Dave Swenson has patrolled Utah's backcountry for almost 30 years. During that time, the veteran wildlife officer has seen a cougar only five times.

  And each time, the cougar was running away from him.

  "It's very, very rare to see or come in contact with a cougar," the Division of Wildlife Resources officer says. "Cougars usually go out of their way to avoid people."

  Swenson says cougars are also secretive animals. And they usually come out only at night. While it's very rare to see a cougar, if you do see one, it will probably be in the winter.

  "Deer are the main animal that cougars prey on this time of the year," Swenson says. "In the winter, the snow covers the vegetation at higher elevations. That forces the deer to travel to lower elevations to find food. And the cougars come right down with them."

  Tips

  If you live in cougar country, Swenson provides the following tips to lessen the chance that you come in contact with a cougar:

  * Do not feed wildlife. Feeding wildlife attracts deer and other animals to your yard that cougars prey on.

  * Do not feed pets outside. The food could attract cougars to your yard. And keep your pets indoors at night. Pets are easy prey for cougars.

  * Outdoor lighting and motion-sensitive lighting are a deterrent for the secretive cougar. Lights also make cougars that are approaching your home visible.

  * Keep a close eye on your children when they're playing outside. And bring them in before dusk. That's when cougars begin to hunt.

  * Make your yard deer-proof. If your landscaping is attractive to deer, cougars will follow the deer and stay close to your property.

  Here are three things you can do if you encounter a cougar:

  * Do not run from a cougar. Running can provoke a prey response in the cougar, and the cougar may pursue you.

  * Make yourself look intimidating. Make yourself look big by opening your jacket, and raising your arms and waving them. Speak loudly and firmly.

  * If you have children, pick them up. Try to pick children up before the children panic and run. When you're picking your children up, keep an eye on the cougar but avoid making direct eye contact with the animal. Try not to bend over too far or turn your back to the cougar.

  Here are two things you can do to avoid encountering a cougar in the first place:

  * Hike with other people and make noise. Cougars will not usually bother groups of people.

  * If you're hiking with pets, keep them on a leash and close to your group. Roaming pets are open to cougar attacks, or they could irritate a cougar that's trying to avoid your group. A dog on a leash is also a good warning system that will let you know if a cougar is nearby.

  More tips about how to stay safe in cougar country are available in the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources’ "Living in Cougar Country" brochure. The free brochure is available at: www.wildlife.utah.gov/cougar/pdf/cougar_brochure.pdf.

  "As Utah's population grows, more and more people are moving into areas where wildlife live," Swenson says. "If we're going to move into their homes, then it's important that we learn how to live with them. If we do that, both wildlife and people can have a good experience."

  To learn more about the great outdoor opportunities that abound in Utah, visit their web site at: www.wildlife.utah.gov/

  Melodee Music announces the introduction of the first in a new series of guitars honoring America’s outdoor heritage.

  C. F. Martin & Company, America’s oldest and most prestigious guitar company was the logical choice to produce this guitar featuring America’s favorite game animal, the White Tail Deer.

  Designed and built in the Martin Custom Shop, the HD-28 White-Tail Deer model is a Limited Edition model with the following features:

  * Martin’s classic Dreadnaught body shape with solid Rosewood back and sides along with solid Sitka spruce top.

  * Herringbone top trim and gloss lacquer finish enhance the front of the guitar.

  * The solid ebony fingerboard features abalone “Deer Tracks” position markers along with an abalone “Running Deer” inlay at the 12th fret.

  * The classic headstock features an Indian rosewood overlay with a wood “White Tail Deer” inlay.

  * This Limited Edition model comes with Martin’s Lifetime Warranty and hard-shell case.

  This is the initial offering in this series of guitars featuring all aspects of the outdoor sports. Custom designs and options are available on request. To see pictures and for more details, visit Melodee Music’s web site at www.melodeemusic.com.

  For more information on this or other fine instruments please contact Rick Mock at Melodee Music in Leesburg, Virginia at 703-777-7602 or by e-mail at melmusrick@verizon.net . Visit their web site at www.melodeemusic.com.

  I thought to myself that this hunting trip was going to be one to remember for years to as come as I walked up the half mile long driveway toward the house. You see I was hiking that distance hoping to find my friend David’s father-in-law Clifford home so he could bring his tractor to pull my truck and camper out of a ditch. The time was late last October and the east-central part of Oklahoma I was going to had several inches of rain the past couple of days. In fact it was raining early that morning when I left home and started the eight hour drive to begin my annual Oklahoma muzzleloader deer hunt. It also rained pretty much the whole trip only slacking off once I had entered Oklahoma and turned south on US 69.

  I knew the dirt/rock road going to my friend David’s ranch would be slick so I switched the truck to four wheel drive one I left the main highway. I did alright the five plus miles to the ranch keeping the truck and camper “between the ditches” as the truckers say.

  My biggest fear I had was getting stuck crossing the open field going to the camp site and not having trouble on the roads. I opted to take the direct route up to the top of the plateau, up a semi-steep hill instead of the scenic route up a lesser grade hill and then over a pond levee to the top. I should have known better.

  I could feel the truck struggling slightly as I passed the point of no-return. That is the point where you could easily back down the hill and have room to turn around. But as my dad and grandpa taught me, if you’re going you keep going and don’t stop or you will get stuck. So I kept the truck rolling. I was within thirty or so yards of the top when I felt the truck start to drift to the left. The tires were losing traction as they started skate on the slick mud surface of the road. I tried to steer right but it was no use and the truck continued it’s leftward pace finally coming to a stop as the left side entered a shallow ditch bordering the road. And so there I was stuck like a mouse on a glue trap.

  I replayed the whole thing over in my mind many times as I hiked toward the house to get some help.

  To make a long story short, there was no one home and I finally ran into one of the ranch hands, Kyle who pulled me out of the ditch and to the top of the hill with a tractor. I was finally setting up camp two hours later after first getting stuck. "Always an adventure" I told myself. "It’s got to get better from here." Yeah, right!

  Opening morning found the entire “crew,” Robert, David, Mike, Dave, Brentt, Charlie, and myself, heading out to our honey-holes in the hope of taking a trophy buck.

  Mike didn’t disappoint. He took a nice eight pointer early on. It was his first measurable buck after years of deer hunting. Needless to say there were a lot of back slaps and “Thata-boys” going around.

  It was Dave’s turn the next morning as he connected with a tall tined ten pointer. It was his biggest buck to date. Mike also filled his doe tag that morning. As for yours truly, my luck continued to be stuck in the mud. I saw deer, just never got a shot.

  The second evening I hunted from one of Robert’s stands. I had hunted from it the year before and knew it was a good place. The stand is located about fifty yards in the woods from a hay field where two trails converge into one with several oak trees nearby.

  It was close to four o’clock when I spied two small bucks through the trees playing in the field. They were pushing and head-butting each other practicing for the day when they might have to fight one another for the attention of a doe. It was a little comical when they finally worked themselves next to the fence and one goosed the other in the rear making his buddy jump several feet.

  They then jumped the fence and came straight at me. As they got to the oak trees the one in the lead stopped momentarily and snatched a couple of acorns off the ground and then proceeded along his way. His buddy must have been a bit hungrier as he stopped for several mouthfuls of acorns. Seeing his friend wasn’t going to wait for him he took off at a trot to catch up not wanting to miss any of the action.

  As it neared dusk, I heard some footsteps behind me to my left. From the sounds I knew there were several deer heading my way. As a struggled to turn around and see through the trees and brush they came steadily closer. I then got a fairly good look at them and saw they were all does. "Alright! Time to fill the doe tag," I thought.

  Their steps got closer and I could see that one of them would be coming out in the open to my left so I switched around to the other side of the tree. When I did I must have scraped the stand or something because at that instant the doe stepped into the open and immediately turned and looked straight up at me. I froze! Neither of us flinched or moved for what seemed like a lifetime. She finally caved in and dropped her head. It was time to try and get the old smokin’ stick in place. Before I could get into position I heard a bunch of commotion out in the trees. The does were scattering. I just could make out a couple of deer chasing the does around. I don’t know if it was the two young bucks trying out their dating skills or what. All I know is they chased the does back the way they had came and disappeared. I found myself alone once again. No problem, lots of hunting time left.

  Right at dark a small four point buck came in close. I watched him stop and feed on acorns right in the middle of a shooting lane no more than twenty yards away. He ate there for awhile and then walked around to the other side of the tree to eat. Again it would have been a good clean shot if only he was bigger or a female of the species.

  I watched him go back and forth until I could barely see him in the darkness. I didn’t want to spook him completely out of the area but it was getting darker and my eyes were starting to swim pretty bad so I proceeded to climb down as quietly as I could. He must have wondered off on his own as I never heard him bust out of the area.

  Little did any of us know, things were about to turn soggy.

  Around eight that night we were just about through cooking supper when the sky opened up and poured. From that time until mid-morning on Tuesday, two days later, there was constantly something falling from the sky. Either a little mist to a light shower to torrential downpours. Needless to say the campsite and the road across the field turned into mud holes. Now I was starting to worry about getting out on Thursday.

  We all did what we could to stay dry while hunting the next day and half. No more deer were taken and very few seen. I did see a couple of nice small racked bucks while hunting a ground blind on Monday. Unfortunately they weren’t quite big enough to take but they were close. One of them had some nice tall tines like the buck that Dave had taken on Sunday.

  The next few days I did my best to fill a tag. I had several chances at Bambi while hunting from another blind but I kept trying to get big mama in the scope. They just didn’t cooperate and left before I could get a clean shot. One time I had the mama doe right where I wanted her but couldn’t get my gun barrel through the hole that an arrow had cut in the screen of the blind on its way to its target. The doe and her fawn watched the camouflaged commotion before they took off. After they left I took my knife and was going to cut the hole bigger but the screen didn’t cooperate and I ended up cutting a long slit in the screen instead. Oops! Sorry David.

  The last evening I hunted I went back to the same stand I hunted from on Sunday. I figured no one had been there in a few days so the deer should be as thick as fleas on a dog. It was a do or die situation. Either I would score or go home empty handed.

  Several hours later with dusk approaching I heard some movement off to my left. It was some deer approaching. I couldn’t see them because in that direction there are several big cedar and pine trees blocking the view from that side. They actually help hide you from being seen from that side plus they give a great background you blend into when being seen from the right side, the direction of the oak trees.

  Anyway I kept trying to get a good view of them as there worked their way closer. I wasn’t too concerned because they were going to come into the open right in a nice clear shooting lane less than twenty yards in front of me. I would see them before they saw me and by then it would be too late for one of them.

  My heart pulsed and the adrenaline flowed through my system. "What a way to finish off the trip. Taking a deer at last light on the last evening of the hunt" I told myself. But as always, things went bad.

  Just like the evening a couple of days earlier I heard a bunch of commotion in the woods out behind the deer that were approaching and then the woods came alive with all sorts of racket. Through the cedars and the brush I just could make out a couple of deer chasing the does around and once again they took off the other direction leaving me alone standing in the tree cursing to myself. "No deer for me this trip" I said to whoever was listening. As night fell I climbed down and headed back to camp to lick my wounds.

  It seemed a fitting end to the mud bowl hunting trip. I woke early the next morning and headed out to pack up my ground blind I had left standing next to a field. Back at camp I started packing up feverishly, trying to beat the rain that was in the forecast. I didn’t quite make it as I finished breaking camp in a light drizzle. And then just like the trip started, I drove all the way home in the rain. This time though it was washing away the stench of failure that hung over me not to mention the mud off the truck. Until next time, Jim Bob.