calling cougars

[buglebuster]

So in a spot we duck hunt there Is always a ton of cougar tracks in the snow up on the banks. It's wide open steep country off the river. My question is how do you go about calling cats? How much different than coyote? What sounds work best?
Thanks!

[aer212]

Where are you at, I will come help you!

[wraithen]

Just give it 24 hours and I'm sure rick or some of the other big callers will give a few words here. I'm curious as well after the kitty turd I found in the road yesterday. I got a lead for next year but I gotta figure out how to call them. Rick made me a set of calls for them so I hope it works in my favor next year and not the wife's.

[fair-chase]

Rainshadow is the man you need to talk to. His calls and tutorials are top notch and will teach you almost everything you need to know about calling cougars. Using his calls and guidance I have been very successful at calling in cougars.....I said calling in not shooting. 

Short answer to your question is Rainshadows calls, call constantly, and absolutly no movement is really all you need to know to get started calling cougars...but since I’m up and bored I fell like rambling on a little bit about my experiences calling cougars. Take it for what it’s worth because I have yet to notch my tag on one...

This year I have managed to get 9 confirmed call ins. Worked out to 1 triple  and 6 singles using a combination of cow elk (JPhelps Call and FoxPro sounds), elk fawn distress (JPhelps Call), mountain lion whistle (Rainshadow hand call), and female mountain lion vocalization (Rainshadow digital on FoxPro firestorm).

My typical setup goes like this...I usually start my stands with elk herd talk both from hand calls and on the FoxPro simultaneously. Then transfer into calf elk, and finish it out with calf elk distress. Usually takes me about 30-40 minutes to go through this transition. After fading out the calf distress I take a break for 5 minutes (it's a lot of work to call for 30+ minutes straight) and then go into the cougar vocalizations. Most cougar responses come within seconds of starting these vocalizations.

Stand location seems to be my downfall right now. I have tried every conceivable setup I can think of and they ALWAYS sneak in behind me. Every single time. Doesn't matter if I am facing downhill, up hill, into the sun, away from the sun, wind to my back, wind to my face, in a thicket, in a clearing......Bastages are sneaky. I am actually starting to think there is a conspiracy in the mountain lion community to scare me into an early grave. Of the 6 solo encounters I've had this year all of them have snuck in behind me (30 yards or less) and started growling at me. When this happens it appears my fine motor skills go right down the crapper, because I have yet to be able to reposition fast enough or stealthy enough to get a shot off before their in the next county. Oh, and the triple I had come in I froze up like a popsicle. Seriously I was scared stiff. Once I realized I was surrounded by 3 of them within 50 yards all growling their a$$ off I couldn't move. I kept telling myself to move but my limbs and my brain were not in agreement with each other at the time. 

So get a partner to watch your back and have fun. Most addictive, adrenaline filled hunting there is.

[wraithen]

fair-chase, your triple is actually my biggest fear when I'm calling. The woods have a tendency to get silent for no reason long after the activity starts when I'm on a stand. Just for my warm and fuzzy, they have all growled at you? I don't think I'm very good at calling a darn thing yet but knowing myself if one snuck in close enough to be an immediate threat, I'm toast. Also, which rain shadow set did you get?

[JimmyHoffa]

30 yards, loss of motor control, moving cat...have you considered using a shotgun?  Sounds like a good set up for some 00 buckshot.
wraithen, the triples seem to be (for my area) a momma and the teenagers.  They can be really unpredictable.

[wraithen]

Figures. I'm gonna start climbing trees for my stands. They can be sneaky on the ground but a housecat makes a little noise climbing a tree.

On topic, how does being close to fresh (within 72 hours) sign up your success rate?

[fair-chase]

fair-chase, your triple is actually my biggest fear when I'm calling. The woods have a tendency to get silent for no reason long after the activity starts when I'm on a stand. Just for my warm and fuzzy, they have all growled at you? I don't think I'm very good at calling a darn thing yet but knowing myself if one snuck in close enough to be an immediate threat, I'm toast. Also, which rain shadow set did you get?

The triple happened up in GMU 101 where there is definatly no shortage of cougars, and yes all of them growled at me after using a cougar vocalization. Heck that's the only reason I know they came in. Who knows how many I have actually had come in because I never catch them coming in by sight. I only spot them after they vocalize and I can lock down their posistion.

When it gets strangly quiet, or the birds and squirells start going nuts for no apparent reason, or the hair on the back of your neck stands up, don't ignore it. Just let out one of Rainshadows calls and they will light up. Something about hearing another cougar sets them off.

Oh, and I think I have the entire collection of Rainshadows calls (both hand and electronic) as well as the toutorials. I lost one this year and thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown. Luckily Rainshadow was nice enough to make me another on short notice. Really, really great products. Can't say enough good things about them.

On topic, how does being close to fresh (within 72 hours) sign up your success rate?

If you don't have an elk herd to follow around I think it's absolutly neccassary to find fresh sign before calling. I wouldn't waste my time (lesson learned) cold calling without an elk herd nearby. But that's just my 

[fair-chase]

30 yards, loss of motor control, moving cat...have you considered using a shotgun?  Sounds like a good set up for some 00 buckshot.

I switched to my 20ga with slugs for that very reason but ran out of time to hunt for the year...Next year.

wraithen, the triples seem to be (for my area) a momma and the teenagers.  They can be really unpredictable.

That is a spot on Jimmy.

[deerhunter_98520]

how close to the elk herd do you start calling?...or are you in just the general area the herd hangs out and start calling?...or do you find the heard then start your calling session? and you said you call for 30 min or so...how long after you stop calling do you wait before moving on?

[BOWHUNTER45]

I remember way back when ,when i used to trap I seen a cougar in heat tape in fur fish & game ...I wish I would of bought it because I never seen it again 

[JimmyHoffa]

Next year?  Like two weeks from now?  You could try the coastal units, season runs until March 31.  The estimate for the peninsula alone is something like 350 cats minimum, but expected higher. 

[wraithen]

I'm starting to really like the unit I was in last saturday. I know there's an elk herd in the area because of scat. I know there is cougar because of scat. I know there is coyote because of tracks. Just gotta find out where the bears like to play and I have the makings of a predator grand slam! (The coyote substitutes wolf until they show up and are legal ) Looks like between rainshadow and rick and a big game rifle my tax return is completely spent!

Anybody got any advice for the guy who turns possum when what he's hunting for finds him and he gets a case of the possum? (Adrenaline screaming through the blood but the inability to move a single muscle.)

[Machias]

Fair-chase, you need a portable pop-up blind!   

[bankwalker]

I'm starting to really like the unit I was in last saturday. I know there's an elk herd in the area because of scat. I know there is cougar because of scat. I know there is coyote because of tracks. Just gotta find out where the bears like to play and I have the makings of a predator grand slam! (The coyote substitutes wolf until they show up and are legal ) Looks like between rainshadow and rick and a big game rifle my tax return is completely spent!

Anybody got any advice for the guy who turns possum when what he's hunting for finds him and he gets a case of the possum? (Adrenaline screaming through the blood but the inability to move a single muscle.)

I always just piss my pants! Works every time