In Idaho, a 42-year-old guy was hunting elk when a mountain lion emerged from the woods and began to pursue him.
Calvin Erickson, a resident of Paradise, Utah, located just south of the Gem State, was fortunate to survive the encounter with the lion that required him to fire his revolver twice.
After the second shot, he was able to frighten away the mountain lion, which retreated into the bush.
Erickson drew his weapon and phone from his pocket. He videotaped the cat with his left hand as it walked menacingly toward him, one sluggish stride at a time.
In Idaho, 42-year-old Calvin Erickson was hunting elk when a mountain lion emerged from the woods and began pursuing him.
Upon witnessing the large cat, Erickson retrieved his firearm and phone. He videotaped the lion with his left hand as it moved menacingly toward him, one sluggish stride at a time.
Erickson has a Glock pistol in his right hand, aimed at the lion in case it decides to attack.
On the footage, Erickson’s heavy breathing can be heard as he moves backwards with the rifle in his hand.
He could be heard warning the lion, “Retreat!”
Once the lion is around 20 feet distant, it lurches forward with both of its front legs extended.
At that precise moment, Erickson fires a shot with his right hand while holding the gun in his left.
Uncertain if it was a warning shot or Erickson was shooting at the cat, the animal dashes a few meters before turning around to confront Erickson again.
Erickson then fires a second shot, prompting the lion to retreat sadly and seemingly unaffected by its near-death experience.
The second shot fired by Erickson causes the lion to retreat dejectedly and seemingly unaffected by its near-death experience.
Erickson published the left-handed-filmed video of the incident on Instagram, where it has received 25,000 likes in less than a week.
Not what I expected when I went elk hunting,’ he captioned the image. Good thing I was prepared!
People commented on the video on how fortunate he was to have the rifle and survive.
Mountain lions are widespread throughout Idaho. Game agencies believe that between 20,000 and 40,000 mountain lions inhabit the approximately 300,000 square miles of forest in the western states.
Mountain lion assaults are uncommon and rarely lethal. In North America, 27 deadly mountain lion attacks have been documented.