Is Travis the Chuck Norris of the colorado BACKCOUNTRY?
“When the strikes to the back of the mountain lions head didn’t faze it, I knew was fighting for my life”…
(credit: Colorado Parks and Wildlife)
Travis Kauffman, 31, of Fort Collins, Colorado was attacked by the juvenile mountain lion at Horsetooth Mountain Park.
On February 4, he headed out for a run on the park’s trails around noon. He ended up on the West Ridge trail because of the icy conditions of the other trails in the area… and that is where he would have to fight for his life.
About a ¼ mile down the trial, he heard something behind him and turned around to see a juvenile mountain lion about 10 feet from him. Travis started doing his “Barbarian Yell” as the mountain lion moved toward him.
The mountain lion jumped on Travis and he put his hands in front of his face to protect it. The mountain lion then locked on his right hand and wrist with its powerful jaws.
Travis said he moved from a “fear response to a fight response” as he fought with the mountain lion.
They tumbled down a slope and the cat was still locked onto his hand and wrist.
He managed to get the cat on his back and pin down its hind legs with his left knee, he tried stabbing the cat in the neck with sticks but the sticks were rotten and kept breaking with every futile stab.
He tried hitting the mountain lion in the back of the head with a rock but he was at a bad angle and had to use his left hand to make the strikes. (Because he had a mountain lion chewing on his right hand.)
“When the strikes to the back of the cats head didn’t faze it, I knew was fighting for my life.”
The mountain lion continue attacking him, clawing viciously at his face, arms and legs.
Travis was able to shift his weight and step his right foot on the mountain lions neck, eventually suffocating the cat.
Travis stated… it was an “eerily quiet attack, there were not any cat noises or growls from what you would expect from being attacked by a mountain lion.”
“My biggest fear… was if there was another cat because I knew the cat was young and I was concerned the mother was still around.”
“I was concerned… I might not make it when I was hiking out because of all of the rock over hangs on the trail. It was perfect cat territory.”
He ran three miles back to the trail head and on the way down he ran into a stranger running up the trail, “Spencer.” Spencer ran with him to the trail head and kept him calm.
At the trail head, two strangers “Rachel and Noah” helped him out. Rachel drove him to the hospital and Noah drove Travis’s truck to the hospital.
Travis had more than 25 facial stitches and 3 wrist stitches but no broken bones or tendon damage.
(credit: Colorado Parks and Wildlife)
What’s the future for Travis… he said he will run the trails again but he’ll do it with a buddy and he’ll “potentially bring a knife in the future.”
Travis’s Survival Tips:
- Beware of your surroundings when you’re out in nature
- Don’t wear ear buds – enjoy the sound of nature. Plus, “you don’t get smashed by mountain bikes and you will be aware if a mountain lion is trying to attack you.”
- Watch the hind legs of any cat. If you ever have to pin down a mountain lion, “their back legs can go crazy and can claw you and possibly get your guts and groin area.”
- Stay calm – if you can
Is Travis Kauffman the Chuck Norris of the Colorado Backcountry?
Travis stated… “I’m sure everyone is disappointed that I’m a small guy and not a big guy like Chuck Norris and I’ve never really been in a fight before.”
“The only self-defense I do is Insanity Workouts, where they do power strikes, thanks Shaun T.”
(credit: Beach Body, Insanity, Shaun T.)
(credit: Colorado Parks and Wildlife.)
Travis Kauffman may not think he’s the Chuck Norris of the Colorado Backcountry but we think he’s has true grit and without a doubt is a gritty man.
Not just because he fought off an attack from a mountain lion and killed it in self-defense. (Which is gritty as hell!)
Because he is a man which loves the great outdoors, he has the grit to survive and he was so humble during his press conference.
And you can tell he’s a guy you would love to go on a hike with and grab a beer with afterwards.
Great job, Travis Kauffman and stay gritty!
Tell us… what you think… is he the Chuck Norris of the Colorado Backcountry?
