Best way to get a Lion without dogs?

R15 VTR

R15 VTR

New member
Just wondering from some of you more seasoned lion hunters what would be the best way to get a lion without the use of dogs? Calling, if so what sounds should I use. I've called in bobcats with bird sounds and a decoy. Or should I burn some boot leather and cover the mountains looking for lion kills and sit on them from a vantage point? Thanks in advance!
 
Deep subject ...... but Rainshadow can help for sure!

I like that web site sounds are intriguing as well.

One old timer would do a combination ........

Have you heard of "walking down" a cat?

Well this fellow would walk down a cat til he got as close as he darred to without spooking it. Then set up and call. As I recall he used snowshoes .... so he had some pretty good tracking conditions.

Much excersize ...... if it was easy .... everybody would be doing it!

The clincher with cougs is that it makes NO SENSE to call to "an empty house" ...... after all the last thing you expect to see in a coug's territory is ...... the coug! And they are said to not travel nearly as far to a call as coyotes can if they can hear it. So by the time you add up a short attention span of the coug and so many square miles that the cat can be in ....... you might as well look for a needle in a hay stack.

Scouting practice is going to be your job #1 to put yourself on a path for success. If you can pattern a cat of your choice .... you'll raise your odds exponentially as they are creatures of habit ..... they are noted for adhereing to a set route(s) and often can even seem to be on a timetable.

Your idea on finding a kill to call from has merit. Just approach a really fresh kill with due caution ... we don't want to have you get a cat scan!

I see you are in Colorado. As such you've got wintering big game herds. Go to these areas if they are legal to hunt cats from and look up hill from these herds and you are likely to find a greater concentration of dominate cats than you would find believable ........ the old axiom of a cat every so many square miles and NO MORE ..... has not studied wintering areas ...... the cats seem to have some sort of truce in effect and cross and re-cross one another's territory.

A belated welcome to the forum ....... and the best of luck with your new endeavor!

Three 44s
 
Thanks for the info guys. We finally got some fresh snow on the ground so after getting a few things done I'm going out to find some tracks and get the adventure started. Thanks again!
 
If you happen to cut a cat track and you know the country pretty good I would recommend trying to drive around and cut the track shorter. Mountain Lions usually travel in a straight line if the terrain allows them to. If you find a track headed into an area then you drive around and the cat has not come out of the area, I would then go back to the last place he crossed the road and set out on his/her tracks. The cat man have made a kill and is holding up for a day or two.

Best of Luck

Scratch
 
Quote:I see you are in Colorado. As such you've got wintering big game herds. Go to these areas if they are legal to hunt cats from and look up hill from these herds and you are likely to find a greater concentration of dominate cats than you would find believable ........ the old axiom of a cat every so many square miles and NO MORE ..... has not studied wintering areas ...... the cats seem to have some sort of truce in effect and cross and re-cross one another's territory.

Good observation! Frankly I had never considered that!
 
you could always use a different sort of dog.....There is lot of precident for it as well..Vancouver island's Cecil smith used farm dogs...Collies. The world's record taken in Tatyaloko lake was treed with collie's. I've a good friend who's best dog was a Chesapeak Retriever. Here is a photo of a large cat treed with what appears to be a collie.Click on the link to some history of cecil smith which suggest that 'Lesser" dogs can be more than effective.




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http://www.members.shaw.ca/beyondnootka/biographies/john_smith.html
 
I know of lots of cowboys that just go horseback with their stock dogs, and they kill lots of lions.
The idea sure has merit.
 
thanks for all the input guys. I cut a set of tracks last friday mid-day. Shortened the track the best I could but ran out of daylight. Went up the next morning to the last place I had tracks to find out the area was closed down. Due to the area being opened up for X mas tree cutters it will be closed through this weekend. The area I'm hunting in has few roads that will be passable after all the snow we are getting so I'll have to do the best I can until I get my snowshoes delivered. Not many guys hunt around this area with dogs anymore due to them losing so many dogs in the area I'm hunting. I knew a guy that gave it up all together because in one year he lost 3 of his 7 dogs to lions. It's a hard area on dogs so most guys that use to hunt there have moved on to other canyons.
 
Why are lions killin so many dogs there????
Many of us run nasty country year after year.
Why is that area so bad for dogs???
Just curious.
 
Originally Posted By: Duane@ssuWhy are lions killin so many dogs there????
Many of us run nasty country year after year.
Why is that area so bad for dogs???
Just curious.

I asked him the same thing and all he could tell me is that in this canyon there's so many rock out croppings he felt the lions would wait and ambush the dogs rather than run from them or tree. I don't know maybe he just had a bad year. All the others that used to hunt up there got tired of being harrassed by the Colorodo division of wildlife.
 
Much of our areas are this way as well ..... too much flat ground or rocky areas and not enough trees .... and the dogs end up in a big war with the cats since they don't or can't tree.

Three 44s
 
I still don't get it, Maybe We are just lucky.
Why were the guys getting "harrased?"
I just can't make any sense of this guy quiting a good spot.
Makes no matter to me, I just "don't get it"
 
Duane
I believe another reasone he gave up was he had a bad leg and after years of doing it, it was getting to hard for him after all he was still in his 60's when he lost those dogs. The CDOW has had a problem with renegade outfitters guys charging without a outfitting license, the problem is they caught those guys but harassed others that were just up there to hunt with family or friends, nothing illegal about that. Things in Colorado have changed alot in the last 20 years that's for sure. No Trapping (except live traps) No spring bear hunts or use of dogs for bears. Just waiting for them to out law dogs for lion hunting too, or a limited draw for lions right now it's over the counter all you have to do is pass a lion identification test and you can buy a tag.
 
Originally Posted By: R15 VTR ...last place I had tracks ..... was closed down. Due to the area being opened up for X mas tree cutters.....

Headline: Xmas Tree Cutter Disappears

PC
 
Originally Posted By: R15 VTROriginally Posted By: Duane@ssuWhy are lions killin so many dogs there????
Many of us run nasty country year after year.
Why is that area so bad for dogs???
Just curious.

I asked him the same thing and all he could tell me is that in this canyon there's so many rock out croppings he felt the lions would wait and ambush the dogs rather than run from them or tree. I don't know maybe he just had a bad year. All the others that used to hunt up there got tired of being harrassed by the Colorodo division of wildlife.

None of this is consistent with lion behavior as I understand it.

None of this is consistent with CDOW behavior as I have experienced.

Not calling BS, and no offense intended, but what the heck is going on?

How credible are your sources, and can any of this be verified?

Sounds like an outrage if this is the real deal, but I would be interested in investigating this a tad.
I am researching the beginning of a campaign regarding changing the "legal methods of take" laws for mountain lions in Colorado and this info may help........
 
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