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Calling Cougars

Washington Hunter

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Joined
May 8, 2002
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Location
Rochester, Washington
Wasn't sure where to post this...couldn't put it in Hound Hunting, and cougars are too big to be considered a "varmint." Anyway, now that I've been succesful calling bears in with a predator call, I want to try calling in a cougar. I realize the best time for this will probably be in the winter, when big game animals are more concentrated and with snow on the ground it will be much easier to locate cougar tracks, and therefore productive calling locations. Still, I might try it when the season opens here in August, besides who knows what else may come in, and bears will be open at the same time. I'm just wondering if anybody here has ever tried calling cougars in with a predator call, and if so, have you had any success?
 
Yes and yes
Ive called in a few that I have seen when I stood up( after calling for a while) and I know I have called in a bunch that I havent seen.
sneaky SOBS most of the time you wont know one was there untill to late. bobcats are even worse cause they are smaller..
My favorite is the squeeker( high pitched) call for crittr calls in Colorado


Delw
 
One of the web sites I look in on is call Predator Masters, they have some stories about calling any and everything. Including Cougars, a lot of helpful info. It's alot like Hunt Talk, except no Hose! :rolleyes:
 
I shot at three. one was about 10 feet away running balls out and all I had was my .243 with a 24x scope on it( was yote and deer hunting).

Only a few times I have specifcally called for lions and bobcats(mainly up in the north rim ), only called one in when I was really going cat hunting, most of the times the yotes and foxs come in first and they are just to hard to pass up. most come out when I am yote hunting.

We see alot while Bass fishing tournys, usually see bout 3-8 per year on the differnt lakes. On lake pleasant 2 years ago we saw 4 different ones in a 2 month period. since it was a bow only unit and I broke my hand I wasnt able to even think about killing it with a bow
 
I think next year I am putting in for kitties and going to give it a try...

Keep us up to date on your findings.. :)
 
reply..

I have been lucky enough to have 2 kitties within 30 yards of me and never knew i was there ..they were fixed on killing a deer that was down the hill from me feeding in a field ! what sucked was that the 10 female quota had already been reached so all i got out of that was some awesome pics....
 
"putting in for kitties?" "quotas?"

None of that here in Washington. OTC tags, practically free when you buy it with a deer and/or elk tag. And, a second tag can be purchased if you use your first one! Of course, we can't use hounds, so the chance of even seeing one is extremely low. But the population is higher than ever, so I think calling a cougar in is something that would be worth trying.

Delw, only 10 feet away? Damn you're lucky it didn't have you for lunch! Must've been exciting seeing it that close. :eek:
 
I posted the story here somewhere.
I was out hunting deer in unit 13a . I was driving to a new spot when I saw a yote way off in the distance. so I figured I could call him in and nail him to pass some time.
I was calling for a while and he was coming, then I got a funny feeling and just turned around. there was a lion laying paws out on the ground not more that 10 feet away behind me just watching. As I swung around with my rilfe it also swung around and ran. I swear it hit me with its tail as it was turning.
I fired three shots cause I couldnt see crap in my scope it was way to close and I was in thick cover.
A while later I was driving towards mt trumble and met a guy coming down the trail all excited his wife just shot a lion she also shot a big buck that same day it was not to far from where I had called one in.
The other lion I saw up close and personally was at teh lake drinking water while we were night fishing. we got a pic of its eyes and tahts about it. the flash washed the spotlight out. I was on the bow of the boat and my partner was on the back motor shaking like a sissy. it was again a few yards away.
I love cats they are cool looking, would look real nice on my wall too.
Delw
 
Washington Hunter, I have called bears, bobcats, and of course fox and coyote. I am going to go after a lion this year with a predator call. I don't know about calling cats in August. I know guys who have been calling elk around that time of year and have had cats come in. Myself I am going to try later in the year when winter has set in. The strategy I am going to try, setting up around wintering deer herds and using a fawn distress call with a featherlite decoy. I think the important thing when calling cats is patience. You must sit rock still for an hour to an hour and half. Most all of the bobcats I have called, I did not see until atleast forty five minutes into calling. Another good strategy would be to cut fresh tracks and follow them until you get to a good place to call, with a good field of vision. Something to remember when calling is to always have something at your back a rock or a tree. The last thing you want is a kitty on your back.
 
Two years ago a cat was killed in Wash. like that I thought it was going to be the new # 1 or 2 cat in the world you all prob. seen some pict of it. So it can be done :)
 
One of the guys on here posted pics and a story, seemed as if he was involved some how...

It was a big kitty... :)
 
Rich Cronk (custom call maker) in conjunction with BobR (from Washington State) have developed a hand (mouth blown) call that reproduces lion vocalizations along with larger (deer) prey sounds. Of couse, this will take significant practice on your part to be able to reproduce these calls effectivly. You can read what I am talking about on PredatorMasters.com in the Hand Call Forum.
 
Washington cougar calling

Well here's my story from a couple years ago,I have been calling predators for a couple of years with good success on coyote's, and had a bobcat come in last year and couldn't get a good shot off, he was locked on me and soon as I moved gone.
Anyway, Went out last to where my bud's had seen a cougar during bow
season,,,,, It was my 4th trip over there to the same spot with zero
results,,, saw some poop and some tracks but nothing else, used some
info from the web and some info from old Fishing and Hunting News articles on calling cougars so I figured I'd work around ridges and where I'd spotted deer before, I wanted to go out on Friday the 16th of Feb for blackmouth but the snow screwed that up.
So Saturday the 17th I got up,,, hooked up my boat trailer and was heading out for a day of fishing,,, but the snow and melt off had refrozen so I thought better of towing a $40,000 jet boat that morning.
I backed the boat into my garage and figured I'd go over to Tarboo
Lake near Quilcene and call coyotes, went there a lot over the years,, parked in my same old spot and went in to the same old stump that I've killed a few coyote's from and also missed the shot on the bobcat, it's a sweet set up,I hunt in the bigger timber and call where the timber corner meets the clear-cut and the doghair.I figure how the prevailing wind works and use it to my advantage, it blows down
Lots of tree's in this particular spot and when you call it makes the critters that come in stay on established game paths ,,,, usually at least the coyote's do.
The bobcat came in so quiet he was locked on me at less than 5 yards away on the wrong side to swing effectively,,, I missed but I went and bought a 22mag 20 gauge over and under and used it this year except for the last couple trips for my predator hunting,
That is, until my one buds said,,, " you over there messing with that cat" I said yep,,, he said better use a bigger gun ,,, he's big, ,that got me thinking so I switched to my favorite varmint gun the Ruger mini 14in .223. 12 shots.
It makes me feel better than having 2 shots.
So I get down to my stump and start checking things out for the
setup,,,,the setup is everything. I moved twice before I ever called that morning and also saw some tracks that I thought were bobcat ,, due to their size,,
I thought to myself cool.. that bobcat I missed is still here,,,I got all comfy and put my headnet on and started my calls, I call for 1 hour at a spot and about
5 minutes apart and try and stay real still except for moving my head, so I give a few squeals and notice a woodpecker fly over in front of me
working on a blown down tree,,, I think cool this is good it's making the squeaking noises woodpeckers make, and I'm thinking this is good it will draw anything that comes in towards it,, so I wait a few minutes and call again ,,,,stop sweep my head back and forth and back again,,,, all of sudden I see it,,,recognize it as a cat looking at me from behind a horizontal blown downtree,,,, just the head peeking over it,, then it hits me,,,, it's a cougar,,, I think,, I don't want it getting no closer ,,, it was at about 50 yards,,, so I pick up the mini 14 and put the peep on it ,,,,,bang,,,,gotit,,, head shot,,, I run over stop and check it out ,,, I'm tight and ready at the same time ,,,, all business,,, so just to make sure I pop it again in the chest,,, dead kitty.
I now check it out it's a female ,,, so I make darn sure no 1st year cubs are with it and make a bunch noise as to scare anything if there is The cougar turned out to be 110 lbs. and seven and half feet long female.
Beats a 7 pound blackmouth any day.
 
That was just a good of read as it was the last time you posted it...'

Got any more pics to show... :)
 

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