Calling coyotes and bobcats in mountain lion country?

hm1996

hm1996

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THIS THREAD got me to wondering.

Are coyotes and bobcats more cautious when coming to the call in mountain lion country than they are where there are no lions? I would think so, but?????

Regards,
hm
 
On two of the ranches I get to hunt on there are mountain lions and black bears. I have not noticed any difference in how the coyotes approach my e-caller in lion and bear country.

It sure makes it more exciting for me though even though I have never seen a lion or bear while calling coyotes.

There has been close to ten times I have had the crap scared out of me while thinking about lions and bears while I am calling.

All it takes for me to be instantly terrified is have a butterfly go by my head or a raven shadow move by between me and my Foxpro when I am thinking about lions and bears.

The most startled I have ever been, I made a stand in lion country and when I sat down in against a juniper with my shotgun I bent a juniper limb back behind me so it would be out of my way.

After about 15 minutes of calling I was day dreaming about a lion sneaking in to my Foxpro when the juniper limb I had bent back behind me popped loose and flipped over my shoulder.

That juniper limb scared me more than anything else has in my lifetime.
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I have noticed that when I use pig sounds to call in coyotes in pig country that most of the coyotes don't charge in as fast as they do to a rabbit or bird sounds.
 
Quote:That juniper limb scared me more than anything else has in my lifetime. cry

That's hilarious!

Quote:I have noticed that when I use pig sounds to call in coyotes in pig country that most of the coyotes don't charge in as fast as they do to a rabbit or bird sounds.

Interesting. I would have thought that lions might have "educated" the smaller predators who might have intruded upon the lion's feast.

Thanks for your thoughts on the matter, Bob. Almost no lions down here, so just curious.

Regards,
Clarence
 
From what I have seen through my trail cameras is the lions and bears that we do have around cover miles and miles of country.

So even though they are around they don't come back around for 3 to 6 weeks at a time.I will get them on my trail cameras for two or three days and then not see them again for 3 weeks or more.

I did get a black bear feeding on a steer carcass for just a little over three weeks.

About 4 years ago I had two trail cameras set up in a canyon bottom just above and below a water hole for 10 weeks. I got one lion and one bear on those cameras just one time each in those 10 weeks.
 
Having grown up in cougar country the short answer is no.
Half my life any hunter without hounds was lucky to see a cougar track.
Then came the dog and trap bans. The population exploded and they are far more common these days.
I have had instances of fresh tracks behind the bush I was calling from and fresh tracks in my footprints during snowfall.
I have firsthand stories that could take up a day and friends and neighbors stories that could take up another.
We also have bobcats but not as prevalent as the past.
I have killed coyotes and seen bobcats on the same sets as seeing cougars. Many times seasons prevent cat harvests but coyotes are always open.
 
Originally Posted By: hm1996Videos are blocked, Bob. Flickr says "private".

Regards,
Clarence

It takes about 10 to 15 seconds after clicking on them for the play arrow to show up, but it works for me.
 
Yes, thank you, Bob. Great videos. Is that a male/female/kitten or a female w/two younguns?

Those coyotes in the dark picture were sure milling around waiting their turn.
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Thanks for posting.

Regards,
Clarence
 
I would echo what tripod3 stated. We have more lions now than I can ever remember. On top of that we have wolves as well. It is in the back of my mind when I am out calling, but not overly concerned. I have always carried a pistol in a chest holster on the outside of my jacket.
 
Originally Posted By: derbyacresbobFrom what I have seen through my trail cameras is the lions and bears that we do have around cover miles and miles of country.

So even though they are around they don't come back around for 3 to 6 weeks at a time.I will get them on my trail cameras for two or three days and then not see them again for 3 weeks or more.


That's been my understanding, but no personal experience to back it up.

One of the ranches I've hunted for 16-17 years adjoins an area known to be a core territory for an unknown number of lions. Recently, they have occasionally been seen on the ranch.

I have tried calling areas where they have been observed soon after they were seen but the closest I got was this gut pile which had been covered with grass.

Too much grass & ground was too hard to positively identify the faint tracks but I believe them to have been made by a large cat.

38254966555_a45dcb1a19_c.jpg


My first thought was that it was left by a hunter field dressing a nilgai on the ground, but the blood high on weeds in this picture squashed that idea and I've never seen remains covered like this before the lion sightings.

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Quote:We also have bobcats but not as prevalent as the past.

I would imagine the large cats and/or wolves would take a toll on the smaller predators, but from Bob's video, maybe not so much for coyotes, at least. They seemed to know just about how close they could get to that bear, any way.
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Regards,
hm
 
Looking at a picture lets the mind wander without being there but my first guess if that were here would be bear that found a gut pile.


38254966555_a45dcb1a19_c.jpg



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Originally Posted By: derbyacresbobOn two of the ranches I get to hunt on there are mountain lions and black bears. I have not noticed any difference in how the coyotes approach my e-caller in lion and bear country.

It sure makes it more exciting for me though even though I have never seen a lion or bear while calling coyotes.

There has been close to ten times I have had the crap scared out of me while thinking about lions and bears while I am calling.

All it takes for me to be instantly terrified is have a butterfly go by my head or a raven shadow move by between me and my Foxpro when I am thinking about lions and bears.

The most startled I have ever been, I made a stand in lion country and when I sat down in against a juniper with my shotgun I bent a juniper limb back behind me so it would be out of my way.

After about 15 minutes of calling I was day dreaming about a lion sneaking in to my Foxpro when the juniper limb I had bent back behind me popped loose and flipped over my shoulder.

That juniper limb scared me more than anything else has in my lifetime.
cry.gif


I have noticed that when I use pig sounds to call in coyotes in pig country that most of the coyotes don't charge in as fast as they do to a rabbit or bird sounds.

LOL Bob, that is so TRUE!!! We were hunting in a known lion canyon. We had seen the fresh tracks. I was settled in on a rock next to my partner, calling. I just switched calls when I hear a low, throaty growl coming from behind us. I froze and paused the call. I hear nothing. So I start the call again and again a growl. Now I am more than a bit worried. I slide my pistol out figuring that we were about to have a serious close encounter. I can't see the cat, but it sure sounded close. So I decide that I am going to try to get it to come out in the open by changing calls. "MOO," I hear from where the "cat" is growling from. What in the...so I stand up and see...nothing. So I start the call and hear the "MOO" coming from my partners backpack. Turns out that my remote had triggered his call. But his play list and mine were different and I had accidentally triggered the mountain lion growl. We laugh to this day when we talk about how freaked out we were.

I have seen coyote and bobcat sign in mountain lion country. I have even seen coyotes mark right on top of mountain lion scat. Sure, there are probably cats that will take a coyote if the chance avails itself. But I don't think that they will go out of their way to hunt coyotes. They all seem to coexist on some level.
 
This is a good read as a relatively ignorant newbie with mountain lions in the back yard. I'm glad I'm not the only one that has freaked myself out!
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I would have to really travel to get somewhere that wasn't lion country, so it's a potential (and a hope) all the time... I'm carrying a camera and a .45 that I hope to never have to use...

All the time I've spent trying to get close to a lion, and all the reading I've done on them... I'm pretty convinced they aren't just going to sneak up on you and eat your face or anything... maybe if you're really confusing looking and using a mouth call so you're the source of the noise. But if they make you out as a human, they aren't going to advance. Guys that collar/track/research them describe treeing them by yelling and clapping their hands... they want nothing to do with you. We don't "register" as a prey species when they spot us, so their instinct is to not let us see them, not to get aggressive.

That being said, the creeping up behind me thing has really put some limits on where I'm willing to set up and call... maybe I'll get more comfortable over time? Dunno.....

Those pics I posted (the only lion I've seen in the wild with my own eyes) were shot maybe 150 feet from my house. I'm in a canyon/creek bed right at the tree line. I will never now how many I've been close to.


I'll edit to add: when I've called in coyotes at my place, they've come in at a sprint... but they seem to be hanging out in the creek bed out away from the woods and come in from that direction, not from out of the woods where you'd figure lions and bobcats would be hanging out.
 
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I hunt coyotes a fair amount up in our Colorado mountains, and have not noticed a difference in how coyotes respond to a call.

Maybe after wolves get established that will change. A study I read about wolf/coyote interaction in Yellowstone said that within 2 years of the wolf reintroduction, wolves had reduced the coyote population by 50% in Yellowstone.
 
Quote:I have seen coyote and bobcat sign in mountain lion country. I have even seen coyotes mark right on top of mountain lion scat. Sure, there are probably cats that will take a coyote if the chance avails itself. But I don't think that they will go out of their way to hunt coyotes. They all seem to coexist on some level.

That's the question I meant to pose originally, Jason. Guess I should have been more specific, but was wondering if coyotes and bobcats were intimidated or threatened by the presence of mountain lions.

Regards,
hm
 
Bears are almost unheard of down here, Mark. I remember one or two in the past 50 years that came up from Mexico during extreme droughts. One, IIRC, was killed not far from this ranch but that's been over 25 years ago.

The gut pile may have been left by a hunter, but there were no boot or truck tracks in the surrounding area, so that's not too likely IMO. We usually are able to drive close enough to snake game out of the brush with a vehicle which leaves lots of sign.
Also something covered the remains w/grass.

Regards,
hm
 
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