I've been hunting for buckzilla just south of Melbourne,FL. Lots and lots of tracks and I've had one spike buck and four doe's walk right up to me in a ground blind. I hunt right from the house and took a lawn chair (green of course) into the woods. When I want a ground stand I find an area where I think I might see a deer and next the lawn chair in amongst the palmetos. I have unobstructed shooting lanes everywhere but behind me. It seems to work, on two occasions I had deer walk right up to me.

Anyway, I went out this morning (Thanksgiving Day), lousy weather, hot, lots of wind and rain squalls. I decided to hunt and stalk instead of sit in the stand. I came accross TWO sets of large cat tracks trailing deer. I've seen a single set of cat tracks numerous times in many different states but never two sets of tracks at the same time. My first thought was a mother and cub but the tracks were both large and close to the same size, about the diameter of a tangerine. The length of stride was from the end of the barrel of my Guide Gun to the back end of the lever handle. I followed them for about 2 miles before I lost them. The bothersome thing is I lost them about 150 from my house.

I'm going out tonight under the full moon to see what's going on.

That sounds about right for a large Bob Cat. There are Cougar in FL but with a population of an estimated 30-50 animals you would be very lucky to have one in your hunt area. Sometimes dog will leave a cat looking print if their nails are closely trimmed or worn.

Flashhole,
I hunt in North FL (Nassau County) right across the St. Mary's River from the Okeefenokee Swamp. Regardless of what the FWC says about no panthers in Northern FL, they're wrong. We've got them in my hunting club, and landowners around my club have complained to the FWC about them as well. So what you saw very well might have been panther tracks. By the way, your trick of sitting in a ring of palmettos is a good one. I've used it in the past, and have seen many deer up close. My scent blocker suit helped immensely in keeping them from winding me. Those things work!

Haven't seen the cat tracks since that day. I'm certain they were from a large cat and it turns out the people who own the farm at the end of the road spotted one. They have a lot of livestock and it's obvious why they would be concerned. The tracks are unmistakable, I followed lots of them in the Sandia mountains in New Mexico and the Sierra's in California. Never came accross any in WA state but there were reported sightings on a regular basis.

There is a popular rumor that the Pennsylvania Game Commision is importing Mountain Lions into PA to help control the deer population (they are trying to wipe out any sign of deer here) Several people have heard/seen/video'ed them but they refuse to aknowledge that they are here