I have a handful of spots Im going to try and call from, a couple spots on the top of ridge lines where I have found cougar tracks and poop piles. The other spots are in the over grown vine maple/manzanita thickets where I have also found sign. It would be very easy for a cougar to sneak right up on me in the thickets because you can't see more then 5-8 yards in front of you, some times less.
I know of a couple natural Meadows that the deer like to hang out in (mostly at night) and I have found cougar sign in the meadows. I might try there but I have a feeling the cougars also move through the meadows at night and avoid them during the day. During the summer these Meadows get some really tall ferns/grass and a cat could easily sneak through there without being seen no problem so maybe I'll give those a try.
Unfortunately most of my trips will probably be solo hunts. I have one friend (my elk hunting partner) who is willing to go look for cats but he just had a baby so he won't be able to spend as much time out in the mountains now. A tree stand does seem like a good idea and I could possibly use it for deer season so I'll keep that in mind.
I have always heard cougars like to hang out on top of rock faces with a bird's eye view looking down on anything that might happen to walk by. Not sure if this is true or not but makes sense. I also know of a small west ward faceing cave with full sun in the after noon ontop of a ridge line. I haven't found cougar tracks leading directly to the cave but I have found sign within 100 yards of the cave. I have a trail cam up there right now but I wont be able to get it for a few more months, it's a dangerous hike to get there with snow in the ground.
Last edited by Hoglegs3006; 01/08/22.
