The wish of an equal bear/cougar opener

[duckmen1]

Well this is a topic we have all discussed in various ways. Wishing cougar season opened the same as bear season. If that was the case I would be posting a cougar harvest of a nice tom. But instead you get a live pic. Decided to set up a stand for bear and call for 1 hour then make a run to another spot over the hill to glass for last hour. 5 minutes into the stand a cougar was coming in and very commited. Big tom and when he locked in on the caller meaning me he was not about to let that meal get away. I quit calling but he stayed alert coming in closer.  I stood up waving and looking as big as I could. He stayed and in fact crept closer. So started talking and still not backing down. So started yelling at it. After a few minutes he just started walking around and kind of away without any fear. So I made my move out of there. Awesome encounter. I got to watch the cougar for a very long time and it is the most I have ever gotten to see from a big kitty in the wild. Over the years a lot of bobcat encounters and one other cougar called in that I just saw his face for a second at 25 yards. But this was the real deal. Super majestic looking. One of my favorite experiences.

[Dan-o]

Wow.

Epic encounter with a big cat.

[ducks4days]

Calling in august always risks bringing in a cat you need to let walk. I wonder what harvest rates would look like if we just traded April in the late hunt for august.

[boneaddict]

Serious cat.   You must be doing something right!   

[hunter399]

That's why I haven't used calling yet.
You encountered my biggest fear,calling in an animal you can't shoot.
Man that sucks,but pretty awesome.

August 1 opener would be nice.

[ASHQUACK]

Is he collared? Looks like a transmitter on the top of his neck.

[Timberstalker]

Giant.
Thanks for sharing.

[boneaddict]

Cougar should also be year around by the way if there is no hounds or equal to coyotes.   

[Mxracer532]

This is a border line shoot able encounter depending on the yardage. If he kept coming closer after trying everything to get him to move on and he still saw you as a meal, you were in fear for your life = a dead cat. 

[raydog]

Cool, I hope you find him in Sept.

What sounds were you running if you dont mind me asking? I spent quite a few days last winter trying to do what you just did.

[snake]

gotta send it

[duckmen1]

Is he collared? Looks like a transmitter on the top of his neck.

Yes he is collared. Would be awesome to hear the history on that cat.

[duckmen1]

Cool, I hope you find him in Sept.

What sounds were you running if you dont mind me asking? I spent quite a few days last winter trying to do what you just did.

It was a mix between a rabbit distress and a fawn distress. I was adjusting reed pressure a bit to change the volume, intensity and diversity to my calling sequence. And it worked well. In fact a little too well. It was unfortunate on the bear stand though as it happened so early on in the sequence and I knew some bears were in the area. But an amazing experience. I can say as far as calling bears goes. It can work and has worked for me a number of times over the years but in order for it to work it usually takes a lot of dedication to calling throughout the season and can say for most people they are probably better off just hunting food sources over calling for success. But it has its place and time as does every technique.

[O. Nerka]

Is he collared? Looks like a transmitter on the top of his neck.

Yes he is collared. Would be awesome to hear the history on that cat.

There is no guarantee you get a response but you should contact your local WDFW biologist and maybe they'd be willing to share some info with you.

[ElkTacos]

That's why I haven't used calling yet.
You encountered my biggest fear,calling in an animal you can't shoot.
Man that sucks,but pretty awesome.

August 1 opener would be nice.

It’s hard to argue what you said here. I was initially on this same train of thought but changed my mind. To me I decided it was worth it to either harvest a bear, have a good encounter or if a cougar comes in learn something more about the elusive cats.

Of course the best thing would be an Aug 1 start date for cats but in the meantime I’m going to use the tool of calling when appropriate to try to up my odds of bagging a bear.