cougar

[leper]

There has been two cougars hanging around in my county the last 7yrs or so. Other than last Winter. The most recent sighting was around 6wks ago, of a lone cougar on the move. Heck, maybe? I still got a chance of seeing one cross in the open areas. Run cougar...run ;D

[Timber Butte Outdoors]

leper,

Go Get'm!

Gary

[btlsoom]

Are they still an issue? Steve up here in WA (Rainshadow Calls) is a cougar specialist with a very high success rate on a hot track. If they are still a problem, maybe you could contact him and get some help or advise.

r

[leper]

I hunted hard this last season[5-6 days a wk]. Never seen 1-track or heard any sighting reports from the local farmers. I don't know if that was a fluke or what. But I had high hopes of atleast cutting a track.

Only thing I can think of is. The deer herds kept them near the river basin. My county is chuck full of WT deer. Especially along the river. I did however find a relatively fresh Bobcat track. In a place I'd never expected to find one. Maybe abit of luck next yr? on a cougar.

[leper]

The quest continues. I've aquired quite abit more land along the river. Where 2 lions have been roaming. There was a sighting this Summer of a young lion near the river & farmland I recently gained permission on. I seen the trail cam pic of the young lion. From the land owner's friend it was taken on.

Waiting on harvest & the 1st good snow. Summer = bites the big pickle

I plan to focus ALL of my attention from here on out(or until I get real old & die, whatever?) ;D. To eventually get my chance to hammer one. Somewhat like finding a needle in a haystack. No problem I have all the time in the World.

Run...lion...run, the Norwegian is coming ;D

[earthwalker]

leper, go find an old timer hound hunter in your area, and ask him about all the lion crossings he knows of get him to pin point them on a map. That should help you close down the area instead of a willie nellie hunting for lions. Look for circling birds on kills if you can.
Walk canyon rims if possible and look for toilets bobcats and lions they all mark areas. If scat if fresh black and steaming you're in for a wait. If old and green/gray colored they are on their way back to the area to freshen it up.

[leper]

Good info earthwalker, thanks.

No canyons in my area. Speaking of houndsman, that is how I started hunting predators close to 50yrs ago now. A couple of wks ago after meeting some landowners who owned land along the river. I left & drove along the river bottom on a gravel road.

I was driving adjacent to the river bottom & seen a flock of vultures circling 1/8 mile away over the river timber. Private property, so I couldn't go investigate. But I wondered if they were circling a lion kill?

Waiting on snow cover, what a grind

[earthwalker]

You better figure these cougar are on a big territory and no telling how long before they come back. if there is plenty of deer and other feed it may be a 45-60 days between.
Circling birds, crows,raven magpies and such usually means a kill. Not sure where you're are located but sounds like the river might be their travel way. Look for outstand features, lone tall pine trees, anything that catches your eye will catch the cougars eye check it out for sign. They could have been youngersters looking for their own territory and only passing through. A lot of variablies and if no one is seeing sign and even sightings they could have passed on out of the country.

[leper]

I hear you. The last 6yrs, I've read everything I could find on cougars. No doubt some are passing through. But some have also mated, had off-spring & set up home ranges.

Three adjacent counties I hunt. Have had cougars in them for quite a few yrs now. Not many but a few. I have met or spoken with many landowners on the phone who have had sightings in all 3 counties.

The cougars are not only roaming the river corridor. But also the river's feeder creeks & adjacent landscape. One cougar roams from one body of cover & water to the next. Useing the more open areas as a transition area

I do believe this will be my yr. I'm as confident as I'll ever be. As I plan to only focus on them & not anything else.

[leper]

BTW earthwalker. I see in your bio, your a woman Good to converse with you. You are well versed.

[earthwalker]

Thank you.
I've been hunting since I could walk.
Married a trapper and hunting fool. Have hunted behind hounds. But I pay more attention to what people say or don't say about hunting and I know them old boys who use to follow hounds have forgot more than you or I will ever learn.
Buy a trail cam and set it up in areas you think they may travel and get a idea. Better yet find a plane and fly the area and get the over all picture and you might be surprised at how the land lays and it might give you better ideas on tracking these lions.

[leper]

I had 3 mentors as a young guy. My Dad & his two houndsman friends. They taught me quite abit about canine predators & their behaviors & of course about the hounds.

Once I could drive, I branched off on my own. Improving on some of what they taught me, where I could. I wanted to have my own experiences. Make my own mistakes & learn from them.

I've been retired now over 3yrs. So once snow hits. I'll be hunting hard for a puma.

[earthwalker]

go find or borrow someone's old lion hound and let him lead you around in that area he should pick up on something somewhere and maybe give you some more ideas.

[leper]

I'm not aware of anyone who owns lion hounds. In fact I don't know anyone with coyote hounds anymore. It's been yrs since I quit the hounds. Actually I doubt if there are many hunters seeking to kill a lion. As most hunters are unwilling to put in the time & effort. Not me, I will enventually succede.

Lions are open season here all yr around. Well so far....Until some do-gooder/jerk wad puts the stop to it.

I do have a trail cam set out. Slim chance of catching one walk up to my scent gland station. But you never know. My best chance is after a decent snowfall that stays awhile. For 2-3wks anyway. As I have to cover alot of square miles while the getting is good.

So far what I have been able to deduce. Is these lions have 2-3 counties in their home range. Some say none have mated? or established a territory or had kittens. That is laughable ;D

I even tried patterning these lions. From the 1st hand reports of various sightings of people I have spoken with. Problem was they have no concrete set pattern from what I have experienced.

One report from the same person had seen a lion traveling the same creek bottom 2-wks apart. That is the lion I focused on one yr. But then it changed it's travel route. Figures Another person who had 2 sightings. Those sightings happened around a month apart.

Last season we got maybe 5-7 snows. None of those snows lasted for more than a wk. Most only lasted 1-3 days Which definately hampered my odds of cutting a fresh track. I put on a couple thousand miles last season looking for a fresh track. I could've missed one or two lion tracks in among the deer tracks, as they were thick.

The two seperate lions I have seen. Both were quite large. Could've been yearlings? but I doubt it. They looked adult to me as to their size.

[broper]

Hey leper,
That is interesing, reading about your experiences hunting the lions. I'd love to shoot a lion one day? Have you thought about trying to call one. That's what I'd like to try. Keep us posted on your exploits and let us know if and when you get one. Good luck.
Bob