shoulder and in the face. He just fell over and started twitching, and then he was still."
Shaking in their boots, the boys put some distance between themselves and the dead cat.
"We stood there for a few minutes just watching him. We wanted to make sure he was dead. Finally, we walked over and kicked him a couple of times, and sure enough, he was dead," Smeding said.
Smeding draped the dead cat around his shoulders, and like a couple of seasoned mountain men, he and Andy hiked back to the grandparents' home.
White called his parents, Colette and Johnny White, at his home on Butts Canyon Road to tell them of his and Smeding's morning adventure.
White's mom said she was startled and somewhat shaken when her son called around 6 a.m., to tell her he had shot a mountain lion. "He was all excited telling how a mountain lion was only three feet from his head. I know there is danger out here. I always worry, but I make sure the kids go in pairs when they hunt. You have to let them grow up."
White's father agrees.
"This doesn't mean I won't let him go hunting again. We live in the country and that's the kind of thing you can expect," he said. "It's all part of growing up in the country."
The boys will not be making a lion-skin rug out of their bounty.
By 10 a.m., DFG's Keiser was on scene to load the cat in a large, green kitty body bag, and take it back to the Yountville headquarters, where it will be examined by wildlife biologists. An investigation into the shooting will be done.
Keiser estimated the cat was a young adult.
"It's illegal to possess any part of a mountain lion. We'll be doing an investigation to see if the shooting was justified, and if so, we won't be filing any case," Keiser said.
Keiser said mountain lion attacks on livestock, although not routine, are not that uncommon.
"But it is extremely rare for them to have encounters with humans. I've been with Fish and Game for six years, and this is the first human encounter I have seen," he said.
Keiser appraised the situation by saying, "The boys were dressed in camouflage. They were making turkey noises, and mountain lions prey on turkeys. The animal was most likely just stalking a natural prey," he said.
Mountain lions are protected by the DFG code. However, there is a clause in the code that allows the taking of the animal if it is injuring property or livestock, or posing a threat to public safety, Keiser said.
Anyone shooting a mountain lion must report it to the DFG.
http://www.napanews.com/templates/i..._full&id=A5B5978D-7469-47A3-86C9-3FE8440DAC22
Turkey-hunting teen kills mountain lion
Wednesday, April 7, 2004
By Marsha Dorgan
NVP SERVICES
Andy White, 14, said that for a moment on Tuesday morning, he thought he was going to be the main course in a mountain lion's breakfast. Instead, the 14-year-old St. Helena High School student was able to shoot the cat three times, killing the 63-pound beast on a remote hillside near his grandparents' home on Chiles Pope Valley Road in remote northwest Napa County.
"I was scared to death. It was only about three feet from me. It took a swipe at me with its paw," said the excited youngster, standing next to the bloodied body of the cat. "I thought it was going to kill me. I saw it and just froze."
Jesse Keiser, a Department of Fish and Game warden, said the story offered by White and his friend Hendrick Smeding appears to check out.
"Based on my findings so far, the boys' account of what happened appears to be legitimate and that they were acting in self defense. At this point, there is nothing to lead me to think otherwise," Keiser said.
The ordeal started around 5:30 a.m., Tuesday, when White and Smeding, 17, of St. Helena, got up at dawn to hunt wild turkeys in the rural rolling hills behind the family's homestead.
Dressed in camouflage fatigues, White, armed with a .20-gauge shotgun, and Smeding, with a bow and arrow and a turkey caller, headed out to stalk their prey.
"We started hearing turkeys about a half mile over that ridge," White said, pointing to the hillside opposite from where the lion went down.
"We went over to other ridge. We were sitting down in the low bushes, making turkey calls. There were turkeys in the trees, but about 15 minutes later, they flew away," he said.
That's when the almost fatal encounter happened.
"I turned around, and there it was -- just about three feet from my face -- a real mountain lion," White said, his eyes widening. "It was just looking at me. Then, it took a swipe at me with its paw. I froze. I was so scared, I didn't know what to do."
Smeding also got his first face-to-face brush with the furry creature with long pointed teeth and very sharp claws.
"I was lying down, and the lion was standing a few feet from my head. When I turned around, I expected to see turkey feathers, not a lot of fur. Then I heard Andy say, 'Shall I shoot it?' I said, 'Yeah, shoot it.'"
White said he aimed and pulled the trigger of his shotgun.
Boom -- the cat took a shot to the shoulder.
"I knew I got him, but it didn't even faze him. He just sat there and kept looking at me. He never growled or made any noise," he said. "So, I shot him again in the other shoulder and in the face. He just fell over and started twitching, and then he was still."
Shaking in their boots, the boys put some distance between themselves and the dead cat.
"We stood there for a few minutes just watching him. We wanted to make sure he was dead. Finally, we walked over and kicked him a couple of times, and sure enough, he was dead," Smeding said.
Smeding draped the dead cat around his shoulders, and like a couple of seasoned mountain men, he and Andy hiked back to the grandparents' home.
White called his parents, Colette and Johnny White, at his home on Butts Canyon Road to tell them of his and Smeding's morning adventure.
White's mom said she was startled and somewhat shaken when her son called around 6 a.m., to tell her he had shot a mountain lion. "He was all excited telling how a mountain lion was only three feet from his head. I know there is danger out here. I always worry, but I make sure the kids go in pairs when they hunt. You have to let them grow up."
White's father agrees.
"This doesn't mean I won't let him go hunting again. We live in the country and that's the kind of thing you can expect," he said. "It's all part of growing up in the country."
The boys will not be making a lion-skin rug out of their bounty.
By 10 a.m., DFG's Keiser was on scene to load the cat in a large, green kitty body bag, and take it back to the Yountville headquarters, where it will be examined by wildlife biologists. An investigation into the shooting will be done.
Keiser estimated the cat was a young adult.
"It's illegal to possess any part of a mountain lion. We'll be doing an investigation to see if the shooting was justified, and if so, we won't be filing any case," Keiser said.
Keiser said mountain lion attacks on livestock, although not routine, are not that uncommon.
"But it is extremely rare for them to have encounters with humans. I've been with Fish and Game for six years, and this is the first human encounter I have seen," he said.
Keiser appraised the situation by saying, "The boys were dressed in camouflage. They were making turkey noises, and mountain lions prey on turkeys. The animal was most likely just stalking a natural prey," he said.
Mountain lions are protected by the DFG code. However, there is a clause in the code that allows the taking of the animal if it is injuring property or livestock, or posing a threat to public safety, Keiser said.
Anyone shooting a mountain lion must report it to the DFG.
