Spot and Stalk Mountain Lions?

Dultimatpredator

Dultimatpredator

Well-known member
Where is the best place to try and spot them durring the day? Do they lay on rock ledges on the sides or tops of mountains or do they seek shelter in caves? Under bushes?
 
Out here in the West they travel a bunch in their selected territory. Most of the guys that hunt them here use dogs. I've ran across a few out hunting, but darn few in 45 years of being in the woods. We have lots of cats here, but I can count the times I've seen them in the woods on less than both hands. Unless you have a friend with a pack of cat hounds your in for some tough hunting.
 
IDB is correct most use dogs out here. There are a few that I know that will cut a track and go after them on foot but the chances of that are very unlikely.It can be done my uncle has two on his wall from this tactic.
 
We have tons of cats here we arent allowed to hunt them here, thanks to the anti hunter groups and bleeding heart liberals. I also can count on one hand the amount of sightings, they are great at staying out of sight, the ones I have seen were running across roads while I was driving. You may try calling them or hounds thats about the only high percent chance of getting one.
 
Glassed, not easy. But they can be tracked down. Pack a couple day's provisions, gps, cell phone, radio, maps, etc. Cut a fresh track in the snow and start hiking. It can be done. Probably the hardest hunting there is, but it can be done. Even when you catch up to one, it might not let you see it. Depends on the terrain.
 
I shot one using dogs but would like a greater challenge. Nothing against running dogs(I have used them for bear, bobcat, and cougar) but I would like to be the hunter this time instead of just shooting the animal after the dogs did all the work. I have some Lion sounds on my called and am anxious to try them out. I'm curious if they lay around during the day sunning themselves on rock ledges or do they hide in caves or under large rock crevices? I'm trying to find out where the best place to glass for them?
 
Spot and stalk would be the longest odds, less chance than any other method I can think of. Yet I have a friend who hunts cougars that way on Vancouver island where there is probably the heaviest population of cougars on the planet (and they are still scarce). He knows certain ledge areas where cougars often lay, picking up some sun, and close to lots of deer. He's seen several that way but the only one he killed was not spot and stalk. He saw it on a ledge at 60 feet when he was hunting deer.

A knowledgeable woodsman told me to watch for cougars sunning themselves in the tops of bull pines on cold mornings. I have looked quite a bit and I think have seen one, while hunting deer in the mountains west of Wenatchee, WA. With bincoulars I spotted a tawny patch apparently lying on a big limb near the top of a huge old Ponderosa pine on the canyon side opposite me, half to 3/4 of a mile away. The sun was rising over my left shoulder, lighting up the far side. Whatever it was never moved as I glassed for deer, moved to another spot, etc. and checked on it once in awhile. It somehow looked alive, with that sense hunters get when light is on fur rather than wood or stone, but I decided it was inanimate. Then suddenly it was gone.

If a man had unlimited time and interest, and was fit, it would be a fun quest to get a cougar that way. You'd learn a ton about all kinds of game with that much time afield looking.
 
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