Cougar takes down deer in Michigan's Upper Peninsula

The trail cam footage of the cougar taking down it's prey was captured in Toivola, Michigan in the Upper Peninsula on December 30th 2023. Video provided by Eli Schaefer

[richpaydirt]

I was deer hunting in north Idaho when I was a 15 year old kid. Sitting on a ridge with my back against a big larch tree, I watched a small antlered 3 point whitetail walk into an opening on the hillside below me. I shouldered my rifle to shoot when suddenly a lion came out of nowhere, latched onto his throat like a vise and anchored him right where he stood. Within a minute the buck was dead and the lion dragged him down the hill and disappeared. I was absolutely dumbfounded and spent hours wondering if what I just witnessed was real. I had never seen a lion before and haven’t seen one since but was very fortunate to have watched such an amazing thing happen.

[DoomjayyDoomgaming]

I knew those ads weren't lying! See! There are cougars in my area!

[thisuser]

Thank you for sharing this with us Eli!!!

[jeaninetodd]

My dad saw them when he was a kid in Newberry. He passed in 2000 He was 99. Yup that long age they were up there

[crazycoyote]

Wow thats a once in a life time capture on film!

[lorimayer]

They are in the lower peninsula also. We saw one at our camp just south of Alpena.

[dimitrimansour]

If this cougar was born in Michigan then shouldn’t be on the in danger list here in Michigan and illegal to kill it ?

[cprocess]

I’ve seen one on the seney stretch, just a year ago. “They’re not up here”

[Sean.David.Artworks]

This isn't news to most Michiganders that know the woods here. 😸

[Casandra-zp]

Dear folks over twenty years ago my friends and I all were witnesses to a cougar and a babie near Douglas lake in Cheboygan Mi.

[thomasfarr]

Isn't the story line, "There are no cougars in Michigan"? Must be a house cat!😂

[johnobissell]

Obviously a male cat wandering through the UP since our AMAZING DNR are certain that there are no female cougars and no breeding population in the

[matty]

I spotted a cougar this summer at our camp property, then got it on trail cam a month later. 5 wolves, 1 cat, 3 deer. Sheesh.

[larrybruns]

I wonder why there are not more cougars then there are. With all the deer eat, you would think they were everywhere.

[millertime]

I found cougar prints in gladwin in 2021. Theyre everywhere you arent looking

[KathleenCapasso]

Has DNR admitted the state has cougars after another video. When I called in 09 about a cougar in Mecosta County I was told there aren't cougar in Michigan.

[tchicks]

I was camping near Fox River east... someone I went with saw one leap across the road. We later ran into a DNR officer, yeah they'll admit it in person but for the mass public... "nothing to see here". Lol yeah, they've been up there forever. Check out the displays at pictured rocks :)

[lisabmf]

We have cougars in the upper peninsula?

[alwaysfourfun]

Home range of cougars was everywhere in the Americas and still is where they are not wiped out by humans.

[dimitrimansour]

Cougars are considered native to Michigan but the state's population was essentially killed off by the early 20th century. The last legal wild cougar kill was taken in 1906 in Newberry. According to the DNR, there have been two illegal kills in the Upper Peninsula since 2008.Jun 1, 2023