Curt Barrett,
I want to point out that the member who asked for the calling tips in this thread is going for his first time .... case in point, his forum name is Novice.
Any caller of lions SHOULD know what sort of cat .... ie. Tom, Female ... with or without kittens they are seeking to call prior to using lion sounds.
Case in point:
A friend of ours is a Predation hunter for a local tribe. His call (then new to him) is loaded with lion sounds. The maker of the call personally told him to use them all ......
He has since learned first hand:
..... females don't run in on Tom sounds! (unless she's in heat)
..... females already courting a Tom ...... also don't run in on another tom.
And, females with kittens avoid Toms like sin or they won't have their tikes for long.
In my previous post.... I did not advocate never using cougar sounds ......... I suggested knowing what you were trying to call.
I would suggest that a novice going to another state to hunt for a cougar is going to be short on experienced scouting time and as such would be lucky to pick the right cat sound to throw about.
Fox Pro
I appologize for sounding like I was dissing Fox Pro. That wasn't my intent. I admire their calls for their compactness and the dual speaker feature and think the company management is outstanding in how they treat their customers!
I did hear some cougar sounds on an acquiantance's FX3 turned FX5. I would not use those that I heard on that particular unit! I have no idea what other cougar sounds that Fox Pro sells or what they sound like ..... but the ones I heard on that unit .......... I could not endorse.
The Predation hunter who is our friend uses a WT. Personally, I don't like the WT. I don't appreciate it's maker either .... fortunately, both friends that use that call do get along with him. And it's cougar sounds in my opinion are short shrifted by it's maker and the speaker furnished with the call.
But such as the WT cougar sounds are ........ they stand head and shoulders above any other commercial sounds I have heard.
AND, they are a match with the sounds I have heard around this ranch since the cats started killing our cattle.
I was on the stand when the predation hunter brought the Tom right up to the call ...... the female he was courting held up at over 400 yards, she would not budge ..... this occured at night. The female with kittens never showed herself where lion sounds played.
This predation hunter values his prey sounds more as the seasons since then have passed.
Last year, I spoke with a (well known) PH who has called in 17 cougs and was trained in Africa and has a guide business there. He said he only uses prey sounds because he does not want to call to "half" of the audience (and scare the other half away).
I don't think it's reckless to suggest to a novice to ascertain the sex and disposition of a cat before using lion sounds.
Regards
Three 44s
