KUDOS TO TACTICAL NIGHT VISION COMPANY

Yikes, going to have be be more careful out at night!



Florida%20Panther.JPG
 

I don't think that's a Florida Panther, or is it?

The excitement level of calling down there just pinged the needle way over.
 
It certainly is a panther and likely what is now called a Florida Panther but IIRC we imported a few Texas Panthers a few years ago because it was thought the Florida Panther was nearly extinct... So although it's certainly a panther, puma, mountain lion, or whatever you might want to call it, it may not technically be a "Florida Panther"....
https://www.fws.gov/refuge/florida_panther/wah/panther.html

Florida is covered with them now and there have been quite a few spotted in the panhandle of Florida. I personally have actually seen two and have seen numerous game camera photos of them taken locally around here. The FWC doesn't want to admit how many there actually are because they get a lot of money to manage "endangered species" and other species that are "threatened".

It's kind of like the bears. Any hunter that spends very long in the woods in Florida knows we're infested with them but FWC will never admit how many we really have.

I'm on a 1,000 acre lease here near Tallahassee and since the beginning of the year my game cameras have captured pics of 5 different bears for sure and some of the hundreds of pics I have are probably of more bears that aren't readily recognizable as different bears than the regular two sows with cubs and the 3 different boars I get pics of several times a week.

Yes... We can all get lulled into a false sense of complacency and assume that we're the top of the food chain, and we certainly are as long as we're properly armed and aware but then not many of us are as alert and aware as we should be. There have been many times that I've been walking back to my truck after dark at the end of a long afternoon of hunting and had chills run up my spine thinking how easy it would be for a bear, panther, hog, coyote etc. to jump me when they could easily see me and smell me and how vulnerable I really am. Getting a rifle into play when you're jumped from behind in the dark could be a bit of a challenge. LOL



 
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We have quite a few black bears too, although I have not run into one at night yet.

My biggest worry at night is a pack of wild domestic dogs, they are super dangerous and have had to shoot a couple of them up close and personal.
 
Wild domestic dogs are some of the worst possible problems. I don't have any on my hunting lease I'm on now but there used to be a few on my lease in Georgia and they were quite aggressive and had no fear of us. We had to shoot a few of them and they killed several calves a local farmer had.

On the farm I was raised on we had to kill a few dogs every year or they'd kill all our chickens. When domestic dogs are turned loose they're rarely good hunters and have to prey on livestock and can be quite a problem.

I carry a Glock Model 20 in 10mm for critters that I'm not usually hunting. Human critters can also be a problem but they act so differently when they see the Glock on my hip. It's no secret that a hunter usually carries a lot of valuables and often cash so they're easy targets for criminals if they don't carry their firearm with them all the time.

I'm not afraid at all but I don't like to be outgunned and out in the middle of nowhere and running into people that may be growing pot or hiding out and see you as an opportunity to get transportation and valuables easily is a possibility.

In Ocala National Forest I ran across a fugitive in the late 70's that had escaped prison and ended up alerting a game warden of his whereabouts and he was handily captured. I was hunting and he appeared out of nowhere and didn't have a pack or a gun and I had serious doubts about what he was doing out there. Every time I didn't have my eyes directly on him he would try to get behind me. I guess I'm not a trusting soul and would have easily been fair game for him hadn't I been so suspicious.

Frankly your chances of being hurt or killed by wildlife or dangerous characters out in the wilderness is way less than when you're in "civilized" areas but caution is always advised. If your instincts tell you something isn't right or safe it usually isn't.
 
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