A 12-year-old girl from Odessa, Texas, has become a star within the hunting community after she reportedly shot and killed a mountain lion while standing just five yards away from it.
Alyssa Caldwell and her father, Joshua, had embarked on a hunting trip to New Mexico, where the preteen’s dad suspected he might help her take down a bull elk. Instead, as Joshua left his daughter for a few seconds to grab some shooting sticks they accidentally left behind, he says he heard a shot go off – and realized Alyssa had shot something much more dangerous, reports Lone Star Outdoor News.
(via Lone Star Outdoor News)
“I asked if she had shot a bull?” Joshua said. “She told me she had shot a cat. He was only about five yards away from her. She thought quick. When I saw how close he was, I got emotional.”
Alyssa says she didn’t hear the mountain lion approaching and only realized he was there when she suddenly found herself face-to-face with the dangerous animal.
“I didn’t know exactly what it was but I knew it wasn’t a bobcat,” Alyssa said. “I raised my gun when he crouched down.”
With one shot to the head, Alyssa reportedly killed the mountain lion on the spot.
“I knew it was stalking me,” she said. “I had a feeling right before that something was watching me. After I shot, I kept the gun on it the whole time. Dad ran back and he thought I had shot an elk. I told him I had shot a cat and he got real emotional.”
Alyssa wasn’t allowed to keep the cat as a souvenir because it is considered a varmint and game wardens had to confiscate it. Two days later, however, the young hunter actually shot and killed a 6×4 elk at 375 yards — which she has kept as a trophy.
