On page 46 of the January, 2002, issue of "The American Hunter," Craig Boddington (whom I respect a lot, even if some of you don't) says "Hound hunting is not my favorite way to hunt, but then I'm not a houndsman; regardless of who pulls the trigger, the hunt belongs to the man who has trained his dogs. But following the chase is exciting!"

I agree with him about who the hunt "belongs to," but I'm wondering how many of you have had luck calling them. Craig also says, on the same page, "The cougar is shy and retiring. He will not come to bait, he is rarely seen through chance encounter, and even more rarely can he be coaxed with a varmint call."

I'd been thinking about trying to call them, but I keep hearing that it's a tough proposition.

Thoughts? Comments? (On calling, that is.)

Russ

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"Out here, 'due process' is a bullet!" -- John Wayne, "The Green Berets"

Russ,

I have seen a couple of cougars whie deer hunting, and it is always a sight! I have never tried to call one.

I have a bear calling video that shows a cougar responding to the call, so I will have to say they will respond. I have no clue if it takes one hour, 10 hours, 100 hours or 1,000 hourse of calling to bring in one cougar.

The people at Circe Calls think you can call them:

"CALLING MOUNTAIN LIONS
Without question, the mountain lion is the most difficult of all North American game to hunt without dogs. They are the top trophy for the wild animal caller. They are fewer in number than other predators and the caller should know the animal, its habits and the country. Mountain lions are great travellers, except the female when she has small cubs. Mountain lions usually have an established hunting circuit, but when they make a kill they will usually stay in the area for a day or two. Choose a stand along a known lion route, a fresh kill or near a den."

jim dodd

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"if you are to busy to
hunt, you are too busy."

Contact Steve Craig at this sight. He is the king of cat calling! They are very easy to call if you have the right equipment.
www.azpredatorhunts.com

[This message has been edited by 35nut (edited 02-21-2002).]

35Nut:

Thanks, I called and left a message on the guy's machine.

Russ

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"Out here, 'due process' is a bullet!" -- John Wayne, "The Green Berets"

Gentlemen,

It can be done. A co-worker of mine took a nice cat last fall using a call. We do a lot of bear calling around here, using a fawn bawl or a rabbit cry, and he was using a rabbit cry hoping to call in a bear. About 20 minutes after he started, he saw a cougar head pop up about 15 yards in front of him. Now he has a nice cougar rug.

One thing we have noticed, is how important it is to have your face covered with a mask or camo face paint. One must break up their outline to be successful.

Hope this helps

Joel Slate
Slate & Associates, LLC
The Safari Specialists
www.slatesafaris.com

7mm Rem Mag Page www.slatesafaris.com/7mm.htm

The guys up here on the Olympic Peninsula of WA State use a Fox Pro caller with remote, and make sure their 6:00 position is watched!!!!! Calls work here as the cat population is high. I will ask th' Bear (one of the local cat hunters) what calls are best. I have had Cougar follow me when I was tracking elk, so maybe your Ex will make a good bait.

Okay, guys, I'm real serious here. Give me a place or two to try, where I should fly in, who I need to talk to... and I'll see about hitting Washington for kitties.

Russ

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"Out here, 'due process' is a bullet!" -- John Wayne, "The Green Berets"

Russell
Steve uses a Wildlife technologies call. He has the different lion vocalizations on it.
Once you have hunted over one of these calls you will not use any other.

I seem to recall an intense debate over the
Wildlife Technologies calls on another site.
If I recall correctly these are digital callers which cost a few hundred dollars with additional sound boards/chips costing a considerable amount in there own right...

Pete
You are right. The WT call is hotly debated. It is not the call that is the subject but the owner of the company. Bill Martz is a very appointed person. He has no problem blowing his own horn; he badmouths his compaction and has a brash attitude. His calls are completely digital, and have unbelievable sound quality. It is based on a Rio MP3 player and does not use different chips for the sounds. All of his sounds are recorded from wild animals in their natural environment. The calls are vary expensive. Without sounds KAS-2010-ORC $640.00 wireless remote control. Sounds cost $200.00 for 6 sounds. As you can tell these calls are not for the couple of times a year caller. But if you are a serious caller it is the best.
The Remote also is the only one on the market that works out of line of sight. I have used mine at over 400 yards, and tested & demonstrated it at up to a mile.

If you call Bill you will have no problems with him if you understand that he likes to dominate the conversation. I do not let my ego get in the way when I deal with him. This has proved beneficial to me, as he has given me several sounds for free.

My call has 37 sounds on it. 28 I paid for 9 were free.

I have all the electronic calls on the market and none of them are in the same league as the WT!

Bill Martz called me last night just before I got off work. Guy can talk "for-ever." Nice guy, though.

Yes, it's a bit pricey, but it IS the call I'm going to get. I'll have some extra money when I return from Germany in April, and I'm getting one then.

Russ

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"Out here, 'due process' is a bullet!" -- John Wayne, "The Green Berets"

35nut,

Yes, it was Bill Martz...When I firsted posted on the forums I asked a couple of questions and he kindley e-mailed some answers direct. However he did himself no favours when he entred into a very heated public aurgument with Mr Stewart from the call company of the same name. Leaving aside the actual meat of the argument, it was this guys conduct which managed to get a heck of a lot of peoples backs up. Conversly, Mr Stewart came away looking like a gentleman even though he backed out of the debate..Regardless of who's product has the most merit, I formed a lasting opinion of who I would rather do business with...Anyways, with regards his call, how do you add additional sounds??

Pete

Pete
I know the debate you are talking about. And I think they both showed their asses.
It is not just any sound that I would want to add. It is the natural sound's that Bill has spent years accumulating that I want. If you have the software and the cables you can add some of your own sounds off of the computer. I have a Rio just like the one used in the call. Just after I got the call I wanted to change the order of the sounds on it. Plugged it in and found that the sounds are digitally encrypted so they do not show up. If you want more of Bills sounds, just send back the call and have him add them.

Russell you have made a wise choice. Your success rate on varmint calling is going to go way up. Did you get to talk to Steve about cat calling?

35Nut:

Not yet. He is probably out hunting or doing something related. Bill said Steve is gone "a lot."

I'm looking at public lands in Colorado, to which I could drive from where I live (IA/IL border) and save a lot of money in travel costs. Supposedly, Colorado has cougars and it might be a good way to break myself in before going to Washington.

Russ

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"Out here, 'due process' is a bullet!" -- John Wayne, "The Green Berets"

in OR in OCT 1995 I was showing my brother how well a DEER call and rattleing horns would work on blacktail deer. I was using a fawn call to bring in a doe to fill my tag. Called up a big tom, came in from behing and above me. My brother saw him before I did. I was hunting the Willamett(SP?)forrest out of Oakgrove, OR. I have had so many Bobcats come in to a fawn in distress call that I ahve stopped counting. OR was the first place I have ever used that call that had lions and I got one in on the first set. NEAT!

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Handgun Hunter
LOVE THOSE .41s'