Gary Penrod was out for the late whitetail buck hunt in Washington's Pend Oreille County last month when a mountain lion caught him with his pants down.

The Nine Mile Falls sportsman rallied to the moment, rendering a once-in-a-lifetime memory from the daily duty of answering nature's call.

At the least, Penrod's encounter reaffirms basic rules for getting close to game: He was sitting still, and it's pretty clear the cougar must have been upwind.

It's an example that the more you get out in the outdoors, the more you'll get out of it.

"I'm a retired teacher and I've always wanted to be able to hunt an entire season," he said, noting this was the year he made that happen.

He didn't fill his deer tag during the general season despite hunting every day in his familiar stamping grounds near Steptoe. Undaunted, he was determined to bring home venison during the buck hunt farther north.

On Nov. 15, with his deer tag as well as tags for cougar and bear in his pocket, he set out with hunting partner Wayne Reome to explore a new area northwest of Priest.

After the hunters split up and took stands for the first two hours of daylight, Penrod was moving to another ridge when he had the urge to take a backcountry potty break.

"I had just finished and was just about to pull up my pants when I caught movement out of the corner of my eye," he said. "I slowly turned my head and all I saw was this cougar tail 20 feet away right where I had been walking.

"I grabbed my rifle. He saw me move, took off, and I dropped him at about 25 yards from where I was standing -- with my pants still around my knees.

"I know this sounds farfetched, but I swear on my reputation as a teacher of 30 years that this is how it actually played out."

Penrod did not suggest that keeping his cool and killing a cougar at close range makes him braver or more studly than other hunters.

The cougar might have left him alone as soon as it figured out he was a human, not to mention a significantly lighter human than he had been a few moments earlier.

"I had an opportunity and a cougar tag and I took advantage of it," he said.

A Washington Fish and Wildlife Department biologist estimated the cougar weighed more than 150 pounds. Penrod's taxidermist said it weighed closer to 170 pounds.

Either way, it's a huge cat. It measured more than 8 feet long when he brought it to the taxidermist and would stretch to 9 feet.

Penrod and his buddy hunted deer for a few more hours after his hair-raising encounter, "but I was so excited about my cougar that my heart really wasn't into deer," he said. "I must admit that I did keep turning around to check my backtrack."