The Cat

S

SfcMac

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I have always wanted to hunt the big Cat. He is every bit man's equal and better. Some kill only to eat or defend themselves or their young.Some kill for the sheer love of killing. Guys like our North american Cougar(protected) warns you once, when you enter his domain. You will not hear his voice again until he is right behind you, and it is too late. Our Native Americans taught us the art of ambush, and he taught them.He is a master at it. The Cat is smart, cunning and dangerous.The Bear is dumb. He'll run until he decides to turn and face us.Then He'll come straight ahead. Most species of North American cat are protected . Unfortunately we have to go abroad to find places where they are not. Here's a thought what kind of rifle would you use to hunt him if you could
 
I don't know that a big cat reacts the same across the country. We had cats in the Texas Hill Country and they would come in and kill about 25-30 goats at one time. We'd always find a carcass about 100 yds away and in sight of the slaughter in the brush. I've experienced something like that in South Texas as well. They will kill for sport and not take a single animal for food. They'll kill to train the young ones how and sometimes not take any for food. They have about a 2 week cycle around these parts that they will travel and not be back for 2 weeks. They'll always lead with their right front foot if crossing a log which gives you an advantage if trapping. Texas State trappers are required to shoot these cats with a 22lr only and in the heart only. Then the animal must be bagged and put in a freezer. the State then comes to pick them up and are taken to Texas A&M for science. But shooting a live cat with a steel trap on it's foot with a 22lr in the heart can become a rodeo and quick.
When I was hunting around Tilden I was using a 10' tall tripod on the corner of a gas line. The country was heavy brush. I had seen bear tracks there and was more interested in the bear than hogs or deer. Early one morning I saw a cat cross the pipeline about 50 yds away and waited for about 30 minutes before getting down to track her. She had a den about 150 yds from my tripod. When I was walking up I could see her thru the brush watching me. She had 2 little ones about 18-20 lbs each with her. When I got close enough she let me know by standing up. I knelt down and watched the cubs play for about 20 minutes. She had laid back down but kept watching me. I backed out and picked up my tripod and moved about 2 miles north along a fence line. The first time I sat in it I had a feeling that something wasn't right and started to really look at everything close. When I looked down, here was mama kitty looking up at me- she was under the tripod........10' from my as's.
We looked at each other for what seemed like a full minute while I was wondering just how this was going to turn out- her lunch or a heckava experience. It was an experience as she took off. I moved again about 1/2 mile to the east and never saw her again but I did see a B&C buck that was just like the pics everybody likes to call Muy Grande complete with drop tines. He had about a 34-36" spread and 6 points on each side. All of this was during bow season and no firearms allowed. I could have taken either one of those animals with my bow but I wouldn't eat a cat and they are something to see in the wild. The buck I passed up as you just don't see deer like that every day. I left him for seed- yeah, I'm like that. Like they used to call me at the ranch at Zapata, the Auditor, cause I'd count and take pics but never shoot unless it was a fat, good eating animal.
 
Cougar meat is seriously yummy-tasty.

Want cougar? Hang around my trash pit with the kitchen scraps not having been burned. Or hang a rag soaked in bacon grease onto the fence of my south pasture. Wait and watch...
 
I have only seen two upclose though I have seen others at distances. I never heard them make a sound. I asked a lion guide and he says when treed they make a hissing snarl. Of the 3 guides I have talked to, none have heard a lion "scream", or give warning.
 
Bears may not be as cunning as predators as cats are but bears are one of the smartest animals on the planet. Bears are the only animals, besides dolphins and chimps, that have pasted the self awareness test. Where a bear can look in the mirror and actually realize he's looking at himself. Bears are extremely intelligent they just arent as predatory or as aggressive as cats and they tend to back down from human confrontation . . . which makes them smart. http://www.cracked.com/article_17453_5-diabolical-animals-that-out-witted-humans.html
 
Most species of North American cat are protected
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our North american Cougar(protected)
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Really? As in "don't shoot 'em" protected, or have the correct license and tag protected?

Why do you think they are protected? I have a unfilled cougar tag in my wallet. If you buy the "Sportsman Pack" license in OR, the tags come with it. Where are cougars protected?

To answer your question, what rifle - that would be anything that I would be carrying while deer hunting, speaking strictly of cougars.
 
Per Texas law, a cougar is no different than a coyote. And, like the coyote, their range is expanding. I've hunted areas where I found more cougar tracks than deer tracks. Sometimes around my own home territory, it looks like we're gonna be bum-deep in cougar poop...

"What's your pet kitty-cat's name?

"Lion bait."
 
You can hunt them here in Az, as well. Buy a license and tag over the counter.

I know a fella here who called one in while calling coyotes, and killed it with a .17 Ackley Hornet. Another stalked one and killed it with a .223.

I usually keep a .17 Remington handy. It does far less damage to hides than a .243.

Daryl
 
I have seen them on several occasions while deer hunting and thought they were beautiful animals. I would not care to hunt them as eating cat is not my preference. I can not think of any predatory animals that I care to eat and therefore I would not hunt them either. If there is anyone who has eaten mountain lion please enlighten me on the experience. Is it flavorful? consistency?
 
Called one in AZ that came within 7 yards of me, and missed it with a pistol. That was the day I decided to take a pistol instead of a rifle, and it was lightning fast getting away from me. Called many that screamed at me that I never saw. Called a a few that I never saw, but found their tracks 10 yards behind me as they were stalking me...:eek: I started using an electronic caller after too many close encounters with coyotes, bobcats, lions, angry bulls and such. :(

There was a cat that hanged out at Bloody basin that had prints like dinner plates, at least twice as big as any other lion I had seen. Called for him a few times with an electronic caller but never saw him. Saw a BIG lion going up Mount Ord early one morning, he was as big as a big African lioness, and just casually sauntered across the road in front of me. By the time I got over my fright, stopped the SUV, and got out with a rifle, he was gone. I always bought a lion tag in AZ, you never knew when the big day would come. I never bagged one, but a friend of mine called one in, and almost shot it off his lap with his 243. He did say the meat was tasty, but I declined eating it.
 
I have been interested in calling Cats around my neck of the woods. What do you do differently from a coyote setup? Should I target areas where deer keg up in the winter? I have still never seen one without the use of dogs. I like the idea of calling one in. It seems about like the lion hunting equivelent of fly-fishing.
GAR
 
kd7sgm, cougar meat is excellent. Well, barbecued and a relatively young lion. FWIW, a fair number of articles spoke of them as a preferred meat for the Mountain Men of the early 1800s.

You can bait a lion to come in, if one is in the area and downwind. Food scraps, a halfway-fresh jackrabbit and a handful of bulk catnip works pretty good. And, as I said, bacon grease on a rag is an attractant.

Trouble is, you never know how long you have to wait...
 
Would a laser pointer do the trick?

In another post people were talking about using their pistol lasers to play with their cats,,,
Then I remembered a friend of mine who lives in SE OKlahoma,,,
He is plagued by bobcats getting into his chicken runs,,,
His sons routinely wait at night in a rooftop blind.

I jokingly mentioned the post to him but he started wondering if it would work,,,
He is positive that the cats sit right on the edge of the light and wait,,,
He thought that a laser might just work to draw the cats out.

I haven't spoken with him since then,,,
But I do have a vision of his two boys on the roof,,,
Trying to draw out a bobcat with a pet store laser pointer duct taped to a shotgun barrel.

.
 
I have been interested in calling Cats around my neck of the woods. What do you do differently from a coyote setup? Should I target areas where deer keg up in the winter? I have still never seen one without the use of dogs. I like the idea of calling one in. It seems about like the lion hunting equivelent of fly-fishing.
GAR
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Random calling, like many coyote callers do won't give quick results. Lions have a big area that they call home, and you need to be in the same area where they are.

If you ever find a kill, start early and call the area around the kill. Set up and stay for an hour or so on each stand. Cats are patient, and don't always come running in like a coyote or fox does.

Worst case, set up in lion country, rather than coyote country. They can overlap sometimes. Find an area with steep cliffs, deep and steep sided washes, or even rocks that are big enough for a cat to get up high on.

Typical coyote country that I call is rolling or flat, with lots of mesquite, catclaw, sage, and up north there's cedar and such. Cats will be in that same stuff many times, but are more spread out and therefore are harder to find.

For sounds, try deer and such if you want too, but a jackrabbit call will work, too.
 
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