Cougar Calling this year

Gear all loaded up, ready to roll. Whenever i wake up to the neighbor dog barking at some imaginary foe (usually about 4am) ill toss some firewood in my truck, hook up the trailer, load up the quad, and off i go.
 
No luck so far, nothing but a few bob and one set of yote tracks. No luck calling. But my neighbor dog didnt disappoint yesterday, 4:04am, woke me up barking. Such a reliable sentinel. Her barking sounded a lot more serious than usual, i figured there was really something she smelled that freaked her out. So i shined my big spotlight out front and didnt see anything. But later that day got a dink bull moose on the cell cam in my driveway. Moose arent commom visitors on my property. Once a year on average id say. Thats probably what had her riled up.
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Finally getting out. Had to drive all the way up to the selkirk unit to hunt cats because of our ridiculous new cougar rules. More snow up here than i thought there would be, and i forgot to bring my gaiters. Kickin myself in the ass for that one. No luck today. Opted to get a motel room outside metaline falls for tonight rather than sleep in the bed of my truck. Ill be hitting it hard tomorrow starting at daybreak. Totally unfamiliar territory for me up here. Just going off satellite imagery to find places to hunt. Hopefully the area im going to tomorrow is as i expect it to be. Hope to get a few good stands in.
 
Well, pretty lame up there. Real good looking habitat with minimal deer / elk tracks and zero moose sign despite all the wax leaf ceanothus, moose love that stuff. No idea why theres not more animals up there. Only predator tracks i found were bobcat and i covered some miles hoping to cut lion tracks. Going back out monday, this time with my gaiters, to a spot about 30 miles south of there. Havent been there since maybe 2017 or 2019, but back then at least the area was absolutely loaded with wintering deer. Hopefully thats still the case. Ill find out monday.
 
rainshadow1 said:
I'm dreading big changes due to overpredation up there... hopefully that hasn't started yet.
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Man this winter is a joke. Tons od bare ground and patchy snow. Very little snow in the forecast, but im hoping for the best and planning on hauling my quad over to 113 on friday, camping out, and having some freshsnow saturday mkrning so i can jam arounfd. On my quad looking for freshtracks. Not feeling every optimistic. May be screwed until i get home from alaska end of january
 
New member, here. A little background: I grew up in Clearwater Co., ID. I live in Western Montana and worked for several years in Whitman Co., Stevens Co, and Ferry Co., WA. I still work in Stevens Co.

I'm posting here because I couldn't find the "New Members" section. Also, my first dedicated predator calling hunt, (winter of 2015) ruined me. I called in a 140lb tom in about 15 minutes, down in the Blues. I've been hooked on calling mountain lions ever since. I've hunted alot with hounds and I still love it, but calling opened a new experience for me.

So far, no luck this year, but I've been out only twice.
 
WMFerguson said:
New member, here. A little background: I grew up in Clearwater Co., ID. I live in Western Montana and worked for several years in Whitman Co., Stevens Co, and Ferry Co., WA. I still work in Stevens Co.

I'm posting here because I couldn't find the "New Members" section. Also, my first dedicated predator calling hunt, (winter of 2015) ruined me. I called in a 140lb tom in about 15 minutes, down in the Blues. I've been hooked on calling mountain lions ever since. I've hunted alot with hounds and I still love it, but calling opened a new experience for me.

So far, no luck this year, but I've been out only twice.
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Welcome aboard WM, Slagiatt and others will be happy to hear of your encounters, so let us know how you're doing. Oh yeah, everybody here loves pics, videos or both!
 
Thanks!

Well, this is one of the few photos I have of him. The story is longer than the hunt. I used my Mini-14 (the stainless A-Team, folding stock original, BTW) and a cheap Primos call I borrowed from a buddy. I don't remember the grain or brand of ammo/bullets. He came in to under 30 yards, to jackrabbit in distress. The landowner was a friend and mentor of mine. When he saw the success, he bought a CD and handheld call from Rainshadow. I'm not sure what happened to the handheld call though.
 

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DesertRam said:
Man, that's great! Calling in a lion is a dream hunt for me.

Welcome to Predator Masters!
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Thanks!

I married a Montanan, so I'm exiled from Idaho until my kids are grown. I've made the best of it by sneaking (legally) back across the border into the Lochsa. MT is a strange place; they have some very restrictive hunting rules. Even with the constant nonsense from WA DFW, it's still a better state for calling lions. @DesertRam: if you want to call in a lion, it doesn't get much better than WA and OR for population density.
 
WMFerguson said:
Thanks!

Well, this is one of the few photos I have of him. The story is longer than the hunt. I used my Mini-14 (the stainless A-Team, folding stock original, BTW) and a cheap Primos call I borrowed from a buddy. I don't remember the grain or brand of ammo/bullets. He came in to under 30 yards, to jackrabbit in distress. The landowner was a friend and mentor of mine. When he saw the success, he bought a CD and handheld call from Rainshadow. I'm not sure what happened to the handheld call though.
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Hey, don't underestimate the Mini-14. I have 2 and one has been accurized as it is one of the older models with the little pencil barrel. It sure shoots well and many a coyote and hog has fallen from it and the Hornady 55gr Vmax. The other is the later Target model which came with a cumbersome, heavy "tuner" which I immediately removed. It performs well without all that weight.
 
22magnum22 said:
Hey, don't underestimate the Mini-14. I have 2 and one has been accurized as it is one of the older models with the little pencil barrel. It sure shoots well and many a coyote and hog has fallen from it and the Hornady 55gr Vmax. The other is the later Target model which came with a cumbersome, heavy "tuner" which I immediately removed. It performs well without all that weight.
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I absolutely love my Mini-14. I bought it from my dad when I was 12.....hey, reznecks gonna do rezneck things. I've won more than a few bets of "bet you can't hit that [insert name of animal] with that Mini-14." That lion I shot definitely heard the safety "click" forward on that rifle. I know, it was a rookie mistake and I could have taken it off safe without the sound, but I was a bit focused on the critter.
 
Made it out to the Lochsa, yesterday. I did a 90ish-minute set. Found some old lion tracks, but they were decent. Guessing a small tom or a big female. For scale, my sissy sticks are set to 48".
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No kills, but I confirmed one suspicion: just up the ridge is the heart of the territory of a wolf pack that I've been wanting to wipe out for a few years.
 
Still zero snow in the forecast, this is crazy. Real cold though. Ill be home from alaska around the end of the month and intend to head back to pend orielle county to try some more, but itll probably be nasty crunchy old snow. Weird winter.
 
Slagiatt said:
Still zero snow in the forecast, this is crazy. Real cold though. Ill be home from alaska around the end of the month and intend to head back to pend orielle county to try some more, but itll probably be nasty crunchy old snow. Weird winter.
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I wish I could send you some of ours! We have more than enough here! I've made very few stands and it is tough going, with no responses.
 
As of this a.m., there is abt 22-25" of snow at the chain lakes, right at the Stev. Co./Pend. Co. line. Granted, that's not in an open GMU though.
 
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