Re: Cougarhunt

20 December 2004, 23:34

kokdyer

Re: Cougarhunt

Ok Cajun

Prove to us dumb Westerners you can walk a cat down and we will worship you as a hunting god from now until there isn't any more sheep on the mountain.

20 December 2004, 18:11

kokdyer

I am guessing that in Lousiana you live at about 500 feet above sea level if that? I am also guessing that you would have a hell of a time climbing mountains in the 7000-12000 feet range for 2 to 16 hours following hounds.

I have never hunted mt lions with hounds. I have hunted racoons and bobcats with hounds in Montana. We got lucky and we only had to go for about 3 hours. But that was 3 hours mostly at 8500 feet.

Don't knock it until you try it.

20 December 2004, 23:05

DUK

Quote:

Hey Doc,

You can have success hunting felis concolor without useing hounds. You can call them in with distress animal sounds. You have to be on your game though because they are very stelthy and they just appear. With the use of an ecaller you can find lion vocalizations to download and use.

That does sound exciting!

I hunt fox here once in a while with a mouth caller. Especially in winter one of the most exciting ways to hunt I know.

This winter in Ontario I gave it a try as well and called in a bunch of wolves. The circled me to get wind but never left the tree line; I only heared them howling, it was still a very, very impressive experience.

Cougar sounds even more exciting!

20 December 2004, 18:02

Dale

I have guided for deer, elk, antelope, and mountain lion for about 10 years, and hunted a number of other critters, and to me the most physically demanding hunt is for mountain lions with hounds. The hounds probably only treed the cat 1/3 of the time. When you turn the dogs loose, it is no guarantee you will catch the cat. And we used good dogs. A person who criticizes this type of hunting probably has not done it. I do have to say the work is in the chase. Once you have the lion in a tree, the shooting is an anticlimax.

I was probably there for 20-30 mountain lion kills, and treed a lot more that we let go, and I have to say that I was a little sad each time we killed one, including when I killed one. A mountain lion is an impressive animal and I was sad to see them die. However, I still loved the hunt. That is probably the thing hunters will never be able to explain to a non-hunter. The only lion I ever took was a very near B&C lion (missed by 5/16") that we chased many times over a 3 year period. I still miss not seeing his tracks in the same place about every 10-12 days. If you kill a lion, please at least be there when the outfitter skins it. You will be impressed with the muscles of these animals. Note the muscles on the face.

If you are interested in a hunt in northwestern Colorado, please e-mail me and I will get you in contact with the outfiter.