Calling Mountain Lions, suggestions

Handloader

New member


In over four decades of calling coyotes and bobcats, I've only called in two mountain lions, at least that I know about. For this year I want to orient more toward calling mountain lion and I am sure that will require a change in technique, calls etc.

Your suggestions and comments are appreciated. Too, if there are any good reference books, please let me know.

I have found two areas that show lots of fresh sign and I have a lion tag in my wallet that needs to be filled.
 
Where are you calling at? We have plenty down here in our neck of the state. Shoot me an e-mail and maybe we can hook up for some calling down here. About a 3 hour drive from Phx to our place. When calling for lion I have always called loud and long, using any of the distress type calls, and the deer bleat during fawning. Stay on stand for at least an hour, you also may have called in more than your realized, just haven't seen them or left to soon. I know that has happened to me more than once.
 
Stand setup! Time on stand! Optics! My guess is that you have called in more than two during that time. They may have been behind you, in the shade under that tree 80 yards to your left or maybe 20 feet away, crouched beside that granite boulder, but I bet he was there. Especially if you were on stand for more than 45 minutes. Maybe not every time you were out but maybe more than just twice. For me stand time for a big cat has always been 45 minutes or more, back against a solid cliff or boulder and use of optics. I have watched a couple come in from half a mile or more away and take an hour plus. And then I had a cat not to long ago come to my call in a side canyon up on the Verde. He was on a canyon shelf 10 feet above my head and 20 feet to my left. I could smell him which is how I knew he was around. I had my back against the canyon wall, sitting under a mesquite and had not called for over 20 minutes. I think he was trying to figure out where I was when I stood up and started to look around trying to figure out where he was. He left in a big hurry, up the canyon wall. Had I not smelled him I never would have known he was there. I don’t remember ever seeing one were I was not on stand for less than 45 minutes.
 
Urine, and very strong. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif I wouldn't doubt if the cat was close enough and the wind was blowing right, a hunter could easily smell it. Especially in the warmer climates.

Good hunting
 
I am not sure if it is urine, although it may be, but it was a mild, slightly sweet odor. Maybe it was just that one cat, but after sitting in the shade of a mesquite tree for an hour with very little breeze blowing the odor of the area changed from dirt, clump grass and mesquite to a slightly sweet odor. I did not know it was a cat until I got up and looked, but I did know from the change in smell that there was something around that had not been there before.

Duh, maybe it was not the cat that the odor came from? I guess that I just assumed it was the cat that the odor came from because the cat had not been there before I sat down but was there after the odor changed. I really don’t remember anything else changing. There was very little breeze and it did not change direction. I did not see any other animals in the area. Was this a wrong assumption to make? Don’t Puma’s have an odor? I really don’t know and now you have me wondering..
 
I'm sure no expert on cats. I'm sure someone here would have a better explanation than myself.

The one I got just happened to have a strong odor around the hind quarters that I assume was urine. Possibly coming out of heat. Breeding season was winding down. They can breed anytime of year though.

If it had been close enough, a human could have smelled it. She really had a stench. Really wasn't sweet though. Maybe the one you were near had been around something with a sweet odor to it. Dunno.

Good hunting.
 

JohnP: I've been calling several areas around the Bradshaws. It took awhile to find good sign, but, there are two that have multiple cat sign. My problem is timing my calls to the approximate time that those cats may be back in the area. It seems to be a pair and they seem to be coming across this one saddle every five to six days.

I've been scouting in proximity to 5B in one canyon that takes about a hour and half to access from the last of the road. Good sign there, too.
In SE AZ around the Chiracahuas I found two fresh deer kills that were definitely visited by or caused by lion, but, on a subsequent visit I found no fresh sign.

And, thanks for your offer. It is always interesting to get out with experienced callers and hunters. For the balance of Spring and during Summer, my orientation will be up on the Rim; around Fall I will start calling the southern part of the state.

Others: thanks for your comments and stories. I've only killed on mountain lion from a call stand in four decades of calling. The suggestions here that stands for lion need to be longer agree with what others have suggested. Two area callers that have had some notable success stay on stand for at least three hours! Now, that's discipline!!

One of my biggest challenges, after two long, long stands, is passing on curious coyotes. A ghillie suit certainly has proven its worth in concealment and tends to minimize the motion of needed shifts in position on these long stands. Effectively, I am limited to one stand per day given travel time, etc. Falling asleep during the predawn while on stand is another challenge; if you hear of someone getting eaten or mauled while calling, it could be me. Oh well.

Now, I just need to get the big kitty before the tag in my wallet wears out. Like the condoms of yesteryear.
 
Handloader,
If you are calling in alot of coyotes on your lion stands, you are not on good lion location. Good coyote habitat is very poor lion country. It seems to be the norm as I too only called in 3 lions lifetime using prey distress sounds untill I started using lion vocalizations. Whole nuther game using their own sounds.
Steve
 
Steve,
What vocalization sounds do you use? The only sounds that I have ever heard them make were screams that sound like a baby crying and a hoarse yowl that someone told me is a female in heat. I have no idea of what other sounds they make.

Cactus Rat
 
Steve Craig: very interesting website! 10,000 lifetime kills certainly beats my mere 1,000.

Thanks, too, for your observations. Learning to call lions is a different game and, it seems, each time I go afiled I am learning something new and sometimes contradictory. Its a sorting out process at this point.

I spent yesterday morning on one stand. 3 hours. No lion, but, several elk showed up and lingered for awhile; I'm not sure that's a good sign. I was using a goat bleat. And, one of the ugliest coyote I have ever seen (dark grey solid color, mangy looking). Mr Coyote got to within 20 feet before sensing a problem and leaving with haste.

Steve, if you will, can you recommend and share you opinion on specific hand calls or sounds? My general approach has been to use calls that replicate larger animals in distress but your post suggests using lion sounds if I read it correctly. And, can you effectively use more than one sound on a given stand?

Are there scent attractants that you would recommend?

Thanks in advance.
 
As far as handcall go, use what you have the most confidence in. I tend to use larger prey type sounds if I use a handcall. Moose, elk,deer goat, etc. As far as scent goes, I dont use it. The felines do have a very good nose, but tend not to use it like the canids and canines do. To call lions CONSISTANTLY though, you need to use lion vocalizations. They get very vocal with you, especially the females. When using prey sounds, they rarely do. 99.5 % of the lions I call are called using their own vocalizations. I did call one in this year using a moose vocalization, on my WT caller. The other 19 were called using lion sounds. We are going to have a huge crop of lions again this year as 10 of the 20 I called since last Aug were juveniles. Juvies are very easy to call. We usualy just let them walk away to grow up some. The hardest thing about calling lions is finding them, as you seem to be finding out. Keep at it as that is how you learn. Experience is a HARD teacher, but not the best.
Steve
 

Update: three days of calling and scouting, just back.

No lions showed up, but, I found one deer kill (doe) and lots of tracks. I estimate the kill to have been several days old. Getting closer. I hope.

I made three stands and stayed on each one for three hours. I passed on one bobcat -- that was hard to resist. I got to each stand about an hour before dawn and began calling at first light.

Note to self: do not drink coffee before going on a three hour stand.

Next trip, next Monday/Tueday.
 
Quote:
Handloader,
If you are calling in alot of coyotes on your lion stands, you are not on good lion location. Good coyote habitat is very poor lion country.
Northern Nv. is crawling with lions and Any one that has been there will tell you there is no shortage of coyotes. Maybe Az. is different.
 


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