Snoqualmie Tree Farm Cougar ideas?

[logola512c]

I have a big fat cougar on a game camera 3 out of the last 4 nights (all 3 times between 2 and 4 am) in the snoqualmie tree farm.  Along with a few does that I know are in the area and periodically on the same camera.  Any ideas how to whack that dude, beyond just a doe bleat call?  I know he's in the area.  Just need to get him to come out during the day and not bust me first.  Are cats attracted to piles of fresh meat (and can you legally bait for cats??)?  Figure I only have one real chance before he realizes the thunder stick is on to him.  Thanks

Also, if someone is a proven cat whacker (and has a snoqualmie key) and agrees to not hunt this spot any other time, I'd consider sharing the location to get this cat off of a pretty good deer spot. 

[birdshooter1189]

I wish i could help. I don't have a snoqualmie key.  Do you have an e-caller?

Fawn distress, elk distress, rabbit distress, bird distress, rodent sounds, or Rainshadow's cougar calls are all proven cougar-killers.

I'm not sure about bait being effective, I don't think it's prohibited by the rules. 

I watched a video recently on youtube where a guy shot a cougar in oregon. processed it and hung meat in a tree and hiked further into canyon for a couple days trying to get a second cougar. When he returned a second cougar had come and ripped his first cougar out of the tree and ate a bunch of the meat.  This makes me think baiting could help.

Baits I'd think to try: a can of tuna meat, a cooked rotisserie chicken, raw meat, open can of cat soft food.

[logola512c]

I wish i could help. I don't have a snoqualmie key.  Do you have an e-caller?

Fawn distress, elk distress, rabbit distress, bird distress, rodent sounds, or Rainshadow's cougar calls are all proven cougar-killers.

I'm not sure about bait being effective, I don't think it's prohibited by the rules. 

I watched a video recently on youtube where a guy shot a cougar in oregon. processed it and hung meat in a tree and hiked further into canyon for a couple days trying to get a second cougar. When he returned a second cougar had come and ripped his first cougar out of the tree and ate a bunch of the meat.  This makes me think baiting could help.

Baits I'd think to try: a can of tuna meat, a cooked rotisserie chicken, raw meat, open can of cat soft food.

I do have an e-caller, although the layout of the area where I've seen him on camera makes it really challenging to use it effectively without getting busted or the animal hanging up out of shooting sight.  That's why I was hoping to bait it and overwatch from a good distance away so that it might just watch the food for a few minutes and then decide it is safe enough to approach it where I can get a shot.  But I'd heard somewhere that cats are surprisingly finicky about bait and that bait might not really work.  Thanks for your input.  Really appreciate it. 

[birdshooter1189]

You're welcome.

I've heard that cats are not shy about loud volume on the e-caller.  So don't be afraid to blast it loud.

You could try variations of: e-caller or bait away from you, and -ecaller or bait or mouth call right at your location.  If a cat hung up out of sight you could, for example, cut the volume to the e-caller and start blowing on a mouth caller to try to draw it closer.

While playing with my house cats with a laser pointer I've joked that I should try taking a laser pointer out cougar hunting to see if they would chase it in to me. Haha.

[IFunk]

I thought this was great information from Ray Livingston, but it sounds like the area may not be conducive to this setup.

Is there anywhere nearby where you get up a bit higher to get a better vantage point? 

I just keep thinking about the member on here that called one in and the cat was in his blind spot for potentially most of the entire 20+ minutes he was calling.   Someone get me my brown pants...

[logola512c]

I thought this was great information from Ray Livingston, but it sounds like the area may not be conducive to this setup.

Is there anywhere nearby where you get up a bit higher to get a better vantage point? 

I just keep thinking about the member on here that called one in and the cat was in his blind spot for potentially most of the entire 20+ minutes he was calling.   Someone get me my brown pants...

Ha!  I was calling for bears a few years back and had one approach (pretty darn close) behind me, and ever since then my predator calling kit has a little bicycling mirror that I can hold in my hand and see behind me without having to turn my head or whole body.  Funny thing is every time I use it, i'm reminded of the phrase "Objects [in mirror] are closer than they appear"...

[time2hunt]

Try a E caller with motorized tail or wing or something to catch there eye about 50 yards from you. There’s a saying curiosity kills the cat.


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[Katmai Guy]

Try a E caller with motorized tail or wing or something to catch there eye about 50 yards from you. There’s a saying curiosity kills the cat.


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   I called a cat in that walked right by me at about 12' cuz it was concentrating on my decoy, didn't even care when he winded me, just paused then continued towards the decoy.
  I'll be calling in the tree farm when elk season is done.  Goodluck

[fly-by]

It sounds like it has a kill in the area.  I would be more concerned about it moving on than getting busted.  Maybe set up within a couple hundred yards of your cam in a spot where you can get some distance from your e-caller. 

[logola512c]

Thanks for the ideas and input everyone.  I was able to get out there after work yesterday and set up with an e-caller and spinning tail for about an hour and had no luck. Also haven't seen him or the deer on my camera for two days so I think he's moved on to a different deer-killing spot. 

[birdshooter1189]

Thanks for sharing the update. I've been wondering if you were able to go after it and if so, how it went.

Unfortunately this is how most cougar stands go....quiet.  Even though there's an abundance of cougars in the state, they are sly creatures.

If you are monitoring a deer-dense area, I suspect you will see more cougar activity.

Do you have a cell camera that sends you current photos? or do you only get to see photos when you drive up there and check the camera?

[logola512c]

Regular cameras with a group of folks that aren't on this website checking them daily

[birdshooter1189]

Ok. nice. That's similar to what I've done for a few years around my property.

I recently got a TACTACAM cell camera.  It's REALLY nice having it send the photos straight to my phone.  I get the photo on my phone usually within 1 minute.  I avoided cell cams for a long time because I was worried they were too expensive and cell plans were expensive....

I paid $99 for a X2.0 camera.  $50 for the tactacam SD card and Lithium battery pack for it.  And $120 for a 1 year service subscription that gives me unlimited photos.  (You can pay about $50 per year for 250 photos per month (about 8 per day)).  So all together, after tax, I paid about $290.  I'm loving it and I plan to get a couple more soon.

[IFunk]

Don't give up hope.  I finally met my son's best friends Dad the other day at a Soccer practice and learned that not only is he a hunter, but he also has several cams in the tree farm.  He estimated he sees 3 cats for every deer on his cams.  I hunt 460 too, so do us all a favor and get one.   

[addicted1]

Hang shiny tape on the trees near you up high in the trees, this will get there attention to draw one in close. Use in conjunction with the rest of your setup. Just remove the reflective shiny tape after you kill it, don’t want to give your spot away.

[TriggerMike]

Here's a tree farm cougar from a couple days ago. Highly recommend cell cams..


I had a cam up there a couple years back that got 5 cougars on it at one time, on 2 separate occasions over a couple months. And none of them were spotted. Unreal how many are in there. If you spend enough time in there, you'll get a shot opportunity.

[birdshooter1189]

Nice capture Mike.  I'm about 2 hours away from the tree farm.  If I was closer I'd probably be running some cams in there too. 

That's crazy that you saw 5 at once.  I'd be very nervous being confronted by an entire pack of cougars. 

With hound hunting prohibited for cougars, it seems to me that one of the best strategies is to put out a few cell cams.  When a photo comes in, get to the location within an hour or two and run calls to try to draw it in.

[rainshadow1]

The appointed commissioners are going after cell cameras... State elections being what they have been, it likely won't be long now.

Get within earshot, and call with vocals and occasional distress. Best scenario. I like Ray... but he's parroting back lots of my data, so why wouldn't I like him!?!? But he doesn't seem to use vocals... my call-in story pages demonstrate the power of using vocals with cats!

[TriggerMike]

The appointed commissioners are going after cell cameras... State elections being what they have been, it likely won't be long now.

Get within earshot, and call with vocals and occasional distress. Best scenario. I like Ray... but he's parroting back lots of my data, so why wouldn't I like him!?!? But he doesn't seem to use vocals... my call-in story pages demonstrate the power of using vocals with cats!

Do you have any sources on them wanting to restrict cell cams or is that hearsay?

[rainshadow1]

The appointed commissioners are going after cell cameras... State elections being what they have been, it likely won't be long now.

Get within earshot, and call with vocals and occasional distress. Best scenario. I like Ray... but he's parroting back lots of my data, so why wouldn't I like him!?!? But he doesn't seem to use vocals... my call-in story pages demonstrate the power of using vocals with cats!

Do you have any sources on them wanting to restrict cell cams or is that hearsay?

They were mentioned in the agenda for a commission meeting last year.

[TriggerMike]

The appointed commissioners are going after cell cameras... State elections being what they have been, it likely won't be long now.

Get within earshot, and call with vocals and occasional distress. Best scenario. I like Ray... but he's parroting back lots of my data, so why wouldn't I like him!?!? But he doesn't seem to use vocals... my call-in story pages demonstrate the power of using vocals with cats!

Do you have any sources on them wanting to restrict cell cams or is that hearsay?

They were mentioned in the agenda for a commission meeting last year.

I can see them being banned in places like Arizona or Utah where very limited water sources congregate a ton of animals but doing it in WA is completely worthless. In fact, wireless trail cams actual reduce carbon emissions and climate change through fewer miles driven in order to check the cams... Someone should remind them of that fact.

[birdshooter1189]

The appointed commissioners are going after cell cameras... State elections being what they have been, it likely won't be long now.

Get within earshot, and call with vocals and occasional distress. Best scenario. I like Ray... but he's parroting back lots of my data, so why wouldn't I like him!?!? But he doesn't seem to use vocals... my call-in story pages demonstrate the power of using vocals with cats!

Do you have any sources on them wanting to restrict cell cams or is that hearsay?

They were mentioned in the agenda for a commission meeting last year.

I can see them being banned in places like Arizona or Utah where very limited water sources congregate a ton of animals but doing it in WA is completely worthless. In fact, wireless trail cams actual reduce carbon emissions and climate change through fewer miles driven in order to check the cams... Someone should remind them of that fact.

I like the way you think.      I'll have to remember that.