Calling Mountain Lions at Close Range Is a Predator Hunt Unlike Anything Else

The wind was sturdy, rain sweeping sideways. I lit up the slim path with mating cougar sounds from an digital name. My rifle within the taking pictures sticks, scope on 3X, security off — I used to be prepared.

In my lap lay a short-barreled 12 gauge shotgun with 3-inch payloads of TSS No. 2s. That barrel was pointed 45 levels behind me, the place two trails emerged from a thick grove of Douglas firs. Ought to a cat strategy from behind, the shot would come inside 8 yards.

Eerie cat sounds resonated from the e-caller. After quarter-hour of off-and-on motion, I switched to a yearling deer misery sound, the identical one I used to name in and kill a cougar on this similar space solely 4 days prior.

Two hours of sitting, calling, and ready in torrential rains and swirling winds, the one time my head left the riflescope was to look behind to see if that was the cat’s angle of strategy. The heavy rain put my each nerve on edge. I didn’t prefer it. I desire lifeless calm situations when calling massive predators, as a result of the slightest motion captures your consideration.

The 2-hour calling session was draining. Each swaying department and shifting leaf jolted my pulse. Greater than as soon as fir boughs shifted within the wind, exposing lifeless maple leaves draped throughout tree limbs. At a fleeting look, their horizontal strains regarded just like the again of a cougar, however every time it turned out to be solely brown leaves — simply 10 toes away. When calling apex predators in shut quarters, your eyes and thoughts focus in an intense approach. It’s in contrast to every other sort of looking, and that’s what I really like about it.

As darkish spots on the path and in thick cowl performed tips on my mind amid quickly waning daylight, it was time to cease. Defeated, I gathered the soaking moist gear and headed dwelling. I’m not a betting man but when I had been, I’d have put down a big sum on my killing a cat that afternoon. At 3 p.m., lower than an hour earlier than I began calling, a cougar was caught on considered one of my mobile path cameras. The final time that occurred right here, I referred to as barely greater than two minutes earlier than a tom got here operating full-speed on the sounds of my mouth calls. When I shot it in the chest, it collapsed seven paces from the place I sat.

Mountain Lion Cell Cam Video

The Problem

I hunt mountain lions solely three minutes from my dwelling, within the western foothills of Oregon’s Cascade Vary. Over the earlier 5 nights I captured 5 to seven completely different cougars every night time on a number of path cameras. All had been at night time — till now.

This isn’t onerous, rugged nation to navigate, it’s simply very tough to hunt as a result of thick cowl and lack of visibility. The mountain lions had been displaying up with regularity inside 200 yards of a number of houses scattered across the fringe of the forest. One property proprietor shared surveillance footage of a tom and feminine cougar strolling between two parked automobiles in his driveway, 30 toes from his entrance door. One other dwelling proprietor confirmed me a feminine with three yearlings strolling down their driveway. I additionally caught these lions, and others, on path cameras. These had been the cougars I chased.

Right here, amongst almost one sq. mile of 18-year-old Douglas fir reprod, Columbia black-tailed deer thrive. So do grey fox, cottontails, opossums, skunks, grey squirrels, and birds — all of which cougars eat. For 5 years I’ve been lion looking on this spot and calling them has been my solely strategy. Hounds are prohibited in Oregon. Bait is authorized, however I’ve prevented that. 

Two years in the past, just a few of the neighbors misplaced their home cats. I caught three cougars on movie carrying home cats and located the place one laid and ate a fluffy white home cat 150 yards from the doorstep it plucked it from.

What makes calling cougars on this setting so difficult is the density of the duvet. Oftentimes once I arrange and name I’m carrying solely a shotgun. Utilizing mouth calls, concentrating on cats the place pictures would come inside 20 yards, typically half that. I’ve referred to as in cougars which have instantaneously appeared within the thick brush, however by the point I swung on them for a shot, they’d vanished.

Capturing lanes listed here are slim and brief. Step into thick cowl of tangled branches and underbrush of the Douglas firs, and visibility shortly dwindles to toes, not yards. That is the place the cougars are lurking. They arrive in waves. Typically they’re right here a day or two, then gone for months. This time, they’d been lingering for over per week. I’d by no means seen something prefer it. Neither have the native biologists or the state recreation officer I spoke with.

The Studying Curve

I’ve greater than 25 path cameras set on this space. Two-thirds are Moultrie cellular cameras. The remainder are Stealth Cam DS4K path cameras set in thick cowl and wooded attracts that lack cell protection. I examine these playing cards in the midst of each different day; these cats are used to human visitors. The non-cell path cameras have caught some key cougar interactions I in any other case wouldn’t have seen.

Earlier than I began utilizing cell cameras, I used to be all the time behind the cougars, even once I checked cams twice per week. After I switched to mobile path cameras, the sport shortly modified.

I realized that timing is every part in the case of killing a mountain lion right here. I’ve amassed tons of of movies of cougars. As luck would have it, many of the daytime captures appear to return once I’m on the highway. One time a cougar sat inches from a path digital camera, purring, overlooking a home 125 yards away the place youngsters and canines may very well be heard enjoying in the midst of the day. One other time an enormous tom courted a feminine for a number of minutes in broad daylight. There are extra. Tons extra.

I set all path cameras to video mode on the best definition setting. A high quality video clip reveals greater than a nonetheless picture ever will. I can’t depend the variety of occasions a single cat popped up on the thumbnail however once I performed the video clip and I’d discover two, typically three cats transfer by the body. The sounds cougars make are intriguing. Not solely are the video clips — and I obtain all of them — instructional, however they’ve additionally allowed me to sample cat motion throughout the wooded ridgeline, by a densely forested bowl, and into backyards. It’s the Moultrie mobile path cameras which have upped my success price, permitting me to get on cougars proper once they present up.

Bringing It All Collectively

On March 27 a single grownup feminine cougar confirmed up in the midst of the night time. It appeared once more on the 28. This time a tom was minutes behind it. The height of the cougar rut seems to be late March by mid-April on this valley. I’ve over 75 path cameras set all through the hills and valleys of the world; they’ve been my main supply of knowledge. However the cats on March 27 and 28 appeared on the very prime of a timbered ridge simply after midnight. They’d too far of a head begin for me to catch them.

On the morning of March 29, issues modified. At 5:22 a.m. a feminine and two yearlings popped up on the identical Moultrie mobile path digital camera the earlier cats had been caught on. Two minutes behind them got here one other grownup feminine. All of them walked at a quickened tempo down an ATV path. I knew which course they had been headed.

At first mild I used to be arrange and prepared, digital name in place. I figured the cats had been between a quarter-mile and a half-mile from the place I referred to as. Then once more, they may very well be nearer, or lengthy gone. I arrange on a foremost path that supplied the longest taking pictures distance on the property, simply over 50 yards. It was just a few yards large; a slim window, as every part else surrounding me was brush and dense fir timber.

With a FoxPro X24 speaker on a stump 45 yards from the place I sat, I performed the primary collection of cottontail sounds at half-volume. The morning was calm and clear. Sounds carried properly.

After a few minute, I paused the decision, then resumed. The play and pause sequence lasted about 10 minutes, then I switched to a hen misery sound. I ran comparable splits to the cottontail, however at full quantity and for round quarter-hour. Chook misery sounds are a favourite of mine, it’s what I used to name within the final cougar I shot right here and I’ve introduced in lots of bears with it too. Twice I paused the decision attributable to Steller’s jays frantically calling from the timber. Their elevated chatter typically follows incoming predators, primarily coyotes and grey fox. I felt assured a cougar was closing in however nothing confirmed up.

Then I ran grey fox misery sounds for over 10 minutes, additionally at max quantity. Grey fox are a favourite meals of cougars on this space. The woods had been silent through the pauses. Greater than as soon as I acquired the sensation one thing was close to.

Because of the excessive quantity of blacktails within the space, and the very fact that is what appears to initially draw cougars to this spot, the subsequent name was a younger deer misery. Over time right here I’ve caught a number of cougars on the prowl for deer, and I’ve discovered one deer kill. Given the quantity of talkative lions I used to be catching on path cameras, and the onset of the rut, I mixed cougar whistles with the deer misery sounds.

Almost 10 minutes into the combined sequence, Steller’s jays once more stirred. This time the ruckus got here 150 yards immediately in entrance of me, on the very path I predicted the cats to be on. Jays flittered, swarmed, and squawked above the tree tops. I turned off the decision for a pair minutes, watching and listening. I had that feeling you get when somebody enters a room, however you don’t see or hear them. That sensation washed by my physique.

When nothing confirmed, I crammed the stillness of the woods with younger deer misery sounds. The crispness and readability of each sound at excessive quantity is what I really like concerning the X24. My rifle was rock stable, pointed on the path two toes to the precise of the speaker. The glowing pink FireDot of the Leupold scope shined in opposition to the darkish shadows.

After a bit, I’d had sufficient. Popping out of the gun, I raised the distant management to show it off. Certainly a cat ought to have appeared by now, I believed. Simply then, it occurred.

From the very spot I’d anticipated, a cougar materialized. Its physique was darkish within the slim path. It took two steps, wanting up on the blaring speaker the entire time. Its head appeared small. It was a feminine. Because it rounded a small bush, I positioned the FireDot within the middle of its chest and pulled the set off. The 6.8 Western barely kicked, hardly making a sound with the suppressor on the tip of the barrel. The cougar crumpled on the spot, twitched just a few occasions, then went limp.

From the time I laid eyes on the cat till pulling the set off, scarcely greater than a second elapsed. However it was among the best moments of my looking life, because it all the time is when a cougar involves a name. It’s merely a grand sight to witness, seeing a cougar shifting in to kill one thing. Breathtaking, gorgeous, highly effective, typically peaceable, .

I’ve been lucky to make a residing as a full-time outside author for over 25 years. Fourteen of these years had been spent internet hosting looking TV exhibits. I’ve been blessed to embark upon tons of of huge recreation hunts around the globe. I rank calling in a cougar on this dense habitat to be among the many most difficult of any looking I’ve skilled. The hours and failed makes an attempt I’ve amassed with out seeing a cat are humbling. I nonetheless have a lot to study, however that’s what I really like concerning the course of. These cats are good, courageous and onerous to foretell. Solely hunts I’ve undertaken for maneater lions, tigers, and bears eclipse the thrill, challenges, and thrills of calling in a cougar.

When cougars present up, my life transforms. Chores go uncared for, telephone calls and emails are ignored. I give solutions to my spouse with out figuring out the questions. Even my canines take a look at me in another way. They know my thoughts is elsewhere.

As I write these phrases, it’s 5:30 a.m. I started working three hours in the past; sleep eludes me when cougars are current. However I maintain getting sidetracked. Throughout this three-hour window, 19 thumbnails of 5 completely different cougars have appeared on my Moultrie App and all in the identical space I simply hunted. It’s probably the most cats I’ve ever caught on video, and for the longest time.

I’ve one other cougar tag in my pocket. It is going to be time to hit the woods quickly. This may very well be the day.