Hunting Mountain Lions- have questions??

furblaster

furblaster

New member
I have a great opportunity to go hunting for a mountain lion in the coming weeks. I have never hunted one and I'm needing some expert advice on certain calls to use and maybe a couple of call sequences to throw out at them. The area is mostly open and they have been harassing cattle. I was thinking of either setting up close to the cattle and just waiting for a chance at one. Next I was throwing in the notion that I could possibly use a fawn distress call. I plan on using my .243 Winchester; if you think that isn't enough gun please let me know.
Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks, Joel
 
If you think of a lion the same as you would a house cat, you'll do fine. Just remember a cat eats when he wants and sleeps when he wants and never gets in a hurry. When you call either, they come to you very slowly, if at all. Good luck.
 
furblaster: ++ what Dan Carey said.

If you want a "sneaky" mountain lion to come in and maybe nibble on your neck, use the prey distress calls. If you want a vocal mountain lion to come in, use mountain lion vocalizations. People using WT callers seem to have pretty good luck with this. I recommend using some sort of motion decoy that will keep the cat's attention while you ready to make the shot. Have a pistol with you, too, for safety.

Is it legal to hunt lions this time of year? In Arizona, the season is closed right now. Not intending to lecture you, just not wanting you to get into any "imperial entanglements".

Good hunting.

Karl in Phoenix
 
Assuming you're legal... Is it a damage control hunt?

Sitting watching the cattle herd would be mind-blowingly low percentage. If you have a kill to watch that's another story. If it's hanging around it's best to investigate the surrounding area, and try to figure out where it's hanging out. It'll likely be marking, mounding, pooping in the trail, etc.

The 243 is a good choice.

Distress will work, but it's harder. You'd be wise to have a second set of eyes looking the opposite direction. They'll typically stalk distress, and cats can stalk, believe me. You can hand or mouth call a vocal or two. Not too hard. Sit ridiculously still for a long, long, long time on a calling stand. (If your sound is fairly low, figure an hour. If you've got good volume and feel it can be heard a long ways away, figure 3.)

Good Luck!
 
Great advice above. A cougar can cover a 75 mile area or territory with no problems. Waiting for one to show up or even calling is a low percentage way to hunt them. If you can find a fella with a pack of dogs that's the high percentage way to hunt them, at least here in this part of the country.

Mr Carey really hit the nail on the head.
 
Yes, it is a damage control hunt. The property owner called me and asked me to come out after she contacted the local game warden and is scared for herself and her cattle will be dropping calves soon. There are two of them and they are not afraid of her. She had the largest (guessing 110-120 lbs) within 60 yards of her. They have been caught snooping around the cattle and harassing them on several occasions. When and after I harvest one we are to call the game warden and he is to come out and inspect and take samples from the mountain lion.

Thanks for the help so far, but keep it coming! Joel
 
The hardest part about calling a mountain lion is cold calling. If you know there is a lion in the area then your precentages go way up. Distress has worked will for me and I have called lions in using primaraly rabbit distress. Deer or fawn should work fine also. .243 is plenty of gun and if she is seeing 2 lions they are probably litter mates that are trying to find their own territory this time of year. I would ask around with neighbors to see if they have any info that could get you on the freshest sign or in the areas they have been spotted most. Lions are more challenging to call then other predators but it sounds like you might have a good shot. Good luck!
 
if you have a decoy use it they really focous on them and try to call in thicker cover then you would for yotes they feel more secure in that stuff. if you can get up on high ground and look down that would be perfect. i called one in this winter (130 lbs) and i was using a fox pro decoy that cat could not take his eyes off that thing p.s 223/20 yards
 
Protect your back. I can't count the times i run across cat tracks showing that the cat was stalking me while i was calling. I always have a large tree at my back, i know you probably don,t have that option, but watch your back as best you can. A small round mirror on top of your glove or hand will help. You can atach it with a ace bandage. blue
 
I don't know what part of OK you'll be hunting, which I'm guessing you will be, but I know of two for sure that were really close to me while hunting out west in Roger Mills county last deer season. One was within 100 yards and another was about 300 yards up in a canyon behind me while I was in a ladder stand (thank goodness). I didn't know what they were at first because I didn't recognize the sounds they were calling to each other. It wasn't until I recognized the similarity of their calls to the low gurgling and higher pitched roars of African lions that I had a suspicion(sp?) it was mountain lions. When I got back home and looked through the sounds on my Scorpion of lion calls I found an exact match of what they were sounding back and forth to one another - a courting call sound. A .243 should serve well. I'd use lion vocals and fawn/calf/kid goat type distress sounds. Good luck!
 
If they're litter mates, they're probably just in the interim stage, kicked out from Mom, but not necessarily looking for territory. They wouldn't tolerate each other in that case. They're going to be wonderfully vulnerable to calling, especially vocals. You just have to get within earshot without them knowing what you are.

If it's a Mom with a sub-adult cub (they stay together for a long time, the cub will be full grown before she kicks it off), then they're going to be harder to call, as she'll be slightly on guard. Still vulnerable to prey distress, and some less aggressive vocals.

Since they're so confident, I'd strongly suggest real slow stillhunting, looking for sign. They may feel like they've found shangrala, and want to hang out for a spell. Locate them, then call them.
 
I don't have a FoxPro; all I have are mouth calls. Is there a certain mouth call that I could buy that would imitate them? I've already got some great cottontail distress calls and such.

I really appreciate the insight!!

Thanks, Joel
 
Since you don't have an electronic caller just take those rabbit distress calls and stretch the sounds out to waaaaaaaaa-waaaaaaaaa, instead of a waa-waaaaa-wa-waa-waaa routine. It'll have more of a fawn/kid goat sound that way. On the other hand, now would be a good time to have an excuse to break down and get a nice e-caller. Good luck and watch your backside.
 
Thanks PlainsRedneckOK, but my wife would kill me ( new e-caller )... then I wouldn't be able to go! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Joel
 
that's one way i call cougar's and bear's that's my deer sound plus can make it sound like bear cub indistress. any good closed reed will work. Friday we can start calling cougar. good luck. put something big behin d you. be careful. i have gotten up 4 time's and behind or on the side would be a cougar sitting or crouched. startle's you. . use a headnet and moved your eye's slowing left to right. Rick
 
The hardest thing for me would be letting the coyotes, foxes and bobcats pass.

I have a good friend who has called in lions several times and he's had his best luck with kid goat in distress and fawn in distress.

FWIW
 
Quote:
i have gotten up 4 time's and behind or on the side would be a cougar sitting or crouched. startle's you. .



Yeah, I'm thinking it might. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif


Quote:
put something big behind you.



That may be some golden advice right there.

Good luck, that won't be boring. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
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