12-Year-Old Hunter Forced to Kill Mountain Lion Stalking Her

Last December, a family went to New Mexico with hopes of bringing home a elk. For one 12-year-old girl, however, she had a completely different experience with nature that she will never forget.

Alyssa Caldwell, from Odessa, shot and killed a mountain lion just feet away from her. It wasn't the elk she and her family had been hoping for, but when the young girl realized she was being stalked by the mountain lion, she had no other choice but to save her own life.

Alyssa first started hunting when she turned nine, and ever since she had been wanting to go on a big hunt. New Mexico game and fish wardens did do a full investigation, find that she indeed made the kill in self-defense, but she wasn't able to keep the mountain lion.