(Sorry, this is a long post but I have been thinking about this for sometime now.)
I have read facts, posts & I have even had the chance to listen to a few pretty darn good lion hunters & trappers but I find myself struggling to find the time to pattern them & hunt them the way that I believe one needs too, to be successful at it but it still amazes me how some guys just get plain lucky. I live in Mohave County Arizona & we have no shortage of the great long tails & over the past 9 months we have had at least 3 called in by guys hunting coyotes. We also had 2 called in by a guy out of Phoenix & I was told this guy has called in over 200 lions. The guys that were coyote hunting all sat for less than 10 mins & were using distress sounds. Now with that being said the oldest lion they called in was at best 4 years old. The man from Phoenix also uses distress sounds but from what I have been told he concentrates on them (patterns the scratches & scent stations). This gentle man is going to be up in Kingman this next Friday for a seminar before a big lion hunt we have going up here.
I get a little indecisive when it comes to calling lions because I have not done it nearly enough & don't really know what sounds I want to use. I know Steve Craig is a big Lion sound guy but I have not been around enough lions to even remotely interpret their language & distress sounds seem to be the most BASIC way to call in any predator. I have had good success calling in Bobcats the past few years because I have learned to pattern them somewhat & I don't call for them unless I know one is in the country & I have to believe the same philosophy holds true for lions. When calling in bobcats I have had better luck with just distress sound & not any luck with bobcat sounds. Now with that being said I know they are alot like an alley cat & I know alley cats are very territorial. When I first started coyote hunting I used just distress sounds but over the past 10 years I have adapted & I believe that their language & aggressivness is their biggest down fall but I have grown confidence in calling them this way because I have been able to observe them & listen to them while also trying different things. Basically, it comes down to lack of confidence in Lion sounds because my encounters with them have been so brief & I have not been able to observe them with out them knowing that I was in the country. I am now getting to the point that I would like to understand their communication more before I go & run them off with bad sounds. I have even thought about going to a zoo for several days with my video camera just to observe them for long periods of time. On the other hand I know & have been told by a few great trappers that a cat is cat & I know house cats & bobcats both make a living by hunting & I have been told lions are the same & this is what gives me a little more confidence in distress sounds. I know Steve will see this post sooner or later & I hope he chimes as he seems to be the most seasoned on this subject. If anyone else has anything to add then please feel free.
I have read facts, posts & I have even had the chance to listen to a few pretty darn good lion hunters & trappers but I find myself struggling to find the time to pattern them & hunt them the way that I believe one needs too, to be successful at it but it still amazes me how some guys just get plain lucky. I live in Mohave County Arizona & we have no shortage of the great long tails & over the past 9 months we have had at least 3 called in by guys hunting coyotes. We also had 2 called in by a guy out of Phoenix & I was told this guy has called in over 200 lions. The guys that were coyote hunting all sat for less than 10 mins & were using distress sounds. Now with that being said the oldest lion they called in was at best 4 years old. The man from Phoenix also uses distress sounds but from what I have been told he concentrates on them (patterns the scratches & scent stations). This gentle man is going to be up in Kingman this next Friday for a seminar before a big lion hunt we have going up here.
I get a little indecisive when it comes to calling lions because I have not done it nearly enough & don't really know what sounds I want to use. I know Steve Craig is a big Lion sound guy but I have not been around enough lions to even remotely interpret their language & distress sounds seem to be the most BASIC way to call in any predator. I have had good success calling in Bobcats the past few years because I have learned to pattern them somewhat & I don't call for them unless I know one is in the country & I have to believe the same philosophy holds true for lions. When calling in bobcats I have had better luck with just distress sound & not any luck with bobcat sounds. Now with that being said I know they are alot like an alley cat & I know alley cats are very territorial. When I first started coyote hunting I used just distress sounds but over the past 10 years I have adapted & I believe that their language & aggressivness is their biggest down fall but I have grown confidence in calling them this way because I have been able to observe them & listen to them while also trying different things. Basically, it comes down to lack of confidence in Lion sounds because my encounters with them have been so brief & I have not been able to observe them with out them knowing that I was in the country. I am now getting to the point that I would like to understand their communication more before I go & run them off with bad sounds. I have even thought about going to a zoo for several days with my video camera just to observe them for long periods of time. On the other hand I know & have been told by a few great trappers that a cat is cat & I know house cats & bobcats both make a living by hunting & I have been told lions are the same & this is what gives me a little more confidence in distress sounds. I know Steve will see this post sooner or later & I hope he chimes as he seems to be the most seasoned on this subject. If anyone else has anything to add then please feel free.