West Side Cougar Tips

[cougforester]

Never hunted explicitly for kitties before but this snow has given me a hankering to give it a shot Sunday. Any tips for where to focus my drive time? As of now my plan is to head out Highway 2 and get as high as I can. Just wanted to try something new!

[rainshadow1]

Get out when the main storm clears and drive everything you can (there may not be too much you can drive depending in your vehicle. I didn't get far after 16" of snow. 2sets of chains on a 4runner.) Only stop on tracks, otherwise you're wasting your time. They won't be far if you cut a track!

[bobcat]

I think I'm going to try it in the morning. Will they come in to cottontail distress? (if I find any tracks?)

[wa.hunter]

I would try a deer bleat call. Go where there are either deer or elk which will likely be down low someplace. There are around all the residential areas.

[rainshadow1]

Any distress will work, doesn't really matter. Mixed with Cougar vocals is always best. Remote e-caller is far better odds than hand calling.

[cougforester]

Gave it a shot this last weekend. First 100 yards into the hike and we came across fresh cat tracks and a turd right in the road. Hiked in another couple hundred yards and set up. Got 2 howls back from coyotes, which turned out to have been on a fresh kill we found later in the day. Hiked about 8.5 miles in snowshoes and saw some cool new country.

Never saw anything to put a bullet through but finding tracks that quickly, finding a fresh kill and having a pair respond to my calls made it a successful outing! I picked up a pretty basic Lucky Duck Rebel and used the 3 different cottontail distress calls mostly. Eventually will upgrade to a new unit that has more variety of calls, i.e. fawn or calf distress, to step my game up even more.