(AP)  A Minot man who was hunting pheasants in the Custer Mine area near Garrison shot and killed a mountain lion that had emerged from tall grass and charged at him.

Gary Gorney tells the Minot Daily News he expected to see a rooster pheasant Thursday after his hunting dog pointed to the area. Instead he was greeted by a female lion that weighed more than 100 pounds.

Gorney says he doesn’t remember dropping his dad’s 100-year double-barrel shotgun and reaching for his 9 millimeter handgun underneath his jacket. He says his instincts as a military law enforcement officers took over.