real sighting as recent as a few days ago

Just keyed on your description of a cat print the size of an NBA player’s hand.

Sounds like a bobcat; the feet are enormous compared to body ratio. They make horrifying sounds, and the eyes are yellow.

When I was young, my grandfather and I were out cross-country skiing and we came across a set of deer tracks mixed with blood. We followed and came across a cliff face thirty feet down. The deer had jumped right over the edge. We skied around and tracked to find the deer carcass, which had been bloodied and was recently dead - either from the fall or the gashes on its body, we could not tell.

Leading off from the deer was a set of strange drag marks. My grandfather got edgy and we carefully followed this trench type track into the pines.

We got about a hundred yards in, then saw the thing. It was a bobcat, dragging its hind legs behind. Using only its front paws, it was trying to escape from us, but was unable to. As soon as this thing sensed us, it turned about face, and gave off a low growl that was just plain badassery. Its yellow eyes were narrow and looked filled with hate. And it began trudging toward us, dragging its body with rear legs nonfunctional.

We got away from it easily on our skis, and my grandfather and I talked about this for many years afterward. His theory was that the bobcat had ambushed the deer, and was hanging on, mauling as the deer, frightened out of its wits, ran toward then jumped off, the cliff. The Bobcat came along with it, and broke its spine upon impact, thus it was dragging its legs behind itself when we finally found it.

Let my say this:
That critter wanted to kill us both. The look in its eye, and the growl it made, along with that suicidal about face as it began approaching us - made this critter one evil tempered mug. The sound was unlike anything I’d ever heard before or after. One vicious sumbthc.

Have you taken pics of the tracks? Comparing with known big cats? Any spoor or hairs in the area? Grab what you can and zip loc it. Holler if you find any samples, we can help you identify it.

1Sk8

For being as cute as they are, they sure make ugly noises!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGBpiv-pOVo