ANy of you guys hunt cougar?

There's a bunch in our area and I was thinking of getting snowhoes and hiking around until I cut a trail. THen follow it.

How else can you hunt them?

Can you coat your teenaged son w/ turkey fat and wait for them to come in? Is it baiting if the bait is holding a rifle?

Have you talked this over with the son? He might have something to say about it. (of course I never listen to my kid eather )

Trying to track a lion on foot is next to impossible as far as seeing it and getting a shot.

Best to find someone with lion dogs that can tree the critter or bring it to bay.

Coating the kid with turkey fat may be a thought, but if like most growing teenage boys, he'd probably have it all licked off and eaten long before the lion could track down the source.

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"Firearms only have two enemies - rust and politicans" author unknown

I've got friends whom have killed a few by calling them. Usually they were hunting coyotes or bob cats and the couger just came in. Most of the folks hunting around here use hounds. Tracking a cat is good exercise, but usually thats all your going to get out of it.

I can count on one hand the number of couger I've seen out in the woods and I've spent a lot of time in the woods. See if you can find someone with a set of cat dogs and get with them. Expect some real exercise even with dogs.

I've often thought about doing the same thing with my son, but like kdub said he'd have it all eaten before we got to the woods. I remember when he was younger trying to teach him to swim, he kept getting out of the sack, such dissapointment.

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Bob from Idaho

Illegal to hunt w/ dogs in WA...that's why the cougars are now hunting us.

Yup, I remember reading about that. Got a friend that lives down on the Snake River used to be into trapping til Washington made that illegal also.

About the only way I'd try over there is using a dying rabbit call in an area I knew the big cats were in. I've never called specifically for couger, but botcats are slow to come in and I usually don't stop calling for 45 minutes or better when I'm looking for them.

Mabe some of our other Northwest hunters can help you out. I know that the anti-hunters are sure raising the dickens with game regs in Washington.

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Bob from Idaho

I think you ought to set up a tea party and wait for them to come. That's what Bugs Bunny used to do and then when the cougar asked for a bunch of 'lumps' (sugar) that waskley wabbit would just beat him on the head with a hammer (saves cost of a boolit)

Seriously, if you can't use dogs, then the best way would be like Bob says and use a caller. I used to have a caller that had a cougar call on it. It stated not to use it if you were trying to hunt other game. After listening to the catterwalling, I can well understand why - sounded like two tomcats fighting it out in the back alley! Actually, it was supposed to be 2 lions mating, but sounded more like a tough cat fight to me.

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Not a cougar calling story, but I heard this story tonight at our family's Xmas Eve get-together and it's funny. An uncle went to Varmint Al's website and it's got some audio files apparently of coyotes yippin' and barking. He turned it on, and their old outdoors cat looked like it was going to die of fright and bolted from the room!

I never hunted cougar, actually feeling more like the hunted at times. There was a fella around these parts that used hounds for bear, and cougar down in the states. His dogs were bringing over $2000.00 each in the 80's, and if memory serves, it was for pups!
I have heard of hunting videos/programs on SAT/TV that might show calling/tracking. Try the local gunshop or Sportsman's Warehouse for the calls and videos. Some states do not allow electronic callers for predators either. You might even check back with Varmint Al. He's a pretty sharp fella, and may have a link to cat hunters. They were hunted in California once upon a time.

leverite
We had an artical i n the Yakima paper here a year or so ago that talked about some guys from Ellensburg that tracked cougars . They said that if you could find a fresh track you could track them in about 4-5 hrs if you were in good shape and stayed after them . I don't know , I have not hunted them sense we had to quit using hounds . I used to tree a lot of them with hounds they usually didn't run very far as they are real short winded . Used to use my pups on them for that reason.
I do know some guys that use rabbit calls , with some results.

There's reports of guys having some luck by chaining a member of PETA to a stake and then hiding under a nearby bush! (Might help to rub him/her down with turkey fat!)

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