Originally Posted By: BillyTheKiddSteve Craig is probably where Mark got a lot of his information.
23 years and thousands of animals called, Hummmm. It took me 45 years to call thousands. Maybe he gets to hunt the reservation?
BillyTheKidd,
Allow me to introduce myself…
Credibility is an issue anytime someone “takes the stand” – which is what I’ll be doing this coming Sunday (and hopefully others) on the Predator Talk Cast. Audience skepticism has its place in one-sided commentary, so I’ll take this opportunity and a few minutes here and put some answers to the questions you’ve raised. First and foremost, I appreciate your questions. On this PM forum, other forums, and my blog, I am sharing what I’ve learned about calling lions—it’s not highly classified information—there are enough cougars hiding in the hills to go around and the information I use to find them and call them is very available to those willing to go get it. Truth be known, most people will not expend the requisite time studying and the necessary physical efforts in steep, rocky, brush choked canyons, to actually do it. If you’ve read “Soul Among Lions” by Harley Shaw, or “Lion Tales” by Jon Kibler, then you’ve read some excellent descriptions of hunting and travelling on foot in lion country.
You’re right absolutely about Steve Craig. After about 18 years of calling, a buddy of mine called me about an article/interview with Steve Craig entitled “The Lion King”. He knew that I was calling coyotes just about every weekend & weekday I had off and thought I could learn something from Steve. I called Steve and booked a three-day predator hunt with him. Keep in mind that he had a four-day mountain lion hunt open, and I opted to purchase a well-rounded three-day hunt that included lessons on coyote, fox, bobcat, and lion (we called in everything but a lion). Steve Craig is an amazing predator caller, an open person, and one heck of a teacher. On June 25th, 2009 I gave him credit for his excellent instruction on the Predator Professionals forum in the “Campfire” section. Here is Steve, on our hunt, holding an extra-nice tom bobcat.
Now then…
Since that time I have read books on mountain lion behavior, bobcat behavior, hound hunting for lions, and pages and pages of scholarly works from the repository via Arizona State University on mountain lion biology, vocalizations, travel habits, breeding habits, hunting behavior, etc. I then took the sum of my book education, time with Steve Craig, and prior calling experience into the field and began turning knowledge into wisdom. I keep field notes, stand notes, calendar notations, photo libraries, etc. I also do my calling with a Wildlife Technologies KAS-2030 electronic game call and use the prey distress and lion vocalizations provided in their library. Again, it’s not a guarded secret—Steve told me to save my $$ and buy one and I did. Anyone can call Bill Martz and buy one.
You must keep in mind that this is not an easy pursuit—it is time consuming, laser focused hunting. The man who taught me how to predator call in 1986, Ken Brink, called like a madman on the San Carlos Indian Reservation for 30+ years and called one lion—just one lion in 30 years. Some people might believe that calling on a reservation gives you an edge—Ken was living proof that there’s no magic location. Your only edge comes with lion focus and lion scouting. Ken Brink simply called for a mixed bag of predators and by being in the right place at the right time, he called a lion. If your desire is to call a big cat, there is a better way to approach it. My calling partner and I have called lions in several AZ Game and Fish units and on the San Carlos reservation. There are lions all over the western US. We all have a great chance at this.
My calling partner is a gentleman named Dave Martens. The first lion I called while hunting with Dave was on the northwest side of Mount Graham in Eastern AZ. All of the lion sign was what I’d call “exactly right” in a location we were scouting and we quickly set up. Dave nearly came unhinged when a lion stepped off of a high rocky outcropping about 350 yards away and started downhill toward the caller. The lion used a J-shaped line of junipers to conceal its downhill approach and we eventually lost sight of it as night fell. He’s been hooked ever since and I will tell you that having a guy as dedicated to the mission as you are is a huge benefit. Dave’s an awesome caller, can sit perfectly still for an eternity, and has the "no-trigger willpower" to ignore 3 or more grey fox running around the speaker. He also takes the time for book education about cougars and applies it to his field experiences. Once again, focus is the key. We don’t do tons of stands—we set up and call what we consider, based on evidence, to be the best stands. Here's Dave:
I hope this provides some insight into what I /we invested into this aspect of our sport. It wasn’t any one book that tipped the scale in my favor, nor was it a few days with Steve Craig. All of the small pieces put together and lots of sweat equity have made it happen. And, we’re still adding pieces. Lord knows we’re not done learning—but what we’ve learned thus far works.
As they say, you get lucky when preparation and opportunity collide. I hope you’ll have time to join the show this Sunday.
I'm preparing a post about the last lion we called and harvested in March '09 - Stay tuned.
I’ll see you in the field,
Mark Healy
