Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Western Oregon cougar hunters

Any western Oregon cougar hunters on here? New years day I went and got my 2022 hunting license and cougar tag. I buy my cougar tag every year just in case I happen to see one while deer or elk hunting but I have never gotten a chance to take a shot. I have never gone out looking for Mountain lions but this year I'm going to try my hardest to fill my tag.

This October while deer hunting the Indigo unit I had a cougar stalking me. Long story short I was walking a very old and overgrown skid road, plan was to walk this skid road in cut cross country about 1.5 miles to another old skid road then walk that one back out to my rig. Anyways I got to the end of the skid road started to go cross country and I realized I would not be able to make it to the other road because the buck brush was way to thick to walk through without scaring any deer off (welcome to Oregon hunting). So I decided to turn around and walk out the way I came in. On my way out I walked the same small game trial I walked in, i suddenly got a strong smell of [bleep], very strong smell. Kept walk and sure enough on the trail was a incredibly fresh pile of cougar [bleep]. Covered in flys and still warm. (Yes I put my finger to it and it was still warm). This pile was not there on my hike in, I would of smelled and seen it. I made the rest of that hike out on red alert. The best part is on my hike in my stomach was telling me "turn around and go back to the truck, something is not right, turn around" I did not listen to my gut instinct.

There's a decent deer population in this area I hunt and there's some damn good blacktail bucks to be shot so it makes sense that cougars would be there. They go where the deer go. I always find cougar sign in this area and allot of it.

My plan is to get a foxpro Inferno E call and see if I can call in a cats this winter, spring and summer. Any tips from experienced PNW cougar hunters would be great. Anyone on here ever harvested a cougar in the indigo unit? I know where they are, but getting a shot opportunity is the hard part. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!
-Hoglegs

Don't have any input on the PNW but I've called a few in while in CO. Cats tend to come in slow and use every piece of cover. So if you try to call them in be patient and really look into every pocket of cover. It is amazing to see a cougar or even a big bobcat just materialize out of nowhere.

You might glean some information here;

http://www.rain-shadow.com/cougar-callin-stories.html

Better to try and call them downhill than from uphill.

Me, I'd get a Climbing Stand, nice lightweight Summit.
Birdseye view, you can see down into the thick cover MUCH better.

Best luck!

They sure seem to respond to Turkey calls.. I've had run ins with them in Josephine County, but never shot one...

best chance I had was while out hiking, and was face to face with it about 30 yds between us... it was uphill on a rock from me..

I was carrying a 22 Mag....it was snowing hard. I raised the rifle, put the cross hairs between its eyes, and started walking toward it and talking..

it changed its stance and then turned and took off up the bank very quickly.

Cougars as a rule cover a lot of ground so there's a great deal of timing and luck involved with being in the right place at the right time. While we walk around trees and brush to stay dry, and coyotes come running out in the open so they can see better, cougars walk thru brush and under the low hanging tree branches to stay concealed. They use their nose while we use our eyes. Put yourself on a ridgetop or near the bottom of a canyon when calling. Cougars go where deer and elk are but stay hidden for obvious reasons. I don't have time to tell you stories but stay alert, they'll sneak right in on you and YOU WON'T SEE THEM COMING most of the time, then they'll just be right in front of you in full view. Crazy.

I hope to do some calling yet this winter myself.

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.

Get eyes in the back of your head.

I need a set of those spy sun glasses with the rear view mirror haha.

This sort of thing is a waiting game, more time you spend on a stand the better your odds, as simple as that.

The 10-15min. coyote calling sets educate a lot of coyotes and leave many bobcats thinking a man in camouflage clothing beat them to the distressed animal. .

I've had great luck with Bobcats from a treestand, in super thick areas -taken a few of them with a Bow, many with a rimfire rifle.

I always use a decoy, a small plastic crappie fishing reel with 10lb. test green spiderwire line, alligator clip and rabbit/squirrel fur/tails, bundle of turkey feathers, whatever.
Wrap the alligator clip around a bush/limb to keep it from pulling loose, head high - place caller there, put reel in pocket, climb quietly with treestand.
Also use a crow cutout, black spray-paint cardboard hang it on another bush near caller/decoy. First critter to arrive at a set >crow/magpie, it puts leary animals at ease, they're used to seeing them at kill sites.

OK best of luck sounds like you have some good spots.

Oh wow that is a genius idea. Something so simple yet so smart. I'll have to give that a try. I have a handful of squirrel and coon hides around the house. Maybe I can rig up a homemade decoy. Thank you

Shoot them all.

Hoglegs,
I'm downstream from you a little ways, But here's one that was taken outside of Springfield a couple of years back. Not me in the pic. Wishing you much luck!

I have been half ass trying to call one in for years without any luck.

Pretty sure I called one in a few years ago, but like most times, got impatient and got up to move.

A guy where I grew up has killed 3 over the years calling. He puts a lot of work in scouting and will spend 3/4 hours on a stand. He says he spends weeks looking for the right stand before he even calls.

Longarm, great photo and a damn good looking cat!

SLM, I also have a hard time sitting in the same spot and after about a hour I'm ready to get up and try a new spot. I'll have to discipline myself not to do that. It seems like people have been successful in tree stands. I'm curious what meets the criteria for a good stand location.

I'm genuinely surprised that no one has made the joke of hunting cougars at the bar around midnight haha.

Hunt & Trap on Sign, simple as that, you know they travel there so make stands there.

ML travel big loops for many miles, call the best Sign location as much as possible, day after day if you can. Sooner or later the two of you will meet.

Longarm,
Hello.
Great picture.
Any idea of the weight?

Hi Mike,
No, I poached the pic off another forum. As I recall it was shot on a small farm with goats or sheep.. the owner had been having this cat come in at night and kill the critters. This fella just waited up for it to return and it did. He said he was 6'1" tall for reference re size, but I don't know the animals weight. Quite a specimen though!
We have way too many of them here in Oregon. They are not uncommonly seen within city limits in the town I live. Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife estimates their population at about 5700 statewide, hunters groups estimate it to be likely much higher.

I've posted this picture before. It was taken in 2017 from a second story balcony within city limits of the town I live in..

Cool !
I remember you posting that picture, whole pack of ML near town. wow.

Beautiful country where you live, I'm a woods guy.

Shiit I’ve never seen that pic before Dan.. great shot 👍

Here’s one I killed over 20 years ago mike. Shot another one the same year at 27 yards with a 870 wingmaster, 12 gauge 3” mag #2 shot. I shot, you could see the pattern hit his shoulder, he jumped 6’ straight up in the air, twisting and legs flying, hit the ground and never seen him again. Waist/chest high sword ferns and salal brush. Sure he died a long slow death, still makes me sick to think about it. I just laugh when folks talk about how “easy” mountain lions are to kill. They may be sittin in a tree shot in the lungs with a small caliber. The one on my wall soaked up some lead, pretty dicey follow up job.

Mike, advice I will give, a pard hunts and collars lions in in Washington for a couple Indian rez’s, as well as wdfw. Anyhow, he says they always follow the elk herds, find elk, a lion will usually be close by. 👍

Here’s the pic of mine I killed the same year as the one I lost with a 12 gauge

Nice Tom a buddy at work got a couple years ago on cam. West of me out by PeEll

Ol neighbor guy few miles down the road from me captured this one few years ago. Unbelievable shot

Treed with hounds?

Wow! That’s a cool picture!

Predator call 👍

Ya as you can see in the background of the pics, that’s why we don’t see many. The underbrush just swallows em up

Yep. Looks like some thick schitt!

Badass!

Good stuff Jud.

Killing one to the call is bad ass.

Pard shot this one really close, huntin bucks, herd something, turned around there he was.. NE Washington.

See if this works, Ol bog that got the fawn shot got this family on cam same area.

There’s 4 in the pic, the video had 6 or 7 there in one spot. Big litter I guess

Fantastic shots Jud!

There not mine, but folks I know, all local to my area. Lotsa of em around for sure just hard to see one with all our vegetation, as you well know😂 very cool critters for sure.

Glad we don't have any around here, at least according to the MDC.🤣🤣

Judman,

Great wall mount !
All the pictures are great, that one with the fawn, yep you can see the foliage is super thick. Never thought I see thicker stuff than in the Coastal south-east but you folks take the prize.

The one that took a load of #2, cat was probably less 100 yards away when likely died.

I've seen a few videos of cat shot on the ground and they do usually jump six feet in the air, bobcat will go airborne when shot w/a bow or rimfire.

I follow a lad on Utube NW Wild and Free, they called in and killed a ML, 6.5 creedmoor to the chest, other members show up to help find it, 2-3 of them popping it at close range and it would run to another thick spot. They find it pop it again and off it would go , tough ass critter. NO Creedmoor jokes allowed!!!

Ya most lions are shot with smaller calibers and bleed out in the tree. They’re solid muscle and got quite the will to live.

10gaugemag,

South of you down in north central arkansas, Ark. fish & game informs us that we have----------> 2 laf , it's on their web page. So if by chance anybody up your way ask let them know the state of Arkansas has 2.

Hey you ever hears any rumors of wolves up your way?
Some Missouri guys on LongRangeHunting website say there are wolves there, a lot of wilderness up there.

No wolves that I am aware of but my buds dad said they saw one back in the 80s while running coyote hounds.

I have no doubt we have a few lions in the state.

My pard who has done a bunch of coon hunting and is pretty fearless in the dark had something making a ruckus around him one morning in the dark. He has no doubt it was a cat, growling and so on. Didn't like him being there one bit.

I went looking for a video of old Missouri, it was old-timey folks living out in rural areas. Some history outfit filmed it in the 70's.

Had some old Fox/coyote hunters who spoke of their dogs getting after a wolf here & there, said they'd find their dogs way over in the next county all beat up.

You're friend sounds brave.

https://youtu.be/2MBp4KCnJUs

This one?

A lot of the old timers we ran coyotes with called em wolves but were generally referring to coyotes.

Fun times but too many roads and houses now. Hounds get ran over and people don't like your hounds running across their land.

Wanna talk about seeing some big deer. Saw some dandies pushed out of the brush when the hounds would run a coyote through a patch of timber.

Hoglegs3006, glass every inch of ground you can see, then glass it again. You have received some good information.

You found it Hoss, I took their words at face value, I've heard/read coyotes called brush-wolves many times.

There are a couple of guys on LongRangeHunting site saying they've seen tracks and heard wolves in Missouri. Don't remember the region.

I watched the long version, maybe an hour & half

Well guys I really appreciate all the information and photos y'all have shared. Hopefully I get a little bit of luck and get a shot at a cougar.

Judman, that wall mount is very nice! Looks great. My girlfriend wants a pet cat, I told her the only cat we are getting is a cougar hung on the wall haha.

Ol' Mike, I have seen that same NW wild and free video. It's a good one. I really like that YouTube channel. I'll be hunting with the trusty Ol' 30-06. Allot of people seem to think they are so easy to kill but I disagree. They seem to be very tough animals and not to be taken lightly.