BEND, OR -- Sheriff’s deputies cited two people Sunday evening for shooting at a cougar spotted in Deschutes River Woods. Sgt. Jayson Janes says deputies initially responded Sunday evening to a report of “shots fired,” just after 5 p.m. "Deputies were able to talk to two people who lived in the neighborhood and one of them told them that they’d seen a cougar kill a deer near his front yard earlier in the morning. When he and another neighbor were walking down the street later in the day, there was a cougar hiding in the bushes about 10’ from them. The cougar was acting aggressive towards them, so both of the subjects ended up firing shots at the cougar."

Janes tells KBND News, "Deschutes River Woods is a no shooting zone because there are so many houses and people in the area; it’s not a safe place to shoot." But, he adds, "You do have a right to protect yourself." The problem, he says, was how and where they chose to shoot. "Their bullet traveled and then hit someone’s house and caused damage to their house, so they didn’t have a good backstop."

After the shooting, the cougar ran off. "When our deputies were looking around, they had a report that it was hiding underneath someone’s porch. Then, it eventually came out and was just running through yards, going out of the neighborhood. So, based on the amount of people in the neighborhood and all the people that were hanging out along the river, we decided to contact Fish and Wildlife and use their tracker. And we eventually tracked the cougar and it was euthanized."

Cougar sightings are not unusual in DRW, but Sgt. Janes says it’s been a number of years since they’ve had to put one down because of its actions toward people.

For tips on how to respond to a cougar sighting, visit ODFW's website. 

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