The guide, the dog handler, 6 blue tick coonhounds, and a tom mountain lion were a hundred yards ahead. The barking grew louder, different, excited. The cat was treed.
I swung the tripod from shoulder. I found the large tom in the crook of a branch. I prepared for my shot.
I was winded, shaky.
“Take your time,” the guide said.
It was a beautiful creature—muscles rippled, tawny fur, piercing eyes. I took a breath and fired.
It was the best photo I ever took.