Cougar hunting tips

[Mulieaddict]

So with deer season drawing to an end I will be switching gears a bit and trying my hand at some predator hunts staring with the elusive cougar!
I do not have or have access to any kind of tracking hound so my question for all of you is what's the next best thing/tricks to getting close to these animals?
I have a spot picked that I know has a few cats in there but being a bit of a newb in this field I really have no idea where to start. Thanks for any experience you can share

cheers

[caddisguy]

I found they respond to rattling and if you are observant enough you'll catch a few glimpses of garfield dashing between cover and checking things out. Good luck getting it in a tree or having a decent shot though.

Maybe predator call and a snowshoe hare decoy? Just guessing... never tried. Doubt there's much chance without dogs. I'd just bring catnip and a video camera... could be fun.

[Camp Cook]

Gatehouse and his buddy called one in a couple of years ago.

[Salty]

Even the houndsmen look forward to fresh snow and covering lots of ground with the truck looking to cut tracks. Take it from there. Its pretty tough without hounds but I'm going to give it a try this winter for the first time as well. I'm going to try some critter in distress calling if I can find some fresh sign I figure.

[Chopper]

Even the houndsmen look forward to fresh snow and covering lots of ground with the truck looking to cut tracks. Take it from there. Its pretty tough without hounds but I'm going to give it a try this winter for the first time as well. I'm going to try some critter in distress calling if I can find some fresh sign I figure.

This is the advice you need ...


I have a friend that runs them down in fresh snow when ever he wants ... he just took a nice tom a week ago. He said when they turn and try and wind you , you have to sprint. This last one he chased after for 9 hours and probably ate 5000 calories in during the track. He said they will run for awhile but they will eventually try and figure out what is chasing them. My buddy said they get curious because nothing in the woods chases cats , so they will eventually wait and see what is chasing them.

Good luck ! your best tool will be good fitness if you cannot call one in.

Im about to start doing the same thing ... even if I don't get one it will keep my fitness up for next years sheep and BT hunting

[monasheemountainman]

Do you and your buddies always eat the cougar meat, chopper?

[pnbrock]

cougar meat is delicious!!!!

[Salty]

I've only tried cougar pepperoni it was great. But then, you could prolly make pepperoni out about anything and it would be all right. I know one guy who's favorite game meat is cougar.

[BlacktailStalker]

Good luck.
I'm going to do this and murder a wolf or three this winter.
Some hounds guys will offer to let you tag along just to SEE a cat if you call them with a smoking hot fresh track or kill. It's nice sometimes when a guy gets a few "gimmes" every year, saves on time.

[howa1500]

Find some fresh tracks, set up a distress call, decoy , and of course watch the wind, and add some cougar urine/lures for your downwind side.

Cougar meat is quite fantastic. In my opinion its one of the best game meats.

[houndogger]

It's snowing kindergarten is in session.

[Spokerider]

It's snowing kindergarten is in session.

you bully, lol.

[Chopper]

Do you and your buddies always eat the cougar meat, chopper?


sausages are unreal !

[Peter Pepper]

[QUOTE=Chopper;1426999]This is the advice you need ...


I have a friend that runs them down in fresh snow when ever he wants ... he just took a nice tom a week ago. He said when they turn and try and wind you , you have to sprint. This last one he chased after for 9 hours and probably ate 5000 calories in during the track. He said they will run for awhile but they will eventually try and figure out what is chasing them. My buddy said they get curious because nothing in the woods chases cats , so they will eventually wait and see what is chasing them.

Good luck ! your best tool will be good fitness if you cannot call one in.

Get your buddy a go-pro for Christmas! Sounds like a great video in the making.

[adriaticum]

Do cougars move outside of their territories a lot?
Buddy and I saw some tracks in reg-2 that have to be cougar and I'm wondering if there are tracks in the area will this cougar always be somewhere in the area?
This track had to have been made within last week.
How about baiting the cougar with some meat?
I don't have hounds. and the snow is intermittent so it's hard to follow the tracks.

[BlacktailStalker]

Do cougars move outside of their territories a lot?
Buddy and I saw some tracks in reg-2 that have to be cougar and I'm wondering if there are tracks in the area will this cougar always be somewhere in the area?
This track had to have been made within last week.
How about baiting the cougar with some meat?
I don't have hounds. and the snow is intermittent so it's hard to follow the tracks.

Prepare to lace up your boots !
Its nothing for a big tom to put on 25kms overnight in 8 hours. A 250sq km territory is nothing for a big tom to maintain.

My buddy worked a big tom over 150 miles last year over a three day period. He was one day behind it when he started working it and it finally swam the saskatchewan river! Never caught up to it! One of the few in 25 years.
They call 'em long walkers for a reason.
That being said sometimes they are bedded 100 yards off the road ! This is why fresh snow is best, you can age it from when the snow stopped falling and make it more realistic to walk out on foot.

The other alternative is just walking out tracks and getting lucky and finding a kill and sit on it at prime time. If you see a couple days worth of tracks coming on/off the same mtn or in/out of the same area, good chance there is a kill there or a female with kittens. Remember 75% of females have kittens, subs or are knocked up. A nice tom makes a much more impressive trophy than a little 70-80lb female. It would be cool to see it all play out on a go pro camera. Don't be surprised if the cat winds you and climbs the tree, they make quite the racket going up and it'll probably scare the shit out of you lol

[Stone Sheep Steve]

My goal is to eventually kill a cougar without hounds. My taxi knows a guy that has killed about 1/2 dozen cats without hounds. Running down tracks and treeing them, sitting on kills and calling. Obviously, he had a pile of time to work with...which is something I lack.

Two years ago I had a cougar walk beside my treestand at 15 yrds with my bow in my hand...but no tag in my pocket. Pretty sure it was a female so it wasn't the end of the world. I doubt many people have killed a cat "from" a tree.

Checked my tcams on friday and the entire area was polluted with tracks.....including one that walked in front of one tcam. I would guess another female. Might even be the one I saw 2 years ago as it was only 50 yrds away from where I first saw it.

The time on the pic is out by an hr.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/Cougar_pic_resized.jpg

[The Silent Stalker]

Try and find someone with a deer they are butchering, take the carcass out there and leave the trail cams, then go sit up in a tree!

[adriaticum]

Thanks guys.
We could see this track come out of a gully, it must have crossed the creek, followed the road for about 100 meters and then went up the mountain.
Once it went up the mountain the trail went cold as there was not enough snow on the ground in the thick bush for me to follow.
This was a single set of tracks so I don't know if the animal is living around there or just passed through. This is what I would like to find out.
I am going to visit on the weekend again with my poodles :mrgreen: just to see if there are any more tracks. Lots of rabbit sign in the area and small kitties (I think bobcat). I will put a camera up and some meat to see if the cat is around and what kind it. Take a lesson from a previous post and hang the meat in a tree so other critters can't get at it. By the sounds of it if I want to get a cougar I have to commit to the trail for a several days and stay on it. That's not an easy proposition in this kind of bush.
We also heard some sort of a growl maybe 50 meters off the road. But whatever was there left the area pretty fast. My buddy was calling with a deer grunt.

[Colinofthewoods]

Kind of a stupid question maybe. When following cat tracks. Do you stalk quietly , or just crash through as quick as possible. I'm wondering if stalking quietly would take too long , where a loud deliberate chase might put them up a tree. Definately looking forward to trying both come January. Any thoughts ?

[Camp Cook]

Me I'm just going to sit still and call them with my now old Foxpro FX3 electric caller.

If I'm by myself I'm taking in my dog so I don't have one sneak up on me.

[bc-hunter]

I was out with a friend a few weeks ago and we noticed a cougar crossed our tracks from a couple minutes back. We followed the tracks for maybe a kilometer, but kitty was gone.

[adriaticum]

My shoe size is 11. This imprint is half the size of my shoe.


http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/cougar13.jpg

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/cougar21.jpg

[tracker]

small stride

[adriaticum]

small stride
6 feet between first and fourth. You thinking not cougar?

[blacklab]

It's actually pretty simple. Find fresh tracks, stay with them till you find a fresh kill, the cat won't be far away,
take a stand down wind, it will feed about an hour before dark, and again at first light. They don't travel far with a full belly, and they want to guard their kill.