Cougar Tips

[jasnt]

Found some tracks wed.  Couldn't follow cause I was helping a friend with her archery tag.  Found tracks on this trail 3 years in a row right after late mf deer is over

[jasnt]

Oops forgot the pics

[KFhunter]

looks like a female lion 

I'd still call her, we got so many lions in WA we ought to have multiple tags instead of small quota's.

[Bango skank]

Decided its too damn cold to do my sit and wait tactic for late arch elk, so about 6am im going to be hiking behind a closed gate to try to cut fresh lion tracks.  Tagging a lion is my sole focus for the rest of the year.  What i SHOULD be doing is trying to call one in here at home.  Just checked a cam behind my house and there was a cat chasing a  doe through my yard on the 20th.  Something like 10 instances of lions on cam on my property since july.  At least 6 or 7 different cats, if you count the two cubs following their momma.

[KFhunter]

Sounds like you got a spot to call off your porch

[Bango skank]

looks like a female lion 

I'd still call her, we got so many lions in WA we ought to have multiple tags instead of small quota's.

Coild be a small male 

I find avton of lion tracks every winter, but ive only found one set of tracks that were 100% inarguably a huge tom.  They were far far bigger than any other set ive seen, and i sometimes find 4 or 5 diff sets in a day of riding after a fresh snow.  Seeing cat tracks that big was just weird.  Makes you feel pretty far down on the food chain kinda.  Id be hard pressed to think of more than a few sets of bear tracks ive ever seen that were that big.  Looked like somebodys siberian tiger got loose or something.  I should have followed them, they were fresh, but i had deer on the brain that morning.

[Bango skank]

Sounds like you got a spot to call off your porch

I took my buck down to where i could see the trail the cats use from my house, gutted it there.  Figured it might interest a cat a little, or at least some yotes.  Thought i might take out a predator or two from the living room window while sitting next to the fire. Neighbor dog ate everything 

[jasnt]

looks like a female lion 

I'd still call her, we got so many lions in WA we ought to have multiple tags instead of small quota's.

ya I figured female or young tom. This spot is about 300 yards from where I took my first cougar. 134lb 8-10 year old tom that was breeding a young female I'm figuring it's her.  I would agrea we should get more tags or at least raise the quotas!! Every year my areas close in January.    I bet they could open it all year long and we still would not harvest the recommended 12-17%. Instead they close it at 4-6%

[Bango skank]

looks like a female lion 

I'd still call her, we got so many lions in WA we ought to have multiple tags instead of small quota's.

ya I figured female or young tom. This spot is about 300 yards from where I took my first cougar. 134lb 8-10 year old tom that was breeding a young female I'm figuring it's her.  I would agrea we should get more tags or at least raise the quotas!! Every year my areas close in January.    I bet they could open it all year long and we still would not harvest the recommended 12-17%. Instead they close it at 4-6%

I really doubt we ever even reach 4%.  Nobody knows how many cats we have, and the estimates ive heard from wdfw are a complete joke.

[jasnt]

looks like a female lion 

I'd still call her, we got so many lions in WA we ought to have multiple tags instead of small quota's.

ya I figured female or young tom. This spot is about 300 yards from where I took my first cougar. 134lb 8-10 year old tom that was breeding a young female I'm figuring it's her.  I would agrea we should get more tags or at least raise the quotas!! Every year my areas close in January.    I bet they could open it all year long and we still would not harvest the recommended 12-17%. Instead they close it at 4-6%

I really doubt we ever even reach 4%.  Nobody knows how many cats we have, and the estimates ive heard from wdfw are a complete joke.

so do I. I was just using there numbers an there research study's that they don't even go by.   Pretty ignorant to pay wsu to do the research on how many cougar should be taken. Then just guess how many cougar we have with asumptions on how successful boot hunters are and then only take 1/3-1/2 what the study recomends of the grossly underestimated population. And to boot they count juvie cougar that may have died any way and count those towards the quota

[packmule]

Great information here.....

So one of the things that seems important is to stay on stand for a while, an hour or so and to remain absolutely still.

What are the best sounds to use on a e-caller?  Rabbit in distress?  Fawn in distress?  I saw the earlier link to a site with lion calling info...any other good sites to learn how to do this?

Thanks in advance.

[predatorG]

That podcast gave a pretty good calling combination. Small animals mixed in with cougar noises.

[jasnt]

I like to use fawn or deer distress the most but I don't think it matters.  Adding cougar vocals IMO really helps! Not only does it often get the cougar to talk exposing it's position but seems to catch their attention faster also

My rules so to speak for cougar calling
1 silent approach and set up
2 call on the freshest sign you can
3 stay still as possible!
4 hide the call well. If they can see the sound source that's where they will stop.
5 glass the area before calling, try to make out those things that look like a critter like stumps or blow downs, glass spots the cat could be napping like rocks or large trees.
6 i start with distress for 5-10 min then cougar vocals for 5-10 then distresss then vocals then more distress. Often a few periods of silence near the end or I'll just sit silent for 20 min after calling for an hour plus
7 don't be afraid to try new things, cougar calling isn't new but it's not a science yet either. Always room for that extra trick or technique that will up your odds
8 (personal prefrance) ditch the decoy. IMO it will just hang the cat up once he sees it

[packmule]

Great info thanks!

[jasnt]

Also read threw Steve's cougar calling pages. Great info in those call in story's and a great book review page for some extra info

http://www.rain-shadow.com/prod03.htm