Cougar Hunting

Years ago I was using a mouth call for coyotes and bobcats from a rock out cropping east of Kremmling, CO. Heard a quiet noise behind me. Tried to slowly turn to see what it was, but nothing there. Got up cautiously looking around and searching the ground for sign. Sure enough some fresh lion tracks not 10 feet from the tree I was leaning against. Since then I have always had a partner covering my back! Currently it's my granddaughter.
Still trying to call another one in with no, known of, success.
Will be trying again this season because this may be the last year in Colorado to hunt mountain lion due to "greenies". Sad situation we have in Colorado.
 
ridgewalker, were you making deer blats on your call? They seem to like that in my area. In Wyoming greenies refers to all Coloradans with green mountains on the top of their licenses plates because they come up here and take over the parks and lakes for the weekends and holidays showing little respect for others, and they tend to drive crazily always over the speed limit, not because they are environmentalists. And yes, it is a sad situation.
 
ridgewalker said:
Years ago I was using a mouth call for coyotes and bobcats from a rock out cropping east of Kremmling, CO. Heard a quiet noise behind me. Tried to slowly turn to see what it was, but nothing there. Got up cautiously looking around and searching the ground for sign. Sure enough some fresh lion tracks not 10 feet from the tree I was leaning against. Since then I have always had a partner covering my back! Currently it's my granddaughter.
Still trying to call another one in with no, known of, success.
Will be trying again this season because this may be the last year in Colorado to hunt mountain lion due to "greenies". Sad situation we have in Colorado.
Click to expand...
I don't know about this...are you sure you can outrun your granddaughter?
 
KyCarl said:
No dogs? That's crazy! I would use traps and snares Gut pile from a shot deer with a good call lure will bring them in!
Click to expand...
Same in WA, and while growing up here never considered their were any around but within about 4 years of enacting the no dog hunting for bear or cats there were cougar sightings inside the city limits. Still the only one I've seen was while driving to work and it was a main road (US101) and it was standing in the yard about 15ft from a house, cars passing by....
 
In the early 80's I read a book written by Murry Burnham on calling, in it he had a section on calling cougars, he also sold cassette tapes with different cougar sounds on them, the one was a female cougar in estrus that would make the hair all over your body stand on end.
 
It's been my experience that cats take a long time to come in to calling. They tend to come in from behind when you are using too much volume. You will see them just appear seemingly out of nowhere and just setting or laying staring at the sound. Often the only movement you will detect is their tails moving, they will look like a rock that just showed up and wasn't there when you started calling. Because of this a lot of cats that are called aren't seen by callers I believe. We as callers see the fast-moving coyotes and then the fox, before the glacial moving cats. Just my thoughts.
 
jjmp said:
Careful cats are supreme predators. I was told by a local up in the Colorado hiles, if you see the cat before he sees you it's embarrassed, they're that stealthy. If you hunt alone I'd carry a pistol and more than one non folding knifes. You're in their living room and dining area . Cheers 🧐😉
Click to expand...
Lucky for us they smell like a dead animal as they roll in their kills, you will smell them before you see them.
 
That's totally different then hunting them one on one no offense,the tables are turned in the cats favor,unless you're a Mountain man,& I'm not talking about any tv show ,lol. I've seen exactly one but I'm no Mtn/man. I'd venture to say Wolverines are just as secretive , again I've seen only one up in Manitoba CA on and ice fishing trip ,Indian man that ran the fishing village said we there Extremely lucky to see one, he has lived up there almost 50 years and seen only three ,cheers great subject!!!.
 
I have spent my life in the outdoors wether working or hunting and always thought I would hear something before it ate me but I was wrong. We were hunting elk in Idaho near Lo-Lo pass packed in with horses and came back to camp around noon the first day and was drying off by a fire and I looked over my buddies shoulder saw what I thought was a bobcat because the grass on this nob was only 4 inches tall and I saw withers and ears and eyeballs so I showed my buddy this cat and when he saw that we saw him he came loping over to eat us. I was burning a small log in half on the fire so I grabbed it and wacked him across the top of his nose then he ran back to the edge of the clearing and sat there snarling at us. my buddy says we should shoot him and I snapped out of being amazed and said your right and went for the tent where our rifles were and untangled my rifle and got him in the scope but about midship and should have shot but you don't shoot critters in the guts so I paused and he was gone. That cougar never made any noise at all when he came to get us and was very fluid in his movements, amazing to watch. I looked over 75 yds or so where the horses and mules were on hobbles eating and all of them were just grazing away, they never even saw what happened. that night when you had to pee and opened the tent flap and looked out in the dark you decided it could wait till morning. the next day I sat by a stump with my call and thought I would try to get him and after blowing it for a minute and remembering how totally quiet he was I put the call away.
 
Ive probably seen cats 10 times, outside of hunting them with dogs and arrows. I tried calling them in the early years, but had no luck.Have called them in elk hunting, my son rattled one in, my friend called one in elk hunting also.You can by a general tag in MT and shot on site while hunting, which sometimes happens.When you see one rip a hound up in a split second, you will have second thoughts about them.And when one hisses at you and drops in like your dinner you will hope your armed and ready. I worked with a guy that shot one from the hip hunting right by his house, we where building a home in that area.While bugling for elk I have cats and bears both give me a screech or snarl that they didn't like it.One I was solo way down in a dark hole. in ID. Another guy shot one off his back and his backpack probably saved him.Had big tom tracks in mine a week ago mule deer hunting
IMG_0045.JPG
 

Similar threads

R
Cougar
2
Replies
23
Views
8K
DoneNOut
DoneNOut
G
Cougar Mount
Replies
5
Views
2K
Rupe
R
T
Calling in cougar help!
Replies
11
Views
3K
Reelamin
Reelamin
G
First cougar called in
2 3
Replies
28
Views
7K
sfotiades
sfotiades
KyScott
Night hunting
2 3
Replies
31
Views
7K
Ohlongarm
Ohlongarm

Recent Posts

Top