Screaming or howling in Kern County, California

This was a vocalization by an unknown animal. The following event happend on the second night of a two night deer-hunting trip. The woods were alive with animals and fresh sign -- scat (bear and deer); prints (bear, deer and cat). We were both in sleeping bags and in a small two-man tent since 2000 (mainly because the temperature dropped so quickly and it was the warmest place to be). Sometime after 0000 and before 0400, my hunting partner and I were woken out of a sound sleep by these sounds. The clear, cold air in the mountains makes it difficult to estimate the distance of the vocalizer (s). I would guesstimate .5 to one mile -- far enough away that neither of us felt "threatned" enough to get situp with our pistols. Number of vocalizations: 5; within seconds/minutes of each other. First vocalization: from the northeast. Second vocaliztion: 5 seconds or less after the first vocalization; from the northeast. Third vocalization: 10 seconds or less; farther away (fainter) than the first two vocalizations; from the east/northeast. Forth vocalization: 5 seconds or less; farther away (fainter) than the first two vocalizations; from the east/northeast. Fifth vocalization: 1-3 minutes after the forth vocalization; closer (slightly louder) than first two vocalizations; from the south. Description of sound: Unknown. Myself, hunting partner and other hunters spoken to the following morning are undecided as to what made the sound. Possibly a cat, bear cub (why would it be out at night?)...sound variously described as resembling a seal, though higher pitched and faster; somewhere between a coughing growl and a scream. We joked that it could have been bigfoot, except we were too far south. After checking your site, I find I am in error! After the trip, and having just watched the special on Discovery Channel (?) I checked out your site and some of the recorded vocalizations -- they were enough to put the hair up on the back of my neck; very close to what we heard. I am glad I didn't listen to them before the trip!