Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints Mountain Lion Calling

I'm going to make a point to get out more this year... I'm still over-busy, homeschooling 6 kids, still have to do late deer, late archery elk, and I'm still not completely moved over here to central Washington, but I'm getting lion withdrawls!

How about you guys?

Seems I'm seeing a lot more surprise sightings and livestock damage stories. I predicted that, seems like it's happening.

Not sure how the cougar numbers (or habit patterns, lowland influx, livestock damage, etc.) are going to react to the influx of wolves, but the fact that more big predators are out cutting into the herds has the same effect.... and "they" are still regulating the humans out of the equation. Closing the most impacted areas at the end of the year here in Washington.


What do you think about lion hunting this year? What are you guys seeing?

With the size of a lions range, are you having success calling? I've only called one.

Fireball2 & Rainshadow1: Indeed Mt. Lions do cover a LOT of territory - one of my early Hunting mentors claimed that Mt. Lions have huge circular routes and stop by their favored haunts about every 12 to 20 days.
I don't know about that time schedule.
He Hunted Mt. Lions back when there was a bounty on them in Washington state and brought MANY of them to bag.
The few folks I know who call Hunt Mt. Lions these days do so in two ways:
#1: They concentrate on calling in the small areas where Mule Deer congregate in winter - approach that area on foot and well camoed (usually snow camo at the time of year they call Hunt) and use fawn bleet type calls.
#2: Drive the back roads/trails after a fresh snow and look for fresh tracks then call. Again this driving and looking for tracks is done in areas where Mule Deer concentrate in winter.
Rainshadow1 there used to be lots of Mt. Lions there in eastern Washington near Malo/Lk. Curlew - good luck if you get up thataway.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Your knowledge is endless.

Ya, I get out for coyote, but have not gotten serious about calling/taking a mountain lion. I really ought to get on that this year.

Supposedly there are plenty of them around!

Guy

They're low density, because of their range, they keep it that way on their own, that's why they disperse and become problems. So it's not like Coyote calling. But I've called as many as 2 dozen in a year back when I could go once per week for 3 months. Lots of dry days, burned lots of gas, and hiked lots of snow, (actually damaged my achilles a little bit doing it.) but when you get one coming in, especially if it's calling back to your vocals, it makes then next series of dry days totally worth it!

I was able to take two in three years back then.

Life has interrupted for several years, but the population is just going up, up, up, so I'm excited to get back out. Still can't go once per week, but I'm going to do what I can! Washington is doing what I predicted back in about '09, they're assimilating to rural development, and they're starting to do noticeably more damage. Good opportunities to call on sightings.

It's different compared to calling several coyotes per day, cold calling is very rarely successful. But if you have tracks, or a sighting or a kill, calling with distress and laid back vocals gives you really pretty good odds.

They are out of control this year in Arizona. We have seen 5 already this month out hunting. My son called in 2 on Thursday morning. I'm headed out in the morning, hoping to glass one up.

I have called in two. I used a hand call, a Weems Wild call duo tone, rough raspy sound.

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!

Hope you cut tracks often, Okanagan! Have fun on them!

Happenstance sightings are getting so much more common. I'm still only at one maybe, with a couple for sure by vocals when I was doing other hunting. But then the west side is THICK! Really looking forward to getting into this east side stuff!

We called one more in on Thursday but the bastid jumped off the rock before he could be shot. They are so stinking wary...

The cat population is growing down here in the south eastern part of Washington. I was told that there have been 5 cats taken down here in the blues since season started. My son was showing me his game camera pictures the other night and he had a picture with 3 cats on it all together. I have gotten several phone calls from friends of mine that run cows and wanting me to help them get rid of some cat problems. The problem with Washington game dept. is if they think that to many cats have been harvested they can at any time close that GMU to cat hunting.

.... The problem is their definition of "too many." It's bordering on stupid!

When I retire ML and wolf are at the top of the bucket list .
Selling out everything travelling in a nice 4x4 vehicle that I can camp in , hunting , trapping till I die .

Best of luck to all who are trying to bag the big predators .

I'll be going out in NE Washington later this month. Snow is falling and I hope to fill a tag.

I'll be in NE hunting deer on Saturday. Hope to be busy but bringing the calls!

I got all my gear ready last week. As soon as my local waterfowl lake freezes I'll switch to Cougar. Saw some tracks out there Sunday. Most of my cougar sighting while hunting them are from watching how other critters are acting. Deer act a lot different when they know a cat is around. You can watch them and get an idea on the general area to look. Same with Coyote. If the coyote know there is a kill in a spot. They act different. They will challenge call trying to figure out if the cat is nearby. I watched a cat challenge call right back as it moved in on the coyote. Watch and listen.

Hiked in 2 miles to an area I killed a Cougar a few years ago. Fresh snow for tracking but no sign. Deer were moving into the area from the east. Not a normal action. Unless something was disturbing them.

Hey guys,

Deer/Elk are winding down, I'm getting fired up to run a few Cougar stands!



I posted a couple new Call-in Stories on my page, they're O23 and O24.
http://www.rain-shadow.com/cougar_callin_stories.htm

Still looking for YOUR stories! Please send them to me!


Also, lost a few pictures... if you have a story on my page and your pics are gone, I'd love to get them from you again! Thanks!

No luck calling Sunday. Fresh snow is forecast for this weekend. I plan on hunting both days. If I am not plowing snow.