Hey Steve, get after them this winter!
As old and less sure of foot that I am, I wait for optimum conditions and then only set up to call on high percentage sign. That means I don't call much! I'm still stuck at 19 called in, that I know about. Cougar vocals I got from you are a staple sound I use on every lion calling stand. A mix of your vocals plus a recording of my old Weems jack rabbit distress is my standard favorite though we have called cougars with lion vocals/fawn distress as well.
I saw two lions last year, the first non-called ones I’ve seen in years. One was 40 yards off highway 9 a couple of miles south of Acme, WA. The other was in BC, 600 yards away across a valley as I glassed an old clearcut grown up in scattered Christmas trees. I was looking for mule deer in early snow, saw the cat move and thought that it was a deer until I put glass on it. Before cougar season opened there.
Two weeks ago I saw another probable along the Upper Samish Rd. off of Highway 9, but didn't get a clear look and it was gone, natch, when I U-turned. Rewinding the mental tape, I don't know what it could have been other than lion. It was in a field, within 30 yards of me but through a screen of brush on the fence row.
Giving these locations isn't revealing much since there are so many cougars in that country and they are always moving unless on a kill.
Best of luck this winter season!
