Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints Mountain Lion - Puma - Cougar

In my neck of the hills we call them Mountain Lions. Next weekend I am going to go shoot one down (hopefully). If nothing else I will come back with a whitetail or a javelina at worst but my sights are really wanting the big cat. Will be using my Weatherby 300 Mag Deluxe Mark V for this particular hunt. Went out this morning and made sure the scope was still sighted perfect and it was dead on at 200 yards with 1/2 inch groups. Fired three rounds came home and cleaned it as usual. In the past we have used a young live goat tied and staked, surrounded by a combination of raw chicken liver and beef liver. Go down wind about two hundred yards and wait, watch, quietly and patiently and then do our best to save the baby goat from the ferocious lion. I can testify that this crude technique does work but if anyone else has some experienced tips, then fire away. Three years ago it worked like a champ, two years ago it attracted nothing, but a sand storm and cold hard winds made conditions tough. Last year the stupid coyotes kept intruding. I finally eliminated the coyotes out of frustration but of course any cats were alarmed and that was the end of the hunt. Shot a javelina near camp as we were packing up, but it didn't replace the yearn for my cat scratch fever. By the way, I never lost a goat and don't plan on it this year!

Sounds like an intersting way to hunt big kitty's. Might want to try a silenced weapon for the 'yotes. (be sure to get the federal stamp etc first, of course)

You use enough gun, for sure!

Most cats are taken up close and cats have soft skin. I would use 44MAG lever gun or even a 30-30. Unless you have other tags and are hunting in terrain with scope for 100+yrds deer, etc.

I have used too big a gun quite a bit for whatever. Adds to the fun for me so use what you like. Shot a ground squirrel or two with my 416 Rigby and a Guinea fowl with a 454 Casull once. More than needed, obviously, but if it is fun, go for it.

How the little fowl and squirrel taste? Killer!!!

The tracker and skinner took the guinea fowl's legs and back and ate them, said they were quite good. For some reason, couldn't find the squirrel....

Back on topic, more leopard are probably killed - similar in size and build to a Cougar - with a 375H&H than with any other caliber. Ya run what ya brung. Lots of others taken with various 300 and 7mm Magnums and some 30/06's & 270's thrown in as well. All calibers commonly used are more than needed, but we want 'em DEAD and right NOW.

Anymore I've 'migrated' to the point where I only use two rifles to handle all my hunting requirements...

I use my old Win M70 loaded with 180 GR Nosler Partitions for everything from varmints through large big game (with the exception of dangerous brutes that like to bite).. This might be considered a little 'too much' for varmints, but would work fine for Mountain Lion sized critters. Some might not consider it enough gun for Moose and such, but if you do your job the 180 GR Partitions will take care of business...



But if I might be going after something that might also be going after me I'd prefer to use my trusty Win M70 .375 H&H Classic Stainless....



Like they say; 'always use enough gun', and there is no such thing as overkill.

Well said, and two finer rifle and cartridge choices one would be hard pressed to find.

If you read any books by Jim Corbett's or Kenneth Anderson on their Indian hunting adventures dealing with Leopards and Tigers, you'll find tethering a live goat or bullock was a fairly standard approach. For leopard, a tethered dog was another favorite bait.

Unlike yourself, they sat up in a "machan" (think tree stand) usually fairly close to the bait.

I'm sure you would in enjoy the books and probably pick up a few ideas also..

Regards,

Peter

PS in these politically correct times, if any one asks, I think the goat is better being refered to as a "decoy" rather than "bait"!

Marc is right about the leopard and cougar...same size and build, but he will also be the first to tell you the difference ends there. I would personally follow up a wounded cougar with my Single Six Ruger in .22 mag and feel OK about it.
I have personally followed up a wounded leopard ( see my handle...) with a .375 and would have much preffered to have done it with a Bradley Armored Vehicle....

This may have been posted before, still gets your point home:

One of them should have been carrying a shotgun.

Yeah, I think I saw a machan built in a lion hunting television program before about African Lions, that would be awesome but I am a tad bit on the lazy side. Yes you are correct, decoy sounds much better!

We have open season. All you need is a license.

Not a bad idea, especially if you have any indication that a cougar is in the near vicinity. If the goat will bleat it would help. Maybe put a flank rope on it like a bareback bronc, with a burr under the belly (you didn't hear that here!)

Backing off quite a ways and hiding might let you get away with a tiny bit more movement, maybe. Steve Craig the lion caller said it was a lot easier to call a lion than to get a hunter to sit still enough. Corbett was astonishing in how still he could sit for long periods.

Tell us more about the cougar your outfit got that way. How you set up, why you set up there and why you thought a lion might come, how long you waited, etc. if you are willing to divulge such stuff.

As to shooting gear: shoot whatever you know you can hit it with. And a ton of overkill beats an ounce of underkill.

Good luck!

Added thought re coyotes: If a lion is nearby a coyote probably won't come in. When calling wolves, grizzly or cougars, I may be wrong but I consider a coyote coming in boldly an indicator that no larger predator is near. If a coyote does come in when a cougar is in the area, my limited experience is that he will be so nervous and skittish he will telegraph that something badder than he is is around.

Also, a single shot or two to kill a coyote or two, with no other movment or sound probably will not prevent a cougar from coming in, IMO. An instant kill on the coyote, no thrashing, yelping and running around is less likely to spook a cougar.

Is there any indication that a cougar can be baited with a carcass of some sort as is typically done for leopard in modern day Africa?

I would give my eye teeth to to live in Mountain lion country and be able to try different methods and idea's...

Cougars generally don't go for carrion or things they have not killed. I have heard of exceptions but baiting them with a dead animal is unlikely.

I.e. I shot a young buck badly one evening and did not find him in the dark. It snowed an inch before daylight. An hour after daylight I was trailing the buck again, and after 200 yards further a cougar came in from one side and turned to follow the deer when he hit its track. When I came on the buck, the cougar had trailed it to where it lay dead.

If ever a cougar would eat something it had not killed, this was a good opportunity. The spike buck had died the evening before, laid out lengthwise on the trail within minutes of the shot. The cat had stepped within six inches of the buck as he walked past it. Only a slight shift of tracks indicated to me that he had leaned over and sniffed at the buck's head. Ootherwise he paid the fresh meat zero attention and walked on with no change in stride but for the slight pause by its head.

The buck had no man smell as I had not caught up with it till then. There was no indication that the cougar knew I was following and the cat had passed by the buck quite awhile before I arrived.

Okanagan,

Thanks for that...it really is facinating comparing/contrasting how the various big cats work...

Do cougars return to their own kills? I appreciate they may behave differently in different areas due to the amount of harassment / hunting by man..

Regards,

Peter

Pete, yes, cougars normally return and eat from a kill until it is gone. At least they do in regions cold enough to keep meat from spoiling. We have confirmed a single large cougar staying over four days near a large coastal blacktail buck, by which time he had consumed virtually every bit of meat. A pair of cougars stayed with a blacktail doe for just under two days until it was eaten. When spooked from a kill by a man, they often will return after the man leaves.

JJHack, a member here on this forum sat up over a cougar kill all night (goat as I recall) and killed the lion when it returned at dawn the next day.

Wish I could easily swap you a day in London for a day in a Rocky Mountain valley looking for and at cougar tracks.