Large cougars with big frames often have hip troubles
but they need luvin too
Large cougars with big frames often have hip troubles
but they need luvin too
Never say whoa in the middle of a mud hole
The first is definitely a whitetail all right. Still have a hard time getting my head around that one. They really have to look at a region 2 white tail season its gone beyond the odd siting here and there.
But yeah that other 3 is a decent blacktail. Or blackmule or however you call the hybridish blacktails in the transition zones around here. Cool footage .
its gonna take a life time to hunt and fish all this
I'm sitting in the dark on my computer and too lazy to look up the hunting season for cougar in your region.
In my neck of the woods, cougar is fair game for much of the deer hunting season (and beyond into winter). It doesn't hurt to buy a species licence "just in case".
Cougars are relatively easy to call using a fawn in distress bleat blown like a coyote/rabbit set up. IF they are within hearing, and IF they are NOT spooked, they will come into the call. Most hunters don't give them enough time to respond though. They often need a half hour to 45 minutes to make their approach.
The problem with ground hunting cats like this is that the hunter gets very little chance to size and sex the cat before deciding whether to pull the trigger (unlike a hound chase). It is an adrenaline rush though when you do get a positive response and have to decide in a very short time window whether to shoot or not.
I always have a cougar tag. After I saw the video, I double checked. Did I buy one this year? Yep sure did.
Thanks for the tips on calling the cat. It's actually how I call for deer, as they can come running in or take their time. I don't like to over call. Usually I start with a grunt, wait 45-60 mins, rattle a small set of 4x4 antlers (if I have them, I don't always like packing them) and then another 45-60 mins, usually "last call" of the evening, I will blow the snot out of the Deer Talker / Deer Stalker call. One good long rip that sounds like a fawn in distress (I only do this around rut time, same with rattling)
Good chance the cougar is already wise to me though. I've heard some creeping around the blind that I couldn't see on a couple of occasions. I'm also pretty sure that cat followed us back to camp one night, circled around the camp and then the jeep. That was a few weeks ago. In the video, I was the only thing that walked passed that camera in days prior and in the clip it's only a matter of hours after me (or "behind" me I guess you could say)
I'm not sure how bright they are, but I'm guessing that cat knows I'm the thing that rattles and does the distress call from time to time. It might still come in because it's curious about me. Perhaps I'd be wise to blow the call, walk a ways, blow the call again then circle back on my own tracks. Not sure how much effort I want to put in though. I figure I'll just keep after the deer and if I happen to bump into the cat, I will be making the decision at that time.
I took down my blind and cameras last weekend. I'll probably put up more cams this weekend and still-hunt my way passed them to see if I'm getting any "followers". A few inches of snow would help too.
Not sure how I feel about walking around there on the dark anymore though. The vegetation is waist to shoulder high and there's little clusters of fir trees everywhere.
Another idea is to put up a camera, a big cardboard box and a deer decoy stuff full of catnip, go hunt elsewhere and come grab the footage in a couple months
Haha yes it would be nice to have a WT season in Region 2 right about now. Especially with these 3 point racks the only way I know for sure is to see some ass. But yeah, imagine you have mules, BT's and every hybrid in between (and some that even look like WT / BT hybrids) running around. Gotta be careful about pulling the trigger. I have at least 6 different WT's on that cam but only the one WT buck.
It's ridiculous now. My wife's friend from Mission posts up pics all the time "look at these lovely adorable visitors in our backyard" ... buncha dang whitetails LOL
Last edited by caddisguy; 11-19-2019 at 07:47 PM.
Great post!
Nice to see some folks share their time and experiences.
As for Cougars, I honestly believe they can do more damage then we think when it comes to game pops.
Many studies starting to confirm this.
BUT, they are incredible animals....love the look and coloring of them!
Always nice to see them out in the back country....
Just be nice if they were omnivores