Calling Cougars?

[Bango skank]

Man, april is rough.  20 stands so far with no luck.  Maybe #21 will be the winner.

[Yelper Guy]

Bango, persistence pays!
I really have respect for you keeping after it.
I've been skunked too many times to count.
 

[TheStovePipeKid]

Man, april is rough.  20 stands so far with no luck.  Maybe #21 will be the winner.

Is that pretty typical this time of year up there?

[Bango skank]

Man, april is rough.  20 stands so far with no luck.  Maybe #21 will be the winner.

Is that pretty typical this time of year up there?

Id say so.  Its a tough time of year for a lot of reasons.  Muddy and snowy roads you cant drive on prohibiting access, first part of the month a lot of their prey is down low around private stuff, so the cats arent really up in the hills much, no fresh snow to find tracks or help you see a sneaker crawling up on ya, where there is snow its old and crunchy and way too loud to sneak on, bright sunny days that arent conducive to calling so that often when i find a spot i would like to call if it was overcast the spot just wont work because of the sun.  Lot going against a guy this time of year.  Plus my home unit is closed so i have to drive further, and of course state lands are closed now which doesnt help.  Calling cats is an exercise in frustration at the best of times.  Right now its a flat out struggle.  Im going to keep trying though, may get dumb lucky soon, who knows?  I am kinda surprised i havent called in a bear yet though 

[KFhunter]

I changed up my routine some


snuck into a good bench that was logged last winter, had downed trees everywhere so I knew the deer would be hitting that.  There was a sunny, rocky ridge line up above the bench I was on,  so was hoping a cat might be up catching some sun. 

Opened up with a turkey hen yelping,  seconds later I had gobblers sounding off.   I played with the turkeys a good while, them gobbling and me suducing them.   
After the toms lost interest 15 minutes or so later I just watched them mill around a bit as they were hoping to see that hen still.   

Then I did some fawn bleats for a while, turkeys could care less and hung around 



No success,  but I felt the stand could have been good had a cat been nearby and game. 

[Bango skank]

No success,  but I felt the stand could have been good had a cat been nearby and game.

That right there is what makes it so frustrating.  You never know if one is in hearing distance (especially in the spring with no fresh snow to find tracks) and you never know if one may have snuck in, busted you and snuck out.  So set after set with no sighting, and you have to second guess yourself.  Doing something wrong and theyre not responding?  Doing something right but not seeing them respond?  Or just none within earshot?  A guy just has to assume that he is doing things right but hasnt had one hear his calling, or it gets discouraging.

[hunter399]

No success,  but I felt the stand could have been good had a cat been nearby and game.

That right there is what makes it so frustrating.  You never know if one is in hearing distance (especially in the spring with no fresh snow to find tracks) and you never know if one may have snuck in, busted you and snuck out.  So set after set with no sighting, and you have to second guess yourself.  Doing something wrong and theyre not responding?  Doing something right but not seeing them respond?  Or just none within earshot?  A guy just has to assume that he is doing things right but hasnt had one hear his calling, or it gets discouraging.

Keep on it 
End of season is coming.

[Okanagan]

No success,  but I felt the stand could have been good had a cat been nearby and game.

That right there is what makes it so frustrating.  You never know if one is in hearing distance (especially in the spring with no fresh snow to find tracks) and you never know if one may have snuck in, busted you and snuck out.  So set after set with no sighting, and you have to second guess yourself.  Doing something wrong and theyre not responding?  Doing something right but not seeing them respond?  Or just none within earshot?  A guy just has to assume that he is doing things right but hasnt had one hear his calling, or it gets discouraging.

An Arizona study I read several years ago said that male cougars have ranges of about 500 sq. miles, females more usually 300 sq. miles.  I'd guess that our west side forest cats cover less ground but that is pure guess.  Anyway, if our sound covers 1 sq. mile (and it rarely does in forest and ridges) then we have one chance in 500 on any given stand to call a tom cougar, 1 chance in 300 for a female.  I also read about 60 sq. mile ranges, and that ups our odds on a stand to one in 60!

Without tracks or sighting, choosing ground that has higher odds of holding a cougar at the moment reduces those odds.   We have called and killed only one with a totally cold call.  I rarely call anymore without some kind of sign to indicate that a cougar is within hearing range, but I'm an arthritic old guy kind of burned out.  Some terrain features up the odds a bit, as does known deer wintering grounds, known cougar travel corridors, etc. but IME a cougar may take from 8 days to a month to come through an area again, except when on a kill. 

It is a way to get out in what many consider the off season, have the woods to ourselves, hunt a lot... and rarely have to skin anything or get our hands dirty! 

[Bango skank]

You have a point there okanagan, but im going to have to be the voice of optimism here and argue that its msybe not quite as hopeless ss you make it sound.  Males larger territories overlap several females territories, and its well documented that females will share territories with other females, especially their own female offspring, and live and raise litters in the same territories, though they dont really interact, they tolerate eachother unlike males.  So while its still a real crapshoot to whether or not a guy is calling within earshot of a cat, a particular area can have a big boss tom and several females that use it, plus those females juvenile offspring that may be legal subadults but not quite out of the area yet, and roaming young males looking for a home could be intruding on the big toms territory.  Also, i think we have a lot higher cougar density here than other places.  So its not as bad as figuring that any one chunk of territory only has one cat that uses it.  But being in the right place at the right time, particularly with no tracking snow and limited gmus etc that are huntable, its definitely a really low odds game.  Cant win if ya dont play though.

[7mmfan]

For you guys that set up e-callers, would it be way to much of a hassle to set up a climbing tree stand to watch from while the call is working? May keep from getting busted and allow for a better view of the area. I know no one wants to haul one of those things around with them all day, but seems like it could up the odds of seeing something without it seeing you.

[rainshadow1]

For you guys that set up e-callers, would it be way to much of a hassle to set up a climbing tree stand to watch from while the call is working? May keep from getting busted and allow for a better view of the area. I know no one wants to haul one of those things around with them all day, but seems like it could up the odds of seeing something without it seeing you.

I've done it. The time and noise has made me decide not to, but BOY is it nice sitting up there calling!

I was doing it with a treelounge... not a small stand! It was really slow bulky and loud.

Made me do  2+ hour stands, because it was such a nice set up, but I don't do it anymore.

[MountainTracker]

For you guys that set up e-callers, would it be way to much of a hassle to set up a climbing tree stand to watch from while the call is working? May keep from getting busted and allow for a better view of the area. I know no one wants to haul one of those things around with them all day, but seems like it could up the odds of seeing something without it seeing you.

I've done it. The time and noise has made me decide not to, but BOY is it nice sitting up there calling!

I was doing it with a treelounge... not a small stand! It was really slow bulky and loud.

Made me do  2+ hour stands, because it was such a nice set up, but I don't do it anymore.

I’ve thought being up in a tree even a little bit gives the hunter a much better view of what is coming in.  I tend to believe predators don’t look up very often.  I’ve personal done this hunting coyotes, climb into a tree or a large down stump.  I can see them coming through the brush easier and they haven’t seen me until it’s too late.  I know cougars and coyotes respond to prey differently, so that could be the difference in why the technique wouldn’t work for cougars?  Saddle hunting maybe, less weight?  Do you guys think cougars look up? Worth the effort?


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[idaho guy]

You have a point there okanagan, but im going to have to be the voice of optimism here and argue that its msybe not quite as hopeless ss you make it sound.  Males larger territories overlap several females territories, and its well documented that females will share territories with other females, especially their own female offspring, and live and raise litters in the same territories, though they dont really interact, they tolerate eachother unlike males.  So while its still a real crapshoot to whether or not a guy is calling within earshot of a cat, a particular area can have a big boss tom and several females that use it, plus those females juvenile offspring that may be legal subadults but not quite out of the area yet, and roaming young males looking for a home could be intruding on the big toms territory.  Also, i think we have a lot higher cougar density here than other places.  So its not as bad as figuring that any one chunk of territory only has one cat that uses it.  But being in the right place at the right time, particularly with no tracking snow and limited gmus etc that are huntable, its definitely a really low odds game.  Cant win if ya dont play though.

[carandc]

I'm hunting the SW foothills of Mt. Rainier (Ashford, Elbe, Morton area) so this may be a specific west-side question.

How should I hunt the snow line during late cougar (or during Nov/Dec for that matter)? In other words, do they tend to like to be at lower elevations than the snow line, right around snow line, above the snow line, or anywhere they dang-well please?

[idaho guy]

Follow the deer go where they are and you will be in right spot